"The Boxer" is a song written by
Paul Simon and recorded by the American music duo
Simon & Garfunkel from their fifth and final
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
, ''
Bridge over Troubled Water'' (1970). Produced by the duo and
Roy Halee, it was released as a standalone single on March 21, 1969, but included on the album nine months later (at the time, songs that had been released this far ahead were rarely included on the next studio album). The song is a
folk rock ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...
that variously takes the form of a first-person lament as well as a third-person sketch of a
boxer. The lyrics are largely autobiographical and partially inspired by the
Bible and were written during a time when Simon felt he was being unfairly criticized. The song's lyrics discuss
poverty
Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...
and
loneliness. It is particularly known for its plaintive
refrain, in which they sing 'lie-la-lie', accompanied by a heavily
reverbed snare drum.
"The Boxer" was the follow-up to one of the duo's most successful singles, "
Mrs. Robinson". It peaked at number seven on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100. It performed well internationally, charting within the top 10 in nine countries, peaking highest in the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
,
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
, and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
.
Creation and recording
The original recording of the song is one of the duo's most highly
produced and took over 100 hours to record. The recording was performed at multiple locations, including
St. Paul's Chapel (Columbia University) in New York City and
Columbia studios in
Nashville
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
and mixed on two eight-track recorders running in synchrony.
The version originally released by the duo features an instrumental melody played in unison on
pedal steel guitar by
Curly Chalker and
piccolo trumpet. The song also features a
bass harmonica, played by
Charlie McCoy, heard during the second and final verses.
In a 2008 edition of ''
Fretboard Journal'',
Fred Carter Jr. recounts to interviewer Rich Kienzle:
I had a baby Martin, which is a 000-18, and when we started the record in New York with Roy Halee, the engineer, and Paul imonwas playin' his Martin—I think it's a D-18 and he was tuned regular—he didn't have the song totally written lyrically, but he had most of the melody. And so all I was hearin' was bits and pieces while he was doin' his fingerpicking... I think he was fingerpicking in an open C. I tried two or three things and then picked up the baby Martin, which was about a third above his guitar, soundwise.
And I turned down the first string to a D, and tuned up the bass string to a G, which made it an open-G tuning, except for the fifth string, which was standard. Did some counter fingerpicking with him, just did a little backward roll, and lucked into a lick. And that turned into that little roll, and we cut it, just Paul and I, two guitars. Then we started to experiment with some other ideas and so forth. At the end of the day, we were still on the song. Garfunkel was amblin' around the studio, hummin’, and havin’ input at various times. They were real scientists. They’d get on a part, and it might be there nfinishedsix weeks later.
On my guitar, they had me miked with about seven mics. They had a near mic, a distant mic, a neck mic, a mic on the hole. They even miked my breathing. They miked the guitar in back. So Roy Halee was a genius at getting around. The first time we were listenin', they killed the breathing mic. And they had an ambient mic overhead, which picked up the two guitars together, I suppose. And so, I was breathin', I guess, pretty heavy in rhythm. And they wanted to take out that noise, and they took it out and said, 'Naw, we gotta leave that in.' That sounds almost like a rhythm on the record. So they left the breathin' mic on for the mix. I played Tele on it and a Twelve-string, three or four guitars on it. I was doing different guitar parts. One was a chord pattern and rhythm pattern. Did the Dobro lick on the regular six-string finger Dobro—not a slide Dobro.
I never heard the total record until I heard it on the air... I thought: That’s the greatest record I heard in my life, especially after the scrutiny and after all the time they spent on it and breakin’ it apart musically and soundwise and all of it. There was some magic in the studio that day, and Roy Halee captured it. Paul and I had a really nice groove.
The song has only one drumbeat, played during the 'lie-la-lie' refrain. The session drummer
Hal Blaine created the heavily reverberated drum sound with the help of producer Roy Halee, who found a spot for the drums in front of an elevator in the
Columbia offices. The recording of the drum was recorded as the song was being played live by the musicians. Blaine would pound the drums at the end of the "Lie la lie" vocals that were playing in his headphones, and at one point, an elderly security guard got a big surprise when he came out of the elevator and was startled by Blaine's thunderous drums.
Hal Blaine recounted the recording process: "There we were with all these mic
ophonecables, my drums, and a set of headphones," says Blaine. "When the chorus came around—the 'lie-la-lie' bit—Roy had me come down on my snare drum as hard as I could. In that hallway, by the elevator shaft, it sounded like a cannon shot! Which was just the kind of sound we were after."
Lyrics
The song's lyrics take the form of a first-person lament, as the singer describes his struggles to overcome loneliness and poverty in New York City. The final verse switches to a third-person sketch of a
boxer:
"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 till he cried out in his anger and his shame, 'I am leaving, I am leaving,' but the fighter still remains."
The chorus consists of repetitions of the
nonlexical vocable "lie-la-lie". Simon stated that this was originally intended only as a placeholder, but became part of the finished song.
I didn't have any words! Then people said it was 'lie' but I didn't really mean that. That it was a lie. But, it's not a failure of songwriting, because people like that and they put enough meaning into it, and the rest of the song has enough power and emotion, I guess, to make it go, so it's all right. But for me, every time I sing that part... oftly I'm a little embarrassed.
