My last post was a bit of a rant as a result of having imbibed a few Friday night wines. Time to move on, quickly, as all a bit embarrassing now. Last week we had to submit the final assignment for my college course, and the week before, we had our very last lecture of the academic year. It coincided with that really warm spell of weather which rather nicely landed upon Easter weekend. Although most of us VC in from home (as we are scattered across the vast college catchment area), I did go in for that lecture, and although we were all sweltering in the heat, it was nice to have a last meet up before the long summer break.
Sadly, I will now lose touch with most of my classmates as I am a part-time student and will be covering the remaining modules not taken this year, next year. Fortunately for me, the girl whose work I definitely warm to most is the other part-time student, so our paths will continue to cross. She was one of the few of us to complete the 30 day NaPoWriMo challenge written about recently, and on one of those days she wrote two amazing poems about the sport of Boxing. I won’t share them here without her permission but she included some great lines:
An ancient trade; a coiled spring in sinew
A stage all ringed about with ropes and snarling
The cutman’s in the corner gaging damage
Back into the ring, my son, unburied
Her poems reminded me of this song – The Boxer by Simon & Garfunkel.
The Boxer by Simon & Garfunkel:
I think I’m going to have to set up a new category on my sidebar as I realise this must be at least the fifth song featured around here by that talented duo from Queens, NYC. I really don’t think I remember the song from when it would have appeared in the UK Singles Chart in 1969, but when a friend gave me a home-recorded cassette tape (naughty) with their greatest hits a few years later, it was one of the stand out songs for me and often listened to. It apparently took 100 hours to record in two different studios in two cities, and in a church with a tiled dome which had great acoustics. The legendary record executive Clive Davis was told a standard 8-track recorder wasn’t going to be enough for all their material, so he stumped up for a 16-track, and it shows.
I hadn’t heard of the term placeholder before but it’s what they call the part of a song where they just haven’t come up with the lyrics yet. The temporary bit where any old words or sounds can slot in. When Paul Simon couldn’t find the words to replace the lie la lie chorus, it was left as was, unintentionally giving the song international appeal.
So, “What’s It All About?” – I have been a very part-time student over the last eight months, and each semester’s work is packed into an intense ten-week period so not been too onerous at all. Just got the results of my last assignment back though and pleased to report that all these years later I’m still a straight A’s student (fairly normal nowadays but it used to mean you were a swot). Sadly at this rate I’ll be drawing my state pension before I finish the full degree I embarked on last year, so I suspect that won’t be happening. I think I have another year left in me however of juggling the various commitments I seem to have taken on of late as well as doing the course. No more poetry next year, but glad my talented fellow student will still be by my side, as I can’t wait to see what wonderful material is still in her arsenal. I suspect it will be epic.
Until next time….
The Boxer Lyrics
(Song by Paul Simon)
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, le le le le le le le
Lie la lie, lie la la la lie lie
Lie la lie, lie la la la la lie la 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 ev’ry 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, mmm mmm
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
What's It All About? 
Hello there. The Boxer is one of my favorite S and G recordings. Possibly my favorite is America. Do you have a favorite or two in addition to The Boxer?
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Funnily enough, America is also a favourite of mine and I used it as the featured song for the first post in my American Odyssey series (on hiatus at the moment). I also love the songs used in the film The Graduate – The Sound of Silence, Mrs Robinson etc. They never seem to date and I never tire of them.
https://jukeboxtimemachine.com/2017/04/04/simon-garfunkel-oaul-simon-and-ive-come-to-look-for-america/
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Remember the vinyl section at the back of Kay’s catalogue? Dark Side of the Moon? Never not there. Tapestry? Never not there. Bridge Over Troubled Water? Again, never not there. It’s a staple, but a staple for a reason: there is, quite literally, not a duff track on there. Not a one.
I once wrote a Paul Simon pastiche called ‘Looking for Fun’ and did, indeed, have a lot of fun with it.
Come that fateful day, Simon will, along with Sir Paul of Kintyre (they’ll probably both go at around the same time) be recognised as the songwriter’s songwriter; never to be matched. Ever.
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Oh my – It’s a long time since I’ve seen a Kays catalogue. In the summer holidays we used to cut out those self folding envelope forms from magazines. and order all the various catalogues on behalf of our mums. By the time term started again the house was awash with thick tomes of glossy paper – Ambrose Wilson, Littlewoods, Marshall Ward. Back in the day it would have been the equivalent of modern-day online shopping I suppose.
But I digress, yes indeed, not a dud track on that album – I have now added a new S&G category to my sidebar as I’ve featured them so many times now. Never tire of their songs (or Paul Simon’s on his own) which is unusual all these years later when so many others have become over-familiar.
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Congratulations on getting to the end of your first year – blimey, that was quick!
Some lovely language in those poems.
The Boxer has long been a favourite of mine, it has a wonderful atmosphere.
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I know, it has flown in – Guessing it doesn’t seem that way if you’re sitting on the other side of the teacher’s table though. Because of the nature of our course there is supposed to be a lot of self-study so only 10 weeks of lectures/semester – Means it flies in. Wrote my first academic essay in nearly 40 years the other week and did surprisingly well. Was just hoping for a pass as I’d been so busy that week but was really pleased with the result. I’ve got a lot of years and life experience on the rest of them so I really should do ok, but it doesn’t always work out that way.
Yes, the girl who wrote those poems and the others I shared previously (I told her you’d called them Jim Steinman-esque – She said, “Who’s he?”) has some fabulous language skills. We have all gravitated toward different styles – Some write about nature (an awful lot of petals), fairies and princesses (???), emotions… My specialism has been comic verse! I like my poems to rhyme and can’t take them too seriously, so they end up being funny (hopefully).
Yes, love The Boxer and now that I have added S&G to my sidebar as a category, more of their songs are bound to appear around here before long.
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Great song, like almost everything Paul wrote back when he was working with Art. I’m not a fan of his later stuff. I saw him in concert a couple of years ago, with only one Simon and Garfunkel song, “The Sound of Silence”, but in the arrangement from The Paul Simon Songbook, i.e. without Art. Sad. In contrast, Art Garfunkel (will be seeing him again live in October) puts on a good show, mostly consisting of stuff recorded with Paul. By coincidence, just a few days before I plan to see Bookends for the third time, a really, really, really good Simon and Garfunkel cover band. It’s not a “show”, i.e. they don’t try to look like Simon and Garfunkel (compare the many Beatles tribute bands who dress up etc), but just get up and sing, really well. I think that they will play in your area this year. Do go to the show!
Simon and Garfunkel should tour again. In contrast with other comebacks, their concert in Central Park and their reunion tour almost 20 years ago were both excellent. If they wait too long, at least one will be dead.
Later versions of “The Boxer” include an additional verse:
Now the years are rolling by me
The are rocking easily
I am older than I once was
And younger than I will be
But 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
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Gosh thanks for all this great additional info and lucky you having seen them both in concert.
I don’t actually have a problem going to see “tribute” shows as long as they don’t try to look like the artists (some awful Abba ones around) and just concentrate on the songs and turn in a good performance – Will look out for that Bookends band. Think I would really like them.
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Huge number of concerts in Scotland: https://www.simonandgarfunkelthroughtheyears.com/live-dates
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Gosh, they’re at the Edinburgh festival for a long time, and in Germany. Sadly nowhere too near me but maybe one day.
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I don’t even mind if they try to look like the artists, as long as the music is good. But between-song banter as if they were the artists is taking it too far.
Some other really good tribute bands: The Iron Maidens, The Australian Pink Floyd Show, La Villa Strangiato, The Musical Box.
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