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Official studio version
One, two, three, four!
Cold rain running down the front of my shirt
I'm flat on my back, wheels in the dirt
Angel makes her face up out on Baker Street
She's straddling the shifter in my front seat
There's nothing to lose, it's a heartbreak, the deck's stacked
So put your foot to the floor and darling don't look back
We're making night tracks through the blazing rain
Blowing pistons working the fast lane
Red line burning, pocket's full of cash
Angel writes her name in lipstick on my dash
There's nothing to lose, it's a bad break but baby we're backed
Tonight we'll blow off their doors and honey we won't look back
We held it in our hearts in the pouring rain
We made it through the heart of a hurricane
We tore it apart and put it together again
Whoa whoa
Whoa whoa whoaaa
Well angel, won't you believe in love for me
Come on and meet me tonight, darling, out in the street
We'll move with the city in the dark
You gotta walk it, talk it, in your heart
There's nothing to lose, it's a heartache, the deck's stacked
So put your foot to the floor, darling
Tonight we'll blow off their doors, baby
We're gonna even the score, and honey we won't look back
Whoa whoa whoa
Whoa whoa whoa
Ah don't look back
Ah baby don't look back, ah
Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa
Ah baby don't look back
No no no no no
Ah baby don't look
Don't look, don't look
Don't look, don't look
Don't look, don't look
Don't look, don't look
Don't look, don't look
Don't look, don't look
Don't look, don't look
Don't look, don't look
Back
DON'T LOOK BACK is a song written by Bruce Springsteen and first released on the Tracks box set in 1998. The above lyrics are for Bruce Springsteen's official studio version of DON'T LOOK BACK as released in 1998.
The "One, two, three, four!" count-in at the beginning of the song can be heard on the bootleg releases but is edited out on the official release.
SECTION NOT YET COMPLETED
When Springsteen was performing DON'T LOOK BACK live in March 1977, the song's lyrics were changing dramatically from one show to the next. The first March 1977 performance of the song (the live 10 Mar 1977 version) is very different from the studio versions and the last March 1977 performance (the live 25 Mar 1977 version) is almost identical to the studio versions, particularly the outtake version. And since it was sound-checked on 08 Feb 1977, this might indicate that the song was written in early 1977 but was revised and rewritten through March of that year. For comparison, see each of the March 1977 live versions listed in the "Live History" section below.
According to Sony's logs of Bruce Springsteen's studio sessions, DON'T LOOK BACK was recorded or demoed on 01 Jun, 06-08 Jun, 17 Jun, 24 Jun, 02 Jul, and 07 Jul 1977 at Atlantic Studios in New York City, NY, and on 28 Feb and 02 Mar 1978 at The Record Plant in New York City, NY.
Four studio versions of DON'T LOOK BACK are in circulation, two of which are instrumental takes (or backing tracks) and two are takes with vocals.
According to the Tracks booklet liner notes, the official studio version of DON'T LOOK BACK was recorded on 02 Jul 1977 at The Record Plant in New York City, NY. This is likely a mistake because, according to Sony's logs, Springsteen recorded at Atlantic Studios on 02 Jul 1977, not at The Record Plant.
In the handwritten lyrics notebook that was reproduced in The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story box set, there are reproductions of two demo tape inlays listing DON'T LOOK BACK. One contains tracks recorded at Atlantic Studios and dated 01 Jun 1977 (below scan left) and one titled "Bruce Springsteen - Ruffs" and dated June 1977 (below scan right).
Around October 1977, Columbia Records' art department created a concept artwork for Bruce Springsteen's fourth studio album. The mock-up album sleeve art uses photographs taken by Eric Meola earlier in 1977. The Springsteen photograph, used for the front cover, was shot at Meola's studio in New York City for potential use on the album cover art. The eye-patched Clarence Clemons photo, used for the front cover, was shot for Clarence personally. At this stage, the album's proposed title was "Badlands", but Springsteen would later change it to "Darkness On The Edge Of Town" reportedly because Bill Chinnock released an album titled "Badlands" in early 1978.
The early album track list included three songs that didn't make the final track list. INDEPENDENCE DAY was eventually released on The River in 1980, DON'T LOOK BACK was eventually released on the Tracks box set in 1998, and CANDY'S BOY was eventually released on The Promise in 2010. ADAM RAISED A CAIN, SOMETHING IN THE NIGHT, FACTORY, and DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN were not on the album track list at that stage.
In the liner notes of his Tracks box set, Bruce Springsteen introduces the box set as follows:
During long intervals between my record releases, as I was spending more and more time in the studio, when I met a fan out on the street I was often asked, "What are you guys doing in there?" I regularly pondered that question myself.
