ANOTHER STAR ASCENDING (The Boxer)

Ralph McTell

If I’d been born a street away
Another star ascending
I’d have been a fighter
A boxer in the ring.
And I salute the boxer
If he loses or if he wins
Not the cigar, ash, splashed fat men
Who sit around the ring.

Chorus: I want water in the bottle
Not brandy in the glass
Bruised and battered maybe
But a fighter to the last
So I salute the boxer
If he loses or if he wins
Not the cigar ash splashed fat men
Who sit around the ring.


And I have watched the fighters
Since I was just a kid
From their struggles through the ghettos
To their championship bids
And it ain’t just for the money
That a guy gets cut and bruised
Or to please the ringside fat men
And to keep them all amused

Chorus

No boxer started out rich
And I hate when they complain
They’re calling it blood money
They talk of damage to the brain
But the pair do not want charity
They only want their pride
Better go down fighting 
Than accept the back seat ride

Chorus

I’m gonna miss Mohammed
When he takes his final bow
May he go out with his fist high
And ignore the screaming crowd
Ignore the compliments of fat men
Who sit around the ring.