I am just a poor boy though my story's seldom told I have squandered my resistance for a pocketful of mumbles Such are promises, all lies and jest Still a man hears what he wants to hear And disregards the rest, hmmm When I left my home and my family, I's no more than a boy In the company of strangers In the quiet of the railway station, runnin' scared, laying low Seeking out the poorer quarters, where the ragged people go Looking for the places only they would know. Li la li Li la li Li la li Li la li Asking only workman's wages, I come lookin' for a job But I get no offers Just a come-on from the whores on 7th Avenue I do declare, there were times when I was so lonesome I took some comfort there La la la Li la li Li la li Li la li Li la li Li la li Li la li Li la li Li la li Li la li La, la, la, la, la, la, la Instrumental And I'm laying out my winter clothes and wishing I was gone Goin' home Where the New York City winters aren't bleedin' me, leadin' me Goin' home In the clearing stands a boxer, and a fighter by his trade And he carries the reminders of every glove that laid him down or cut him 'Til he cried out in his anger and his shame I am leaving, I am leaving, but the fighter still remains Still remains Li la li Li la li Li la li Li la li Li la li Li la li Li la li Li la li Li la li