Lyrics:

I am just a poor boy tho' my story's seldom told
I have squandered my resistance
For a pocket full of mumbles, such are promises

All lies in jest, still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest

hmm hmm hmmm

When I left my home and my family, was no more than a boy
In the company of strangers In the quiet of the railway station running scared

Laying low seeking out the poorer quarters
Where the ragged people go
Looking for the places only they would know

lie la lie ...

Asking only workman's wages I come looking for a job
But I get no offers
Just a come on from the whores on seventh avenue
I do declare there were times when I was so lonesome
I took some comfort there
la la la ...

lie la lie ...

And I am 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 the reminders
Of every glove that laid him down or cut him til he cried out
In his anger and shame, I am leaving, I am leaving,
But the fighter still remains hmmhmmhmm

lie la lie