SEEDS

Well a great black river a man had found
So he put all his money in a hole in the ground
And sent a big steel arm drivin' down down down
Man now I live on the streets of Houston town

Packed up my wife and kids when winter came along
And we headed down south with just spit and a song
But they said "Sorry son it's gone gone gone"

Well there's men hunkered down by the railroad tracks
The Elkhorn Special blowin' my hair back
Tents pitched on the highway in the dirty moonlight
And I don't know where I'm gonna sleep tonight

Parked in the lumberyard freezin' our asses off
My kids in the back seat got a graveyard cough
Well I'm sleepin' up in front with my wife
Billy club tappin' on the windshield in the middle of the night
Says "Move along man move along"

Well big limousine long shiny and black
You don't look ahead you don't look back
How many times can you get up after you've been hit?
Well I swear if I could spare the spit
I'd lay one on your shiny chrome
And send you on your way back home
So if you're gonna leave your town where the north wind blow
To go on down where that sweet soda river flow
Well you better think twice on it Jack
You're better off buyin' a shotgun dead off the rack
You ain't gonna find nothin' down here friend
Except seeds blowin' up the highway in the south wind
Movin' on movin' on it's gone gone it's all gone

Played live during the Born In The USA, Tunnel Of Love, and Human Touch tours and once in The Ghost Of Tom Joad tour on 24 Apr 1996 in London. Published on Live 1975-85.

The 30 Sep 1985 version was included on singles in 1987 with BORN TO RUN (19 Aug 1985), SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT (07 Jul 1978), and JOHNNY 99 (19 Aug 1985).

Liner notes from the One Step Up / Two Steps Back: The Songs Of Bruce Springsteen tribute booklet:

I chose "Seeds" because I didn't think I could do justice and put a new spin on any of his classic hits songs. I wanted to do a song that showed adaptable Springsteen's songwriting is, and I felt that I could bring something of my own style to the song. "Seeds" was a place where stylistically Springsteen and I meet, and even though we live in different worlds, "Seeds" shows me that he and I share some basic concerns about the way things are.

-Dave Alvin