"Boxers"
(Morrissey/Alain Whyte)

 

These words are transcribed without permission the way they appear in the "My Early Burglary Years" album. Additions to the printed lyrics are in darker text while omissions are striken out.

Losing in front of your home crowd
you wish the ground 1
would open up and take you down
and will time never pass?
will time never pass, for us? 2
Your weary wife is walking away
your nephew is true, well he thinks
the world of you
and I have to close my eyes
Losing in front of your home town
the crowd call your name
they love you, all the same
the sound, the smell and the spray
you will take them all away
and they'll stay 'til the grave
Your weary wife is walking away
your nephew is true, well he thinks
the world of you
and I have to close my eyes

Losing in your home town
Hell is the bell that will not
ring again
but you will return one day 3
because of all the things
that you see
when your eyes close
Your weary wife walking away
your nephew is true, he still thinks
the world of you
and I have to dry my eyes

 

1 In live performances of this song on the North American leg of the Oye Esteban tour Morrissey sometimes sang the more personal "I wish the ground would open up and take me down".

2 In live performances of this song on the North American leg of the Oye Esteban tour Morrissey sometimes sang the self-deprecating "will time never pass for you".

3 In live performances of this song on the Oye Esteban tour Morrissey sometimes sang the more personal "I will return one day because of all the things that I see when my eyes close". This was very reflective of his situation in the music business at the time (being without a record contract).