The Boxer

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Written by: Paul Simon
Produced by: Roy Halee, Simon, Art Garfunkel
Released: April '69 on Columbia
Charts: 10 weeks
Top spot: No. 7

One of Simon and Garfunkel's most enduring songs, "The Boxer" is about a New York kid who can't find love, a job or a home -- just those old whores on Seventh Avenue. "I think I was reading the Bible," Simon said of the song's genesis. "That's where [the line] 'workman's wages' came from." Simon famously performed the song on the first Saturday Night Live after 9/11, as a tribute to New York's resilience.

Appears on: Bridge Over Troubled Water (Columbia)

Next: Mr. Tambourine Man

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