 Music hall songs were often composed with their working class audiences in mind . Songs like My Old Man ( Said Follow the Van ) , Knocked ' em in the Old Kent Road , and Waiting at the Church , expressed in melodic form situations with which the urban poor were very familiar . Music hall songs could be romantic , patriotic , humorous or sentimental , as the need arose . The most popular music hall songs became the basis for the pub songs of the typical Cockney " knees up " . 
