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The Boxer
Paul Simon
This is a simplified version of the song that I created for a 6-year-old student. It's played on just the 6th string. Instead of chord names, only the 6th string fret number is provided.
Playing a bass line on the 6th string is the easiest way to play a song on guitar--perfect for total beginners or kids who want to sing and play at the same time.
5 (2)
I am just a poor boy, though my
5 2
story's seldom told, I have
0 (2)
squandered my resistance for a
10 (2) 5 (2)
pocket full of mumbles such are promises
5
2
All lies and jests, still a
0 10
man hears what he wants to hear
10 5
And disregards the rest. Lie la
0 (2)
lie lie lie la lie
/ 10 - - - / 5 - - - / - - - - / - - - - / - - - - /
5 (2)
When I left my home and my family I was
5 2
no more than a boy, in the
0 (2)
company of strangers, in the
10
(2)
5 (2)
quiet of the railway station running scared
5
2
Laying low, seeking
0 10
out the poorer quarters where the
10 5
ragged people go looking
0 10 5 (2)
for the places only they would know
CHORUS:
2 (2)
Lie la lie, Lie la
0 (2)
lie lie lie la lie, Lie la
2 (2)
lie. Lie la
10 0
lie lie lie la lie, La la lie la
5 (4)
lie
5
(2)
Asking only workman's wages I come
5 2
looking for a job, But I get no
0 (2)
offers, Just a
10
(2)
5 (2)
come-on from the bores on Seventh Avenue.
5
2
I do declare, there were
0 10
times when I was so lonesome
10 5
I took some comfort there. Lie la
0 (2)
lie lie lie la lie
/ 10 - - - / 5 - - - / - - - - / - - - - / - - - - /
Instrumental Verse
Chorus
5 (2)
Then I'm laying out my winter clothes
5 2
And wishing I was gone, going
0 (2)
home, where the
10 (2) 5 (2)
New York City winters aren't bleeding me
9
(2) 2 (2)
Bleeding me
0 10 (2)
going home
/ 5 - - - / - - - - / - - - - / - - - - /
5 (2)
In the clearing stands a boxer
5 2
And a fighter by his trade
0 (2)
And he carries the reminders
10 (2)
5 (2)
Of every glove that layed him down or cut him till he cried out
5 2
In his anger and his shame
0 10
"I am leaving, I am leaving"
10
5
But the fighter still remains.
/ 0 - - - / 10 - - - / 5 - - - / - - - - /
Lie la
Ending Chorus x4
2 (2)
lie, Lie la
0 (2)
lie lie lie la lie, Lie la
2 (2)
lie. Lie la
10 0
lie lie lie la lie, La la lie la
lie
Instrumental Verse, End on 5
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.
