aQa eNgLiSh LaNgUaGe PaPeR 2 WiTh LoUiS dUnFoRd

Let’s make sure that practising the skills needed to complete AQA’s Language Paper 2 is fun for us!! Today, we’re going to listen to Louis Dunford’s ‘North London Forever’ anthem while simultaneously prepping for our GCSE English exam!

• MUSIC FOCUS: Louis Dunford.
• ACTIVITY FOCUS: Complete a series of questions structured in same style as AQA’s Language Paper 2.

Start by reading the words and listening to the song. What words might feel unfamiliar? What do these words mean?

Question 1

Read again the lyrics below this question. The song is about North London, an area/borough which includes Angel and Highbury.
Then choose four of these statements which are true.

1. The speaker is walking around North London with lots of his friends.
2. The speaker has never been to The Angel before now.
3. There are no homeless people on the green.
4. The places described are all pretty and peaceful.
5. The people in the market are friendly.
6. The way North London looks is changing.
7. The speaker watches football.
8. The speaker will always love North London.

Louis Dunford: ‘North London Forever’

As I walk these streets alone, through this borough I call home
Upon the barren fields of Highbury ‘neath the stadiums of stone
Through the turnstiles at The Angel, see the homeless on the green
From The Cally to The Cross, and every shithole in between

Pass the church, the mosque, a crack den, and the offie on the corner
See the brasses from the brothel that pretends to be a sauna
Watch the bedlam in the bookies, see the winners and the losers
Seeking solace from their sorrow in the local battle cruisers

Through the madness in the market, weathered faces turn to greet ya
“‘Ello gov’nor, how’s your mother?“
“You alright, son, be lucky, geezer”
Double pie and mash and liquor, a Cuppa Rosie Lee up chap
Or watch retired gangsters bicker, every day in Arthur’s café

The little children causing trouble, for the cozzers make you smile
You meet ya muckers for a couple, forget your troubles for a while
From The Thornhill to The Hemmy, all the faces are the same
‘Cause the manor might be changing, but the people still remain

North London forever
Whatever the weather, these streets are our own
And my heart will leave you, never
My blood will forever, run through the stone

As I walk these streets alone, through a kingdom made of chrome
I see them ripping up the cobbles, and tearing down our childhood homes
I see the architecture changing, watch the history disappear
And the skyline rearranging into towers of veneer

But I see the remnants of a London that they thought they could erase
Every time I hear the old school talk about the good old days
Or every time I watch the football and have a ruby with the lads
See an hoister selling clobber or a dealer shooting bags

It’s in the single mothers juggling a baby and a job
In every single brother struggling that wound up in the dock
It’s in the roots and the foundations, still clinging to the land
It’s in the bricks that built the Morland and Popham that still stand

It’s in my family and my friends, in every gram and every Benz
It’s in the roots that we inherit when a generation ends
It’s in the ruins of your youth and the faces of your past
‘Cause the manor might be changing, but the people always last

North London forever
Whatever the weather, these streets are our own
And my heart will leave you, never
My blood will forever, run through the stone

Question 2

In ‘North London Forever’, the writer tries to describe how he feels about the area of London he grew up in. Use the purple lyrics to write a summary of what you understand about the different feelings he has about the city.

words you might not know the meaning of:

• barren: unproductive land; land on which you cannot grow anything.
• bedlam: a scene of uproar and confusion.
• solace: comfort or consolation in a time of distress or sadness.

Question 3

Look at the words and phrases highlighted in orange. How does the writer use language to describe the people in London and his feelings about those people?

Answer to Question 1. Correct statements highlighted in green.

1. The speaker is walking around North London with lots of his friends.
2. The speaker has never been to The Angel before now.
3. There are no homeless people on the green.
4. The places described are all pretty and peaceful.
5. The people in the market are friendly.
6. The way North London looks is changing.
7. The speaker watches football.
8. The speaker will always love North London.