Originally in B, probably as C tuned down, I play in C
C |
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/C | |
All lies and | jest, still a | man hears what he | wants to hear |
C | G7 | 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 | |
Lookin’ | for the places | only | they would | know |
Am | G | Am | |
Lie la | lie, lie la | lie la lie la lie, lie la | lie |
G | F | C | |
Lie la | lie la la la | lie, lie la la la la | lie |
C |
C | |
Asking | only workman’s wages I come |
Am | G | |
Looking for a | job but I get no | offers |
G7 | G6 | C | |
Just a | come-on from the | whores on Seventh | Avenue |
Am | G | |
I do de | clare, there were | times when I was |
F/C | C |
So lonesome I took some comfort | there |
G7 | |
La la | la la la la la |
C |
Solo if appropriate on verse chords, followed by an extra chord that
I skip if there’s neither big harmonies nor solo
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 | G7 | C |
Leading meee | eeee going | home |
C |
C | |
In the | clearing stands a boxer and a |
Am | |
Fighter by his | trade |
G | G7 | |
And he | carries a reminder of | ev’ry |
G6 | |
Glove that | laid him down |
C | |
Or | cut him till he cried out in his |
Am | |
Anger and his | shame |
G | F/C | |
I am | leaving, I am | leaving |
F/C | C | G | |
But the | fighter still re | mains, mmm mmm | mmm |
C |
This is like four minutes in the original, if no harmonies, keep
it to one chorus.
Am | G | Am | |
Lie la | lie, lie la | lie la lie la lie, lie la | lie |
G | F | Am | |
Lie la | lie la la la la, lie | la la la la | lie |
Am | G | Am | |
Lie la | lie, lie la | lie la lie la lie, lie la | lie |
G | F | C |
Lie la lie la la la la, lie | la la la la | lie |