Official studio version
Saigon, it was all gone
The same Coke machines as the streets I grew on
Down a mesquite canyon we come walking along the ridge
Me and the brothers under the bridge
Campsite's an hour's walk from the nearest road to town
Up here there's too much brush and canyon for the CHP choppers to touch down
Ain't looking for nothing, just wanna live
Me and the brothers under the bridge
Come the Santa Ana's, man, that dry brush'll light
Billy Devon got burned up in his own campfire one winter night
We buried his body in a white stone high up along the ridge
Me and the brothers under the bridge
Had enough of town and the street life
Over nothing you end up on the wrong end of someone's knife
Now I don't want no trouble and I ain't got none to give
Me and the brothers under the bridge
I come home in '72
You were just a beautiful light in your mom's dark eyes of blue
I stood down on the tarmac, I was just a kid
Me and the brothers under the bridge
Come Veterans Day, sat in the stands in my dress blues
I held your mother's hand when they passed with the red, white and blue
One minute you're right there and something slips
BROTHERS UNDER THE BRIDGE is a song written by Bruce Springsteen and first released on the Tracks box set in 1998. The above lyrics are for Bruce Springsteen's official studio version of BROTHERS UNDER THE BRIDGE as released in 1998.
Note that BROTHERS UNDER THE BRIDGE is not related to BROTHERS UNDER THE BRIDGES ('83), a 1983 outtake with very similar title that was also included on the Tracks box set. Strangely, during The Ghost Of Tom Joad Solo Acoustic Tour, Springsteen regularly introduced the song as "Brothers Under The Bridges".
According to the Tracks booklet liner notes, BROTHERS UNDER THE BRIDGE was recorded on 22 May 1995 at Thrill Hill Recording (Springsteen's home studio) in Los Angeles, CA. The track was recorded by Toby Scott, mixed by Bob Clearmountain, and produced by Bruce Springsteen and Chuck Plotkin. It features Bruce Springsteen vocals and guitar, Danny Federici on keyboards, Garry Tallent on bass, Gary Mallabar on drums, Soozie Tyrell on violin, and Marty Rifkin on dobro.
In the liner notes of his Tracks box set, Bruce Springsteen introduces the box set as follows:
During long intervals between my record releases, as I was spending more and more time in the studio, when I met a fan out on the street I was often asked, "What are you guys doing in there?" I regularly pondered that question myself.
What we were doing in there was making a lot of music, a lot more music than I could use at any one time. As a result, my albums became a series of choices — what to include, what to leave out? I based my decisions on my creative point of view at the moment — the subject I was trying to focus on, something musical or emotional I was trying to express. In certain instances, as on Darkness on the Edge of Town, Nebraska, and The Ghost of Tom Joad, these choices crystallized the album I was making. On some of my other records the reasons I had for choosing one song over another, in hindsight, feel a good deal less significant. One of the results of working like this was that a lot of music, including some of my favorite things, remained unreleased.
This collection contains everything from the first notes I sang in the Columbia recording studio, my early and later work with the E Street Band, through to my music in the 90s. It's the alternate route to some of the destinations I travelled to on my records, an invitation into the studio on the many nights we spent making music in search of the records we presented to you. I'm glad to finally be able to share this music; here are some of the ones that got away.
- Bruce Springsteen, September 1998
Bruce Springsteen's albums were thematically linked even if they were not strictly concept albums; so some tracks that didn't fit the theme of the album ended up orphaned, not necessarily because they didn't meet his high standards, but because, he says, they didn't fit in with the tone or themes he mined for each set. Many of these unreleased studio outtakes got under the hands of bootleggers. Discussing that issue in 1984, Springsteen told Rolling Stone's Kurt Loder, "We record a lot of material, but we just don't release it all. [...] I always tell myself that some day I'm gonna put an album out with all this stuff on it that didn't fit in. I think there's some good material there that should come out. Maybe at some point, I'll do that."
