Lawless Avenues

Intro 
D    Dsus  D5/A   G/D    A   D 
G    A 

verse 1 
D 
  Papa hit him, Mama kissed him 
G                A 
  Made him go to Catechism 
D                                     G          A Asus Asus4/E 
  With the sisters in their black and white 
D 
  And all the time those city streets 
G                      A            D 
  Were teaching him another kind of wisdom 
                          G                      A Asus Asus4/E 
  When to run and when to fight 
D 
  Up at the playground after school   
G              A                   Bm            Bm A G 
  Listening to tales of the prison system 
            A       D       G      D             A Asus Asus4/E 
  And those lawless avenues 


[Refrão]
D                         G                      A Asus Asus4/E 
  Dawn on a half darkened street 
D                       G                        A Asus Asus4/E 
  A child's footsteps repeat 
D 
  And something there turns them 
G            A       D              G            A Asus Asus4/E 
  Down those lawless avenues 

verse 2 
D 
  Silent Joe went down so bad 
G                      A                   D 
  He was the strongest fighter the avenues had 
                                     G           A Asus Asus4/E 
  Stabbed in the chest--he went down swinging 
D 
  Someone from some other part of town 
G             A              D 
  No one even seen it coming down 
                                     G           A Asus Asus4/E 
  And you don't hear no church bells ringing 
             G 
  And in the violent night the police light 
                                 Bm     G 
  Sweeps across the lots and the yards 
                  A       D            G         A Asus Asus4/E 
  Following those lawless avenues 


[Refrão]
D                         G                      A Asus Asus4/E 
  Down on a half darkened street 
D                      G                         A Asus Asus4/E 
  Armies advance and retreat 
D 
  And struggle to take control 
G            A       D            G              A Asus Asus4/E 
  From those lawless avenues 
   
verse 3 
D 
  Manuelito's sister Rosa 
G                 A              D 
  Ran away with a surfer from Hermosa 

  Manuelito, cuida a Rosa 
G          A              D            G         A Asus Asus4/E 
  Hay mira como estan las cosas! 
D 
  But who could blame her after she saw 
G           A                         D 
  Every boy die who could have gotten close to her 

  Rosa es joven u solo quiere 
G        A           D 
  Ver la belleza del mundo 
                                                           G 
  Manuel said-- "You gotta fight for what you want in this life" 
                   A               D 
  Just before they shipped him overseas to 'Nam 

  Otra guerra sin razon 
G                 A 
  Otra guerra sin fin, sin honor 
D 
  And she was fighting to understand 
G                   A                Bm 
  When they shipped Manuelito's body home 
                      G  A    G 
  All she heard was-  one more shot 
               A       D 
  Echoing down lawless avenues 


Bridge 
       G                 D     G 
  Hoy amigo,   tal igual como ayer 
G                A         D 
  La lucha en el barrio no cambia 
           G                 D       G 
  Nuestros hijos son los que han de crecer 
G                        A            D 
  Por ley de la calle, viviendo entre abrazos 
        A 
  Y chingazos 

D                         G                     A Asus Asus4/E 


[Refrão]
 
D                         G                     A Asus Asus4/E 
  Down on a half darkened street 
D                            G                  A Asus Asus4/E 
  Fathers' and sons' lives repeat 
D 
  And something there turns them 
G            A       D        G                 A Asus Asus4/E 
  Down those lawless avenues 


Outro 

D                         G               A 
  Down on a half darkened street   (En el calor de la calle) 
D                         G                A 
  Down on a half darkened street   (Buscan valor en la calle) 
D                         G               A 
  Down on a half darkened street   (Hasta final de la calle) 
...