One of the joys of living in London is having to negotiate the transport system – especially the Tube when there are delays, cancellations and other problems that demand quick thinking and re-routing. And I am not being sarcastic when I use the word ‘joy’. Travelling inLondon is never boring.
A coupe of days ago I was having a particularly ‘joyful’ journey across town when, in a crowd of people looking determined but fed up, I caught a glimpse of the new T-Mobile advert. It was just a snatch of some people dancing, but it was enough to make and others stop, go back and continue the journey smiling. The strapline is simple: ‘Life is for sharing.’ And, funnily enough, it made complete strangers look at each other, smile and exchange words.
It was recorded at Liverpool Street Station on 15 January 2009 and is wonderful. The station announcer starts to announce a train departure and then Lulu launches into the classic ‘Shout!’ (which I heard her do forty years after the original at the Royal Albert Hall in November 2008 with Jools Holland). The concourse is transformed by people dancing to a string of songs. Watch the faces.
If anything illustrates the human need for society, this does. With wall-to-wall misery on every front (from the economy through Gaza and Zimbabwe to Liverpool’s lousy form), this expression of sheer fun and surprise is just lovely.
I so wish I could dance…
February 1, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Maybe you can’t dance, I don’t know, but you can play guitar, speak and write and share you visions so you are way ahead of most of us.
April 13, 2009 at 2:16 pm
[...] T-Mobile took over Liverpool Street Station in January, they began with Lulu’s Shout. The Belgians did [...]