I am just a poor boy though my story’s seldom told
G
I have squandered my resistance
G7 G6 C
For a pocket full of mumbles, such are promises
Am G F
All lies and jest, still a man hears what he wants to hear
C G7 G6 C
And disregards the rest
C Am
When I left my home and my family, I was no more than a boy
G
In the company of strangers
G7 G6 C
In the quiet of a railway station, running scared
Am G F
Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters
C
Where the ragged people go
G G7 F C
Looking for the places only they would know
Chorus:
Am Em Am
Lie la lie, Lie la lie la lie la lie, Lie la lie,
G F C
Lie la lie la la la la, lie la la la la lie.
C Am
Asking only workman’s wages I come looking for a job
G
But I get no offers
G7 G6 C
Just a come-on from the whores on Seventh Avenue
Am G F
I do declare, there were times when I was so lonesome
C
I took some comfort there
G F F C
Lie lie lie lie la
C Am
Then I’m laying out my winter clothes and wishing I was gone
G G7 G6 C Em
Goinghome where the New York City winters aren’t bleeding me
Am G G7 C
Leading me, to going home
C Am
In the clearing stands a boxer and a fighter by his trade
G G7
And he carries a reminder of ev’ry glove that laid him down
C Am
Or cut him till he cried out in his anger and his shame
G F
I am leaving, I am leaving
C G G7 C
But the fighter still remains mmmmm mmmm
Chorus
