The Boxer
Encyclopedia
"The Boxer" is a folk rock
ballad written by Paul Simon
in 1968 and first recorded by Simon & Garfunkel. It was released as the follow-up single to their number one hit "Mrs. Robinson
", and reached #7 in the US charts. It later appeared on their last studio album, Bridge Over Troubled Water
, along with its B-side "Baby Driver". It is particularly known for its plaintive refrain
, in which the singer sings the tune as 'lie-la-lie', accompanied by a heavily-reverbed drum, and the memorable guitar finger-picking by Simon and guitarist Fred Carter, Jr.
. Rolling Stone
ranked the song #105 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
.
, and Columbia
studios.
The version originally released on single by the duo features an instrumental melody played in unison on pedal steel guitar
and piccolo trumpet. The song also features a bass harmonica heard during the second and final verses. On the BBC
, Paul Simon had Garfunkel's instrumental solo played with a soprano saxophone.
In the magazine Fretboard Journal
Fred Carter, Jr.
recounts:
. The final verse switches to a third-person sketch of a boxer
, who, despite the effects of "every glove that laid him down or cut him till he cried out", perseveres. At the last we are told the boxer cries out, "I am leaving, I am leaving" — "but", the lyrics continue, "the fighter still remains."
The chorus of the song is wordless, consisting of a repeated chant of "lie-la-lie". Simon stated that this was originally intended only as a placeholder, but became part of the finished song.
It has sometimes been suggested that the words represent a "sustained attack on Bob Dylan
". 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:
This "missing" verse was performed by Simon & Garfunkel when they went on tour in November 1969 (this version of the song is included on the Live 1969
album), and Paul Simon when he performed it solo after the group's breakup. Simon & Garfunkel also performed the "missing verse" on Saturday Night Live
in 1975 and when they reunited for The Concert in Central Park
in 1981, and on Late Show with David Letterman
.
, Bob Dylan
, Neil Diamond
, Emmylou Harris
, The Samples
, Tommy Fleming, Bruce Hornsby
and Across the Border have recorded cover version
s of the song, with Harris' version reaching the top ten on the US country charts in June 1980. Joan Baez
has also made the song a staple of her live concert performances, from the late 1970s to the present. (Baez usually includes the above-mentioned missing verse in her version.) The King's Singers
released an a cappella
version on their Good Vibrations album in 1992. Guitar virtuoso Chet Atkins
recorded an instrumental version, in which each verse was played on a different guitar and in a different style. Punk group SFH recorded a 3:26 second version of it. Waylon Jennings
also recorded a version of this song on his 1996 album Right for the Time
.
Simon sang the song to open Saturday Night Live
on September 29, 2001, the first live SNL show following the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York City
.
In 2007, Paul Simon was awarded the inaugural Gershwin Prize
by the Library of Congress
where "The Boxer" was performed live by Jerry Douglas
, Shawn Colvin
and Alison Krauss
. 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
.
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
ballad written by Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
in 1968 and first recorded by Simon & Garfunkel. It was released as the follow-up single to their number one hit "Mrs. Robinson
Mrs. Robinson
"Mrs. Robinson" is a song written by Paul Simon and first performed by Simon & Garfunkel. When released as a single in 1968, it hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US, for their second chart-topping hit after "The Sound of Silence"...
", and reached #7 in the US charts. It later appeared on their last studio album, Bridge Over Troubled Water
Bridge over Troubled Water
Bridge Over Troubled Water is the fifth and final studio album by Simon & Garfunkel. Released on January 26, 1970 on both Quadraphonic and Stereo formats, it reached No. 1 on Billboard Music Charts pop albums list...
, along with its B-side "Baby Driver". It is particularly known for its plaintive refrain
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
, in which the singer sings the tune as 'lie-la-lie', accompanied by a heavily-reverbed drum, and the memorable guitar finger-picking by Simon and guitarist Fred Carter, Jr.
