Live 18 Nov 1975 version
Princess cards she sends me with her regards
Her barroom eyes shine vacancy, to see her you have to look hard
I was wounded deep in battle, but I stood stuffed like a soldier undaunted
To her Cheshire smile I'd stand on file, she was all I ever wanted
But you let your blue walls get in the way of these facts
And honey, get your carpetbaggers off my back
You wouldn't even give me time to cover my tracks
You said, "Here boy, here's your mirror, your ball and your jacks"
But they ain't what I came for, and I'm sure you know that's true
Baby, I came for you, for you, I came for you, but you did not need my urgency
For you, for you, I came for you, but your life was one long emergency
And the cloud line urges me, and my electric surges free
Oh, crawl into my ambulance, your pulse is getting weak
Reveal yourself just once for me baby, while you've got the strength to speak
'Cause they're waiting for you at Bellevue with their oxygen masks
But I could give it all to you here if only you would ask
And don't call for your surgeon, even he says it's too late
It ain't your lungs this time, baby, 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
You can take that local joker and teach him how to act
You know I was never that way even, even when I really cracked
And didn't you think I knew that you were born with the power of a locomotive
You could leap tall buildings in a single bound?
And your Chelsea suicide with no apparent motive
You could laugh and could cry in a single sound
Your strength is devastating in the face of all these odds
Remember how I kept you waiting when it was finally my turn to play the god
And 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
And that ragged, ragged jagged melody, still clings to me like a leech
And you know that medal you wore on your chest, and how it always got in the way
You were like a little girl with a trophy, yeah, so soft to buy her way
We were both hitchhiking, 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 ain't that nursery mouth that I came back for
And it ain't the way that you're stretched out on the floor
'Cause I've broken all your windows and rammed through all your doors
And who am I to ask you to lick my sores?
You should know that's true
Baby, I came for you, but you did not need it
For you, baby, I came for you, but your life was one long, long emergency
And your cloud line urges me, and my electric surges free
Hoo, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ooh ooh
The above lyrics are for the live 18 Nov 1975 performance of FOR YOU at Hammersmith Odeon in London, England, during the Born To Run Tour. The song was played in a solo piano arrangement. The complete 18 Nov 1975 show was released on Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 album and home video in 2005.
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band toured Europe for the first in 1975, during the Born To Run Tour. They performed a series of four concerts in England (18 and 24 Nov 1975), Sweden (21 Nov 1975), and The Netherlands (23 Nov 1975). It would be another six years before they return to Europe.
Springsteen and the band were under a lot of pressure when they first stepped foot in Europe. The 18 Nov 1975 show at Hammersmith Odeon in London, England, was overwhelmingly hyped. "For me, the set went by like a freight train," Springsteen wrote. "Later, all I remembered is an awkward record company party, that 'what just happened?' feeling, and thinking we hadn't played that well. I was wrong."
The complete concert was captured on 16mm film and recorded on 24-track. It is also known that this show was initially going to be broadcast on radio (either live or delayed) but Mike Appel, Springsteen's manager at the time, backed out at the last minute as he felt that Springsteen's mood at the time would not lead to a particularly good show.
The film remained largely untouched for nearly 30 years. "Lost in my private Idaho, I'd paid no attention to it. I never looked at it... for thirty years," Springsteen wrote. "At the end of the Rising tour, I became interested in checking out film of the early part of my work." Read complete liner notes below.
Emmy Award Winner Thom Zimny received the 16 mm negatives along with the 24-track recording. His production team painstakingly cleaned the original negatives and digitally restored the footage, ultimately presenting this indispensable concert in vibrant color and detail. Producer Bob Clearmountain remastered and remixed the DVD in both stereo and 5.1 surround sound. Zimny has worked with Springsteen on several projects, including editing the Live In New York City, Live In Barcelona, and VH1 Storytellers films. Clearmountain is the legendary mixer who has often collaborated with Springsteen over the last 25 years, most famously on the Born In The U.S.A. album.
The complete 18 Nov 1975 show was released in November 2005 on the Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 home video, which was issued on DVD as part of the Born To Run - 30th Anniversary Edition box set. Audio for the concert was released on a 2-CD set under the same title in February 2006. It was reissued on vinyl (a 4-disc set) for the first time for Record Store Day on 22 Apr 2017.
Disc 1:
Disc 2:
Side 1:
Side 2:
Side 3:
Side 4:
Disc 5:
Side 6:
Side 7:
Side 8:
Liner notes from the Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 DVD and CD:
In 1975, we stepped of the plane into the land of our mythic heroes. A London, that was yet to see it's first McDonalds's, that was still wrasslin' with making good cheeseburger and that seemed very foreign and exotic to a bunch of provincial Jersey Shore beach bums and musicians.
From the "very" anxious heavens of our first trans-Atlantic flight we descended into... well... hell, as I would soon come to know it.
There was a lot of publicity.
Without going into excessive and ancient detail, yeah, there were promo posters, yeah; there was the "London is finally ready for..." marquee; the raves, the pans, the fans, the existential angst... the... the... HYPE!
The whole city, or at least the part that was interested in pop music, seemed primed for... a party? a funeral? a coronation? All of the above? With the shadow of the crown and the noose upon my neck, I stood in the middle of it, this week's Next... Big... Thing. All I remember thinking was, Whoa! This is a little more than I bargained for. Not quite savvy enough to realize that this was exactly what I had bargained for, I arrived at the theater and created pre-show chaos, stomping through the aisles, pulling promo flyers of the seats in a "The Man can't steal my music" frenzy. The record company, of course, was just doing its job, and I was just learning mine... real fast.
Later that evening an E Street Band, with a good deal of the carnival still left in it and armed with a set list I still dare any young band to match, strode onto the stage of the Hammersmith Odeon. The tempos were fast. A Jersey stew of almost punk soul, fueled by the visionary songwriters, 60's records, garage bands, and Rhythm and Blues we loved. For me, the set went by like a freight train. Later, all I remembered is an awkward record company party, that "what just happened?" feeling, and thinking we hadn't played that well. I was wrong. With the keys to the kingdom dangling in front of us and the knife at our neck, we'd gone for broke. Whatever happened, it became one of our "legendary" performances, marked only in memory, bits of bootleg tape, and "I was there when" stories. It was the show that put us on the map in England and began a long and beautiful relationship with our fans overseas.
The evening had been recorded and filmed. Lost in my private Idaho, I'd paid no attention to it. I never looked at it... for thirty years. At the time I was anxious to move away from the commotion and on down the road, as the band and I were "busy bein' born."
At the end of the Rising tour, I became interested in checking out film of the early part of my work. It had remained a blank spot with virtually nothing released. I started with bits and pieces of this show figuring we could cut together a song or two. To our surprise the entire concert emerged from the vault along with the 24-track recording. Restore by Thom Zimny and mixed by Bob Clearmountain, removed from the bluster and noise of the moment, all that's left if the music. So Ladies and Gentelmen... "London is finally ready for Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band." Live! At the Hammersmith Odeon.
- BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, 9/22/05
Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.
List of available versions of FOR YOU on this website:
FOR YOU [Album version]
