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Official studio version
I bought a scooter and I rented a shack
Out in the sun by the railroad track
I got a job and I'm a-breaking my back
Working and working for the big payback
I keep a-putting and a-puttin' out
I keep a-sweating like all get out
I work so long that I'm a-losing track
Waiting waiting on the big payback
Well it's a wham bam, thank you ma'am, god damn, look out Sam
It's a gone dead train rumbling down this track
They got your neck in the noose, you're dragging long in back
Chasing and chasing the big payback
Oh what my foreman does well I don't know
He just throws me a shovel and yells "Go, Bobby, Go"
Oh well-a all day long he's just a diddy wack wack
While I'm sweating and sweating for the big payback
Yeah it's a wham bam, thank you ma'am, god damn, look out Sam
It's a gone dead train rumbling down the track
They got your neck in the noose, your hands are tied up in back
And you're a-working and working for the big payback
I quit that job and Mister I ain't going back
Got me a knife and she's a long and black
I'll tell you how I make my piece at night Mac
Down in the alley of the big payback
I go a wham bam, thank you ma'am, god damn, c'mon man
You're a gone dead train rumbling down this track
I got your neck in the noose and I don't give a damn Jack
I'm on that long lost highway of the big payback
I'm on that long lost highway of the big payback
I'm on that long lost highway of the big payback
[Fades out]
THE BIG PAYBACK is a song written by Bruce Springsteen and first released as the non-album B-side of OPEN ALL NIGHT in 1982. The above lyrics are for Bruce Springsteen's official studio version of ROULETTE as released in 1988.
The official studio version of THE BIG PAYBACK was included on The Essential Bruce Springsteen (2003 3-disc edition) compilation album.
THE BIG PAYBACK does not appear in Sony's logs of Bruce Springsteen's studio sessions, which indicates that the song was not recorded in studio. However a home demo version (from which the above lyrics are transcribed) was cut around March or April 1982 at Springsteen's home in Colts Neck, NJ (see the below section for more details). Actually two takes were recorded but only one was has surfaced.
Following The River Tour, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band were scheduled to start recording the next album in New York City in February 1982. Springsteen felt that the upcoming band studio sessions would progress faster than they had for his previous three albums if he first records finished demos and demonstrates them to the band. He decided to record multi-channel, professional sounding, finished demos of some songs he had written during the period.
To achieve his goal, Springsteen asked his guitar technician, Mike Batlan, in December 1981 to set up a recording facility in a spare room at his home in Colts Neck, NJ. Some modification work was done to the room making it more receptive to achieving a decent sound. Batlan purchased a Teac Tascom Series 144 4-track cassette recorder, two Shure SM57 microphones, and two microphone stands. The sound was mixed through an old Gibson Echoplex and an old Panasonic boom box acted as the mix-down deck.
Batlan told journalist David McGee, "Springsteen began organizing his work for Nebraska during the first week of December 1981 — that's when I was directed to buy the four-track... actual recording began on 17 or 18 December and ended around January 3." Some of the songs were recorded two or three times in slightly different arrangements. A cassette tape was compiled and edited at the end of the sessions, likely on 03 Jan 1982. It contained fourteen songs recorded during these late December 1981 / early January 1982 sessions plus what is almost certainly a live recording of a fifteenth song, JOHNNY BYE-BYE. It also included seven alternate takes and five alternate mixes. The first person to listen to the tape was Jon Landau. Two or three months later, Springsteen recorded two additional songs (MY FATHER'S HOUSE and THE BIG PAYBACK) at home on the same equipment — thus making a total of 17 different songs.
THE BIG PAY BACK was released as the B-side to OPEN ALL NIGHT in 1982. The single was released only in Europe, where it was pressed in Holland, Spain, and the UK. THE BIG PAY BACK was also included on the LEAP OF FAITH EP in the UK.
The Essential Bruce Springsteen is a compilation album released as part of Sony BMG'S (previously Sony Music Entertainment) series of "Essential" sets. According to Springsteen's liner notes comments, the collection was intended as an introduction to his music for new fans who attended shows on The Rising Tour.
The collection is fundamentally a 2-disc set (clocking at 153:37) compiling songs from all of Springsteen's studio albums to date plus his Live In New York City release. A 3-disc limited edition (clocking at 201:04) was also released. It includes a bonus third disc comprising of a selection of rarities and previously unreleased recordings.
The Essential Bruce Springsteen was released on 11 Nov 2003 on Columbia Records. It debuted and peaked at #14 on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart where it spent 13 weeks. It also reached #28 on the UK Albums Chart. The album was awarded certified gold and platinum records by the RIAA on 16 Dec 2003.
Disc 1:
Disc 2:
Disc 3:
The Essential Bruce Springsteen was reissued on 16 Oct 2015, this time as a 2-disc set (clocking at 156:25) with an updated track list, compiling songs from all of Springsteen's studio albums to date plus his Greatest Hits (1995 edition) collection. This 2015 reissue features remastered tracks not found in that form on other Springsteen releases.
Disc 1:
Disc 2:
Bruce Springsteen's liner notes in The Essential Bruce Springsteen album booklet:
A little mean rockabilly cut at home shortly after the "Nebraska" album.
As far as it's known, Bruce Springsteen has never performed THE BIG PAYBACK live.
At least one artist has recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's THE BIG PAYBACK.
Some of the above recording info is taken from Brucebase.
List of available versions of THE BIG PAYBACK on this website:
THE BIG PAYBACK [Official studio version]