During a break in The Ghost Of Tom Joad Solo Acoustic Tour, Springsteen thought that "if it's gonna be a year or longer in between records, I have all this music that I know is very good that I never released and I should release some of it whether it was just a CD or something. In that period of time, I should put something out because people would like to have it and I'd like to see it get out." He told Toby Scott (his audio archivist and recording engineer), "send me all the archives, send everything that we recorded". Scott then went to work gathering the potential material from Springsteen's massive audio library (located, along with Sony's sound archives, in the high-tech Iron Mountain facility near Buffalo, NY). "For a week or so," he told Billboard in a Nov 1998 interview, "I just listened to everything that I'd done that we hadn't put out. I made some very brief notes in a notebook, and then I just put it away. It was something that I could do at some point when I get to that place in a new project where I'm not sure how long it's going to take and it would be nice to sort of fill the gap so the fans wouldn't be so long without hearing any music from me".
Springsteen told Mark Hagen in an interview for Mojo magazine published in January 1999, "So it began just with that idea and we listened to about 250 songs, maybe more, I made quick notes in a notebook and put it away. A year went by, more maybe, and I came off the Tom Joad tour and I began to write acoustically again and I wrote about half a record. Then I got stuck and said, 'Well, I'm going to put this aside for a while.' Then I wrote half of an electric record, and hit the same place. So I thought, instead of waiting for another year to put something out I'll put some of this music together. So once again I went back to the archives." According to interview comments made by engineer Toby Scott (Springsteen's audio archivist and recording engineer), it was in February 1998 during solo sessions being conducted at Thrill Hill Recording (Springsteen's home studio) in Colts Neck, NJ, that Springsteen told Scott that the time was right to proceed with the long-anticipated box set of archived, unreleased studio takes. Thrill Hill Recording served as the main operational center for all Tracks project activities. Note that the "Thrill Hill Recording" name is used for whatever home studio Springsteen is recording at, whether it's in Rumson, NJ, Colts, NJ, or Beverly Hills, CA.
Springsteen told Billboard that the songs were culled from between 200 and 300 tunes. According to Toby Scott, the number was down to about 128 songs by late June 1998. It was then narrowed down yet again in July to about 100 songs that were prepped for the Tracks release. Although the project was originally projected to be a 6-disc set, there was a commercial decision made later in the summer to reduce the size of the release to a 4-disc (66-track) set. The package was delivered to Sony in mid-September in order to facilitate the mid-November 1998 release schedule.
Unreleased songs from the Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ sessions were not included on the box set due to ongoing and still-unresolved court proceedings involving most of these unreleased 1972 recordings. The court battle wasn't resolved until in 2001 (April 2001 in the UK and June 2001 in the U.S.), and those recordings are now free for release at any time. The opening four tracks of the box set — which were culled from Springsteen's 03 May 1972 Columbia Records audition — were not part of the court proceedings.
On 16 Jul 1998, Springsteen attended a convention for Sony Music Entertainment Inc. in Miami, FL, where he officially announced that a box set was the works and he played a tape of three songs: WHERE THE BANDS ARE, LOOSE ENDS, and I WANNA BE WITH YOU.
The Tracks box set was released on Columbia Records on 10 Nov 1998. It was issued on both compact disc and audio cassette formats. It's a 4-disc (or 4-cassette) set consisting of a total of 66 tracks (almost 4.5 hours long), 10 of which were heretofore unavailable single B-sides, 6 were demos and alternate versions of already-released material, and 50 (48 studio and 2 live) were never-before-released songs recorded during the sessions for Springsteen's many albums. Some tracks were treated with a recent touch-up here or there to give the older recordings a fresh polish.
