This song will haunt you for the rest of your life, I know it has haunted me for 50 years. I think the Boxer is the strength one finds to personably make it through life. The first episode of Saturday Night Live TV show after 9/11 Paul, a New York City native, sang this song standing in front of NYC Police and fire fighters. The emotion when he sang "but the fighter still remains" was palatable and unforgettable.

Think of those crashes during the chorus as the impacts of the blows endured in a boxing ring...

America. One of the most devastatingly beautiful songs ever written, and not a single rhyme in it. Paul Simon is truly a sorcerer.

I see the song as a tragedy. A man, born into poverty, fleeing to poverty, lied to and shunned, yet, against all reason, still fighting on, scarred and bloody. He's speaking the story of the downtrodden, the ignored.

I always took "The Boxer" part of it to be a metaphor, that you can have all the coaching and encouragement from others in the world, but in the end, ONLY YOU can make yourself get up and get back into it when life knocks you down. Boxing as an analogy for life, the character keeps getting knocked down but never gives up.

The last verse tells the whole story. He's gone through adversity and even though he wanted to give up at times, in the end he, like the fighter, still stands

What messed you up trying to follow the lyrics was that there is a verse that was omitted in the studio recording of The Boxer in favor of an instrumental break. It's a pity, too, because I think it is one of the most poetic and relatable verses in the song.

Probably their best song lyrically. I felt that man's pain.

The percussive punctuation on the chorus makes me think of the punches landing that life has thrown at him. The Boxer is a metaphor I think for someone whose life has been a constant fight.

The duo became popular quickly, when they were quite young. After a few years some prominent critics began stereotyping them as simple folk artists or flower children without any range. He felt this was unfair and resented it. This song is about his journey up to this point. He feels alone in the world, among crowds of strangers and in crowded places (like train stations). On this studio recording the 4th verse was dropped for an instrumental section (which Simon always includes in concerts). That verse, talks about the years having gone by and leads into the final verse about the boxer, making it clear that he is the boxer, a fighter who has been hurt and cut and threatens to leave (quit) but instead remains, due to his nature as a fighter.

Great Reaction. To me the line stating he squandered his resistance for a pocketful of mumbles means that he caved in to someone for what turned out to be lies and not promises. The lines about the Boxer are metaphorical and perhaps self reflective, referring to the struggles we all experience but survive and carry on.

I trust that you listen to the songs without interuption after you do your reaction. This one should be heard all at once to get the impact of the story and appreciation for it's beauty. Paul Simon is a genius and one of the very best songwrters and lyricist of the past century. "Bridge Over Troubled Water" or Scarborough Fair" are both gorgeous. "Call Me Al" is fun to listen to. Lots of choices and a very deep rabbit hole.

I love the last instrumental in this song -- it tells a story without words. The musical arrangement is full of feeling, struggle, and resolve; its beautiful.

I’m sure you noticed the fourth verse was in your lyrics but not in the recorded version you reacted to. That verse is left out on several recordings of the song and was never really played on the radio. They included the fourth verse many many times during their live performances. It’s actually a very impressive verse. I think they include the fourth verse in their life performance from Central Park.

Amazing track. Their songs seem simple and then become so lush. Paul’s lyricism and their combined voices are magic.

If you like beautifully poetic lyrics, I think "Kathy's Song" by Simon & Garfunkel has some of the best lyrics I've ever heard.

I traveled around Ireland in 1985 and in the pubs in Dublin, Kilkenny, Galway, ….. there were many times that someone with an acoustic guitar was singing for the pub, and every singer knew this song.

Key verse, which you may have not noticed, was that he cries out "I am leaving" but he still remains. He wants to throw in the towel, but doesn't, he keeps fighting. (I always took the boxer part as a metaphor, but either way makes sense of the text.)

To me, this is just one more beautiful song among very many by them. But I do know that for a lot of people, it is their favorite Simon and Garfunkel song. My problem is I just have so many. But this song is tremendous. It's triumphant and sad and angry and defeated and just point it all the way around. What an incredible ambiance. And seriously, if you hear this more than once like most of us, you will never be able to get this out of your head. It will always be there, that's how powerful it is.

This song is both lyrically sad and musically happy at the same time. Structurally and thematically it always reminds me of Arlington Guthrie’s “City Of New Orleans”.