FOREVER^©

Live 31 Jan 1998 version

If I give you my heart, would you love me forever?
Come on!

Well I learned when I was a young boy
You turn your cheek, you get slapped
Take the punches I can't slip
And I give it right back
Ah, even if I win girl, it really don't mean too much
What I want, baby, most of all is the only thing that I can't touch

Oh, if I give you my heart would you love me forever
Pick up the pieces if I stumble and fall
If the world falls apart could you keep it together
If I can't have you I don't want no one at all

Oh, just because I'm so quiet
Just because I don't cry
Hardest lesson to learn, girl
Is how to take it inside

Well, there's leather and jewels to soothe me
But it isn't really what I need
There's an aching hurt inside of me
And it's the kind of thing that you don't see

Oh, if I give you my heart would you love me forever
Pick up the pieces if I stumble and fall
If the world falls apart, patch it together
If I can't have you I don't want no one at all
Eddie! Go!

Eddie, Big Man! Go!

Now the years are unwinding
But I still feel the hurt
I've been fighting my whole life
For the privilege to work

And I've stopped and looked around me
But there's nobody left to blame
If I can't have you to hold me, girl
All of my work's in vain

Oh, if I give you my heart would you love me forever
Pick up the pieces if I stumble and fall (oh yeah)
World falls apart, hold me together
If I can't have you I don't want no one at all

And if I give you my heart would you love me forever
Pick up the pieces if I stumble and fall
If my world falls apart, baby keep it together
If I can't have you I don't want no one at all

Oh
Oh baby
Oh yeah

Page last updated: 13 Sep 2007

Written by Steven Van Zandt. Check out Little Steven & The Disciples Of Soul's original version for more details.

The song was performed live with Bruce Springsteen once, on 31 Jan 1998 during the "Come Together: Jon Bon Jovi & Friends" benefit concert held at Count Basie Theater, Red Bank, NJ, and the above lyrics correspond to that performance. Steven Van Zandt was on lead vocals, and Bruce Springsteen probably was playing guitar during this song (assuming he was on stage all night).

The "Come Together: Jon Bon Jovi & Friends" benefit concert was organized by the Long Branch Police Department, The Asbury Park Press, and FPI Concerts, along with Jon Bon Jovi. The concert was to honor slain Long Branch police officer Sgt. Patrick King and raise money for the Sgt. Patrick King Memorial Fund to provide for his family. King, 45-year-old father of two young boys, was fatally shot on 20 Nov 1997 by a fugitive who had vowed to kill himself and a police officer rather than be captured and returned to jail.

20 musicians with ties to the Jersey shore music scene answered Jon Bon Jovi's call, including Bruce Springsteen, Patti Scialfa and several members of the then-disbanded E Street Band (Clarence Clemons, Danni Frederici, Patti Scialfa, Little Steven, and Max Weinberg), Southside Johnny, Bobby Bandiera, and Richie Sambora among others. Actor Danny DeVito was the event's MC. Tickets, which were priced at $125, went on sale on 17 Jan 1998 noon, selling out in eight minutes. The concert that was organized in short order raised more than $112,000 for King's widow and his two sons.

"It was a chance to forget about it [the murder] a little bit," Long Branch police Sgt. Bruce Johantgen, one of about 50 city police officers who attended the show, told The Asbury Park Press. "The outpouring of love from the performers to the audience was unbelievable". Johantgen said he found it ironic that Bon Jovi and other performers thanked the audience for coming to the sold-out show. "From the police perspective, I kept thinking, 'We should be thanking you for giving your time'," Johantgen said.

This was a near-reunion of the fabled E Street Band and Bruce's first full-length electric gig following the acoustic The Ghost Of Tom Joad Solo Acoustic Tour. Springsteen spent much of (or maybe all) the night onstage, singing or playing guitar only. Soundboard recording for that concert is available among collectors.

The above lyrics are for the live 31 Jan 1998 performance at Count Basie Theater, Red Bank, NJ. Check out Little Steven & The Disciples Of Soul's original version.

Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake from BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.

Request:
Was Bruce Springsteen playing guitar on all of the 31 Jan 1998 show's tracks on which he didn't sing? Info should be found on Backstreets magazine #58 [Spring 1998]. If you can assist, please contact me via the below form or by email: . You will be credited. Thanks in advance.

Steven Van Zandt's spoken intro to FOREVER [Live 31 Jan 1998 version]:

You notice tonight I get to follow all of those Bruce songs, you know? And that god damn Bon Jovi! I'll get him later. [laughs]