Songs About A Boxer
1. ‘Eye of the Tiger’ by Survivor
I would venture to say that aside from the song below, this track by the rock band Survivor is the most played track about a boxer. It’s probably also true to claim that the film to which this song became an anthem greatly contributed to its fame.
That film in question was Sylvester Stallone’s blockbuster ‘Rocky III’ (1982). In that year, this song crashed onto the Billboard charts, holding the number one slot for over six consecutive weeks.
According to the writers of the song, Jim Peterik, and Frankie Sullivan, the band never intended the song to be called ‘Eye of The Tiger’. They felt it was too obvious and were going to opt for ‘Survival’.
Eventually, the power of this title and the way the song was structured led them back to their original idea.
This is a solid, four-on-the-floor rock track in C minor. With one of the best guitar and piano riffs in rock history and the soaring vocals of Dave Bickler, this song has all the necessary ingredients needed to be a huge hit.
It remains one of the most requested songs today and, I believe, a karaoke favourite.
2. ‘The Boxer’ by Simon & Garfunkel
In the early 70s duo Simon & Garfunkel could not put a foot wrong. Just about everything they sang and composed turned to gold. This song was composed in the late 60s and was a key track on their fifth studio album called ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’.
‘The Boxer’ was a single from the album that hit the charts in early 1969. If you’re not familiar with the songs of Simon & Garfunkel, they broadly come under the genre of American folk music.
Their songs are brilliantly constructed and tell some of the most engaging stories. This song is a fine example of that skill. As the title suggests, it is about a boxer who finds life hard.
Sung for the first verses in the first person, we hear a man describes the troubles he’s lived through and the hardships he’s faced. In the final verse, the narration swaps to the third person when the boxer decides to escape the city even though he still has the fighter inside.
Set in a minor key, the folk element feels strong together with the tragic tone of the lyrics.
The producer for the song was the legendary Roy Halee. It is one of the few songs by the duo that makes extensive use of production techniques that were available at the time. Listen out for the ‘B’ section where you hear the words ‘lie, la lie’.
Here a fist has been smashed down on the top of a Fender guitar amp. It’s a startling effect that underpins the uniqueness and strength of the song.
3. ‘So You Wanna Be A Boxer’ from Bugsy Malone
In 1976 one of the most successful musical comedies splashed onto the silver screens: ‘Bugsy Malone’. The whole musical was the dreamchild of Alan Parker, with the music composed by Paul Williams.
What made this musical unusual was the fact that it only used child actors. This included the soon-to-be-famous Jodie Foster. Essentially, it is a gangster movie without bullets and bloodshed.
Instead, there are splat guns that expel cream or custard and a few comedy pies too. The gangster motif drives the film and the characters and key character Bugsy Malone. Bugsy is, as all gangsters are, out to get all the power for himself and run the city.
Gangsters have fingers in all sorts of different pies. Boxing holds a central place in the movie, and that is where this song comes in. The central idea in the song is that a new, inexperienced guy arrives at the gym with the aspiration of becoming a boxer.
The other seasoned boxers taunt him whilst the owner and trainer tell him that he’s trained the best and you’ve either got a champion inside him, or you haven’t. As it turns out, the new guy knocks out his opponent with a single punch.
4. ‘The Boxer’ by The Chemical Brothers
Described by some critics as a psychedelic pop track this song came from the fifth album by The Chemical Brothers called ‘Push The Button’. This was released in 2005. It is a notable example of electronica that exemplifies the sound of the group.
‘The Boxer’ was one of the first songs created for the album with the assistance of Time Burgess from The Charlatans, who performed lead vocals on the track.
The song opens with a piano sample that is looped over a mid-tempo drum beat. This forms the basis of the entire track. Vocals intersperse the instrumental sections with lyrics that, to most ears, will make little sense.
Even the video that shows a guy chasing an escaped and very bouncy basketball along its course of devastation doesn’t seem to explain it. The track is a shopping list of production techniques from the 2000s but fun, likable, and now, from the viewpoint of 2022, charming.
