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,hmmmm 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 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 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 leavingz but the fighter still remains Li la li