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: ...