Disc 1:
| 1. | MARY QUEEN OF ARKANSAS | Recorded on 03 May 1972 at CBS Studios, New York City, NY |
| 2. | IT'S HARD TO BE A SAINT IN THE CITY | Recorded on 03 May 1972 at CBS Studios, New York City, NY |
| 3. | GROWIN' UP | Recorded on 03 May 1972 at CBS Studios, New York City, NY |
| 4. | DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET? | Recorded on 03 May 1972 at CBS Studios, New York City, NY |
| 5. | BISHOP DANCED | Recorded live on 31 Jan 1973 at Max's Kansas City, New York City, NY |
| 6. | SANTA ANA | Recorded on 28 Jun 1973 at 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, NY |
| 7. | SEASIDE BAR SONG | Recorded on 28 Jun 1973 at 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, NY |
| 8. | ZERO AND BLIND TERRY | Recorded on 28 Jun 1973 at 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, NY |
| 9. | LINDA LET ME BE THE ONE | Recorded on 28 Jun 1975 at The Record Plant, New York City, NY |
| 10. | THUNDERCRACK | Recorded on 28 Jun 1973 at 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, NY |
| 11. | RENDEZVOUS | Recorded live on 31 Dec 1980 at Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY |
| 12. | GIVE THE GIRL A KISS | Recorded on 10 Nov 1977 at The Record Plant, New York City, NY |
| 13. | ICEMAN | Recorded on 27 Oct 1977 at The Record Plant, New York City, NY |
| 14. | BRING ON THE NIGHT | Recorded on 13 Jun 1979 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 15. | SO YOUNG AND IN LOVE | Recorded on 06 Jan 1974 at The Record Plant, New York City, NY |
| 16. | HEARTS OF STONE | Recorded on 14 Oct 1977 at The Record Plant, New York City, NY |
| 17. | DON'T LOOK BACK | Recorded on 02 Jul 1977 at The Record Plant, New York City, NY |
Disc 2:
| 1. | RESTLESS NIGHTS | Recorded on 11 Apr 1980 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 2. | A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND (PITTSBURGH) | Recorded on 05 May 1982 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 3. | ROULETTE | Recorded on 03 Apr 1979 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 4. | DOLLHOUSE | Recorded on 21 Aug 1979 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 5. | WHERE THE BANDS ARE | Recorded on 09 Oct 1979 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 6. | LOOSE ENDS | Recorded on 18 Jul 1979 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 7. | LIVING ON THE EDGE OF THE WORLD | Recorded on 07 Dec 1979 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 8. | WAGES OF SIN | Recorded on 10 May 1982 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 9. | TAKE 'EM AS THEY COME | Recorded on 10 Apr 1980 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 10. | BE TRUE | Recorded on 21 Jul 1979 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 11. | RICKY WANTS A MAN OF HER OWN | Recorded on 16 Jul 1979 at The Record Plant, New York City, NY |
| 12. | I WANNA BE WITH YOU | Recorded on 31 May 1979 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 13. | MARY LOU | Recorded on 30 May 1979 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 14. | STOLEN CAR | Recorded on 26 Jul 1979 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 15. | BORN IN THE U.S.A. | Recorded in January 1983 at Thrill Hill Recording, Colts Neck, NJ |
| 16. | JOHNNY BYE-BYE | Recorded in January 1983 at Thrill Hill Recording, Beverly Hills, CA |
| 17. | SHUT OUT THE LIGHT | Recorded in January 1983 at Thrill Hill Recording, Beverly Hills, CA |
Disc 3:
| 1. | CYNTHIA | Recorded on 20 Apr 1983 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 2. | MY LOVE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN | Recorded on 05 May 1982 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 3. | THIS HARD LAND | Recorded on 11 May 1982 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 4. | FRANKIE | Recorded on 14 May 1982 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 5. | TV MOVIE | Recorded on 13 Jun 1983 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 6. | STAND ON IT | Recorded on 16 Jun 1983 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 7. | LION'S DEN | Recorded on 25 Jan 1982 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 8. | CAR WASH | Recorded on 31 May 1983 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 9. | ROCKAWAY THE DAYS | Recorded on 03 Feb 1984 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 10. | BROTHERS UNDER THE BRIDGES ('83) | Recorded on 04 Sep 1983 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 11. | MAN AT THE TOP | Recorded on 12 Jan 1984 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 12. | PINK CADILLAC | Recorded on 31 May 1983 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 13. | TWO FOR THE ROAD | Recorded in February 1987 at Thrill Hill Recording, Colts Neck, NJ |
