Dm 
A tenement, a dirty street 
C 
Walked and worn by shoeless feet 
Dm 
Inside it's long and so complete 
C                       G7 
Watched by a shivering sun 
Dm 
Old eyes in a small child's face 
C 
Watching as the shadows race 
Dm 
Through walls and cracks and leave no trace 
C                               G7 
And daylight's brightness shuns 
 
Dm                      C 
The days of Pearly Spencer 
Dm              C    Dm 
The race is almost run 
 
Dm 
Nose pressed hard on frosted glass 
C 
Gazing as the swollen mass 
Dm 
On concrete fields where grows no grass 
C               G7 
Stumbles blindly on 
Dm 
Iron trees smother the air 
C 
But withering they stand and stare 
Dm 
Through eyes that neither know nor care 
C                       G7 
Where the grass is gone 
 
 
Dm                      C 
The days of Pearly Spencer 
Dm              C    Dm 
The race is almost run 
 
Dm 
Pearly where's your milk white skin 
C 
What's that stubble on your chin 
Dm 
It's buried in the rot gut gin 
C                       G7 
You played and lost not won 
Dm 
You played a house that can't be beat 
C 
Now look your head's bowed in defeat 
Dm 
You walked too far along the street 
C                       G7 
Where only rats can run 
 
Dm                      C 
The days of Pearly Spencer 
Dm              C    Dm 
The race is almost run 
Dm                      C 
The days of Pearly Spencer 
Dm              C    Dm 
The race is almost run 
Dm              C    Dm 
The race is almost run 
 
Dm 
A tenement, a dirty street 
C 
Remember worn and shoeless feet 
Dm 
Remember how you stood to beat 
C                       G7 
The way your life had gone 
Dm 
So Pearly don't you shed more tears 
C 
For those best forgotten years 
Dm 
Those tenements are memories 
C                       G7 
Of where you've risen from 
 
Dm                      C 
The days of Pearly Spencer 
Dm              C    Dm 
The race is almost run