C Ami
1. I am just a poor boy though my story's seldom told
G
I have squandered my resistance
C
for a pocket full of mumbles such are promises
Ami
all lies and jests
G F
still a man hears what he wants to hear
C G C
and disregards the rest.
C Ami
2. When I left my home and my family I was no more than a boy
G
in the company of strangers
Dmi7 C
in the quiet of the railway station running scared
Ami G F
laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters
C
where the ragged people go
G F Emi Dmi C
looking for the places only they would know.
Ami G Ami F G C
R: Lie la lie ...
C Ami
3. Asking only workman's wages I come looking for a job
G
but I get no offers,
Dmi7 C
just a come-on from the whores on Seventh Avenue
Ami Dmi7 C F
I do declare there were times when I was so lonesome
C G C
I took some comfort there oo-la-la ...
R:
C G7 C Ami
4. Then I'm laying out my winter clothes and wishing I was gone
G
going home
Dmi7 G7 G C
where the New York City winters aren't bleeding me
Emi Ami G C
leading me, going home.
C Ami
5. In the clearing stands a boxer and a fighter by his trade
G
and he carries the reminders
G7
of ev'ry glove that laid him down
C Dmi7 G7 C
or cut him till he cried out
Ami
in his anger and his shame
G F
"I am leaving, I am leaving"
C
but the fighter still remains.
R:
R:
R: ...
