E                                                        A 
1. When I was nine I learned survival, taught myself not to care,
  F#                                                    Bm 
    I was my single good companion, taking my comfort there.
     G                        C  
    Up in my room I planned my conquests,
    D                 Bm            G           C  
    on my own, never asked for a helping hand,
    D                             G  
    no one would understand.
    E                                   Am 
    I never asked the pair who fought below,
                          Am    - Cm ? G   
    just in case they said ?no?.

     E                                                   A
2. Pity the child who has ambition, knows what he wants to do,
       F#                                                 Bm
    knows that he'll never fit the system others expect him to.
     G                             C
    Pity the child who knew his parents,
    D                            Bm            G           C
    saw their faults, saw their love die before his eyes,
     D                             G
    pity the child that?s wise.
     E                                          Am
    He never asked, did I cause your distress,
                          Am    - Cm      
    just in case they said ?yes?.

        G                             F
    When I was twelve my father moved out,
                                      C 
    left with a whimper not with a shout.
    G                                          F 
    I didn't miss him , he made it perfectly clear,
                                C 
    I was a fool, and probably queer.
    Cm  
    Fool that I was, I thought this would bring
                     F                Cm 
    those he had left closer together.
    G 
    She made her move the moment he crawled away,
              Am      Cm       G             Am     Cm       G
    I was the last the woman told, she never let her bed get cold,
                  Am    Cm       G
    someone moved in, I shut my door,
                Am       Cm                       G
    someone to treat her just the same way as before.

    E                                                   A 
3. I took the road of least resistance, I had my game to play,
   F#                                                    Bm
    I had the skill, and more - the hunger - easy to get away.
     G                   C
    Pity the child with no such weapons,
     D              Bm               G       C
    no defense, no escape from the ties that bind,
     D                  G
    always a step behind.
    E                                   Am
    I never called to tell her all I'd done,
                  Am    - Cm ~ F - Cm ? G
    I was only her son.

      E                                                  A 
4. Pity the child, but not forever, not if he stays that way,
    F#                                                Bm
    he can get all he ever wanted, if he's prepared to pay.
     G                        C 
    Pity instead the careless mother,
    D                 Bm                 G       C 
    what she missed, what she lost when she let me go,
           D           Bm       - E
    and I wonder, does she know ?
   E7                                           Am
    I wouldn't call, a crazy thing to do,
                                 - Am   Cm          + G - F - C - G 3x
    just in case she said,           who?