BECAUSE THE NIGHT

Live 08 Dec 1978 version

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[Piano intro]

Take me now baby here as I am
Hold me close, try and understand
I worked all day out in the hot sun
I break my back till the evening come

Come on now try and understand
I worked all day pushing for the man
Take me now as the sun descends
They can't hurt us now
They can't hurt me now
They can't hurt me now

Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers

What I got I have earned
What I'm not baby I have learned
Love is an angel that comes at dusk
I stay in my bed till the evening comes

Come on now try and understand
The way I feel when I'm in your hands
Take me now as the sun descends
They can't hurt us now
They can't hurt us now
They can't hurt us now

Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers

Our love it seeds with doubt
The vicious circle turns and burns without
You know I cannot live, forgive me now
The time has come to take the moment and
They can't hurt us now
They can't hurt us now

Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers

[Guitar solo]

Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers

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Info

The above lyrics are for the live 08 Dec 1978 performance of BECAUSE THE NIGHT at The Summit in Houston, TX, during the Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour.

The 08 Dec 1978 Show

Towards the end of the Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band performed a show at The Summit in Houston, TX, on 08 Dec 1978.

This was reportedly the only show of the tour that was filmed in its entirety, and this could be the very reason it was chosen for official release as part of The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story box set in 2010 (see the section below for more details).

In September 2017 the complete 08 Dec 1978 concert was officially released on Live.BruceSpringsteen.net (see the "Official Live Downloads" section below for more details). This was the first stand-alone audio release of the show. It benefits the MusiCares Hurricane Relief Fund to aid those affected by the recent devastation in Texas and Florida caused by hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Bruce Springsteen, the E Street band, Sony Music, and nugs.net pledged to donate all their proceeds to the hurricane relief effort.

The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story

The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story is a Bruce Springsteen box set released in 2010 on Columbia Records. It was originally expected to be released for the Darkness On The Edge Of Town album's 30th anniversary in 2008, but that didn't happen, possibly due to Springsteen's touring schedule. The box set was officially announced on 26 Aug 2010 and released to retail on 16 Nov 2010.

The 8.5"x11" box set contains three CDs, three Blu-Ray discs or three DVDs, and an 80-page spiral-bound notebook containing facsimiles from Springsteen's original notebooks from the recording sessions, which include alternate lyrics, song ideas, recording details, and personal notes, in addition to a new essay by Springsteen on the album and never-before-seen photographs. The box set won the 2012 Grammy Award for Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package.

Disc 1 consists of a digitally remastered version of the Darkness On The Edge Of Town album. Disc 2 and 3 consist of The Promise, a collection of unreleased songs from the Darkness On The Edge Of Town recording sessions.

Disc 4 is The Promise: The Making Of Darkness On The Edge Of Town, a documentary that was produced for the box set. It was directed by Grammy- and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Thom Zimny. The ninety-minute film combines never-before-seen footage of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band shot between 1976 and 1978, including home rehearsals and studio sessions, with new interviews with Springsteen, E Street Band members, manager Jon Landau, former manager Mike Appel, and others closely involved in the making of the record.

The documentary premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 14 Sep 2010 and also aired on HBO on 07 Oct 2010. It was first exclusively available as part of The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story box set, but was then released separately on 03 May 2011, in both DVD and Blu-Ray formats, with some bonus features.

Disc 5 consists of two parts: Darkness On The Edge Of Town, Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park 2009 and Thrill Hill Vault 1976 - 1978. The former is a Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band's live performance of the Darkness On The Edge Of Town album in its entirety, shot in HD on 13 Dec 2009 at Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, NJ, without an audience.

Thrill Hill Vault 1976-1978 is a collection of archival footage from Springsteen's personal vault It consists of an about-an-hour's worth (it clocks at about 56 minutes) of home rehearsals footage from 1976, studio sessions footage from 1978, and live in concert footage from 1978. It was produced and edited by Emmy- and Grammy-winner Thom Zimny and the audio for the live 1978 footage and some of the 1978 studio footage was mixed by Bob Ludwig. Zimny re-edited the 1978 concert footage making use of previously unseen camera angles. The home rehearsals and studio session footage was originally produced and directed by Barry Rebo, while the live in concert footage was originally directed by Arnold Levine.

