The Streets Of New York chords by The Wolfe Tones

Chords with lyrics

Tuning: Standard (E MajorE A augmentedA D MajorD G+G BB E MajorE)

intro:

G+G A minorAm C majorC D MajorD G+G D MajorD C majorC G+G

verse 1:

    G+G       A minorAm     C majorC       D MajorD
I was eighteen years old, when I went down to Dublin
    G+G     E minorEm     C majorC      D MajorD
With a fistful of money and a cartload of dreams
 G+G             A minorAm     C majorC      D MajorD
"Take your time", said me father "stop rushing like hell
  G+G        E minorEm     D7D7    G+G
And remember all is not what it seems to be
       D MajorD       E minorEm       C majorC      G+G
For there's fellows would cut you for the coat on your back
    C majorC       G+G      D MajorD
Or the watch that you got from your mother
     G+G      A minorAm     C majorC       D MajorD
So take care me young buck-o and mind yourself well
       G+G       D7D7     G+G
And will you give this wee note to me brother"

verse 2:

    D MajorD           C majorC      G+G
At the time Uncle Benjy was a policeman in Brooklyn
    D MajorD             C majorC     D MajorD
And me father the youngest looked after the farm
    G+G        A minorAm       C majorC      D MajorD
When a phone call from America said 'Send the lad over'
    G+G     E minorEm          C majorC   G+G
And the ould fella said sure it wouldn't do any harm
   C majorC              G+G
For I spoent my life working this dirty old ground
   C majorC              G+G
For a few pints of porter and the smell of a pound
            A minorAm        C majorC        D MajorD
And sure maybe there's something you'll learn or you'll see
      G+G       E minorEm      C majorC    G+G
And you can bring it back home, make it easy on me

verse 3:

        A minorAm      C majorC     D MajorD
So I landed at Kennedy and a big yellow taxi
G+G         E minorEm        C majorC        D MajorD
Carried me and my bags through the streets in the rain
G+G           A minorAm   C majorC       D MajorD
Well my poor heart was thumpin around with excitement
    G+G     E minorEm       D7D7     G+G
And I hardly even heard what the driver was saying
     D MajorD      E minorEm        C majorC      G+G
We came in the shore parkway to the flatlands in Brooklyn
    C majorC    E minorEm      D MajorD
To my uncle's apartment on East 53rd
   G+G     A minorAm     C majorC     D MajorD
I was feeling so happy I was humming a song
   G+G        D7D7    G+G
And I sang you're as "Free as a bird"

verse 4:

     D MajorD            C majorC       G+G
Well to shorten the story what I found out that day
     D MajorD         C majorC   G+G
Was that Benjy got shot in a uptown foray
  G+G      A minorAm    C majorC     D MajorD
And while I was flyng my way to New York
   G+G     E minorEm     D7D7    G+G
Poor Benjy was lying in a cold city morgue
    C majorC       D MajorD      G+G
Well I phoned up the ould fella, told him the news
     C majorC      D MajorD       G+G
I could tell he could hardly stand up in his shoes
          A minorAm     C majorC       D MajorD
And he wept as he told me, go ahead with the plan
   G+G    E minorEm      C majorC   G+G
And not to forget to be a proud Irishman

key change:

A augmentedA B minorBm D MajorD E MajorE

verse 5:

A augmentedA        B minorBm    D MajorD       E MajorE
So I went up to Nelly's beside Fordham Road
    A augmentedA      F# minorF#m     D MajorD      E MajorE
And I started to learn about lifting the load
    A augmentedA      B minorBm      D MajorD      E MajorE
But the heaviest thing that I carried that year
    A augmentedA       F# minorF#m      D MajorD      A augmentedA
Was the bitter sweet thoughts of my home town so dear
    E MajorE     F# minorF#m         D MajorD     A augmentedA
I went home that December 'cause the old fella died
    F# minorF#m     D MajorD     E MajorE
Had to borrow the money from Phil on the side
  A augmentedA        B minorBm     D MajorD       E MajorE
And all the bright flowers and grass couldn't hide
   A augmentedA      E MajorE     A augmentedA
The poor wasted face of my father

verse 6:

    E MajorE          D MajorD        A augmentedA
I sold off the old farmyard for what it was worth
  E MajorE         D MajorD      E MajorE
And into my bag stuck a handful of earth
    A augmentedA     B minorBm      D MajorD      E MajorE
Then I boarded a train and I caught me a plane
    A augmentedA      F# minorF#m    D MajorD   A augmentedA
And I found myself back in the U.S. again
     D MajorD            A augmentedA
It's been twenty-two years since I set foot in Dublin
   D MajorD           A augmentedA        E MajorE
The kids know to use the correct knife and fork
     A augmentedA    B minorBm       D MajorD       E MajorE
But I'll never forget the green grass and the rivers
   A augmentedA      F# minorF#m     D MajorD       A augmentedA
As I keep law and order in the streets of New York

outo:

A augmentedA B minorBm D MajorD E MajorE A augmentedA F# minorF#m D MajorD E MajorE

A augmentedA B minorBm D MajorD E MajorE A augmentedA F# minorF#m D MajorD A augmentedA