C5                                             A5
I am just a poor boy though my story's seldom told
                   G5
I have squandered my resistance 
      G5             G5                C5
For a pocket full of mumbles, such are promises
             A5            G5                 F5
All lies and jest, still a man hears what he wants to hear
                   C5     G5  G5  G5  C5
And disregards the rest


      C5                                                       A5
When I left my home and my family, I was no more than a boy
       G5
      In the company of strangers
       G5         G5               C5
In the quiet of a railway station, running scared
       A5           G5              F5
Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters
                        C5
Where the ragged people go
        G5              G5   G5         C5
Looking for the places only they would know


A5 G5 A5 G5 F5 C5
Lie la lie Lie la lie Lie la lie Lie la lie Lie la lie 
      C5                                                A5
Asking only workman's wages I come looking for a job
             G5
But I get no offers
       G5               G5                C5
Just a come-on from the whores on Seventh Avenue
       A5                G5                F5
I do declare, there were times when I was so lonesome
                    C5
I took some comfort there
G5                  G5  G5  C5
Lie lie lie lie la

Then I'm laying out my winter clothes and wishing I was gone
Going home where the New York City winters aren't bleeding me
Leading me, going home.

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

Lie la lie ... etc.