DEATH TO MY HOMETOWN

Live 02 Mar 2012 version

[Jimmy Fallon (spoken intro):] Here with the song "Death To My Hometown" from the album Wrecking Ball, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, with Tom Morello!

One, two, three, four!

Well, no cannonballs did fly, no rifles cut us down
No bombs fell from the sky, no blood soaked the ground
No powder flash blinded the eye, no deathly thunder sounded
Just as sure as the hand of God, they brought death to my hometown
They brought death to my hometown, hey!

No shell ripped the evening sky, no cities burning down
No armies stormed the shores for which we'd die, no dictators were crowned
I awoke from a quiet night, I never heard a sound
The marauders raided in the dark and brought death to my hometown
They brought death to my hometown, hey!

They destroyed our families, factories, and they took our homes
They left our bodies on the plains, the vultures picked our bones

Listen up, my sonny boy, be ready when they come
For they'll be returning sure as the rising sun
Get yourself a song to sing, sing it 'til you're done
Yeah, sing it hard, sing it well
Send the robber barons straight to hell
The greedy thieves who came around
Ate the flesh of everything they found
Whose crimes have gone unpunished now
Who walk the streets as free men now, now, now

They brought death to our hometown
Death to our hometown
Death to our hometown
Death to our hometown, hey!

Info

The above lyrics are for the live 02 Mar 2012 performance of DEATH TO MY HOMETOWN on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. The NBC show is filmed in Studio 6B in the GE Building at Rockefeller Center in New York City, NY. The song was played in a full-band arrangement with the E Street Band and Tom Morello on electric guitar. Morello aslo shared microphone with Springsteen on the song's last four lines.

Bruce Springsteen performing DEATH TO MY HOMETOWN with the E Street Band and Tom Morello on 02 Mar 2012 on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon (taken from the NBC broadcast)

From 27 Feb to 02 Mar 2012, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon honored Bruce Springsteen with a week-long musical tribute to promote the release of his 2012 album Wrecking Ball. This was Springsteen's only TV appearance to promote the album and its supporting tour.

• On the first day (Monday, 27 Feb 2012), Springsteen and the E Street Band were the musical guests, and performed two songs: WE TAKE CARE OF OUR OWN and WRECKING BALL.
• On the second day (Tuesday, 28 Feb 2012), Kenny Chesney was the musical guest and performed I'M ON FIRE, backed by his band.
• On third the day (Wednesday, 29 Feb 2012), John Legend was the musical guest and performed DANCING IN THE DARK, backed by Late Night With Jimmy Fallon's house band The Roots.
• On the fourth day (Thursday, 01 Mar 2012), Elvis Costello was the musical guest and performed FIRE and BRILLIANT DISGUISE, backed by The Roots.
• On the fifth day (Friday, 02 Mar 2012), which also marks the TV show's third anniversary, Bruce Springsteen was the only guest for the episode. After performing a spoof of LMFAO's SEXY AND I KNOW IT with Jimmy Fallon, he was interviewed by Fallon and then performed DEATH TO MY HOMETOWN (with the E Street Band and Tom Morello), JACK OF ALL TRADES (with the E Street Band and Tom Morello), and THE E STREET SHUFFLE (with the E Street Band, The Roots, and Tom Morello).

Available Versions

List of available versions of DEATH TO MY HOMETOWN on this website:

Page last updated: 03 Mar 2012