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...
(Instrumental bridge)
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 leaving, but the fighter still remains.
Li la li...Don't you get ahead of me
and I won't leave you behind
if you get unhappy
You've got to show me a sign
there's no love like lost love
and no pain like a broken heart
there's no love like you and me
and no loss like us apart
promises, promise is
only a word
and when softly spoken
is never heard
and a heart
is not a stone
and is fragile
is fragile when alone
by my side
by my side
won't you be by my side
by my side
by my side
won't you be by my side
my care for you
is from the ground up to the sky
it's over under up above and
down below and to the side
there's no use in pretending
no use in saving face
for my love is never ending
and you are my saving grace
by my side
by my side
won't you be by my side
by my side
by my side
won't you be by my side