The Boxer
Paul Simon


C                                      C/B    Am
I am just a poor boy though my story's seldom told I have
G                              G7
squandered my resistance for a pocket full of mumbles, such are
C                      Am            G                 F
promises, all lies and jest, still a man hears what he wants to
                        C           G  G7  C
hear and disregards the rest, la da da

C                                                C/B    Am
When I left my home and my family, I was no more than a boy, in
    G                           G7
the company of strangers in the quiet of a railway station
C                      Am           G              F
running scared, laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters where
                  C           G              G7              C
the ragged people go, looking for the places only they would know

       Am          G
Lie la lie, lie la lie lie lie la lie
       Am          G                               C
Lie la lie, lie la lie lie lie la lie, la la la la lie


Asking only workman's wages I come looking for a job but I get no
offers, just a come-on from the whores on Seventh Avenue
I do declare, there were times when I was so lonesome
I took some comfort there, la da da da da da da da da da da


Refrain

        C                                        C/B   Am
And I'm laying out my winter clothes and wishing I was gone
      G              G7                           C
Going home where the New York City winters aren't bleeding me
Em           Am       G     C
  Leading me-e, going home


In the clearing stands a boxer and a fighter by his trade
And he carries a reminder of ev'ry glove that laid him down
Or cut him till he cried out in his anger and his shame
I am leaving, I am leaving, but the fighter still remains
La da da da da da da da da da da


Refrain  (repeat 8x)

|C    |  C/B Am  |G  F  |   C |G  G7  |C    |     |