LIVING ON THE EDGE OF THE WORLD

Early North Jersey industrial skyline
I'm an all-set cobra jet creepin' through the night time
Gotta find a gas station, gotta find a pay phone
This turnpike sure is spooky at night when you're all alone
I'm living on the edge of the world
Tryin' to get my girl on the line
Livin' on the edge of the world
But I think it's just a waste of my time
Some jerk keeps breaking my connection, girl
'Cause I'm living on the edge of the world
Living on the edge of the world

Radio, radio, hear my tale of heartbreak
New Jersey in the morning like a lunar landscape
Got a counter girl at the Exit 24 HoJo
Down past the refinery towers where the great black river flows
I'm living on the edge of the world
Tryin' to get back to you, girl
Living on the edge of the world
Tryin' to get a message through
I gotta make a connection, girl
Because I'm living on the edge of the world
Living on the edge of the world

Radio's jammed with gospel stations
Lost souls callin' long distance salvation
Hey mister deejay gotta hear my last prayer*
It's a hey ho rock and roll, deliver me from nowhere*
I'm living on the edge of the world
Tryin' to get back to you, girl
Living on the edge of the world
Tryin' to get a message through
I gotta make some connection, girl
Because I'm living on the edge of the world
Living on the edge of the world

Now my boss don't dig me 'cause he put me on the night shift
It takes me two hours to get back to where my baby lives
In the wee wee hours my mind gets hazy
Relay towers, won't you lead me to my baby
'Neath the overpass the trooper hits his party lights switch

Good night, good luck, one, two powershift

This is a The River outtake that later evolved into OPEN ALL NIGHT. Also some of its lyrics (*) were later used in STATE TROOPER.

Rehearsed with the E Street Band on 15 Nov 1979 at Telegraph Hill Studio, Holmdel, NJ, and three takes of those rehearsals later appeared The Lost Masters Vol. 12 bootleg.

The song was also recorded on 07 Dec 1979 at the Power Station, New York City, NY. That recording was later included on Tracks. The above lyrics refer to that version.

Never played live, even though it was requested during the Reunion tour.

From the interview with Mark Hagen on MOJO Magazine, Jan 1999:

[Mark Hagen:] One of the pleasures is actually tracking the evolution of some of the material; Santa Ana has got a couple of lines that crop up in She's The One, and Living On The Edge Of The World is Open All Night, effectively.

[Bruce:] If you have a good line, you don't like to throw it - you don't write that many. If I came up with a line that I liked I always tried to use it because writing was hard and, for one reason or another, things would begin here and end up there. Bob Benjamin sent me a tape with about three songs on it, and Iceman was one of them. I had forgotten I had even written it and I had no idea what it was, and I went back and it was a pretty nice song. Finding some of the things you'd forgot you had done, that was fun.

From "Tracks: An Early Review", a comprehensive analysis of Tracks from Jan Rodenrijs, as published in Wanted magazine:

"Living On The Edge Of The World" is another "new" song. The lyrics follow those later used for "Open All Night" (with a line thrown in from "State Trooper") apart from the chorus. With a recording date in 79, I still find this song musically has as much relation to a lot of Darkness-outtakes- as to The River. Great mouth-organ-solo by Bruce.