Fred Carter, Jr.
Fred Carter, Jr. was an American guitarist, singer, producer and composer.- Early career :Carter was raised in the delta country in Winnsboro, the seat of Franklin Parish in northeastern Louisiana. Carter grew up with the heavy musical influences of jazz, country & western, hymns, and blues...
. Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
ranked the song #105 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" was the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone, issue number 963, published December 9, 2004, a year after the magazine published its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time"....
.
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 Nashville, St. Paul's Chapel in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
studios.
The version originally released on single by the duo features an instrumental melody played in unison on pedal steel guitar
Pedal steel guitar
The pedal steel guitar is a type of electric guitar that uses a metal bar to "fret" or shorten the length of the strings, rather than fingers on strings as with a conventional guitar. Unlike other types of steel guitar, it also uses pedals and knee levers to affect the pitch, hence the name "pedal"...
and piccolo trumpet. The song also features a bass harmonica heard during the second and final verses. On the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, Paul Simon had Garfunkel's instrumental solo played with a soprano saxophone.
In the magazine Fretboard Journal
Fretboard journal
The Fretboard Journal is a quarterly magazine for guitar, mandolin, and stringed instrument players. In the same vein of other "coffee table magazines" such as Gastronomica, The Surfer's Journal, and the Rodder's Journal, it boasts high-end production values and exclusive photography in each issue...
Fred Carter, Jr.
Fred Carter, Jr.
Fred Carter, Jr. was an American guitarist, singer, producer and composer.- Early career :Carter was raised in the delta country in Winnsboro, the seat of Franklin Parish in northeastern Louisiana. Carter grew up with the heavy musical influences of jazz, country & western, hymns, and blues...
recounts:
- "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 [Simon] was 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 doing' 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 Iucked 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 [unfinished] six 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 12-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 really nice groove.“
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 CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The final verse switches to a third-person sketch of a boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
, who, despite the effects of "every glove that laid him down or cut him till he cried out", perseveres. At the last we are told the boxer cries out, "I am leaving, I am leaving" — "but", the lyrics continue, "the fighter still remains."
The chorus of the song is wordless, consisting of a repeated chant of "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... [softly], I'm a little embarrassed."
It has sometimes been suggested that the words represent a "sustained attack on Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
". 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
Self Portrait (Bob Dylan album)
Self Portrait is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's tenth studio album, released by Columbia Records in June 1970.Self Portrait was Dylan's second double album, and features mostly cover versions of well-known pop and folk songs. Also included are a handful of instrumentals and original compositions...
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 BibleBibleThe Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
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."
"Missing" verse
"The Boxer" was originally written with a verse that is not present in the Bridge Over Troubled Water version:
Now the years are rolling by me
They are rockin' evenly
I am older than I once was
And younger than I'll be and 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
This "missing" verse was performed by Simon & Garfunkel when they went on tour in November 1969 (this version of the song is included on the Live 1969
Live 1969
Live 1969 is a live album by Simon & Garfunkel released through Columbia Records. It consists of live recordings captured on the duo's final North American tour, prior to the release of their Bridge Over Troubled Water album...
album), and Paul Simon when he performed it solo after the group's breakup. Simon & Garfunkel also performed the "missing verse" on Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
in 1975 and when they reunited for The Concert in Central Park
The Concert in Central Park
The Concert in Central Park is a live album by Simon & Garfunkel. On September 19, 1981 the folk-rock duo reunited for a free concert on the Great Lawn of New York's Central Park, attended by more than 500,000 people. They released a live album from the concert the following March...
in 1981, and on Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman is a U.S. late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and is produced by Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants Incorporated. The show's music director and band-leader of the house band, the CBS Orchestra, is...
.
