Ever seen a blind man cross the road
trying to make the other sideEver seen a young girl growing old
trying to make herself a bride So what becomes of you my love
When they have finally stripped you ofThe handbags and the gladrags
That your Grandad had to sweat so you could buyBabyOnce I was a young man
and all I thought I had to do was smileYou are still a young girl

I was born and raised the only son of a lawyer
till I was approximately the age of four or perhaps five
I lost both my mother and my father
Killed in a fire way up on the fourteenth floor
Struck down by the time I was ten by an illness
which robbed me of the sight of the morning sunAnd that ain't all
A homeless child for the next five years

I am a man of constant sorrowI've seen trouble all my days
I'll say goodbye to ColoradoWhere I was born and prob'ly raised
Your mother says I am a strangerMy face you'll never see no more
But there's one promise darlingI'll see you on God's golden shore
Through this open world I'm about to rambleThrough ice, snow, sleet and rain

Everywhere I hear the sound
of marching, charging feet boy'Cause the summer's here
and the time is right for fighting in the street boyHey think the time is right
for a palace revolutionWhere I live the game to play
is just to compromise my solutionWhat can a poor boy do
except to sing for a rock 'n' roll band'Cause you see bein' London town

I wouldn't change a thing if I could live it all againAh listen
It's funny you know when you sit down and think about what you had
About the friends you used to know What happened, where did they all go
Can you remember happy hours spent drinkin' and thinkin'
We thought we could change the worldAnd we never, never, never, never, never
never thought we could get much older then

Listen hereYou don't have to love me always Cindy
You don't need to see me every day of the week
You don't have to notice my brand new shoes
But please, please say hello some timeYou know I've tried to impress you Cindy
I even lent ya my library book
I guess you forgot, good God you soon forgot it woman
I don't mind but please say hello some time

Found my love by the gaswork croft
Dreamed a dream by the old canalKissed my girl by the factory wall
Dirty old town, dirty old townI heard a siren from the dock
Saw a train set the night on fireSmelled the spring on the sulfured wind
Dirty old town, whoa-oh, dirty old townWe're goin' to take a good sharp axe
Shining steel tempered in the fireAnd we'll chop you down like an old dead tree

Did you ever stand and shiver while looking at a freezing river
Have you froze to the bone with just a coat to keep you warm
to keep you from a howlin' wind to keep you from a howlin' windNow listen
Have you perished in the drizzling rain
Tried to light ... a lift but all in vainWith your sock on your head
and that old coat on your backto keep you from the drizzlin' rain