In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
I am just a poor boy
Though my story's seldom told
I have squandered my resistance
For a pocket full 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
Running scared
Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters
Where the ragged people go
Looking for the places
Only they would know
Lie la lie, lie la la la lie lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la la lie la la lie
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
Then I'm laying out my winter clothes
And wishing I was gone going home
Where the New York City winters
Aren't bleeding me
Leading me
Going home
La la la la
La la la la
La la la la
In the clearing stands a boxer
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminder
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
Lie la lie, lie la la la lie lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la la lie la la lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la lie lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la la lie la la lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la lie lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la la lie la la lie
Though my story's seldom told
I have squandered my resistance
For a pocket full 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
Running scared
Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters
Where the ragged people go
Looking for the places
Only they would know
Lie la lie, lie la la la lie lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la la lie la la lie
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
Then I'm laying out my winter clothes
And wishing I was gone going home
Where the New York City winters
Aren't bleeding me
Leading me
Going home
La la la la
La la la la
La la la la
In the clearing stands a boxer
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminder
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
Lie la lie, lie la la la lie lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la la lie la la lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la lie lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la la lie la la lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la lie lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la la lie la la lie
Lyrics submitted by mike, edited by TeamAlphaDoG, Mellow_Harsher
The Boxer Lyrics as written by Paul Simon
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I think this song is about a young man moving far from home and struggling to make ends meet. In the last stanza the song references a boxer. I think the boxer is an analogy. The young man had many times he wanted to go back home, many times he was hurt, and many times he even said he was leaving, yet he stayed and kept fighting.
This is my all-time favorite song. I love it because it starts off with a very sad and lost kind of sound and with hopeless-sounding lyrics. My favorite part is how the boxer at the end is such a sign of hope. It says that he's been beaten down many a time and has said he will give up over and over again but HE HAS NOT GIVEN UP--the fighter still remains. That really speaks to me.
Also: has anyone else thought that the boxer IS the poor boy from the beginning?
@halcyondays I did
I really love this song, because it speaks to me about the struggles of leaving home for the first time. At first we are all scared, we are among a lot of people we don't know and it is a struggle just to make ends meet. but Just like the last stanza says, we keep on fighting, even though we bare the marks of the battles we have lost before :) at least thats what I think
Amazing song. It reminds me of my mum and everything she's been through. I actually bought her this cd and she introduced me to the song. Anyways I love the song.
I agree with everyone. He started out poor and became a fighter(Boxer)
I believe this song is about people from the Great Depression who would leave home around the age of ten (or older) to find work. These people were called Boxers. This was because they would use trains as a means of travel to find a job. They would do this by jumping onto freight cars as the train began to leave the station (which was very dangerous and illegal) with many other boxers (strangers). From the trains they would go off and find jobs or if they hadn't found one yet they would find a place in the open that other boxers had used as shelter and occasionally left clothing or food for the next people. They would occasionally work for any wage as long as they got meals and shelter thus "asking only workman's wages". But due to the many people looking for jobs, it was often hard for anyone to find a job. Many of these people would get lonely as they'd be traveling alone and would "take comfort" with the "whores on seventh avenue" (they would go to a whore house) as often if they had a job they would only be with other men (as men were usually the ones looking for jobs and the women would just look for a man). The boxers usually missed their old life and would want to go back to the times before the depression as reference as "home" or literally wanting to go to their old home before they had to leave to find work. When the song refers to the "boxer and a fighter by his trade" it is talking about how the boxer had to fight the early elements and occasionally other people to survive. And the pieces about the "glove that laid him down or cut him til he cried out" it is talking about the bosses that fired them or that turned them down when they asked for jobs. They would, from time to time, get fed up with their lifestyle and say they were going to leave but when it came down to it they wouldn't leave thus the line "but the fighter still remains."