Verse 1:
C
I am just a poor boy
G/B Am
Though my story’s seldom told,
G
I have squandered my resistance
G7 C
For a pocket full of mumbles such are promises.
G/B Am
All lies and jest,
G F
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
C G C
And disregards the rest.
Verse 2:
C
When I left my home and my family
G/B Am
I was no more than a boy
G
In the company of strangers,
G7 C
In the quiet of a railway station running scared.
G/B Am G F
Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters
C
Where the ragged people go
G F C
Looking for the places only the would know.
Chorus 1:
Am Em
Lie la lie, lie la lie lie, lie la lie,
Am
Lie la lie,
G7 C
Lie la lie la lie la lie la la la la lie.
Verse 3:
C
Asking only workmans wages
G/B Am
I come looking for a job
G
But I get no offers,
G7 C
Just a come-on from the whores on Seventh Avenue.
G/B Am G F
I do declare, there were times when I was so lonesome
C G C
I took some comfort there, la la la la la.
Bridge: C C G/B Am G G7 C
C G/B Am G F F C G F C
Chorus 2: (Same as chorus one)
Verse 4:
C
Then I’m laying out my winter clothes
G/B Am
And wishing I was gone,
G
Going home
G7 C
Where the New York City winters aren’t bleeding me,
Em Am G C
Bleeding me ____ Going home.
Verse 5:
C
In the clearing stands the boxer
G/B Am
And a fighter by his trade
G
And he carries the reminders
G7
Of Every glove that layed him down
C
Or cut him till he cried out
G/B Am
In his anger and his shame,
G F
“I am leaving, I am leaving!”
C G F C
But the fighter still remains.
Chorus 3: (Same) Repeat X8
Outro: C C G/B Am G G7 C
C G/B Am G F F C G F C
