McGlashan won the 'Best Song' award in the 1982 New Zealand Music Awards, for the Blam Blam Blam song Don't Fight It Marsha, It's Bigger Than Both Of Us. In the 1989 awards, McGlashan, along with Harry Sinclair, received three awards for their work as The Front Lawn: 'Best Film Soundtrack / Compilation', 'Most Promising Group' and 'International Achievement'. In 1993, McGlashan's group The Mutton Birds won a further three New Zealand Music Awards: 'Album of the Year', 'Single of the Year' (for Nature), and 'Best Group'.
Warm Hand has been announced as a finalist for 'Album of the Year' in the 2006 awards. His work on the album has also placed him in the running for the 'Best Male Solo Artist' award. McGlashan, SJD and Ed McWilliams were nominated for the 'Best Producer' technical award, but did not win.
McGlashan won the 1994 APRA Silver Scroll, a prestigious award for songwriting, for Anchor Me - performed by The Mutton Birds. In 2006, McGlashan had two songs nominated for this award - a feat last achieved by Dave Dobbyn in 1995. Bathe in the River, written by McGlashan for the film No. 2, later won the award.
In 2011 McGlashan provided the score to the fireworks during the opening ceremony of the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
http://www.donmcglashan.com/
This Is London
Don McGlashan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Just the finger-tip drumming
Of the last train on the hill
Now only I can hear it coming
And the moon is way up high
Like a giant map-maker
She paints the windows of our house
And a voice says This Is London
And I wait and count the beats
And the night fills up the valley
And the cleaners clean the streets
And the words bounce off the satellites
And they fall back down to earth
Across miles and miles of ocean
To the city of my birth
And the inattentive drivers
And the black ice on the bridges
And the friends who break their promises
And the comfortless strangers
I can see them all a-circling
Out there in the future
But tonight they can't hurt you
Tonight they don't matter
And a voice says This Is London
And I wait and count the beats
And the night fills up the valley
And the cleaners clean the streets
And the words bounce off the satellites
And they fall back down to earth
Across miles and miles of ocean
To the city of my birth
I know you are asleep now
You've gone heavy on my shoulder
I carry you to your bed
Like a boat across the water
And a voice says This Is London
And I wait and count the beats
And the night fills up the valley
And the cleaners clean the streets
And the words bounce off the satellites
And they fall back down to earth
Across miles and miles of ocean
To the city of my birth
And a voice says This Is London
And the words bounce off
And the words bounce off the satellites
And they fall back down to earth
Across miles and miles of ocean
To the city of my birth
The song "This is London" by Don McGlashan is an emotional and introspective ballad that describes a quiet London evening, with the singer being the only one left listening to the train passing by. The lyrics paint a picture of a peaceful and calm moment, with the moon shining brightly over the houses, while the city is being cleaned by workers. The singer reflects on the city that shaped him, and while acknowledging its flaws, he finds comfort in the fact that it doesn't matter tonight.
Throughout the song, a voice repeats "This is London" while the lyrics describe the peaceful atmosphere. This constant repetition of the phrase serves to emphasize the importance of the moment, as if it was a defining moment in the singer's life. He is aware of his surroundings, and the world outside doesn't matter tonight. He is carrying someone to bed, possibly a loved one, and is aware of the weight that they represent. The song seems to suggest that this particular moment is one of those rare instances that make life worth living, and even for a short while, everything seems to be perfect.
Overall, Don McGlashan's "This Is London" is an emotional and introspective ballad that emphasizes the importance of appreciating the present moment, even in a city that moves as fast as London.
Line by Line Meaning
The traffic has gone quiet
The noise of the traffic has subsided
Just the finger-tip drumming
The only sound left is the rhythmic tapping of fingers
Of the last train on the hill
From the distant hill, the sound of the last train can be heard
Now only I can hear it coming
The sound of the approaching train is only audible to the artist
And the moon is way up high
The moon is positioned high in the sky
Like a giant map-maker
The moon appears to be drawing a map of the surroundings
She paints the windows of our house
The moonlight illuminates the windows of the singer's house
With a yellow highlighter
The moonlight has a yellow tint
And a voice says This Is London
A voice proclaims that the location is London
And I wait and count the beats
The artist listens and keeps track of the sound of the voice
And the night fills up the valley
The darkness of the night surrounds everything in the valley
And the cleaners clean the streets
People who clean the streets are at work
And the words bounce off the satellites
The voice's words are transmitted by satellites
And they fall back down to earth
The voice's words descend to the ground
Across miles and miles of ocean
The voice's words travel across a great distance of ocean
To the city of my birth
The artist's birthplace is where the voice's words are directed
I can see them all a-circling
The artist imagines people and events circling around in a vortex
Out there in the future
These people and events are in the future and not yet realized
But tonight they can't hurt you
For tonight, the singer is not affected or harmed by these people or events
Tonight they don't matter
For tonight, these people or events are insignificant or unimportant
I know you are asleep now
The artist knows that the listener is asleep
You've gone heavy on my shoulder
The listener's head has come to rest heavily on the artist's shoulder
I carry you to your bed
The singer is carrying the listener to their bed
Like a boat across the water
The motion of carrying the listener is smooth and fluid, like a boat on water
And the words bounce off
The voice's words are reflected away
Writer(s): DONALD BAIN MCGLASHAN
Contributed by Brody G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.