Dead End Street Chords by Lou Rawls

_ _ _ [Am] _ _ _ _ [C] _
[D] _ _ _ _ _ _ [Am] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [B] _ _
[Am] _ _ _ [D] _ I was born in a city that [Am] they call the Windy City.
[D] _ _ They call [A] it the Windy City because [Am] of the hawk, _ [D] the hawk, the [Am] almighty hawk, [D] Mr.
Wind.
Takes care of plenty [Am] of business around [D] wintertime. _ _
_ [Am] _ The [D] place that I lived in was [Am] on a street that [D] _ happened to be [Am] one of the dead end streets
[D] where there was nothing to [Am] block the [D] wind, the elements, _ [Am] nothing to buffer them from
[D] falling, meaning to keep them from knocking my [Am] bed down.
_ [D] I mean really, stocking and filling.
[Am] _ When the [D] boiler would bust and the heat was gone, [Am] I had to get [D] fully dressed before _ _ [Am] I
could get on the train.
Of course I couldn't put on my [D] blue lashes because they had buckles on them and my folks
didn't [Am] play that.
They said, don't you tear up my [D] bedclothes with them blue lashes on.
_ [Am] But I was [D] fortunate.
_ As soon as I was big enough to [Am] get a job and save enough [D] money, get a ticket, [Am] catch anything,
I split.
[D] _ _ I said, one [Am] day I'm going to return [D] and I'm going to straighten it all out. _
[Am] _ I'm about [D] ready to go back now.
So I thought I'd tell [Am] you about it.
_ _ [D] _ _ _ _ [Am] _
They say this is a big rich [Dm] town, [Am] but I live [Dm] in the poorest [Am] part.
[Dm] _ _ [Am]
I [Dm] know I'm on [Am] a dead end street in a city [Dm] without a heart.
[Am] _ _ I learned [Dm] to fight [Am] before I was [Dm] six.
[Am] The only way I could get along.
[Dm] _ [Am] _
When you're raised on a dead end [Dm] street, [Am] you gotta be tough [Dm] and [Am] strong.
All the guys [G] I know are getting in [Am] trouble.
[D] That's how it's always [Am] been.
When the odds [Dm] are all against you, [Am] how can you [Dm] win?
Yeah, [Am] _
yeah, _ yeah.
[D] _ _ _
[Am] I'm gonna _ _ _ [D] push _
_ [Am] _ _ [Dm] my [Am] way out of [Dm] here.
[Am] Even though I can't say when. _
[Dm] [Am] But I'm gonna get off of this dead end [Dm] street [Am] and I ain't ever gonna come back [Dm] [Am] again. _
_ _ _ _ [C] [D] Never.
No, no, [Am] no.
_ _ _ [D] _ _ _
_ [Am] _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
[Dm] And I [Am] guess _ [Dm] _ _ _ [Am] _
I'm gonna [Dm] push my [Am] way out of [Dm] here.
[Am] Even though I can't say when. _
But I'm gonna get off of this dead [D] end street [Am]
and I ain't ever gonna come [Dm] back [Am] again.
No, no, no.
I ain't [C] gonna come [D] back to this dead end street no more.
No, [F] cause I'm gonna get me a [Am] job.
_ _ [Bm] I'm gonna save [Am] my dough.
_ _ [D] _ _
Get away [Am] from here.
_ [Bm] I ain't gonna come back [Am] no more.
_ [D] _ I'm proud of [Am] my dead end street.
_ [D] _ _ I wanna get out in the [Am] world and learn from.
[D] _ _ _ _
_ [Am] _ _ _ [D] I wanna start using my [Am] mind.
_ _ [D] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [N] _ _