Key: G
Introduction: G C G D G C D G Em C D G C G
C G D
I was born and raised in Boston
G
A place you all know well
C D G
Brought up by honest parents
C D
The truth to you I'll tell
G C G D
Brought up by honest parents
G
And raised most tenderly
C D G Em
'Til I became a sporting lad
C D G C G D
At the age of twenty-three
G C G D
My character was taken
G
And I was sent to gaol
C D G
My friends they came and tried in vain
C D
To get me out on bail
G C G D
The jury found me guilty
G
And the clerk he wrote it down
C D G
The Judge he passed the sentence
Em C D G C G D
I was bound for Charlestown
G C G D
I can see my darling mother
G
Standing at the bar
C D G
Likewise my dear father
C D
Tearing out his hair
G C G D
Tearing out his grey old locks
G
As the tears came trickling down
C D G Em
"My son, my son what have you done
C D G C G D
To be sent to Charlestown?"
G C G D
They placed me on an eastbound train
G
One cold December day
C D G
And every station we passed through
C D
You could hear the people say
G C G D
"There goes the Boston Burglar
G
In cold chains he is bound
C D G
For one crime or another
Em C D G C G D
He is sent to Charlestown"
G C G D G C D G Em C G D C G
G C G D G C D G Em C D G C G D
G C G
All you who'd have your freedom
Take warning if you can
C D G
And don't go midnight rambling
C D
Or you'll break the laws of man
G C G D
And if you do you'll surely rue
G
And wind up just like me
C D G Em
Serving up full twenty years