The Boxer Extended

I am just a poor boy

Though my story's seldom told

I have squandered my resistance

For a pocketful 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...



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



Lie la lie...



Now the years are rolling by me

They are rockin' evenly

I am older than I once was

And younger than I'll be, 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



Lie la lie...



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.



In the clearing stands a boxer

And a fighter by his trade

And he carries the reminders

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...