Album version
When I lost you honey, sometimes I think I lost my guts too
And I wish God would send me a word, send me something I'm afraid to lose
Lying in the heat of the night like prisoners all our lives
And I get shivers down my spine, girl, and all I wanna do is hold you tight
Baby baby baby, I swear I'll drive all night again just to buy you some shoes and to taste your tender charm
And I just wanna sleep tonight again in your arms, oh yeah, oh yeah
Yes I do, 'cause tonight there's fallen angels and they're waiting for us down in the street
And tonight there's calling strangers, hear them crying in defeat
And let them go, let them go, let them go do their dances of the dead
Let 'em go right ahead, girl, you just dry your eyes
And come on come on come on come on, let's go to bed
Baby baby baby, I swear I'll drive all night again just to buy you some shoes and to taste your tender charm
And I just wanna sleep tonight again in your arms, oh yeah, oh yeah
My love, my love, my love
Let's start right now
There's machines and there's fire, baby, waiting on the edge of town
Out there for hire but baby they can't hurt us now
'Cause you've got, you've got, you've got my, my love, girl, you've got my love, girl
Through the wind, through the rain, the snow, the wind, the rain
You've got, you've got my, my love, oh girl you've got my love
You've got, you've got my love, oh girl you've got my love
You've got, you've got my love, oh girl you've got my love
You've got, you've got my love, oh girl you've got my love
Heart and soul, heart and soul, heart and soul, heart
Take it easy baby
Don't worry darling, 'cause you don't have to
And don't cry now (don't cry now)
Baby don't cry now (don't cry now)
No don't cry now (don't cry now)
No don't cry now (don't cry now)
Just dry your eyes, little baby (don't cry now)
Yeah dry your eyes (don't cry now)
'Cause baby I'll drive all night (don't cry now)
I swear I'll drive all night (don't cry now)
Through the wind, through the rain, through the snow, through the rain, through the wind, through the snow, through the rain (don't cry now)
I swear I'll drive all night (don't cry now)
I swear I'll drive all night (don't cry now)
Through the wind, through the rain, through the snow, through the rain, through the wind, through the rain, through the wind, through the snow, through the [fades out]
DRIVE ALL NIGHT is a song written by Bruce Springsteen and released on his 1980 album The River. The above lyrics are for Bruce Springsteen's album version of DRIVE ALL NIGHT as released in 1980.
From September 1976 and till the end of the Darkness On The Edge Of Tour, the live performances of BACKSTREETS were extended with an interlude that is commonly known as the "Sad Eyes" interlude, a title probably assigned to it by bootleggers. Note that this interlude has nothing to do with SAD EYES, the 1990 outtake that was released on the Tracks box set in 1998. "Sad Eyes" was a mostly soft-piano based monologue that Springsteen performed toward the end of BACKSTREETS. It gradually rises in tempo before it suddenly stops and the "Hiding on the backstreets" coda kicks back in full band. The interlude evolved through those three years and became the basis for DRIVE ALL NIGHT, which was first recorded in mid-1977.
The last verse was adapted from CANDY'S BOY.
DRIVE ALL NIGHT was originally considered for the Darkness On The Edge Of Town album, as evidenced in several handwritten lists of candidate tracks for Springsteen's fourth studio album. These lists appear in the handwritten lyrics notebook that was reproduced in The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story box set (see scans below). Moreover, the song was cut in June 1977 at Atlantic Studios in New York City, NY. However it seems that the song was left out because a straight "love song" didn't thematically fit on Darkness On The Edge Of Town and the length of the track is much more suited for a double album such as The River.
According to Sony's logs of Bruce Springsteen's studio sessions, DRIVE ALL NIGHT was cut on 16 Jun 1977 at Atlantic Studios in New York City, NY, and again on 24 Aug 1977 at Atlantic Studios or at The Record Plant in New York City, NY. The song was revisited during The River recording sessions; it was cut on 24 Feb 1980, 08 Mar 1980, 16 Mar 1980, and 10 Apr 1980 at The Power Station in New York City, NY.
Four studio versions of DRIVE ALL NIGHT are in circulation:
In his 2012 book E Street Shuffle: The Glory Days of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Clinton Heylin wrote that outtake version 1 is "possibly from August", while The Lost Masters Vol. 2 (Labour Of Love) bootleg liner notes state that both outtake version 1 and outtake version 2 are from June. In the handwritten lyrics notebook that was reproduced in The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story box set, there is a reproduction of a demo tape inlay listing DRIVE ALL NIGHT twice. The tape is titled "Bruce Springsteen Ruffs" and dated 17 Jun 1977 (see scan below).
The album version and outtake version 2 share the same core recording. Note that DRIVE ALL NIGHT is the only song from The River to be recorded by Jimmy Iovine, who also recorded the complete Darkness On The Edge Of Town album. New vocals were recorded sometime between February and April 1980 before the song was mixed and released on The River. Bruce Springsteen is credited with piano on this track while Roy Bittan is credited with organ.
Bruce Springsteen wrapped up the Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour on the first day of 1979. For the next few months, he altered between composing and practicing solo demos at his home in Holmdel, NJ (between January and June 1979), rehearsing with the band at his Telegraph Hill Road property in Holmdel, NJ (between March and May 1979), and recording in studio at The Power Station in New York City, NY (from late March to late August 1979).
