The Boxer

Paul Simon

/ C - - - / - - - - /

I am just a poor boy, though my

/ C – C/B - / Am - - - /
 story's seldom told, I have

/ G - - - / - - - - /

squandered my resistance for a

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pocket full of mumbles such are promises

/ - - C/B - / Am - - - /
All lies and jests, still a

/ G - - - / F - - - /
 man hears what he wants to hear
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And disregards the rest.  Lie la

/ G - - - / - - - - /

lie lie lie la lie

/ F - - - / C - - - / - - - - /

/ - - - - / - - - - /

 

When I

/ - - - - / - - - - /
left my home and my family I was

/ C – C/B - / Am - - - /
no more than a boy, in the

/ G - - - / - - - - /
company of strangers, in the

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quiet of the railway station running scared

/ - - C/B - / Am - - - /
Laying low, seeking

/ G - - - / F - - - /

out the poorer quarters where the

/ - - - - / C - - - /
ragged people go looking

/ G - - - / F - - - / C - - - /
for the places only they would know

 

/ - - - - / - - - - /
Asking only workman's wages I come

/ C – C/B - / Am - - - /
looking for a job, But I get no

/ G - - - / - - - - /
 offers, Just a

/ F - - - / - - - - /
come-on from the whores on Seventh

/ C - - - / - - - - /

Avenue. 

/ - - C/B - / Am - - - /
I do declare, there were

/ G - - - / F - - - /

times when I was so lonesome

/ - - - - / C - - - /
I took some comfort there.  Lie la

/ G - - - / - - - - /
lie la lie lie lie
/ F - - - / C - - - / - - - - /

/ - - - - / - - - - /

 

Instrumental Verse

 

Chorus

 

/ C - - - / - - - - /

Then I'm laying out my winter clothes

/ - – C/B - / Am - - - /
And wishing I was gone, going

/ G - - - / - - - - / F - - - / - - - - /
home, where the New York City winters aren't

/ C - - - / - - - - /

bleeding me

/ Em - - - / - - - - / Am - - - / - - - - /
Bleeding me

/ G - - - / F - - - / - - - - /

going home

/ C - - - / - - - - /

/ - - - - / - - - - /

 

/ - - - - / - - - - /
In the clearing stands a boxer

/ C – C/B - / Am - - - /
And a fighter by his trade

/ G - - - / - - - - /
And he carries the reminders

/ F - - - / - - - - /
Of ev'ry glove that layed him down

/ C - - - / - - - - /
Or cut him till he cried out

/ C – C/B - / Am - - - /
In his anger and his shame

/ G - - - / F - - - /
"I am leaving, I am leaving"

/ - - - - / C - - - /
But the fighter still remains.
/ G - - - / F - - - /

 

/ C - - - / - - - - /

Lie la

 

 

lie
 

Instrumental Verse

This file is the author's own work and represents his interpretation of this song. It's intended solely for private study, scholarship or research.