[Verse]
C 
I am just a poor boy 
          C       Em      Am 
Though my story's seldom told 
       G 
I have squandered my resistance 
      G7             G6               C 
For a pocket full of mumbles such are promises 
C    G       Am 
All lies and jests 
        G                 F 
Still a man hears what he wants to hear 
                   C    C 
And disregards the rest
[Verse]
       C 
When I left my home and my family 
      C       Em      Am 
I was no more than a boy 
       G 
In the company of strangers 
       G7           G6                  C 
In the quiet of the railway station running scared 
 G      Am           G               F 
Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters 
                        C 
Where the ragged people go 
         G             F               C 
Looking for the places only they would know
[Chorus]
        Am             G 
Lie-la-lie      Lie-la-lie la lie-la-lie 
       Am              F            G                   C 
Lie la lie      Lie-la-lie la la la la lie la la la la lie
[Verse]
       C 
Asking only workman's wages 
       C       Em     Am 
I come looking for a job 
             G 
But I get no offers, 
       G7               G6                C 
Just a come-on from the whores on Seventh Avenue 
  Em      Am                G                   F 
I do declare, there were times when I was so lonesome 
                    C 
I took some comfort there
[Verse]
         C 
Then I'm laying out my winter clothes 
    C       Em      Am 
And wishing I was gone 
      G 
Going home 
          G7            G6             C 
Where the New York City winters aren't bleeding me 
Em       Am           G 
Bleeding me, going home
[Chorus]
C               C   Em   Am     G 
La   laaa       La  la  laa     Ahhh   
C               C   Em   Am     G 
La   laaa       La  la  laa     Ahhh 
F        C 
Laa la la la
[Solo]
G/B Am G F C Em Am G F C G F C
[Bridge]
       C 
In the clearing stands a boxer 
      C       G      Am 
And a fighter by his trade 
       G 
And he carries the reminders 
   G7               G6 
Of ev'ry glove that layed him down 
   C 
Or cut him till he cried out 
             Em         Am 
In his anger and his shame 
      G              F 
"I am leaving, I am leaving" 
                        C 
But the fighter still remains
[Chorus]
        Am             G 
Lie-la-lie      Lie-la-lie la lie-la-lie 
       Am              F               G 
Lie la lie      Lie-la-lie la la la la lie la la  
        Am             G 
Lie-la-lie      Lie-la-lie la lie-la-lie 
       Am              F               G 
Lie la lie      Lie-la-lie la la la la lie la la  
        Am             G 
Lie-la-lie      Lie-la-lie la lie-la-lie 
       Am              F               G         C 
Lie la lie      Lie-la-lie la la la la lie la la la la lie