Live 14 Feb 1973 version
Well, princess cards she sends me with her regards
Her barroom eyes shine vacancy, to see her you gotta look hard
I was wounded deep in battle, I stand stuffed like some soldier undaunted
To her Cheshire smile, I'd stand on file, she's all I ever wanted
But you let your blue walls get in the way of these facts
Honey, get the carpetbaggers off my back
You wouldn't even give me time to cover my tracks
You said, "Here's your mirror and your ball and jacks"
But they aren't what I came for, and I'm sure you see that too
I came for you, for you, I came for you, but you did not need my urgency
I came for you, for you, I came for you, your life was one long emergency
And your cloud line urges me, and my electric surges free
Crawl into my ambulance, your pulse is getting weak
Reveal yourself all now to me girl while you've got the strength to speak
'Cause they're waiting for you at Bellevue with their oxygen masks
Well I could give it all to you now, if only you could ask
And don't call for your surgeon, even he says it's too late
It's not your lungs this time, it's your heart that holds your fate
Don't give me my money, honey, I don't want it back
You and your pony face and your union jack
Well, take that local joker and teach him how to act
And I was never that way even when I really cracked
Didn't you think I knew that you were born with the power of a locomotive
Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound?
And your Chelsea suicide with no apparent motive
You could laugh and cry in a single sound
Alright
Whoa oh oh, oh oh
Your strength is devastating in the face of all these odds
Remember how I kept you waiting when it was my turn to be the god
You were not quite half so proud when I found you broken on the beach
Remember how I poured salt on your tongue and hung just out of reach
And the band, they played the homecoming theme as I caressed your cheek
That ragged, jagged melody still clings to me like a leech
That medal you wore on your chest always got in the way
Like a little girl with a trophy so soft to buy her way
We were both hitchhikers, but you had your ears tuned to the roar
Of some metal-tempered engine on an alien distant shore
So you left to find a better reason than the one we were living for
And it's not that nursery mouth I came back for
And it's not the way you're stretched out on the floor
Because I've broken all your windows and I've rammed through all your doors
Who am I to ask you to lick my sores?
You should know it's true
I came for you, for you, I came for you, but you did not need my urgency
I came for you, for you, I came for you, but your life was one long emergency
And your cloud line urges me, and my electric surges free
Alright
Whoa oh alright
Oh
The above lyrics are for the live 14 Feb 1973 performance of FOR YOU at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA, during what is considered the Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. Tour. The song was performed in a full-band arrangement with an unusual piano introduction.
This was a double-bill show with Bruce Springsteen and the band opening and Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks headlining. The show was held at the university's new gymnasium. Springsteen was allowed to present a headliner-length performance of nearly 90 minutes. The show's complete setlist is known from a newspaper review in conjunction with a circulating (but very poor quality) 45-minute audience recording encompassing five of the show's nine songs.
Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake). Info about the 14 Feb 1973 show is taken from Brucebase.
List of available versions of FOR YOU on this website:
FOR YOU [Album version]