Track: The Boxer
Artist: Paul Simon
Tabbed by: Rikki Starrett
I've had a good look this time, and nobody has got this one "spot on".
I pick the chords for my version, but they can be strummed just as easily.
Depending on your preference/ability.
TUNE ALL STRINGS DOWN A HALF-STEP/SEMITONE (OPTIONAL)
[Chords used]
C .... 332010
G/B .. X2000X
Am ... X02210
G .... 320003
G7 ... 320001
F .... 133211
Em ... 022000
[Intro]
C (picked or strummed - listen to the song and it's simple enough)
[Verse 1]
C
I am just a poor boy
G/B Am
Though my story's seldom told,
G
I have squandered my resistance
G7 C
For a pocket full of mumbles such are promises.
G/B Am
All lies and jest,
G F
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
C G C
And disregards the rest.
[Verse 2]
C
When I left my home and my family
G/B Am
I was no more than a boy
G
In the company of strangers,
G7 C
In the quiet of a railway station running scared.
G/B Am G F
Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters
C
Where the ragged people go
G F C
Looking for the places only they would know.
[Chorus 1]
Am Em
Lie la lie, lie la lie lie, lie la lie,
Am
Lie la lie,
G7 C
Lie la lie la lie la lie la la la la lie.
[Verse 3]
C
Asking only workmans wages
G/B Am
I come looking for a job
G
But I get no offers,
G7 C
Just a come-on from the whores on Seventh Avenue.
G/B Am G F
I do declare, there were times when I was so lonesome
C G C
I took some comfort there, oeh la la la, la la la laa.
[Musical bridge]
C C G/B Am G G7 C
C G/B Am G F F C G F C
[Verse 4]
C
Now the years are rolling by me,
G/B Am
they are rockin' even me
G
I am older than I once was,
G7 C
and younger than I'll be, that's not unusual
Am G F C
No it isn't strange, after changes upon changes, we are more or less the same
G F C
After changes we are more or less the same.........
[Chorus 2]
Am Em
Lie la lie, lie la lie lie, lie la lie,
Am
Lie la lie,
G7 C
Lie la lie la lie la lie la la la la lie.
[Verse 5]
C
Then I'm laying out my winter clothes
G/B Am
And wishing I was gone,
G
Going home
G7 C
Where the New York City winters aren't bleeding me,
Em Am G C
Bleeding me ____ Going home.
[Verse 6]
C
In the clearing stands the boxer
G/B Am
And a fighter by his trade
G
And he carries the reminders
G7
Of Every glove that layed him down
C
Or cut him till he cried out
G/B Am
In his anger and his shame,
G F
"I am leaving, I am leaving!"
C G F C
But the fighter still remains.
[Chorus 3] Repeat X8
Am Em
Lie la lie, lie la lie lie, lie la lie,
Am
Lie la lie,
G7 C
Lie la lie la lie la lie la la la la lie.
[Outro]
C C G/B Am G G7 C
C G/B Am G F F C G F C
