Paul Simon - The Boxer lyrics

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 jest
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

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
And cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame
"I am leaving, I am leaving
But the fighter still remains