JAMES LINCOLN DEERE

Home demo version

My name is James Francis Deere
I was born in Remington
Found my home in Richfield prison
Where I paid for the wrongs I done
Once, I was free and on the streets of Indiana
And I was twenty-two
Just a kid, no better or worse than you

Me and Terry married in the spring
We moved in with her ma and pa
On our wedding night she sighed, "Jimmy,
We can have anything we want."

She got a job in Silverton
We worked hard and we scraped and saved
And we got by all right
On the money that we made

Terry had a brother
A brother, name of Sill
Made a livin' stealin' farm equipment
Down in Wiggonville

He'd sit at my kitchen table Friday nights
His roll of dough he'd flash
Say, "Johnny, you need a little extra work
All you gotta do is ask."

You got a wife and a child to feed
There's nobody lookin' out here for you
In this world a man takes what he can
Or he ain't nothin' but a fool

Then came the shutdowns
And our whole world went black
Man said, "These jobs are goin' boys
And they ain't comin' back."

Then I required a bigger job
Couldn't find none
Found myself sittin'
On the curb outside Sill's house

Trial, trial was short
An honest man had died
They put us on the prison trucks
And let us ride

Now I got nothin' to do
'Cept wait for these days to pass
I see my wife and child
Through double pained Richfield glass

Me and Sill, we robbed a Stop and Shop
On a cold and windy night
I had my pistol
And I shot a boy in flight.

I held my pistol to his face
His eyes caught fire with fear
I said, "Remember me before you die.
My name is James Lincoln Deere."

Info

JAMES LINCOLN DEERE is an unreleased song written by Bruce Springsteen. The above lyrics are transcribed from the only circulation take of the song, an acoustic demo recorded at Springsteen's home in Colts Neck, NJ, sometime between mid-September 1981 and May 1982. This take is fully complete, at least lyrically.

JAMES LINCOLN DEERE would later evolve into RICHFIELD WHISTLE. It also contains lyrics that would later appear in MY HOMETOWN ("Man said, 'These jobs are goin' boys / And they ain't comin' back.'").

Bootleg Releases

This only circulating version of JAMES LINCOLN DEERE can be found on The Lost Masters Essential Collection Vol. 2 (Labour Of Love) [disc 2, track 23] bootleg.

Bruce Springsteen -- The Lost Masters Essential Collection Vol. 2 (Labour Of Love)

Live History

Bruce Springsteen has never performed JAMES LINCOLN DEERE live.

Credits / References

Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help. Some of the above info is taken from Brucebase.

Available Versions

List of available versions of JAMES LINCOLN DEERE on this website:

Page last updated: 12 Sep 2011