Talk about a story seldom told about a poor boy that didn’t get to do much or have much. Drop it into the timeline of the sixties, complete with the whores on an unknown street asking for something more than money with no money or job prospects in sight. It’s “The Boxer” by Simon and Garfunkel. This song was written for the duo’s final album Bridge Over Troubled Water album which was soon to be their last. It has all the elements that a classic guitar folk-rock track should be complete with the layered acoustics, multi-vocals in the long outdo chorus of lie-la-lie’s, full string orchestra, an orchestral drum depicting a boxer’s punch on the 2 and 4 beats, and a tart and earthy bass harmonica for an extra touch and a pedal steel guitar in the middle instrumental break combined with high trumpet to make another distinct sound.
When Simon wrote it, he spoke of it being a song that was written about him and how the record business was beating him up when he’s trying to make hits. He describes it as his response to riding the punches of a cruel, hard and uncaring world. Many of the verses describe this exact thing. There is even a hidden, unused verse in the middle of the song where the pedal steel instrumental was placed that hints about getting older and the years are spilling into one another, hence they are rocking evenly. The scary part is that we all get older and ultimately face death and possibly an afterlife. Sometimes the hard times of life can make us crazy with depression and sadness that can be indescribable. It could even make us hate life and question how short or long life actually is.
This song struck at the heart of the album and was a heady top ten single in 1969-70 at the start of the Vietnam War. It was also one of the mere four songs that the duo worked on together in-studio between Art Garfunkel’s trips to Mexico to film Catch- 22. It may have also been a catalyst for the duo’s breakup in the summer of 1970 after a triumphant home-coming concert. On the whole, it is one of the greatest hits that the duo is known for.
