D                                           Bm
The policemen of the city wear a uniform of blue
F#m                       A
walkin' within the city's border
D
protecting all the people
                            Bm
that's what they're paid to do,
F#m         A       D
maintaining law and order.

[Verse 2]

D
You see them walkin' down the street
                    Bm
swingin' around the club
F#m                              A
pistols hangin' loosely from the holster
D
and the something of the soldier
                       Bm
in the shedding of the blood
F#m         A       D
maintaining law and order.

[Verse 3]
D
And at the police academy
                         Bm
they're trainin' for the day
          F#m                        A
where the rookies are training to be colder
D                                             Bm
learning to be as hard as the hard world they face
F#m         A       D
maintaining law and order.

[Verse 4]

D
Now in many Southern cities
                             Bm
they don't need to use their hands
         F#m                       A
oh, they throw them roughly in the corner
    D                                                Bm
and tell the other prisoners "Here's a nigger-lovin' man"
      F#m         A       D
while maintaining law and order.

[Verse 5]

D
Now I'll be the first to tell you
                          Bm
that their pay is not the best
         F#m                              A
for they all have a wife and must support her
       D                                         Bm
so the gamblers and the prostitutes pay them the rest
           F#m      A       D
while they maintain law and order.

[Verse 6]

D
These are bitter words of warning
                        Bm
and they have to leave you sad
        F#m                  A
cause a cop may save my life tomorrow
D                                                           Bm
but it's really for the good man that I'm singing about the bad
        F#m         A       D
who are maintaining law and order.

[Verse 7]

D
Now they ask for greater power
                       Bm
from the bottom to the top
      F#m                   A
their demands daily growing bolder
    D                                            Bm
but who maintain the police and who maintain the cops
           F#m      A           D
while they maintain law, law and order.