The Boxer Chords

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
X