What we were doing in there was making a lot of music, a lot more music than I could use at any one time. As a result, my albums became a series of choices — what to include, what to leave out? I based my decisions on my creative point of view at the moment — the subject I was trying to focus on, something musical or emotional I was trying to express. In certain instances, as on Darkness on the Edge of Town, Nebraska, and The Ghost of Tom Joad, these choices crystallized the album I was making. On some of my other records the reasons I had for choosing one song over another, in hindsight, feel a good deal less significant. One of the results of working like this was that a lot of music, including some of my favorite things, remained unreleased.
This collection contains everything from the first notes I sang in the Columbia recording studio, my early and later work with the E Street Band, through to my music in the 90s. It's the alternate route to some of the destinations I travelled to on my records, an invitation into the studio on the many nights we spent making music in search of the records we presented to you. I'm glad to finally be able to share this music; here are some of the ones that got away.
- Bruce Springsteen, September 1998
Bruce Springsteen's albums were thematically linked even if they were not strictly concept albums; so some tracks that didn't fit the theme of the album ended up orphaned, not necessarily because they didn't meet his high standards, but because, he says, they didn't fit in with the tone or themes he mined for each set. Many of these unreleased studio outtakes got under the hands of bootleggers. Discussing that issue in 1984, Springsteen told Rolling Stone's Kurt Loder, "We record a lot of material, but we just don't release it all. [...] I always tell myself that some day I'm gonna put an album out with all this stuff on it that didn't fit in. I think there's some good material there that should come out. Maybe at some point, I'll do that."
During a break in The Ghost Of Tom Joad Solo Acoustic Tour, Springsteen thought that "if it's gonna be a year or longer in between records, I have all this music that I know is very good that I never released and I should release some of it whether it was just a CD or something. In that period of time, I should put something out because people would like to have it and I'd like to see it get out." He told Toby Scott (his audio archivist and recording engineer), "send me all the archives, send everything that we recorded". Scott then went to work gathering the potential material from Springsteen's massive audio library (located, along with Sony's sound archives, in the high-tech Iron Mountain facility near Buffalo, NY). "For a week or so," he told Billboard in a Nov 1998 interview, "I just listened to everything that I'd done that we hadn't put out. I made some very brief notes in a notebook, and then I just put it away. It was something that I could do at some point when I get to that place in a new project where I'm not sure how long it's going to take and it would be nice to sort of fill the gap so the fans wouldn't be so long without hearing any music from me".
Springsteen told Mark Hagen in an interview for Mojo magazine published in January 1999, "So it began just with that idea and we listened to about 250 songs, maybe more, I made quick notes in a notebook and put it away. A year went by, more maybe, and I came off the Tom Joad tour and I began to write acoustically again and I wrote about half a record. Then I got stuck and said, 'Well, I'm going to put this aside for a while.' Then I wrote half of an electric record, and hit the same place. So I thought, instead of waiting for another year to put something out I'll put some of this music together. So once again I went back to the archives." According to interview comments made by engineer Toby Scott (Springsteen's audio archivist and recording engineer), it was in February 1998 during solo sessions being conducted at Thrill Hill Recording (Springsteen's home studio) in Colts Neck, NJ, that Springsteen told Scott that the time was right to proceed with the long-anticipated box set of archived, unreleased studio takes. Thrill Hill Recording served as the main operational center for all Tracks project activities. Note that the "Thrill Hill Recording" name is used for whatever home studio Springsteen is recording at, whether it's in Rumson, NJ, Colts, NJ, or Beverly Hills, CA.
Springsteen told Billboard that the songs were culled from between 200 and 300 tunes. According to Toby Scott, the number was down to about 128 songs by late June 1998. It was then narrowed down yet again in July to about 100 songs that were prepped for the Tracks release. Although the project was originally projected to be a 6-disc set, there was a commercial decision made later in the summer to reduce the size of the release to a 4-disc (66-track) set. The package was delivered to Sony in mid-September in order to facilitate the mid-November 1998 release schedule.
Unreleased songs from the Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ sessions were not included on the box set due to ongoing and still-unresolved court proceedings involving most of these unreleased 1972 recordings. The court battle wasn't resolved until in 2001 (April 2001 in the UK and June 2001 in the U.S.), and those recordings are now free for release at any time. The opening four tracks of the box set — which were culled from Springsteen's 03 May 1972 Columbia Records audition — were not part of the court proceedings.
On 16 Jul 1998, Springsteen attended a convention for Sony Music Entertainment Inc. in Miami, FL, where he officially announced that a box set was the works and he played a tape of three songs: WHERE THE BANDS ARE, LOOSE ENDS, and I WANNA BE WITH YOU.
