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 the 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:
[ Tab from: https://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/p/paul_simon/boxer_crd_ver_2.html ]
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, la la la la la.
Musical bridge:
C, C G/B Am, G, G7, C
C G/B Am, G F, F C, G F, C
Chorus 2: (Same as chorus one)
Verse 4:
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 5:
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: (Same) Repeat X8
Outro:
C, C G/B Am, G, G7, C
C G/B Am, G F, F C, G F, C
