"Editorial abstract illustration evoking the emotional arc of a song titled "The Boxer" by Simon & Garfunkel. Noticeable climb from quiet to loud. layered composition, overlapping color planes. Mood: cathartic, heavy. Visual style: 1969 vintage painting aesthetic, warm aged tones. Painterly, grainy film texture, muted palette with strategic accent colors. The composition should read left-to-right like a timeline — calm on one side, intensifying toward the other. Strictly no faces, no text, no logos, no literal objects, no band imagery. Pure color-field abstraction with emotional weight. 16:9 editorial format."
The Boxer
Simon & Garfunkel
Bridge over Troubled Water (1969)
Balanced energy, right in the middle of 19,209 measured songs — measures out best for focus.
85
BPM
The Boxer by Simon & Garfunkel is 85 BPM — Andante (walking pace).
Half-time 43 BPM · Double-time 170 BPM · released 1969
Fan image for "The Boxer"
An abstract illustration of what this song feels like. Each image is built from a prompt — the text description fed to the image generator. Listeners submit their own prompts, upvote the ones that fit best, and the top-voted prompt drives the next regeneration. After 100 image votes, we make a new picture.
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Song DNA
Notes: Storytelling through emotive lyrics.
Recommended for: deep listening emotional release
A balanced track — neither sleepy nor charged. This one has a big quiet-to-loud range with the occasional gentle turn — a densely layered track with soft, gentle vocals on top at an unhurried mid-tempo. Mostly steady, it still leaves a little room to surprise. Against the 19,209 songs we’ve measured, it sits more energetic than 38% of songs, calmer than the rest.
Cultural Context
A classic folk anthem.
Listening Prompt
Think about personal struggles and resilience.
What to Expect
Starts gently, builds to a powerful resolution.
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Hear it the way it was made
The right gear changes everything.
Moods: cathartic, heavy
Volume Warning
"The Boxer" climbs hard.
Dynamic range 7/10 places this in our upper band. The opening volume that feels comfortable will not be comfortable at the climax. If you are setting this up for a focused listen, anchor your volume to the quietest section, not the loudest. The arc is the point of the song; if you blunt it by riding the volume knob, you lose what makes it work. Simon & Garfunkel built the dynamic shape on purpose. Plan around it.
How this song sits on each sensory axis
A dynamic range of 7/10 means this song moves. Expect a real volume climb between quiet sections and the loudest part of the arrangement — enough that you may want to set the initial volume below where you'd normally land.
Sudden changes: mild. There are one or two transitions worth knowing about, though they're musically resolved rather than surprise-driven.
Texture is layered — a full arrangement with clear separation between parts.
Predictability is medium — conventional structure overall, with one or two moments that deviate from what you'd expect.
Vocal style: soft vocals.
Where this sits in Simon & Garfunkel's catalog
We have 14 songs from Simon & Garfunkel in the library. Of those, 6 are rated Safe, 8 Moderate, and 0 Intense. This song's dynamic range of 7/10 sits above the artist average of 5.9, making it the #3 most dynamic track of theirs in our library.
Other tracks from Bridge over Troubled Water
We have 2 songs from this album. Overall, the album leans moderate in sensory profile.
- Cecilia — moderate DR 7
1969 context
Released in 1969. We have 222 songs from that year in our library, averaging a dynamic range of 6.3/10. This track is about average than the year average. Explore more from the 1960s.
Explore by mood and tradition
How fast is "The Boxer"?
85 BPM — Slow (downtempo / ballad)
For running
Too slow for most running; good for warm-up walks or cool-down.
For workouts
Warm-up, cool-down, yoga, stretching.
For daily life
Morning coffee, deep work, commute wind-down.
Browse more songs at 85 BPM.
When "The Boxer" works, and when it doesn't
Use-case verdicts computed from the song's tempo, dynamics, and sensory profile.
✗
Focus / studying
No — too dynamic or too many surprises. Save for active listening.
✗
Running / workout
No — 85 BPM is too slow for sustained cardio.
✗
Sleep / winding down
No — contains elements that will keep an awake nervous system engaged.
✓
Driving / road trip
Yes — predictable enough for safe driving attention, interesting enough to stay engaged.
✓
Cooking / dinner background
Yes — sits in the background without demanding attention.
✓
Emotional release / catharsis
Yes — this is a song for actively feeling what you came to feel, not for background.
Related reading
Editorial guides that cover this song's use cases, moods, or artist.
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Why this rating
We rate this song Moderate because it falls between our Safe and Intense thresholds on at least one dimension. Moderate is the default for most well-produced music that has real arc but no surprise elements. Full rubric: methodology.
