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.
