Bruce Springsteen Tribute - Lebanese Tribute to Bruce Springsteen

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: 14 Jul 2008

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 and The E Street Band recorded the song in 1995. They released it the next year on their Blood Brothers promo EP, and a year later on some European issues of the Secret Garden single. The above lyrics are for that officially released version.

Bruce Springsteen -- Blood Brothers [EP] Bruce Springsteen -- Secret Garden [European single]

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 it 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.

Bruce Springsteen -- Blood Brothers [VHS]

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.

Bruce Springsteen -- Blood Brothers EP [USA - front]

Released in 1996 in the US (catalogue# COL CSK 8879), Europe (catalogue# COL XPCD 2104), and Australia (catalogue# COL CSK 8879)

BLOOD BROTHERS [alternate version]
HIGH HOPES
MURDER INCORPORATED [live 21 Feb 1995 version]
SECRET GARDEN [with strings]
WITHOUT YOU

Exclusively available as a bonus with the Blood Brothers home video (VHS format), this picture disc CD-5 comes in a cardboard picture sleeve with a unique, sepia-tone shot of Bruce playing guitar and harmonica in front of a studio mic, and multi-coloured lettering as used for the video cover; the disc itself features the same image with tracklisting. Tracks 1 and 2 (recorded for Greatest Hits with the reformed E Street Band) initially were unique to this CD before turning up again on the two European "Secret Garden" reissues a couple of months later, while the special versions of SECRET GARDEN and MURDER INCORPORATED were previously available in most parts of the world; leaving WITHOUT YOU (another Greatest Hits outtake) as the only otherwise unavailable song on this EP. Interestingly, the rear sleeve bears a "Not For Resale" legend normally found on promotional releases only; just as the catalogue number prefixes "XPCD" and "CSK" are usually assigned for non-commercial pressings.

Bruce Springsteen -- Blood Brothers EP [Japan - front]

1996 Japanese release (catalogues# SONY SRVM 1524-5)

BLOOD BROTHERS [alternate version]
HIGH HOPES
MURDER INCORPORATED [live 21 Feb 1995 version]

SECRET GARDEN [with strings]
WITHOUT YOU

Exclusive Japanese version of the Blood Brothers EP (available with the appropriate home video only) which, curiously, has the five tracks split over two separate 3-inch CD's that are housed in a single "snap-pack" with same overall artwork as the standard Western issues apart from the odd additional Japanese graphics.

In 1997, the song was included on two European issues of the Secret Garden single.

Bruce Springsteen -- Secret Garden EP [Europe - front/disc]

"SECRET GARDEN - MISSING - HIGH HOPES - THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD"
1997 CD5 issued in Europe (pressed in Austria) to promote the Jerry Maguire movie soundtrack, catalogue # COL 664236 2.

Bruce Springsteen -- Secret Garden EP [UK - front]

"SECRET GARDEN - MISSING - HIGH HOPES - THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD"
1997 CD5 issued in the UK to promote the Jerry Maguire movie soundtrack, catalogue # COL 664324 2.

Available Versions

List of available versions of HIGH HOPES on this website:

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 following releases:

Blood Brothers laserdisc
Blood Brothers US EP (disc)
Blood Brothers European and Australian EPs (back - disc)
Blood Brothers Japanese EP (back - discs)
Secret Garden European EP (disc)
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.

HIGH HOPES©