5. ‘Hurricane’ by Bob Dylan
The protest singer is largely how Bob Dylan carved out his niche in the 1960s, and he did it well. This track was a collaboration between Dylan and Jacques Levy, a songwriter and eminent psychologist.
It was released in 1976 on the album Dylan titled ‘Desire’. Rob ‘Hurricane’ Carter is the subject matter for this Dylan track. Carter was a middle-weight boxer who enjoyed quite a success in his career that was cut drastically short when he was convicted of three counts of murder.
Carter served twenty years before being released following the court’s recognition that he had been wrongly convicted. The song protests Carter’s innocence and highlights the institutional racism that dominated the US.
Running to nearly eight and a half minutes, this song pulls no punches in telling Carter’s story. The vocals are linked together with a quaint violin solo that picks up the folk aspect of Dylan’s music.
As arrangements go, this is characteristic of Dylan with a simple structure that hangs on the lyric content. It is also interesting to reflect on the fact that Dylan visited Carter in prison before writing the song.
6. ‘Can’t Be Touched’ by Roy Jones Jr.
For this track, we take a motivational twist. Whilst the songs above are about boxers, this track is written and performed by a champion who was one of the best boxers of his time.
With a startling 66 wins in the ring together with an impressive 47 knockouts, Roy Jones Junior was a formidable and highly skilled boxer. This track is Jones Jnr, turned rapper. It is one of his most successful to date.
The song talks about just how good he was and raises familiar lines about tough lifestyles, police, corruption, and how he drives through it all.
7. ‘Mama Said Knock You Out’ by LL Cool J
Song inspired by his Mother, and LL Cool J penned this hip-hop track almost as a tribute to her wisdom. When LL Cool J was feeling challenged by life and struggling with his creativity, his Mother simply said ‘knock ‘em out’.
Even though the track isn’t directly about a boxer, this reference seems to make a solid link to that world. The track was released in 1990 and is full of intricate rhymes accompanied by slick beats. As you would expect from LL Cool J, it’s sprinkled with humour, be it dark humour or self-effacing parody.
8. ‘Boxers’ by Morrissey
Eventually, this single made its way onto the compilation called ‘World Of Morrisey’ that arrived on the shelves in 1995.
The reception was mixed, even from die-hard Morrisey fans. Even so, the single hit the number 23 slot in the UK singles charts.
The lyrics, apparently inspired by Morrisey’s passing interest in the sport at the time, revolve around the world of boxing. In this case, the boxer is not a success even though he strives to impress and inspire his nephew.
Suitably mournfully performed by Morrissey, with his familiarly dour tone that captures the hopelessness of this boxer.
9. ‘The Hitter’ by Bruce Springsteen
This Springsteen classic dates back to 1995 but did not properly surface to the public until it appeared on the album ‘Devils and Dust’ which was released as late as 2005. It is track ten on that album, which was Springsteen’s thirteenth studio album.
With its heart in folk music, this is not an easy song to hear but one that Springsteen delivers so well. A man who knows nothing but violence is the figure Springsteen sings about.
There seems to be no redeeming characteristic to this man who communicates everything through violence and rage. Eventually, he moves into the world f boxing and is successful, only to find himself forced to take a fall for black money.
At this point, even his boxing skills abandon him to his increasing loneliness and delusion.
10. ‘Boxing’ by Ben Folds Five
Probably the best-known boxer of all time is Muhamad Ali. This song was written by Folds in 1995 and released in his self-titled album ‘Ben Fold’s Five’. It is an imagined conversation between Muhammad Ali and the well-known boxing commentator Howard Cosell.
The song is a curiously compelling waltz that gives a quirky nostalgia to the track. It considers Ali’s feelings about giving up the fight and retiring. Humorous, witty, and faintly tragic, this Ben Folds song offers yet another different slant on the world of that noblest of sports.