Wolfe Tones, The Streets Of New York (1964)
^{Key: :[Bb] (w: Liam Reilly)}

INTRO: [Bb] [Eb] [Bb] [Eb] [Bb] [F] [Bb]

VERSE 1:
[F] I was [Bb] eighteen years [Eb] old, when I [Bb] went down to [Eb] Dublin
With a [Bb] fistful of [Gm] money, and a [Eb] cartload of [F] dreams
Take your [Bb] time, said me [Cm] father, stop [Bb] rushing like [Eb] hell
And [Bb] remember all is [Gm] not, what it [F] seems to [Bb] be

VERSE 2:
For there's [F] fellows would [Bb] cut you, for the [Eb] coat on your [Bb] back
Or the watch that you got from your [F] mother, so take [Bb] care me young [Cm] buck-o
And [Bb] mind yourself [Eb] well, and will you [Bb] give this wee [F] note, to me [Bb] brother

VERSE 3:
At the [F] time Uncle Benjy, was a [Eb] policeman in [Bb] Brooklyn
And me [F] father the [Cm] youngest, looked [Eb] after the [F] farm
When a [Bb] phone call from [Cm] America said: [Bb] send the lad [Eb] over
And the [Bb] ould fella [Gm] said, sure it wouldn't [Eb] do [F] any [Bb] harm

VERSE 4:
For I [Eb] spent my life working, this [Bb] dirty old ground
For a [Eb] few pints of porter, [F] and the [Bb] smell of a pound
And sure [Bb] maybe, there's [Cm] something, you'll [Bb] learn or you'll [Eb] see
And you can [Bb] bring it back [Gm] home, make it [F] easy on [Bb] me

VERSE 5:
[F] So I [Bb] landed at [Eb] Kennedy, and a [Bb] big yellow [Eb] taxi
Carried [Bb] me and my [Gm] bags, through the [Eb] streets and the [F] rain
Well my [Bb] poor heart was [Cm] thumping, [Bb] around with ex-[Eb]-citement
And I [Bb] hardly even [Gm] heard, what the [F] driver was [Bb] saying

VERSE 6:
[Bb] We came [F] in the Shore [Gm] Parkway, to the [Eb] flatlands in [Bb] Brooklyn
To my [Eb] uncle's [Bb] apartment, on [F] East 53rd, I was [Bb] feeling so [Cm] happy
I was [Bb] humming a [Eb] song, and I [Bb] sang you're as [F] free as a [Bb] bird

VERSE 7:
Well to [F] shorten the story, what I [Eb] found out that [Bb] day
Was that [F] Benjy got shot down, in an [Eb] uptown [Bb] foray
And while I was [Cm] flying, my [Bb] way to New [Eb] York
Poor [Bb] Benjy was [Gm] lying in a [F] cold city [Bb] morgue

VERSE 8:
Well I [Eb] phoned up the ould fella, [Bb] told him the news
I could [Eb] tell he could hardly, stand [Bb] up in his shoes
And he [Bb] wept as he [Eb] told me, go [Bb] ahead with the [Eb] plan
And [Bb] not to [Gm] forget, to be a [F] proud [Bb] Irishman

VERSE 9:
So I [Bb] went up to [Cm] Nelly's, [Bb] beside Fordham [Eb] Road
And I [Bb] started to [Gm] learn, about [Eb] lifting the [F] load
But the [Bb] heaviest [Cm] thing, that I [Bb] carried that [Eb] year
Was the [Bb] bitter sweet [Gm] thoughts, of my [F] home town so [Bb] dear

VERSE 10:
I went [F] home that [Gm] December, 'cause the [Eb] old fella [Bb] died
Had to borrow the money, from [F] Phil on the side
And [Bb] all the bright [Cm] flowers, and [Bb] grass couldn't [Eb] hide
The [Bb] poor wasted [F] face of me [Bb] father

VERSE 11:
I sold [F] up the old [Eb] farmyard, for [Bb] what it was worth
And [F] into my bag stuck, a [Eb] handful of [F] earth
Then I [Bb] boarded a [Cm] train, and I [Bb] caught me a [Eb] plane
And I [Bb] found myself [Gm] back, in the [F] US [Bb] again

VERSE 12:
It's been [Eb] twenty-two years, since I [Bb] set foot in Dublin
Me [Eb] kids know to use, the [Bb] correct knife and [F] fork
But I'll [Bb] never for-[Eb]-get, the green [Bb] grass and the [Eb] rivers
As I [Bb] keep law and [Gm] order, in the [F] streets of New [Bb] York