C                                             Am
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     G  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   G6         C
Looking for the places only they would know

Am Em Am F G C
Lie la lie Lie la lie Lie la lie Lie la lie Lie 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  G7  G6  C

Am Em Am F G 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
Going home where the New York City winters aren't bleeding me
      Em    Am          G   C
Leading me, going home

          C                                               Am
In the clearing stands a boxer and a fighter by his trade
          G            G7  G6
And he carries a reminder ov ev'ry glove that laid him down
      C                                             Am
Or cut him till he cried out in his anger and his shame
      C           F
I am leaving, I am leaving
                         G     C
But the fighter still remains


Am Em Am F G C
Lie la lie ... etc