This song in the Music Studio
42/100 intensity
See how “The Boxer” sits against your own sensitivities, or use it as a waypoint in a calmer set.
Listen on
Spotify and YouTube links go direct to the track when we have the ID; otherwise they search for it. Embed this sensory profile on your site →
Rating last reviewed: 2026-04-05. Reviewed by the Music I Want editorial team against the documented methodology.
Think this rating is wrong? Contact the editor — every message is read and ratings get revised.
By the numbers: how this song compares
Computed from this song’s place among the 19,209 songs we’ve measured.
Where it sits in 19,000 songs
On our 19k-song scale this lands in the middle band — more energetic than 38% of songs, calmer than the other 62%. Its intensity reading of 42/100 comes from a dynamic range of 7/10, layered texture, mild shifts, and soft vocals. It shares this stretch of the spectrum with thousands of other tracks, so the finer fingerprint below is what really separates it.
What makes it unusual
What stands out most about this song is a slow, unhurried pace: more extreme on that axis than 77% of everything we've measured. At the far opposite end of the library sit the songs built on full chaos — sudden changes, huge quiet-to-loud swings, and relentless energy — the kind of track this one is the counterpoint to.
Feels almost identical to
No More 'I Love You's — Annie Lennox · 99%2Wicky — Hooverphonic · 99%Last Request — Paolo Nutini · 99%Wild Roses — Of Monsters and Men · 99%
Closest matches by feel across all 19,209 measured songs — not by genre or artist, by how they actually move.
What it’s good for
Sleep5/10
Focus10/10
Workout3/10
Dinner8/10
Party / hype3/10
Scored from this song’s tempo, intensity, dynamics and texture — not crowd votes.
1969 in context
The 222 songs we’ve measured from 1969 average a dynamic range of 6.3/10. At 7/10, this track is louder and more dynamic than its year.
Mixes smoothly with
Within a few BPM and close in feel — they flow without a jarring transition.
The fingerprint
Intensity42
Dynamics67
Tempo25
Surprise25
Density33
Predictability50
Vocal force25
Trigger load0
The 8-dimension measurement behind every rating on this page.
Frequently asked about "The Boxer"
Quick answers pulled from the song's sensory analysis.
What is the BPM of "The Boxer" by Simon & Garfunkel?
"The Boxer" by Simon & Garfunkel has a tempo of 85 BPM (Andante (walking pace)). At half-time that is 43 BPM, and at double-time 170 BPM.
What is the sensory intensity of "The Boxer" by Simon & Garfunkel?
"The Boxer" by Simon & Garfunkel rates as Moderate intensity. Dynamic range 7/10, mild sudden changes, layered texture. Moderate is the default for well-produced music with real arc but no surprise elements.
How loud is "The Boxer" — what is its dynamic range?
"The Boxer" has a dynamic range of 7/10. Noticeable climb from quiet sections to loudest point. Set opening volume slightly lower than your preferred peak.
Does "The Boxer" have sudden or surprising changes?
"The Boxer" has mild sudden changes — one or two transitions worth knowing about, but they are musically resolved rather than surprise-driven.
What is "The Boxer" best for?
In our library "The Boxer" is recommended for: deep listening, emotional release. These tags are assigned only where the song's sensory profile genuinely supports the use case.
When was "The Boxer" released?
"The Boxer" is from 1969, on the album "Bridge over Troubled Water". It appears in our 1960s catalog.
What is the emotional mood of "The Boxer"?
We tag "The Boxer" as cathartic, heavy. Moods are tonal descriptors based on how the song reads emotionally — separate from the sensory intensity axes.
What is the vocal style of "The Boxer"?
The vocal style is soft vocals.
Is "The Boxer" good for running?
Not really — at 85 BPM it's below most running cadences. Better for warm-up, cool-down, or walking. Recreational runners typically step at 140-175 BPM.
Is "The Boxer" good for studying?
Only partially. The song's dynamic range (7/10) means there will be loud moments that break focus during deep work.
Can I use "The Boxer" for sleep?
Not recommended for sleep. Contains transitions that will wake you up.
Should I listen to "The Boxer"?
"The Boxer" is Moderate intensity — fine for most listeners, but with enough dynamic activity that it works best as active listening rather than background.
Songs with the same DNA
layered texture, similar intensity — across any genre or era.
Safer alternatives with a similar feel
These songs share similar moods but with a gentler sensory profile.
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Where to next?
You know how this one feels — now go find the next one.