Studio version
One, two
If your heart is restless from waiting so long
If you're tired and weary and you can't go on
If a distant dream is calling you
Then there's just one thing you can do
Follow that dream wherever it may lead
Come on follow that dream to find the love you need
Come on follow that dream
Now I've been searching for a heart that's free
Searching for someone to search with me
I need a love, a love I can trust
Together we'll search for the things that come to us
In dreams, wherever they may be
Come on follow that dream to find the love you need
Come on follow that dream
Ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh
Now every man has the right to live
The right to a chance, to give what he has to give
The right to fight for the things he believes
For the things that come to him in dreams
Yeah, follow that dream wherever it may lead
Come on follow that dream to find the love you need
Come on now follow that dream wherever it may lead
Come on now follow that dream to find the love you need
Come on follow that dream
Yeah follow that dream
Yeah come on and follow that dream
Come on and follow that dream
Come on and follow that dream to find the love you need
To find the love you need
To find the love you need
To find the love [fades out]
FOLLOW THAT DREAM is a 1962 song by Elvis Presley. See the original Elvis Presley version for more details.
For his version, Bruce Springsteen changed some of the lyrics and completely rearranged the song. Originally faster, he slowed it down giving it a dramatic pace. The song was planned for release in 1983 had an album seen the light that year. See the "Unreleased 1982 and 1983 Albums" section below for more details.
The above lyrics are for Bruce Springsteen's home demo of FOLLOW THAT DREAM. It is the only circulating take of the song, recorded in early 1983 at Thrill Hill West, Springsteen's home studio in Los Angeles, CA. Springsteen recorded more than an album's worth of songs by himself during this period. He played all the instruments himself, with the help of a drum machine only, and overdubbing to create the final product. According to Sony's logs of Bruce Springsteen's studio sessions, FOLLOW THAT DREAM was recorded on 29-30 Jan 1983 and on 07-08 and 17 Feb 1983 at Thrill Hill West. It is unknown from which session exactly the circulating take of FOLLOW THAT DREAM was recorded, but based on The Lost Masters Vol. 17 liner notes (see "Bootleg Releases" section below), it was most likely recorded on 30 Jan 1983.
This version of FOLLOW THAT DREAM can be found on several bootlegs, including The Lost Masters Vol. 17 (Labour Of Love) [tracks 02 and 07], The Lost Masters Vol. 18 (Labour Of Love) [tracks 11 and 15], The Lost Masters Essential Collection Vol. 1 (Labour Of Love) [disc 2, track 15], and Murder Incorporated (Flamingo Records) [track 08].
Note that The Lost Masters Vol. 17 and The Lost Masters Vol. 18 bootlegs include a total of four versions of FOLLOW THAT DREAM. The four, however, are the same take; the same vocals with the same backing track. They are practically identical, possibly slightly differing in the mix, but more likely they are even the same mix but originating from different tape sources. In The Lost Masters Vol. 17 liner notes, the second version is claimed to be an "alternate take with subtle vocal variations" to the first version. Both versions are listed under "Solo Outtakes. Eight Track Mixes. Hollywood Hills Garage Studio, Los Angeles, California January 30th 1983." In The Lost Masters Vol. 18 liner notes, the third version is listed under "Solo Outtakes. 24-Track Digital Mixes. Hollywood Hills Garage Studio, Los Angeles, California Early 1983." and fourth version is listed under "Solo Outtakes. Hollywood Hills Garage Studio, Los Angeles, California January through May 1983."
Bruce Springsteen recorded a bulk of solo demoes at his Colts Neck, NJ home studio in early January 1982. His intention was to demonstrate them to The E Street Band when they enter the studio later that month so that the recording sessions for their next album would progress faster. These studio sessions came to a halt in May when Springsteen decided to release Nebraska, an album consisting of the original solo demoes without the band treatment.
For the next month or two the focus turned to overseeing final preparations of Nebraska. However, Springsteen had already made up his mind that a few of the January home demoes should be on an E Street Band album, in addition to some more songs he recorded with the band when they were in studio. Mixing of the band material continued through June, alongside the Nebraska tracks. In fact, Springsteen even considered putting both albums out as a double record. "I had these two extremely different recording experiences going," Springsteen told Mark Hagen in an interview for Mojo magazine published in January 1999. "I was going to put them out at the same time as a double record. I didn't know what to do."
In his 2012 book E Street Shuffle: The Glory Days of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Clinton Heylin revealed that the track sequence for the band album was compiled (see list below). These tracks were all recorded with the E Street Band between January and May 1982 at The Power Station and The Hit Factory in New York City, NY.
