Live 26 Nov 1996 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 stood 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 your 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're not what I came for, but I'm sure you see that too
I came for you, for you, baby, I came for you, but you did not need my urgency
For you, for you, darling, I came for you, but your life was one long emergency
And your cloud line urges me, and my electric surges free
Well, crawl into my ambulance, your pulse is getting weak
Reveal yourself 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
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 you can take that local joker and teach him how to act
I swear I was never that way even when I really cracked
Well, 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
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
Well, 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
Well, that medal you wore on your chest always got in the way
You were just 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 that I came back for
It's not the way that you're stretched out on the floor
'Cause I've broken all your windows, rammed through all your doors
And who am I to ask you to lick my sores?
You should know that's true
I came for you, for you, baby, I came for you, but you did not need my urgency
For you, for you, darling, I came for you, but your life was one long emergency
And your cloud line urges me, and my electric surges free
I came for you, for you, baby, I came for you
For you, for you, darling, I came for you
For you, for you, darling, I came for you
[Spoken outro:] Thanks, Dan! Good evening! Let's see if I'm still in tune. Not really. Alright.
The above lyrics are for the live 26 Nov 1996 performance of FOR YOU at Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, NJ, during The Ghost Of Tom Joad Solo Acoustic Tour. The song was the show opener. It was played on acoustic guitar and with Danny Federici guesting on accordion.
This was the last of a three-night stand at Paramount Theatre.
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]