In 1970, Paul Simon wrote a song to attack his critics. Now it has been streamed 375,000,000 times

Paul Simon’s “The Boxer” was shaped in part by the criticism he began receiving after years of praise as one half of Simon and Garfunkel. He channelled that frustration into a song that became one of his best-known works, turning a personal response into a story listeners could connect with.

Simon later said he felt critics were “beating me up” and questioned whether the duo counted as folk musicians or hippies. The song appeared on Simon and Garfunkel’s 1970 album *Bridge over Troubled Water*. Its famous “lie-la-lie” refrain began as a placeholder, while drummer Hal Blaine recorded the chorus beside an open lift shaft to capture its echo. The headline says the track has been streamed 375 million times.