Side 1:
Side 2:
In early October 1982, soon after the release of Nebraska, Springsteen moved to Los Angeles where he spent much of the following five months. He had recording engineer Mike Batlan install a home recording studio at his house in Los Angeles where he recorded more than an album's worth of songs over the early months of 1983, playing all the instruments himself except for a drum machine.
According to Brucebase, Springsteen has mentioned that sometime in early 1983 he also gave consideration to releasing the best of the Los Angeles home studio recordings as a thematic follow-up to Nebraska. This album concept is not known to have ever been given a working title because Springsteen quickly abandoned the concept.
A document from around March 1983 reveals that at the time Springsteen briefly considered releasing an album tentatively titled "Murder Incorporated" and consisting of eleven tracks. The document also lists six additional tracks that apparently were selected for B-sides. All these tracks were cut during two phases of recording sessions, the early 1982 sessions with the band and the early 1983 solo sessions.
Album:
B-sides:
Springsteen disregarded the album and opted for another round of recording session. These sessions took place between April and June 1983 at The Hit Factory in New York City, NY, and featured the E Street Band, apparently minus Steven Van Zandt who was busy at the time recording his second solo album and touring with his own group. Following this third phase of recording sessions major mixing sessions took place and some in CBS were talking of a possible of a pre-Christmas release. In his book, Clinton Heylin revealed a track sequence for a band album that was compiled on 26-27 Jul 1983 (see list below). This new track sequence comprised of three songs carried over from the 1982 sequence, four from the early 1983, sessions and five from the recent E Street Band sessions.
Side 1:
Side 2:
As had been the case in March, Springsteen disregarded the album again and opted for another round of recording session. This final round was scattered from autumn 1983 to the early months of 1984.
Other versions of FOLLOW THAT DREAM were officially released.
FOLLOW THAT DREAM is known to have been performed at least 25 times during The River Tour (138 dates, October 1980 to September 1981), all during the tour's last five months. The live 05 Jun 1981 version of FOLLOW THAT DREAM was released on the Wembley Arena June 5, 1981 official live download in 2018. The live 09 Jul 1981 version of FOLLOW THAT DREAM was released on the Brendan Byrne Arena 1981 official live download in 2020.
FOLLOW THAT DREAM was performed 11 times during the Born In The U.S.A. Tour (156 dates, June 1984 to October 1985), most of them in October 1984
FOLLOW THAT DREAM was performed once during the Tunnel Of Love Express Tour (67 dates, February to August 1988), on 14 Jul 1988 in Basel, Switzerland.
FOLLOW THAT DREAM was performed 7 times during World Tour 1992-1993 (104 dates, June 1992 to June 1993), most of them during the tour's first three months. The 26 Jun 1993 show in New York City, NY, was billed as "Kristen Ann Carr Fund Benefit Concert" (see the live 26 Jun 1993 version).
FOLLOW THAT DREAM was performed once during what is known as The Reunion Tour (132 dates, April 1999 to July 2000), on 18 Mar 2000 in Memphis, TN.
FOLLOW THAT DREAM was performed once during The Rising Tour (120 dates, August 2002 to October 2003), on 28 Jun 2003 in Milan, Italy.
FOLLOW THAT DREAM was performed twice during the Wrecking Ball Tour (133 dates, March 2012 to September 2013), both during the 2013 European leg of the tour.
FOLLOW THAT DREAM was performed once during The River Tour 2016 (75 dates, January to September 2016), on 20 Jul 2016 in Horsens, Denmark. The song was played in a slow full-band arrangement. Audio recordings for all The River Tour 2016 shows are officially available for purchase. See the live 20 Jul 2016 version for more details.
FOLLOW THAT DREAM was performed once during the Summer '17 Tour (14 dates, January and February 2017), on 16 Feb 2016 in Brisbane, Australia. The song was played in a slow full-band arrangement. Audio recordings for all Summer '17 Tour shows are officially available for purchase. See the live 16 Feb 2017 version for more details.
FOLLOW THAT DREAM was performed off-tour on 13 Oct 1986 at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA, during the first annual Bridge School Benefit. The song was played in an acoustic arrangement with Nils Lofgren and Danny Federici. The live 13 Oct 1986 version of FOLLOW THAT DREAM was released on the Bridge School October 13, 1986 official live download in 2019.
At least one artist has recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's FOLLOW THAT DREAM.
List of available versions of FOLLOW THAT DREAM on this website:
FOLLOW THAT DREAM [Studio version]
