Live 13 Feb 1977 version
One soft infested summer me and Terry became friends
Trying in vain to breathe the fire we was born in
Catching rides to the outskirts, tying faith between our teeth
Sleeping in that old abandoned beach house, getting wasted in the heat
And hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
With a love so hard and filled with defeat, hey!
Running for our lives at night on them backstreets
Slow dancing in the dark on the beach at Stockton's Wing
Where desperate lovers park we sat with the last of the Duke Street Kings
Huddled in our cars waiting for the bells that ring
In the deep heart of the night that set you loose from everything
To go running on the backstreets, running on the backstreets
We swore we'd live forever, whoah!
On the backstreets we'd take it together
Endless juke joints and Valentino drag
Where dancers scraped the tears up off the street dressed down in rags
Running into the darkness, some hurt bad some really dying
At night sometimes it seemed you could hear that whole damn city crying
Blame it on the lies that killed us, on the truth that ran us down
Blame it all on me, it don't matter to me now
When the breakdown hit at midnight there was nothing left to say
I hated him and I hated you when you went away
Whoah, whoah
Now laying here in the dark, you're like an angel on my chest
Just another tramp of hearts crying tears of faithlessness
Remember all the movies, Terry, that we'd go see
Trying to learn how to walk like the heroes we thought we had to be
And after all this time to find we're just like all the rest
Stranded in the park and forced to confess
To hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
We swore forever friends, hey!
On the backstreets until the end
Until the end
Just me and you, baby
Just me and you, girl
And I remember
And I remember we used to promise that
You said 'til I got the money, 'til we got the money
You was never going to go anyplace without me
And I remember when I took all the money out of the bank
And you was going to quit your job
I was going to quit my job, too
Well, I remember
Well, I remember
I remember the night
It was in the basement at St. John's that you promised
That you was never going to go anyplace except there
And I don't want to go anyplace without you
And I remember
When the rain came tumbling down
And I remember it was a Sunday
And I was down at the corner
And I was waiting for you
As the rain came tumbling down
And I remember I stood
I was waiting at the bus station
And the buses were pulling in and pulling out
And I was standing there, and I remember, this newspaper on my head
And the rain came tumbling down
And I was thinking of you and waiting
And I remember that you promised
And the rain came tumbling down
And all the while I was standing there
I was just remembering how you promised
And the rains came tumbling down
And I remember that you promised
As the rain came tumbling down
And that's when I knew
That's when I knew
And I remember you swore to me
And that's when I knew
And that's when I knew
I remembered every word you said
I remembered every bit of what you said
I remember
You lied!
You lied!
You lied!
You lied!
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Well alright
We'll go hiding on the backstreets tonight
Hiding on the backstreets, on the backstreets
On the backstreets
On the backstreets
On the backstreets
Whoah, oh, oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
The above lyrics are for the live 13 Feb 1977 performance of BACKSTREETS at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Canada, during what is known as The Lawsuit Tour.
Despite the marvelous reception received by both Born To Run and the tour which followed, the relationship between Bruce Springsteen and his now former manager and producer Mike Appel was deteriorating. In July 1976 the storm broke; Mike Appel wrote to Springsteen saying that he would not allow Jon Landau (Springsteen's friend and co-producer of Born To Run) to produce the next album, citing a particular paragraph from their original agreement. Springsteen replied on 27 Jul 1976 by firing manager Mike Appel and suing him and his management company Laurel Canyon Ltd. in Federal Court in Manhattan, claiming fraud, breach of trust, and undue influence. Appel counter-sued on 29 Jul 1976 in New York State Supreme Court, asking the court to prohibit Springsteen and Jon Landau from working together in studio. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band were slated to enter the studio that year for the recording of a new album, except that on 15 Sep 1976 the judge in the lawsuits case ruled that Springsteen was enjoined from any further recording with Columbia Records until Appel's suit was resolved. This would drag for about a year. Meanwhile, Springsteen continued gigging, and in the process broke his self-imposed rule of not playing the larger arenas. This was basically because he was not able to put a record out, and it was the only way his fans would be able to hear him at all. The tour became known as "The Lawsuit Tour" (62 know dates, August 1976 to March 1977).
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band performed a concert at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Canada, on 13 Feb 1977, during what is known as The Lawsuit Tour. The pass below right shows that this show was rescheduled from 10 Feb 1977.
The 13 Feb 1977 show in Toronto was commercially released in Europe. Since 2005 some enterprising record labels in Europe (mostly in the UK) have been releasing Bruce Springsteen radio and TV broadcasts (and some soundboard recordings) from the seventies, eighties, and nineties. Though these releases are not authorized by Bruce Springsteen or his record company, they are lawful due to a legal loophole in Europe.
Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.
List of available versions of BACKSTREETS on this website:
BACKSTREETS [Album version]
