The Boxer

lyrics by Simon & Garfunkel

I'm just a poor boy though my story’s seldom told
I have squandered my resistance for a pocketful of mumbles
such are promises: all lies and jests
still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest

When I left my home and my family I was no more than a boy
In the company of strangers in the quiet of the railway station

Runnin’ scared Laying low
seeking out the poorer quarters, where the ragged people go
Looking for the places only they would know.

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

Now the years are rolling by me they are rockin’ evenly
I am older than I once was and younger than I'll be
that's not unusual, no it isn't strange
after changes upon changes we are more or less the same
After changes we are more or less the same

Then I'm laying out my winter clothes and wishing I was gone,
goin’ home where the new york city winters aren’t bleedin’ me
leading me to going home

In the clearing stands a boxer, and a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders of every glove that laid him down or cut him
’til he cried out in his anger and his shame; "I am leaving, I am leaving!"
but the fighter still remains