THE BOXER 
 
 
 C                                              Am 
  I am just a poor boy though my story's seldom told, 
            G 
  I have squandered my resistance 
        G7             G6                  C 
  for a pocket full of mumbles, such are promises. 
               Am             G                 F 
  All lies and jest, still a man hears what he wants to hear 
                      C     G  G7  G6  C 
  and disregards the rest. 
 
 
          C                                               Am 
  When I left my home and my family, I was no more than a boy 
          G 
  in the company of strangers, 
          G7        G6                C 
  in the quiet of a railway station, running scared, 
         Am           G                F 
  laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters 
                           C 
  where the ragged people go 
           G             G7    G6          C 
  looking for the places only they would know. 
 
 
        Am         G                
  La la la, la la la la, la la la,  
        Am         G        F              C 
  la la la, la la la la la la la la la la la. 
 
 
         C                                         Am 
  Asking only workman's wages I come looking for a job 
               G 
  but I get no offers, 
          G7                 G6               C 
  just a "come on" from the whores on Seventh Avenue. 
          Am                G                F 
  I do declare, there were times when I was so lonesome 
                        C    G  G7  G6  C 
  I took some comfort there. 
 
 
        Am         G                
  La la la, la la la la, la la la,  
        Am         G        F              C 
  la la la, la la la la la la la la la la la. 
 
 
            C                                             Am 
  Then I'm laying out my winter clothes and wishing I was gone, 
         G              F                             C 
  going home where the New York City winters aren't bleeding me, 
          Am         G 
  leading me, going home. 
 
 
           C                                           Am 
  In the clearing stands a boxer and a fighter by his trade 
          G                 
  and he carries the reminders 
     F                G6                C                         G7 
  of ev'ry glove that laid him down or cut him till he cried out  
         C              Am 
  in his anger and his shame 
         G             F 
  "I am leaving, I am leaving" 
                           C 
  But the fighter still remains. 
 
 
        Am         G                
  La la la, la la la la, la la la,  
        Am         G        F              C 
  la la la, la la la la la la la la la la la.+