| 14. | JANEY, DON'T YOU LOSE HEART | Recorded on 16 Jun 1983 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 15. | WHEN YOU NEED ME | Recorded on 10 Jan 1987 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 16. | THE WISH | Recorded on 22 Feb 1987 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 17. | THE HONEYMOONERS | Recorded on 22 Feb 1987 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 18. | LUCKY MAN | Recorded on 04 Apr 1987 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
Disc 4:
| 1. | LEAVIN' TRAIN | Recorded on 27 Feb 1990 at Oceanway Studios, Los Angeles, CA |
| 2. | SEVEN ANGELS | Recorded on 29 Jun 1990 at Oceanway Studios, Los Angeles, CA |
| 3. | GAVE IT A NAME | Recorded on 24 Aug 1998 at Thrill Hill Recording, Colts Neck, NJ |
| 4. | SAD EYES | Recorded on 25 Jan 1990 at Soundworks West, Los Angeles, CA |
| 5. | MY LOVER MAN | Recorded on 04 Dec 1990 at Soundworks West, Los Angeles, CA |
| 6. | OVER THE RISE | Recorded on 07 Dec 1990 at Soundworks West, Los Angeles, CA |
| 7. | WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT | Recorded on 06 Dec 1990 at The Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA |
| 8. | LOOSE CHANGE | Recorded on 31 Jan 1991 at Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA |
| 9. | TROUBLE IN PARADISE | Recorded on 01 Dec 1989 at Soundworks West, Los Angeles, CA |
| 10. | HAPPY | Recorded on 18 Jan 1992 at A & M Studios, Los Angeles, CA |
| 11. | PART MAN, PART MONKEY | Recorded in January 1990 at Soundworks West, Los Angeles, CA |
| 12. | GOIN' CALI | Recorded on 29 Jan 1991 at A & M Studios, Los Angeles, CA |
| 13. | BACK IN YOUR ARMS | Recorded on 12 Jan 1995 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 14. | BROTHERS UNDER THE BRIDGE | Recorded on 22 May 1995 at Thrill Hill Recording, Beverly Hills, CA |
18 Tracks is a Bruce Springsteen compilation album released on Columbia Records in 1999. The album compiles 15 tracks from the Tracks box set, plus 3 previously unreleased recordings. The collection release was intended for the more casual fans who didn't purchase the pricey 4-disc box set. It also served the purpose as a promotional tie-in for the E Street Band's The Reunion Tour that was announced at the same time of the sampler's release.
18 Tracks was released on 13 Apr 1999 on Columbia Records. It features 18 Springsteen compositions and clocks at 71:12. The album was released on CD, cassette tape, MiniDisc, and vinyl.
Side 1:
| 1. | GROWIN' UP | Recorded on 03 May 1972 at CBS Studios, New York City, NY |
| 2. | SEASIDE BAR SONG | Recorded on 28 Jun 1973 at 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, NY |
| 3. | RENDEZVOUS | Recorded live on 31 Dec 1980 at Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY |
| 4. | HEARTS OF STONE | Recorded on 14 Oct 1977 at Record Plant, New York City, NY |
| 5. | WHERE THE BANDS ARE | Recorded on 09 Oct 1979 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
Side 2:
| 1. | LOOSE ENDS | Recorded on 18 Jul 1979 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 2. | I WANNA BE WITH YOU | Recorded on 31 May 1979at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 3. | BORN IN THE U.S.A. | Recorded in January 1982 at Thrill Hill Recording, Colts Neck, NJ |
| 4. | MY LOVE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN | Recorded on 05 May 1982 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 5. | LION'S DEN | Recorded on 25 Jan 1982 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
Side 3:
