COME ON BILLY BREAK OUT THE WINE

Handwritten lyrics


Come on Johnny Billy break out the wine
I wanna see you pop that cork
Todays [sic] the day we all been waitin' for
I wanna do some celebratin'
I ain't been out of this one horse town
Since I was dropped off by the stork
No nothing can stop me now I've got my ticket
to New York G push push push

I'll say my goodbyes to Mary how she's a standin'
at the door
I hate to leave my little girl blue
I never done it before
A mans [sic] got to seek his fortune
A mans [sic] got to get some fame
And I swear to you Johnny (Bill) when I get back
There all gonna know my name
To I ain't been...
Not even mama can stop me know stop - G7 //////

Hey Mr Greyhound bus driver
It's good to see you right on time
All I wanna know is how far do we go
What time do we arrive not ever ???

fade C7 build octaves

Girls
C'mon (with me) / Ain't been (with me) / Dropped off (A A A)
Nothing can (same behind me) ??? I'm going (no nothing can)
no nothing can
end - fast no nothing can stop


Info

COME ON BILLY BREAK OUT THE WINE is a song written by Bruce Springsteen. He performed it live with The Bruce Springsteen Band in mid-1971. The song was probably written in early 1971.

COME ON BILLY BREAK OUT THE WINE is also known under the titles "Nothing Can Stop Me" and "Nothing Can Stop Me Now". Bruce Springsteen introduced the song as "Come On Billy Break Out The Wine" on 23 Jul 1971 (see the live 23 Jul 1971 version) and he used the title "Come On Billy" on a handwritten setlist believed to be from July 1971 (see the "Live History" section below). Even though in the live versions of the song "Come On Billy Break Out The Wine" appears only twice while "Nothing Can Stop Me Now" is repeated many times in the chorus, this website uses the former since it's the one Springsteen used to refer to the song.

Handwritten Lyrics

The above lyrics are for an early draft of COME ON BILLY BREAK OUT THE WINE found on a 2-page Bruce Springsteen handwritten lyrics sheet of unknown origin and probably dating from 1971. See below scans.

Bruce Springsteen handwritten lyrics for COME ON BILLY BREAK OUT THE WINE (page 1)
Bruce Springsteen handwritten lyrics for COME ON BILLY BREAK OUT THE WINE (page 1)
Bruce Springsteen handwritten lyrics for COME ON BILLY BREAK OUT THE WINE (page 2)
Bruce Springsteen handwritten lyrics for COME ON BILLY BREAK OUT THE WINE (page 2)

Live History

COME ON BILLY BREAK OUT THE WINE is known to have been performed at least 3 times in Bruce Springsteen's early years (pre-October 1972). Very little is known about shows from this early period, and therefore, the song may have been played on some more dates.

  1. 10 Jul 1971 at Brookdale Community College, Lincroft, NJ (with The Bruce Springsteen Band)
  2. 23 Jul 1971 at Lincoln Center, New York City, NY (with The Bruce Springsteen Band)
  3. 29 Jul 1971 at D'Scene, South Amboy, NJ (with The Bruce Springsteen Band)

An early Bruce Springsteen handwritten song list (see scan below) is recalled with some degree of confidence by one of The Bruce Springsteen Band members as emanating from one of the band's July 1971 bookings at D'Scene in South Amboy, NJ. The Bruce Springsteen Band made two consecutive Thursday evening appearances at the club, on 22 and 29 July 1971. They headlined two gigs each night, one at 9:00 p.m. and one at 11:30 p.m., with Sunny Jim opening. The handwritten song list was auctioned on the It's Only Rock 'N Roll online auction website in June 2006. The bid started at $500.00 and reached $2221.44. The document contains a list of 22 songs, including COME ON BILLY BREAK OUT THE WINE. This is not a setlist, but many (or possibly all) of the listed songs must have been performed at the 22 and 29 Jul 1971 shows at D'Scene.

Bruce Springsteen handwritten song list from the July 1971 shows at D'Scene, South Amboy, NJ
Bruce Springsteen handwritten song list from the July 1971 shows at D'Scene, South Amboy, NJ

Covers

As far as it's known, no artist has recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's COME ON BILLY BREAK OUT THE WINE.

Credits / References

Thanks Audio2575 (from Rare Springsteen) for the handwritten lyrics sheet scans.

Much of the above info about the live performances is taken from Brucebase.

Request

The above lyrics may not be 100% correct. If you have any corrections, additions, or comments, please contact me via the below form or by email: .

Available Versions

List of available versions of COME ON BILLY BREAK OUT THE WINE on this website:

COME ON BILLY BREAK OUT THE WINE [Handwritten lyrics]
COME ON BILLY BREAK OUT THE WINE [Live 23 Jul 1971 version]
COME ON BILLY BREAK OUT THE WINE [Live 29 Jul 1971 version]

Page last updated: 02 Feb 2017