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.