By early August 1979, enough quality material had been recorded at The Power Station. According to The Ties That Bind documentary, a total of twenty-four songs had been recorded. According to Clinton Heylin's 2012 book It was looking like Springsteen's fifth album might be released in Christmas 1979. E Street Shuffle: The Glory Days of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Springsteen's initial track sequence for the album was as follows:
Side 1:
Side 2:
By mid-September 1979, Springsteen replaced RICKY WANTS A MAN OF HER OWN, LOOSE ENDS, and THE MAN WHO GOT AWAY by CINDY and THE RIVER. Soon after, he removed RAMROD, restored LOOSE ENDS, and added YOU CAN LOOK (BUT YOU BETTER NOT TOUCH). A title, "The Ties That Bind", was selected for the album and wheels put in motion to produce artwork for the cover. Around September, at least ten tracks were mixed to completion. On 04 Oct 1979, the ten selected tracks were dubbed to two half-track reel-to-reel tapes at The Power Station, and labeled "side one" and "side two". As written on the reels, the producer was Jon Landau and the engineers were Neil Dorfsman and Bob Clearmountain, assisted by Jeff Hendrickson. The new track sequence for the album was as follows:
Reel #1:
Reel #2:
Mock covers with "The Ties That Bind" title were roughed out early in the planning. The cover shot was to be a picture of Bruce Springsteen in front of a barn, with the back cover being a shot of his face behind a screen door. In late September 1979, The Ties That Bind single album was scrapped as Springsteen's writing process continued.
A second phase of recording sessions was scheduled. Again, for the next few months, Springsteen altered between composing and practicing solo demos at his home in Holmdel, NJ (between September 1979 and February 1980), rehearsing with the band at his Telegraph Hill Road property in Holmdel, NJ (between September 1979 and February 1980), and recording in studio at The Power Station in New York City, NY (from October 1979 to June 1980).
The combined sessions from March 1979 to June 1980 produced the double album The River that was eventually released in October 1980. The studio sessions to some extent extended into August 1980 due to Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's involvement in the recording of Gary U.S. Bonds' album Dedication, which was released April 1981).
The album features 20 new Springsteen compositions and clocks at 83:47. It was produced by Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau, and Steven Van Zandt, engineered by Neil Dorfsman, and mixed by Bob Clearmountain, Chuck Plotkin, and Toby Scott.
Side 1:
Side 2:
Side 3:
Side 4:
According to recording engineer Neil Dorfsman, about 50 songs were recorded to a completed state during The River sessions. 20 were released on The River and 14 were released as B-sides and on official compilations. 14 songs are circulating via the unofficial route, but the majority of them are poor recordings of band rehearsals at the Telegraph Hill Road property, though it is likely that most of them exist as completed takes from The Power Station.
DRIVE ALL NIGHT can be found on one Bruce Springsteen promo-only sampler.
Other versions of DRIVE ALL NIGHT were also officially released.
DRIVE ALL NIGHT is known to have been performed at least 22 times during The River Tour (138 dates, October 1980 to September 1981), most of which during the 1980 leg of the tour. A few setlists from that period are incomplete, and therefore, the song may have been played on some more dates during The River Tour. On this tour, the song was played in its full-band arrangement. The live 05 Nov 1980 version of DRIVE ALL NIGHT was released on The Ties That Bind: The River Collection box set in 2015.
After disappearing from Springsteen's repertoire for more than 24 years, DRIVE ALL NIGHT was performed X times during the Devils & Dust Solo Acoustic Tour (72 dates, April to November 2005), all during the tour's last two weeks. The song was played in a solo piano arrangement, except on 19 Nov 2005 in Hollywood, FL, when Springsteen was joined onstage during the song by Clarence Clemons and Steven Van Zandt who provided saxophone and six-string guitar respectively. The live 22 Nov 2005 version of DRIVE ALL NIGHT was released on the Sovereign Bank Arena, Trenton, NJ 2005 official live download in 2019.
DRIVE ALL NIGHT was performed 3 times during the Magic Tour (100 dates, October 2007 to August 2008), all in July and August 2008. The song was played in its full-band arrangement. The live 23 Aug 2008 version of DRIVE ALL NIGHT was released on the Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO 8/23/2008 official live download in 2017.
DRIVE ALL NIGHT was performed twice during the Working On A Dream Tour (83 dates, April to November 2009). The song was played in its full-band arrangement.
DRIVE ALL NIGHT was performed 8 times during the Wrecking Ball Tour (133 dates, March 2012 to September 2013). The song was played in its full-band arrangement. The live 27 Jul 2013 version featured a guest appearance by Glen Hansard who sang a few lines from Them's HERE COMES THE NIGHT towards the end of the song.
DRIVE ALL NIGHT was performed once during the High Hopes Tour (34 dates, January to May 2014), on 26 Apr 2014 in Atlanta, GA The song was played in its full-band arrangement. Audio recordings for most High Hopes Tour shows are officially available for purchase. See the live 26 Apr 2014 version for more details.
Bruce Springsteen's album version of DRIVE ALL NIGHT appears in two movies.
At least 8 artists have recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's DRIVE ALL NIGHT.
Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.
List of available versions of DRIVE ALL NIGHT on this website:
DRIVE ALL NIGHT [Album version]
