"Streets of London" is a song written by Ralph McTell. It was first recorded for McTell's 1969 album "Spiral Staircase" but was not released in the United Kingdom as a single until 1974. The song was inspired by McTell's experiences busking and hitchhiking throughout Europe, especially in Paris and the individual stories are taken from Parisians – McTell was originally going to call the song "Streets of Paris" but eventually changed it to "Streets of London". Besides Ralph McTell, the song was recorded by Sinéad O'Connor, Cat Stevens, Roger Whittaker, Mary Hopkins and others. I don't remember from whom I learned it but it was one of my standard performance pieces for a number of years.