FIST FULL OF DOLLARS^©

Take #2

Well they shot the chicken man in Philadelphia last night
Now that whole town is in for a hell of a fight
We'll give up, down, as she knows
In a few last boardwalk casinos
We'll give up to the test
And it's all for a fist full of dollars and a little bit less
Da da da...

Man they open up the cost
Where the rich get richer, the poor and the rest get lost
Ante up the ante, ante
And they're upping up the ante
We're doin' all thi, this baby
For a fist full of dollars and a little bit, and a little bit less
Da da da...

In a pink V and a blue business suit
You're looking here

In the middle- baby, I'm, maybe I'm stuck in the middle with you
Playing for a fist full of dollars and a little bit less
Da da da...

A fist full of dollars or two

Page last updated: 22 Sep 2007

Music and lyrics by Bruce Springsteen, this Nebraska acoustic home demo would later evolve in ATLANTIC CITY, passing through an intermediate version.

Two takes of FIST FULL OF DOLLARS are in circulation, both recorded at Springsteen's home in Colt's Neck, NJ, sometime in late-March or early-April 1981, during a break in The River Tour.

The above lyrics are for take #2, which suffers from intelligible lyrics, as it is the case of many demos from that period. Check out also take #1. Both takes are circulating on several bootlegs, including Fist Full Of Dollars (E Street Records) and How Nebraska Was Born (Godfather Records).

As far as it's known, this outtake was never played live.

Recording info taken from Brucebase. Thanks Timmy Petersson (Terry at Greasy Lake) and Jake (ol'catfishinthelake from BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.

Liner notes from the How Nebraska Was Born bootleg booklet:

The second take is shorter and more confused. Melody is completely different from version # 1 and Bruce is working to give more focus on the story.
At the beginning of the song the reference to "Chicken Man": "Well. They blew up the Chicken Man in Philadelphia last night".
The lyrics version of Atlantic City included in NEBRASKA will go for a more open "Well, they blew up the Chicken Man in Philly last night" leaving the doubt he could talk about Phillisburgh in New Jersey instead.