The words are sometimes suggested to represent a "sustained attack on
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
".
[Baker, G.A. Sleeve of ''Simon & Garfunkel: 20 Greatest Hits''] Under this interpretation, Dylan is identified by his experience as an amateur boxer, and the "lie-la-lie" chorus represents allegations of Dylan lying about his musical intentions.
Biographer Marc Eliot wrote in ''Paul Simon: A Life'', "In hindsight, this seems utterly nonsensical."
Bob Dylan, in turn, covered the song on his ''
Self Portrait'' album, replacing the word "glove" with "blow". Paul Simon himself has suggested that the lyrics are largely autobiographical, written during a time when he felt he was being unfairly criticized:
I think I was reading the Bible around that time. That's where I think phrases such as "workman's wages" came from, and "seeking out the poorer quarters". That was biblical. I think the song was about me: everybody's beating me up, and I'm telling you now I'm going to go away if you don't stop.
During the recording of "The Boxer", Art Garfunkel met his future first wife, Linda Grossman. As he recalled:
They divorced in 1975, with Garfunkel later claiming he never really loved her.
During a New York City concert in October 2010, Simon stopped singing midway through "The Boxer" to tell the story of a woman who stopped him on the street to tell him that she edits the song when singing it to her young child. Simon told the audience that she removed the words "the whores" and altered the song to say, "I get no offers, just a come-on from ''toy stores'' on Seventh Avenue." Simon laughingly commented that he felt that it was "a better line."
On June 3, 2016, at his concert in Berkeley, California, Simon again stopped singing partway through the song this time to announce, in one sentence, breaking news: "I’m sorry to tell you this in this way, but
Muhammad Ali passed away." He then finished the song with the last verse: "In the clearing stands a boxer and a fighter by his trade…"
Additional verse
"The Boxer" was originally written with a verse that is not present in the ''Bridge over Troubled Water'' version:
This verse was performed by Simon and Garfunkel on tour in November 1969 (this version of the song is included on the ''
Live 1969'' album), and sometimes by Simon in solo after the duo's breakup (on his ''
Live Rhymin''' album and on ''
Late Night with David Letterman'' in 1987). The duo also added the verse on ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'' in 1975 and when they reunited for ''
The Concert in Central Park'' in 1981. On March 30, 2020, Simon released a YouTube version dedicated to fellow New Yorkers during the coronavirus pandemic including this verse.
Reception
Upon the release of "The Boxer" as a single, ''
Cash Box
''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...
'' described it as a "spectacular side" and said, "First half of the
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...
is in the haunting S&G folk style, but the production touches increase to build this track into a heavy fading '
Jude-ish' closer." ''
Billboard'' said that Simon and Garfunkel have "a sure fire chart topper in this infectious rhythm ballad with a compelling lyric line."
''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'' ranked the song number 106 on the 2010 edition of their list of the
500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Cover versions
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
s of the song have been recorded by numerous artists, including
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Bob Dylan,
Neil Diamond,
Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and activist. She is considered one of the leading music artists behind the country rock genre in the 1970s and the Americana (music), Americana genre ...
,
The Samples,
Leandro e Leonardo,
Paula Fernandes,
Tommy Fleming,
The Celtic Tenors,
Bruce Hornsby,
Cake,
Jonne Järvelä,
Waylon Jennings
Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He is considered one of the pioneers of the Outlaw country, outlaw movement in country music.
Jennings started playing ...
, and
Jess & Matt.
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez (, ; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing mo ...
has also made the song a staple of her live concert performances, from the late 1970s to the present, including once in Italy with Italian songwriter
Francesco De Gregori, who was also singing this song during his concerts; Baez performed the song with Paul Simon and
Richard Thompson at her 75th Birthday Concert at New York's Beacon Theatre in January 2016.
Simon sang the song to open ''Saturday Night Live'' on September 29, 2001, the first live show following the
September 11, 2001, attacks on New York City and
Washington, DC.
In 2007, Simon was awarded the inaugural
Gershwin Prize by the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
;
Jerry Douglas,
Shawn Colvin, and
Alison Krauss performed "The Boxer" live. Also in 2007, country music artist
Deana Carter released a cover of the song on her sixth studio album, ''
The Chain'', which was recorded as a duet with
Harper Simon.
The
Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps performed "The Boxer" as the ballad for their 2008 show ''The Knockout'', and it has been a recurring encore tune for the corps ever since.
Jerry Douglas and
Mumford and Sons collaborated with Paul Simon on a cover of the song in 2012. It was included on Douglas' album ''Traveler'', and on the deluxe edition of Mumford and Sons' album ''
Babel''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boxer, The
1968 songs
1969 singles
1960s ballads
Simon & Garfunkel songs
Columbia Records singles
Folk ballads
Rock ballads
Song recordings produced by Art Garfunkel
Song recordings produced by Paul Simon
Song recordings produced by Roy Halee
Songs written by Paul Simon
Songs about loneliness
Songs about poverty
Songs about boxers