Asus    002230
Asus4/E 002235
Dsus    x00233
D5/A    x00235


[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


[Chorus]
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


[Chorus]
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


[Chorus]
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)
...