Live 31 Jan 1998 version
[Steve Van Zandt (spoken intro):] You notice tonight I get to follow all of those Bruce songs, you know? And that god damn Bon Jovi! I'll get him later. (laughs)
If I give you my heart, would you love me forever?
Come on!
Well I learned when I was a young boy
You turn your cheek, you get slapped
Take the punches I can't slip
And I give it right back
Ah, even if I win girl, it really don't mean too much
What I want, baby, most of all is the only thing that I can't touch
Oh, if I give you my heart would you love me forever
Pick up the pieces if I stumble and fall
If the world falls apart could you keep it together
If I can't have you I don't want no one at all
Oh, just because I'm so quiet
Just because I don't cry
Hardest lesson to learn, girl
Is how to take it inside
Well, there's leather and jewels to soothe me
But it isn't really what I need
There's an aching hurt inside of me
And it's the kind of thing that you don't see
Oh, if I give you my heart would you love me forever
Pick up the pieces if I stumble and fall
If the world falls apart, patch it together
If I can't have you I don't want no one at all
Eddie! Go!
Eddie, Big Man! Go!
Now the years are unwinding
But I still feel the hurt
I've been fighting my whole life
For the privilege to work
And I've stopped and looked around me
But there's nobody left to blame
If I can't have you to hold me, girl
All of my work's in vain
Oh, if I give you my heart would you love me forever
Pick up the pieces if I stumble and fall (oh yeah)
World falls apart, hold me together
If I can't have you I don't want no one at all
And if I give you my heart would you love me forever
Pick up the pieces if I stumble and fall
If my world falls apart, baby keep it together
If I can't have you I don't want no one at all
Oh
Oh baby
Oh yeah
FOREVER is a 1982 song by Little Steven And The Disciples Of Soul. See the original Little Steven And The Disciples Of Soul version for more details.
The above lyrics are for live 31 Jan 1998 performance of FOREVER at Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, NJ, during the "Come Together: Jon Bon Jovi & Friends" benefit concert. Steven Van Zandt sang lead vocals on this song. Bruce Springsteen did not sing, but he probably was onstage playing guitar during this and all the other songs on which he did not sing.
The "Come Together: Jon Bon Jovi & Friends" benefit concert was organized by the Long Branch Police Department, The Asbury Park Press, and FPI Concerts, along with Jon Bon Jovi. The concert was to honor slain Long Branch police officer Sgt. Patrick King and raise money for the Sgt. Patrick King Memorial Fund to provide for his family. King, 45-year-old father of two young boys, was fatally shot on 20 Nov 1997 by a fugitive who had vowed to kill himself and a police officer rather than be captured and returned to jail.
Twenty musicians with ties to the Jersey shore music scene answered Jon Bon Jovi's call, including Bruce Springsteen and several members of the then-disbanded E Street Band (Clarence Clemons, Danni Frederici, Patti Scialfa, Steven Van Zandt, and Max Weinberg), Southside Johnny, Bobby Bandiera, and Richie Sambora among others. Actor Danny DeVito was the event's MC. Tickets, which were priced at $125, went on sale on 17 Jan 1998 noon and sold out in just eight minutes. The concert that was organized in short order raised more than $112,000 for King's widow and his two sons.
"It was a chance to forget about [the murder] a little bit," Long Branch police Sgt. Bruce Johantgen, one of about 50 city police officers who attended the show, told The Asbury Park Press. "The outpouring of love from the performers to the audience was unbelievable". Johantgen said he found it ironic that Bon Jovi and other performers thanked the audience for coming to the sold-out show. "From the police perspective, I kept thinking, 'We should be thanking you for giving your time'," Johantgen said.
This was a near-reunion of the fabled E Street Band and Springsteen's first full-length electric gig following the acoustic The Ghost Of Tom Joad Solo Acoustic Tour. Springsteen spent much (or possibly all) of the night onstage, singing or playing guitar only. Soundboard recording for the complete concert is available among collectors.
The 31 Jan 1998 show at Count Basie Theatre was commercially released in Europe. Since 2005 some enterprising record labels in Europe (mostly in the UK) have been releasing Bruce Springsteen radio and TV broadcasts (and some soundboard recordings) from the seventies, eighties, and nineties. Though these releases are not authorized by Bruce Springsteen or his record company, they are lawful due to a legal loophole in Europe.
FOREVER was performed off-tour on 31 Jan 1998 at Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, NJ, during the "Come Together: Jon Bon Jovi & Friends" benefit concert.
Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.
List of available versions of FOREVER on this website:
FOREVER [Live 31 Jan 1998 version]