The Tracks box set was released on Columbia Records on 10 Nov 1998. It was issued on both compact disc and audio cassette formats. It's a 4-disc (or 4-cassette) set consisting of a total of 66 tracks (almost 4.5 hours long), 10 of which were heretofore unavailable single B-sides, 6 were demos and alternate versions of already-released material, and 50 (48 studio and 2 live) were never-before-released songs recorded during the sessions for Springsteen's many albums. Some tracks were treated with a recent touch-up here or there to give the older recordings a fresh polish.
Disc 1:
| 1. | MARY QUEEN OF ARKANSAS | Recorded on 03 May 1972 at CBS Studios, New York City, NY |
| 2. | IT'S HARD TO BE A SAINT IN THE CITY | Recorded on 03 May 1972 at CBS Studios, New York City, NY |
| 3. | GROWIN' UP | Recorded on 03 May 1972 at CBS Studios, New York City, NY |
| 4. | DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET? | Recorded on 03 May 1972 at CBS Studios, New York City, NY |
| 5. | BISHOP DANCED | Recorded live on 31 Jan 1973 at Max's Kansas City, New York City, NY |
| 6. | SANTA ANA | Recorded on 28 Jun 1973 at 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, NY |
| 7. | SEASIDE BAR SONG | Recorded on 28 Jun 1973 at 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, NY |
| 8. | ZERO AND BLIND TERRY | Recorded on 28 Jun 1973 at 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, NY |
| 9. | LINDA LET ME BE THE ONE | Recorded on 28 Jun 1975 at The Record Plant, New York City, NY |
| 10. | THUNDERCRACK | Recorded on 28 Jun 1973 at 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, NY |
| 11. | RENDEZVOUS | Recorded live on 31 Dec 1980 at Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY |
| 12. | GIVE THE GIRL A KISS | Recorded on 10 Nov 1977 at The Record Plant, New York City, NY |
| 13. | ICEMAN | Recorded on 27 Oct 1977 at The Record Plant, New York City, NY |
| 14. | BRING ON THE NIGHT | Recorded on 13 Jun 1979 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 15. | SO YOUNG AND IN LOVE | Recorded on 06 Jan 1974 at The Record Plant, New York City, NY |
| 16. | HEARTS OF STONE | Recorded on 14 Oct 1977 at The Record Plant, New York City, NY |
| 17. | DON'T LOOK BACK | Recorded on 02 Jul 1977 at The Record Plant, New York City, NY |
Disc 2:
| 1. | RESTLESS NIGHTS | Recorded on 11 Apr 1980 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 2. | A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND (PITTSBURGH) | Recorded on 05 May 1982 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 3. | ROULETTE | Recorded on 03 Apr 1979 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 4. | DOLLHOUSE | Recorded on 21 Aug 1979 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 5. | WHERE THE BANDS ARE | Recorded on 09 Oct 1979 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 6. | LOOSE ENDS | Recorded on 18 Jul 1979 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 7. | LIVING ON THE EDGE OF THE WORLD | Recorded on 07 Dec 1979 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 8. | WAGES OF SIN | Recorded on 10 May 1982 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 9. | TAKE 'EM AS THEY COME | Recorded on 10 Apr 1980 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 10. | BE TRUE | Recorded on 21 Jul 1979 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 11. | RICKY WANTS A MAN OF HER OWN | Recorded on 16 Jul 1979 at The Record Plant, New York City, NY |
| 12. | I WANNA BE WITH YOU | Recorded on 31 May 1979 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 13. | MARY LOU | Recorded on 30 May 1979 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 14. | STOLEN CAR | Recorded on 26 Jul 1979 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 15. | BORN IN THE U.S.A. | Recorded in January 1983 at Thrill Hill Recording, Colts Neck, NJ |
| 16. | JOHNNY BYE-BYE | Recorded in January 1983 at Thrill Hill Recording, Beverly Hills, CA |
| 17. | SHUT OUT THE LIGHT | Recorded in January 1983 at Thrill Hill Recording, Beverly Hills, CA |
Disc 3:
| 1. | CYNTHIA | Recorded on 20 Apr 1983 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 2. | MY LOVE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN | Recorded on 05 May 1982 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 3. | THIS HARD LAND | Recorded on 11 May 1982 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 4. | FRANKIE | Recorded on 14 May 1982 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 5. | TV MOVIE | Recorded on 13 Jun 1983 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 6. | STAND ON IT | Recorded on 16 Jun 1983 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 7. | LION'S DEN | Recorded on 25 Jan 1982 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 8. | CAR WASH | Recorded on 31 May 1983 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 9. | ROCKAWAY THE DAYS | Recorded on 03 Feb 1984 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 10. | BROTHERS UNDER THE BRIDGES ('83) | Recorded on 04 Sep 1983 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 11. | MAN AT THE TOP | Recorded on 12 Jan 1984 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 12. | PINK CADILLAC | Recorded on 31 May 1983 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 13. | TWO FOR THE ROAD | Recorded in February 1987 at Thrill Hill Recording, Colts Neck, NJ |
