Maintaining Law And Order chords by Phil Ochs

Capo I

Verse 1:

D                      Bm
The policemen of the city wear a uniform of blue
F#m            A
walkin' within the city's border
D
protecting all the people
              Bm
that's what they're paid to do,
F#m     A    D
maintaining law and order.

Verse 2:

D
You see them walkin' down the street
          Bm
swingin' around the club
F#m               A
pistols hangin' loosely from the holster
D
and the something of the soldier
            Bm
in the shedding of the blood
F#m     A    D
maintaining law and order.

Verse 3:
D
And at the police academy
             Bm
they're trainin' for the day
     F#m            A
where the rookies are training to be colder
D                       Bm
learning to be as hard as the hard world they face
F#m     A    D
maintaining law and order.

Verse 4:

D
Now in many Southern cities
               Bm
they don't need to use their hands
     F#m            A
oh, they throw them roughly in the corner
  D                        Bm
and tell the other prisoners "Here's a nigger-lovin' man"
   F#m     A    D
while maintaining law and order.

Verse 5:

D
Now I'll be the first to tell you
             Bm
that their pay is not the best
     F#m               A
for they all have a wife and must support her
    D                     Bm
so the gamblers and the prostitutes pay them the rest
      F#m   A    D
while they maintain law and order.

Verse 6:

D
These are bitter words of warning
            Bm
and they have to leave you sad
    F#m         A
cause a cop may save my life tomorrow
D                              Bm
but it's really for the good man that I'm singing about the bad
    F#m     A    D
who are maintaining law and order.

Verse 7:

D
Now they ask for greater power
            Bm
from the bottom to the top
   F#m          A
their demands daily growing bolder
  D                      Bm
but who maintain the police and who maintain the cops
      F#m   A      D