Chart performance
| Chart (1969) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Kent Music Report | 8 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 9 |
| Dutch Singles Chart | 2 |
| German Singles Chart | 19 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 7 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 9 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 5 |
| UK Singles Chart | 6 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 7 |
Subsequent versions
Me First and the Gimme GimmesMe First and the Gimme Gimmes
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes is a punk rock supergroup and cover band that formed in 1995. The Gimmes work exclusively as a cover band. The band is named after a children's book of the same name by Gerald G. Jampolsky and Diane V. Cirincione...
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
, Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris is an American singer-songwriter and musician. In addition to her work as a solo artist and bandleader, both as an interpreter of other composers' works and as a singer-songwriter, she is a sought-after backing vocalist and duet partner, working with numerous other artists including...
, The Samples
The Samples
The Samples were a band formed in Boulder, Colorado in early 1987. The band's name came from the members' early sustenance of food samples from the local King Soopers grocery store. The music has been described as "reggae influenced rock/pop" and a cross between The Police and the Grateful Dead...
, Tommy Fleming, Bruce Hornsby
Bruce Hornsby
Bruce Randall Hornsby is an American singer, pianist, accordion player, and songwriter. Known for the spontaneity and creativity of his live performances, Hornsby draws frequently from classical, jazz, bluegrass, folk, Motown, rock, blues, and jam band musical traditions with his songwriting and...
and Across the Border have recorded cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
s of the song, with Harris' version reaching the top ten on the US country charts in June 1980. Joan Baez
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
has also made the song a staple of her live concert performances, from the late 1970s to the present. (Baez usually includes the above-mentioned missing verse in her version.) The King's Singers
King's Singers
The King's Singers is a British a cappella vocal ensemble who celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2008. Their name recalls King's College in Cambridge, England, where the group was formed by six choral scholars in 1968. In the United Kingdom, their popularity peaked in the 1970s and early 1980s...
released an a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
version on their Good Vibrations album in 1992. Guitar virtuoso Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
recorded an instrumental version, in which each verse was played on a different guitar and in a different style. Punk group SFH recorded a 3:26 second version of it. Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings
Waylon Arnold Jennings was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing at eight. He began performing at twelve, on KVOW radio. Jennings formed a band The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a D.J on KVOW, KDAV and KLLL...
also recorded a version of this song on his 1996 album Right for the Time
Right for the Time
Right for the Time is an album by Waylon Jennings, released on Justice Records, an independent label, in 1996. Most of the songs on the album, as is the case with several later Jennings releases, were written by the singer himself. Among the other tracks, a cover of Paul Simon's "The Boxer" is...
.
Simon sang the song to open Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
on September 29, 2001, the first live SNL show following the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
In 2007, Paul Simon was awarded the inaugural Gershwin Prize
Gershwin Prize
The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song is an award given to a composer or performer for their lifetime contributions to popular music...
by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
where "The Boxer" was performed live by Jerry Douglas
Jerry Douglas
Jerry Douglas may refer to:*Jerry Douglas , actor, who was on The Young and the Restless for 25 years*Jerry Douglas, country/bluegrass musician*Jerry Douglas , director and writer of adult films such as, Score...
, Shawn Colvin
Shawn Colvin
Shawn Colvin is an American singer-songwriter and musician.-Childhood and early career:Colvin was born in Vermillion, South Dakota. Her formative years were spent in the town of Carbondale, Illinois, where she attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She learned to play guitar at the age...
and Alison Krauss
Alison Krauss
Alison Maria Krauss is an American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in...
. Also in 2007, country music artist Deana Carter
Deana Carter
Deana Carter is a country music artist who broke through in 1996 with the release of debut album Did I Shave My Legs for This?, which was certified 5× Multi-Platinum in the United States for sales of over five million...
released a cover of the song on her sixth studio album, The Chain
The Chain (Deana Carter album)
-Album:-Singles:...
, which was recorded as a duet with Harper Simon
Harper Simon
Harper James Simon is an American singer-songwriter, musician and producer. He is the son of musician Paul Simon and Paul's first wife, Peggy Harper.-Early life:...
.