| 14. | JANEY, DON'T YOU LOSE HEART | Recorded on 16 Jun 1983 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 15. | WHEN YOU NEED ME | Recorded on 10 Jan 1987 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 16. | THE WISH | Recorded on 22 Feb 1987 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 17. | THE HONEYMOONERS | Recorded on 22 Feb 1987 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 18. | LUCKY MAN | Recorded on 04 Apr 1987 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
Disc 4:
| 1. | LEAVIN' TRAIN | Recorded on 27 Feb 1990 at Oceanway Studios, Los Angeles, CA |
| 2. | SEVEN ANGELS | Recorded on 29 Jun 1990 at Oceanway Studios, Los Angeles, CA |
| 3. | GAVE IT A NAME | Recorded on 24 Aug 1998 at Thrill Hill Recording, Colts Neck, NJ |
| 4. | SAD EYES | Recorded on 25 Jan 1990 at Soundworks West, Los Angeles, CA |
| 5. | MY LOVER MAN | Recorded on 04 Dec 1990 at Soundworks West, Los Angeles, CA |
| 6. | OVER THE RISE | Recorded on 07 Dec 1990 at Soundworks West, Los Angeles, CA |
| 7. | WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT | Recorded on 06 Dec 1990 at The Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA |
| 8. | LOOSE CHANGE | Recorded on 31 Jan 1991 at Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA |
| 9. | TROUBLE IN PARADISE | Recorded on 01 Dec 1989 at Soundworks West, Los Angeles, CA |
| 10. | HAPPY | Recorded on 18 Jan 1992 at A & M Studios, Los Angeles, CA |
| 11. | PART MAN, PART MONKEY | Recorded in January 1990 at Soundworks West, Los Angeles, CA |
| 12. | GOIN' CALI | Recorded on 29 Jan 1991 at A & M Studios, Los Angeles, CA |
| 13. | BACK IN YOUR ARMS | Recorded on 12 Jan 1995 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 14. | BROTHERS UNDER THE BRIDGE | Recorded on 22 May 1995 at Thrill Hill Recording, Beverly Hills, CA |
Other versions of ACROSS THE BORDERLINE were also officially released.
Prior to its release on Tracks in 1998, the official studio version of DON'T LOOK BACK has been circulating on many bootlegs, including The Definitive Darkness Outtakes Collection (E. St. Records) [disc 2, track 01], Darkness Outtakes 1978 Vol. 2: The Way (Scorpio) [track 11], and The Original Darkness Mixes (E. St. Records) [track 01].
DON'T LOOK BACK is known to have been performed at least 11 times during what is known as The Lawsuit Tour (62 know dates, August 1976 to March 1977), all at the end of the tour in Match 1977. Some of that period's setlists are incomplete or unknown, and therefore, the song may have been played on some more dates during the Lawsuit Tour. The known setlist for the 20 Mar 1977 show in Providence, RI is incomplete, but DON'T LOOK BACK was most likely performed on that date since the remainder all previous seven shows and following four shows opened with the same three songs (NIGHT, DON'T LOOK BACK, SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT). Noted that DON'T LOOK BACK was sound-checked earlier in the tour, on 08 Feb 1977 in Rochester, NY, but was not performed during the show. An audience tape of that sound-check is in circulation.
In preparation for The Reunion Tour, DON'T LOOK BACK was performed during one of the tour's two public warm-up rehearsal shows that took place in March 1999 in Asbury Park. The song is also known to have been practiced during the private rehearsal that took place in February 2000 in University Park, PA, the day before the tour's final leg kicked off.
DON'T LOOK BACK was performed 16 times during what is known as The Reunion Tour (132 dates, April 1999 to July 2000). On this tour, the song was always performed as show opener or immediately after the show opener. The live 29 Jun 2000 version of DON'T LOOK BACK was released on the Live In New York City album and home video in 2001.
DON'T LOOK BACK was performed once during the Magic Tour (100 dates, October 2007 to August 2008), on 28 Apr 2008 in Greensboro, NC. The live 28 Apr 2008 version of DON'T LOOK BACK was released on the Greensboro, North Carolina April 28, 2008 official live download in 2020.
DON'T LOOK BACK was performed twice during the Wrecking Ball Tour (133 dates, March 2012 to September 2013). The song was the show opener in both cases.
DON'T LOOK BACK was performed once during the High Hopes Tour (34 dates, January to May 2014), on the tour's final show on 18 May 2014 in Uncasville, CT. Audio recordings for most High Hopes Tour shows are officially available for purchase.
At least 2 artists have recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's DON'T LOOK BACK.
List of available versions of DON'T LOOK BACK on this website:
DON'T LOOK BACK [Official studio version]
