Studio version
Well I'm going back to Georgia
To spend my last few years
Away from the sadness and the tears
Well I been out to San Francisco
When I travelled on down to L.A.
Still only one place that I can stay
With my last few dollars
And I'm gonna bring my last few dimes
Going back to Georgia
And I'm going back one more time
And I'm going back one more time
When I went up to New York City
When I been out the Chicago Loop
Still but ain't one place that I've been to
When I sailed down the Mississippi
When I gambled in New Orleans
Still no finer site I ever seen, yeah
With my last few dollars
And I'm gonna bring my last few dimes
Going back to Georgia
And I'm going back one more time
And I'm going back one more time
Yeah yeah whoa
Well I'm going back to Georgia
To spend my last few years
Away from the sadness and the tears
I said I'm going, going back to Georgia
And I'm going, going back to Georgia
I said I'm going, going back to Georgia
You know I'm going back to Georgia
With my last few dollars
And I'm gonna bring my last few dimes
Going back to Georgia
And I'm going back one more time
And we're going back one more time
And we're going back one more time
I said we're going back one more time
GOIN' BACK TO GEORGIA is a song written by Bruce Springsteen. He performed it live with several of his bands in 1971 and 1972. See the "Live History" section below for more details. He also recorded the song in studio. See the "Composition and Recording" section below for more details. The above lyrics are for the studio version of GOIN' BACK TO GEORGIA.
Decades later, GOIN' BACK TO GEORGIA was recorded by Jersey Shore band Steel Mill Retro who released it on The Dead Sea Chronicles, their 2005 album of Bruce Springsteen songs that were first performed by the original Steel Mill. See Steel Mill Retro's cover version for more details.
Steel Mill recorded three songs at Pacific Recording Studio in San Mateo, CA, 22 Feb 1970: HE'S GUILTY (THE JUDGE SONG), GOIN' BACK TO GEORGIA, and THE TRAIN SONG. After brief warm-up rehearsals, which weren't recorded, the band recorded each song in one take. These were the only three songs rehearsed and the only three songs recorded. Promoter Bill Graham, who at the time had recently started his Fillmore Records label offered Steel Mill a contract, which the band rejected due to its poor terms and conditions.
According to the Chapter And Verse album credits, the band line-up on HE'S GUILTY (THE JUDGE SONG) is Bruce Springsteen on vocal and guitar, Danny Federici on organ, piano, and backing vocals, Vini Lopez on drums, and Vinnie Roslin on bass and backing vocals. GOIN' BACK TO GEORGIA, which was recorded at the same session, logically features the same line-up.
This studio version of GOIN' BACK TO GEORGIA can be found on several bootlegs, including The Unsurpassed Springsteen Volume 1 (Yellow Dog Records) [track 05].
GOIN' BACK TO GEORGIA is known to have been performed at least 11 times in Bruce Springsteen's early years (pre-October 1972). Very little is known about shows from this early period, and therefore, the song must have been played on some more dates.
An early Bruce Springsteen handwritten song list (see scan below), titled "Sonic Tunes", is believed to be the song schedule for Dr. Zoom & The Sonic Boom's 14 May 1971 gig at Sunshine In, Asbury Park, NJ. The document list 10 songs, including GOIN' BACK TO GEORGIA. It's unknown whether or not Springsteen made any late changes to this setlist for the actual performance.
An early Bruce Springsteen handwritten song list (see scan below) is recalled with some degree of confidence by one of The Bruce Springsteen Band members as emanating from one of the band's July 1971 bookings at D'Scene in South Amboy, NJ. The Bruce Springsteen Band made two consecutive Thursday evening appearances at the club, on 22 and 29 July 1971. They headlined two gigs each night, one at 9:00 p.m. and one at 11:30 p.m., with Sunny Jim opening. The handwritten song list was auctioned on the It's Only Rock 'N Roll online auction website in June 2006. The bid started at $500.00 and reached $2221.44. The document contains a list of 22 songs, including GOIN' BACK TO GEORGIA. This is not a setlist, but many (or possibly all) of the listed songs must have been performed at the 22 and 29 Jul 1971 shows at D'Scene.
At least one artist has recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's GOIN' BACK TO GEORGIA.
Some of the above information about the song's studio recording and live history is taken from Brucebase.
List of available versions of GOIN' BACK TO GEORGIA on this website:
GOIN' BACK TO GEORGIA [Studio version]
