HIGH HOPES

Full take

One two, Whoa!

Monday mornin' runs to Sunday night
A scream slow me down before the new year dies
Won't take much to kill a lovin' smile
And every mother with a baby cryin' in her arms, singin'
Give me help, give me strength
Give a soul a night of fearless sleep
Give me love, give me peace
Don't you know these days you pay for everything
Got high hopes
I got high hopes
I got high hopes
I got high hopes

Yeah comin' from the city, comin' from the wild
I see a breathless army breakin' like a cloud
It's gonna smother love, it's gonna shoot your hopes
Before the meek inherit they'll learn to hate themselves
Give me help, give me strength
Give a soul a night of fearless sleep
Give me love, give me peace
Don't you know these days you pay for everything
Got high hopes
I got high hopes
I got high hopes
Yeah I got high hopes
Roy!
Got high hopes
Yeah I got high hopes
I got high hopes
I got high hopes

Yeah so tell me someone now, what's the price
I wanna buy some time and maybe live my life
I wanna have a wife, I wanna have some kids
I wanna look in their eyes and know they'll stand a chance

Give me help, give me strength
Give a soul a night of fearless sleep
Give me love, give me peace
Don't you know these days you pay for everything
High hopes
Got high hopes
I got high hopes
Yeah I got high hopes
Roy!
High hopes
I got high hopes
Yeah I got high hopes
I got high hopes
Yiiii high hopes
Yeah high hopes
Whoa high hopes
High hopes
Yeah I got high hopes
Yiiii high hopes
Yeah high hopes
Yeah high hopes
Yeah high hopes
Yeah high hopes
High hopes

Page last updated: 13 Dec 2009

Intro

HIGH HOPES was written by Tim Scott-McConnell who originally released it in 1987. Check out his original version for more details. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band recorded the song in 1995. It was included the next year on the Blood Brothers promo EP and a year later on some European issues of the Secret Garden EP. See official releases section below for more details. The above lyrics are for that officially released studio take of the song.

The Recording Sessions

In 1994, Bruce Springsteen recorded an unreleased album with Shane Fontayne and other members of the 1992-1993 touring band. Springsteen's manager Jon Landau wasn't a fan of the project (the 1994 album), and recommended shelving it and focusing more on a "career overview"; this lead to the Greatest Hits sessions with the E Street Band in early 1995.

Bruce called the band in early Jan 1995, and they assembled for the recording sessions on 09 Jan 1995 at the Hit Factory, New York City, NY. This was their first studio reunion in 11 years (since the Born In The USA sessions) and their first ever with Nils Lofgren. HIGH HOPES was among the songs recorded during these sessions. Being a cover, it is not surprising that the song was not included on the Greatest Hits album.

The Documentary

Producer/director/photographer Ernie Fritz was given complete access to the 1995 studio sessions with the E Street Band, and part of the footage was released on the 80-minute documentary Blood Brothers in Nov 1996. The video shows a take of the song being recorded. Check out the studio snippet for more details.

The video was nominated in 1997 for a "Best Long Form Music Video" Grammy Award. The nomination was shared with video director/producer Ernie Fritz, video producer Lee Rolantz, and video producer Jack Gulick. It lost for The Beatles Anthology.

Blood Brothers premiered on 03 Mar 1996 on the Disney Channel. It was released on Laserdisc on 01 Oct 1996, on VHS on 19 Nov 1996 (the packaging for which included the bonus Blood Brothers EP), and on DVD on 16 Jan 2001.

Official releases

A complete full recording of HIGH HOPES (different to the ones partially featured in the Blood Brothers video documentary) was released in Nov 1996 on the Blood Brothers promo EP, a Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band release exclusively available as a bonus with the Blood Brothers video, VHS format only.

Track list:
01- BLOOD BROTHERS [alternate version]
02- HIGH HOPES
03- MURDER INCORPORATED [live 21 Feb 1995 version]
04- SECRET GARDEN [with strings]
05- WITHOUT YOU

The EP was released in the USA (catalogue# COL CSK 8879), Canada (catalogue# COL CDNK 1195), Europe (catalogue# COL XPCD 2104), Australia (catalogue# COL CSK 8879), and Japan (catalogues# SONY SRVM 1524-5). The U.S. and Canadian issues are CD5's that come in a cardboard sleeve (scan below left). The European and Aussie issues are also CD5's that come in a cardboard sleeve but with slightly different artwork (scan below middle). The Japanese issue has the five tracks split over two separate CD'3 (first three tracks on the first CD3 and remaining two tracks on the second CD3) that are housed in a single "snap-pack" with same overall artwork similar to the North American issues (scan below right).

In 1997, the song was included on some European issues of the Secret Garden EPs which was released to promote the Jerry Maguire movie soundtrack.

Track list:
01- SECRET GARDEN
02- MISSING
03- HIGH HOPES
04- THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD

The EP, with the above track list, was released Europe (pressed in Austria, catalogue # COL 664236 2) and the UK (catalogue # COL 664324 2). They both are CD's and come in slimline jewel cases with similar from inserts. Upper scans below are for the Austian pressing and lower scans below are for the UK pressing.

Available Versions

List of available versions of HIGH HOPES on this website:

• Full take (more details)
• Studio snippet
• Original Tim Scott-McConnell's version

Credits / References

Most scans and info for the above releases are taken from the Lost In The Flood website.

Request

I am looking for better scans for the Blood Brothers laserdisc and any HIGH HOPES official releases that I might have missed. You can help by sending additions, corrections, or comments to , or by using the below form. You will be credited. Thanks in advance.