| 1. | PINK CADILLAC | Recorded on 31 May 1983 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 2. | JANEY, DON'T YOU LOSE HEART | Recorded on 16 Jun 1983 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 3. | SAD EYES | Recorded on 25 Jan 1990 at Soundworks West, Los Angeles, CA |
| 4. | PART MAN, PART MONKEY | Recorded in January 1990 at Soundworks West, Los Angeles, CA |
| 5. | TROUBLE RIVER | Recorded on 06 Apr 1990 at Soundworks West, Los Angeles, CA |
Side 4:
| 1. | BROTHERS UNDER THE BRIDGE | Recorded on 22 May 1995 at Thrill Hill Recording, Beverly Hills, CA |
| 2. | THE FEVER | Recorded on 16 May 1973 at 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, NY |
| 3. | THE PROMISE | Recorded on 12 Feb 1999 at Thrill Hill Recording, Colts Neck, NJ |
| 1. | GROWIN' UP | Recorded on 03 May 1972 at CBS Studios, New York City, NY |
| 2. | SEASIDE BAR SONG | Recorded on 28 Jun 1973 at 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, NY |
| 3. | RENDEZVOUS | Recorded live on 31 Dec 1980 at Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY |
| 4. | HEARTS OF STONE | Recorded on 14 Oct 1977 at Record Plant, New York City, NY |
| 5. | WHERE THE BANDS ARE | Recorded on 09 Oct 1979 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 6. | LOOSE ENDS | Recorded on 18 Jul 1979 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 7. | I WANNA BE WITH YOU | Recorded on 31 May 1979at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 8. | BORN IN THE U.S.A. | Recorded in January 1982 at Thrill Hill Recording, Colts Neck, NJ |
| 9. | MY LOVE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN | Recorded on 05 May 1982 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 10. | LION'S DEN | Recorded on 25 Jan 1982 at The Power Station, New York City, NY |
| 11. | PINK CADILLAC | Recorded on 31 May 1983 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 12. | JANEY, DON'T YOU LOSE HEART | Recorded on 16 Jun 1983 at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY |
| 13. | SAD EYES | Recorded on 25 Jan 1990 at Soundworks West, Los Angeles, CA |
| 14. | PART MAN, PART MONKEY | Recorded in January 1990 at Soundworks West, Los Angeles, CA |
| 15. | TROUBLE RIVER | Recorded on 06 Apr 1990 at Soundworks West, Los Angeles, CA |
| 16. | BROTHERS UNDER THE BRIDGE | Recorded on 22 May 1995 at Thrill Hill Recording, Beverly Hills, CA |
| 17. | THE FEVER | Recorded on 16 May 1973 at 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, NY |
| 18. | THE PROMISE | Recorded on 12 Feb 1999 at Thrill Hill Recording, Colts Neck, NJ |
Other versions of BROTHERS UNDER THE BRIDGE were also officially released.
BROTHERS UNDER THE BRIDGE was performed 90 times during The Ghost Of Tom Joad Solo Acoustic Tour (128 dates, November 1995 to May 1997), including 54 consecutive outings from 16 Dec 1995 to 24 Sep 1996. On this tour, the song was played in a solo acoustic guitar arrangement. It always was followed by BORN IN THE U.S.A., except once (on 26 Oct 1996 in San Jose, CA) when the order of the two songs was reversed. The live 19 Mar 1996 version of BROTHERS UNDER THE BRIDGE was released on the King's Hall, Belfast March 19, 1996 official live download in 2017. The live 18 May 1997 version of BROTHERS UNDER THE BRIDGE was released on the Nice, France 1997 official live download in 2021.
In preparation for The Reunion Tour, BROTHERS UNDER THE BRIDGE is known to have been practiced during at least one of the private rehearsals that took place in March 1999 in Asbury Park prior to the tour's first leg.
BROTHERS UNDER THE BRIDGE was performed once during what is known as The Reunion Tour (132 dates, April 1999 to July 2000), on 11 Apr 1999 in Barcelona, Spain. See the live 11 Apr 1999 version. On this tour, the song was played in a full-band arrangement.
BROTHERS UNDER THE BRIDGE was performed once during the High Hopes Tour (34 dates, January to May 2014), on 01 May 2014 in Tampa, FL. On this tour, the song was played in a full-band arrangement. Audio recordings for most High Hopes Tour shows are officially available for purchase. See the live 01 May 2014 version for more details.
At least 3 artists have recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's BROTHERS UNDER THE BRIDGE.
List of available versions of BROTHERS UNDER THE BRIDGE on this website:
BROTHERS UNDER THE BRIDGE [Official studio version]