Disc 6 is Houston '78 Bootleg: House Cut, a video of the complete 08 Dec 1978 concert at The Summit in Houston, TX. The footage was taken from the in-house video screen at The Summit, which was one of the first arenas in the United States to have this system at the time. This gave the release its title "Houston '78 Bootleg: House Cut". Considering that it was taken from the mono soundboard, the sound is only available in PCM stereo and not in 5.1 surround. The video was produced by Emmy- and Grammy-winner Thom Zimny and the audio was mastered by Bob Ludwig. It clocks at around 176 minutes.

Official Live Downloads

Prior to the High Hopes Tour, Bruce Springsteen's management announced a new service allowing fans to download concert recordings approximately 48 hours after each show. The initial plan required fans to purchase a special USB wristband, which could then be used to download a single High Hopes Tour show of the purchaser's choice and also functions as a regular reusable USB flash drive. The wristband, which could be purchased online or at the concert venue, was priced at $40. Following some negative response from fans over the high cost for the wristband, Springsteen's management subsequently announced a separate cheaper option for purchasing shows directly, without the need for the wristband. The shows were available for purchase and download via Live Nation, Bruce Springsteen's concert promoter, priced at $9.99 for MP3 and $14.99 for FLAC. Audio recordings for 31 of the 34 High Hopes Tour dates (all except 16 Feb 2014, 06 Apr 2014, and 03 May 2014) were released as such and they were available until 30 Jun 2014.

On 17 Nov 2014, Live.BruceSpringsteen.net was launched. It's a new addition to the official website, serving as an online store offering high-quality live concert recordings as well as high-resolution digital releases of Springsteen's album catalog. The download store is powered by Nugs.net in cooperation with Columbia Records. Audio recordings for 30 of the 34 High Hopes Tour dates (all except 16 Feb 2014, 06 Apr 2014, 03 May 2014, and 18 May 2014) were re-released on the new download store in multiple formats, including MP3, lossless CD-quality FLAC or ALAC, and 24-bit HD FLAC or ALAC or MQA, as well as audio CD-R with custom artwork. Nugs.net adopted the MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) format on 24 May 2017. From then on, all Bruce Springsteen live concert recordings, including the previously released ones, became also available in MQA.

Audio recordings for all 75 The River Tour 2016 dates were also released on Live.BruceSpringsteen.net in multiple formats, including MP3, lossless CD-quality FLAC or ALAC, and 24-bit HD FLAC or ALAC or MQA, as well as audio CD-R with custom artwork. Each show was generally released within a month after it took place.

Audio recordings for all 14 Summer '17 Tour dates were also released on Live.BruceSpringsteen.net in multiple formats, including MP3, lossless CD-quality FLAC or ALAC, and 24-bit HD FLAC or ALAC or MQA, as well as audio CD-R with custom artwork. Each show was generally released within a month after it took place.

Archival releases were periodically released on the same site, as part of the Bruce Springsteen Archive Series. These shows were also made available in multiple formats, including MP3, lossless FLAC or ALAC, 24-bit FLAC or ALAC or MQA, DSD, and audio CD-R. So far 90 shows (or sets of shows) were released from the ongoing series.

Credits

Thanks Robert for the lyrics help.

Available Versions

List of available versions of BECAUSE THE NIGHT on this website:

BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Official studio version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Unofficial studio version 1]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Unofficial studio version 2]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 30 May 1978 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 01 Jul 1978 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 05 Jul 1978 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 07 Jul 1978 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 08 Jul 1978 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 09 Jul 1978 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 12 Jul 1978 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 14 Jul 1978 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 15 Jul 1978 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 16 Jul 1978 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 18 Jul 1978 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 09 Aug 1978 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 19 Sep 1978 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 20 Sep 1978 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 30 Sep 1978 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 08 Dec 1978 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 15 Dec 1978 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 03 Oct 1980 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 28 Dec 1980 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 29 Dec 1980 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 31 Dec 1980 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 05 Jun 1981 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 17 Jul 1984 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 12 Jun 1985 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 27 Sep 1985 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 11 Jun 1988 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 03 Jul 1988 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 19 Mar 2000 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 23 Nov 2002 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 02 Oct 2004 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 31 Jul 2012 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 12 Apr 2014 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Live 17 Jan 2016 version]
BECAUSE THE NIGHT [Patti Smith Group's cover version]

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Page last updated: 07 Feb 2017