STRAIGHT TIME

Album version



Got out of prison back in '86 and I found a wife
Walked the clean and narrow just trying to stay out and stay alive
Got a job at the rendering factory, it ain't gonna make me rich
In the darkness before dinner comes sometimes I can feel the itch
I got a cold mind to go tripping 'cross that thin line
I'm sick of doing straight time

My uncle's at the evening table, makes his living running hot cars
Slips me a hundred dollar bill, says "Charlie you best remember who your friends are"
I got a cold mind to go tripping 'cross that thin line
I ain't making straight time

Well eight years in, it feels like you're gonna die
But you get used to anything, sooner or later it just becomes your life

The kitchen floor in the evening, tossing my little babies high
Mary's smiling but she watches me out of the corner of her eye
Seems you can't get any more than half free
I step out onto the front porch and suck the cold air deep inside of me
I got a cold mind to go tripping 'cross that thin line
I'm sick of doing straight time

In the basement hunting gun and a hacksaw
Sip a beer and thirteen inches of barrel drop to the floor

Come home in the evening, can't get the smell from my hands
Lay my head down on the pillow and go drifting off into foreign lands


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Info

STRAIGHT TIME is a song written by Bruce Springsteen and released on his 1995 album The Ghost Of Tom Joad. The above lyrics are for Bruce Springsteen's album version of STRAIGHT TIME as released in 1995.


Writing and Recording

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The Ghost Of Tom Joad

Following the Jan-Feb 1995 studio reunion with the E Street Band and the release of Greatest Hits, Bruce Springsteen writing activity increased significantly. Between March and September 1995, Springsteen wrote and recorded about two-albums worth of new songs. From the scattered comments made by Springsteen and other session participants, it would seem that over an album's worth of solo material and over an album's worth of band material were recorded during these sessions. The Ghost Of Tom Joad album consist of 7 solo tracks and 5 band tracks. The songs Springsteen recorded solo may have spanned the entire session period and the band sessions appear to have been split into two or three phases during the spring and summer of 1995.

In his 1998 book Songs, Springsteen wrote: "I knew that The Ghost of Tom Joad wouldn't attract my largest audience. But I was sure the songs on it added up to a reaffirmation of the best of what I do. The record was something new, but it was also a reference point to the things I tried to stand for and be about as a songwriter.

The Ghost Of Tom Joad was released on Columbia Records on 21 Nov 1995. It was produced by Bruce Springsteen and Chuck Plotkin. The album won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album in 1997.

Bruce Springsteen -- The Ghost Of Tom Joad
Bruce Springsteen -- The Ghost Of Tom Joad

The Ghost Of Tom Joad features 12 new Springsteen compositions and clocks at 50:16.

Other Official Releases

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Bruce Springsteen -- Columbia Records Radio Hour Part 1 & 2
Bruce Springsteen -- Columbia Records Radio Hour Part 1 & 2

MC - Columbia (CAT 7698) - USA, 1995

Promotion-only cassette tape.
Bruce Springsteen -- Interview With Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen -- Interview With Bruce Springsteen

2xCD - Columbia (SAMPCD 3184 9) - Germany, 1996

Germany-only promotional 2-CD set featuring 16 Springsteen tracks interspersed with segments from an exclusive interview for German radio station "Radio Eins" conducted in Los Angeles in February 1996.

Disc 1:
01- Interview
02- IT'S HARD TO BE A SAINT IN THE CITY
03- Interview
04- 4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY)
05- Interview
06- THE RIVER
07- Interview
08- NEBRASKA
09- Interview
10- TOUGHER THAN THE REST
11- Interview
12- BORN IN THE U.S.A.
13- Interview
14- MY HOMETOWN
15- Interview
16- HIGHWAY 29
17- Interview
18- TUNNEL OF LOVE
19- Interview
20- SINALOA COWBOYS [Live 08 Dec 1995 version]

Disc 2:
01- Interview
02- HUNGRY HEART [Live 09 Jul 1995 version]
03- Interview
04- STRAIGHT TIME
05- Interview
06- HUMAN TOUCH
07- Interview
08- ACROSS THE BORDER
09- Interview
10- THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD
11- Interview
12- DEAD MAN WALKIN'

Other versions of STRAIGHT TIME were also officially released.

Bruce Springsteen -- Columbia Records Radio Hour Part 1 & 2
The live 09 Dec 1995 version of STRAIGHT TIME was released on the Columbia Records Radio Hour Part 1 & 2 radio show in 1995.
Bruce Springsteen -- King's Hall, Belfast March 19, 1996
The live 19 Mar 1996 version of STRAIGHT TIME was released on the King's Hall, Belfast March 19, 1996 official live download in 2017.
Bruce Springsteen -- Freehold, NJ 1996 Saint Rose Of Lima School Gym
The live 08 Nov 1996 version of STRAIGHT TIME was released on the Freehold, NJ 1996 Saint Rose Of Lima School Gym official live download in 2018.
Bruce Springsteen -- Asbury Park 11/24/96
The live 24 Nov 1996 version of STRAIGHT TIME was released on the Asbury Park 11/24/96 official live download in 2019.
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band -- Nice, France 1997
The live 18 May 1997 version of STRAIGHT TIME was released on the Nice, France 1997 official live download in 2021.

Live History: on-tour

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Live History: off-tour

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Covers

At least 2 artists have recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's STRAIGHT TIME.

Pepi Hopf & die Buben -- Ans & Zwa
Pepi Hopf & die Buben -- Ans & Zwa

CD - unknown label (unknown catalog number) - Austria, 1999

STRAIGHT TIME is an Austrian adaptation titled "Du Föhst Ma".
Various artists -- The Boss Project: The Songs Of Bruce Springsteen
Various artists -- The Boss Project: The Songs Of Bruce Springsteen

Digital album - no label (no catalog number) - Canada, 2016

This is a free download-only digital Bruce Springsteen tribute album. STRAIGHT TIME is performed by Sheldon Wiebe.

Available Versions

List of available versions of STRAIGHT TIME on this website:

STRAIGHT TIME [Album version]
STRAIGHT TIME [Live 09 Dec 1995 version]
STRAIGHT TIME [Live 19 Mar 1996 version]

Page last updated: 06 Nov 2016