I was only a boy when the village I fled
To some southern flung place all about I had read
I said give me a year and I'll return again
Then a year turned to two and then two turned to ten
Oh and seventeen summers I gave to this city
With many a lover that came and then went
All the friends and the stories, I think of them dearly
On these rotten streets my best days have been spent
I was only a boy when to London I came
Chancing my luck on some fortune or fame
Well still they allied me, but still I remain
That dirty old river, it runs through my veins
Oh and seventeen summers I gave to this city
With many a lover that came and then went
All the friends and the stories, I think of them dearly
On these rotten streets my best days have been spent
INSTRUMENTAL
Oh and seventeen summers I gave to this city
With many a lover that came and then went
All the friends and the stories, I think of them dearly
On these rotten streets my best days have been spent
On these rotten streets my best days have been spent