Official studio version
(One, two three!)
Hoah!
Turn it up!
Come on Steve!
I was out driving, just a-taking it slow
Looked at my tank, it was reading low
Pulled in an Exxon station out on Highway One
Oh yeah!
Held up without a gun
Held up without a gun
Some damn fool with a guitar walks in off the street
Ain't got nowhere to go, ain't got nothing to eat
Man with a cigar says "sign here, son"
Watch out!
Held up without a gun
Held up without a gun
(Whoah!)
(Oh!)
(Oh! Oh! Oh!)
Now it's a sin and it oughta be a crime
You know it happens buddy all the time
Trying to make a living, trying to have a little fun
Look out!
Held up without a gun
Held up without a gun
Held up without a gun
Held up without a gun
(Oh!)
HELD UP WITHOUT A GUN is a song written by Bruce Springsteen and first released as the non-album B-side of HUNGRY HEART in 1980. The above lyrics are for Bruce Springsteen's official studio version of HELD UP WITHOUT A GUN as released in 1980.
The official studio version of HELD UP WITHOUT A GUN was included on The Ties That Bind: The River Collection box set in 2015.
SECTION NOT YET COMPLETED
SECTION NOT YET COMPLETED
The Ties That Bind: The River Collection is a Bruce Springsteen box set released in 2015 on Columbia Records to celebrate the 35th anniversary of The River album. The 10"x12" box set contains four CDs, two Blu-Ray discs or three DVDs, and a hardcover 148-page coffee table book featuring 200 mostly unseen studio and live photographs, pages from Springsteen's notebooks, single covers, images and outtakes from the original album package, and other memorabilia documenting the album, plus a new essay by Mikal Gilmore. The box set was announced on 16 Oct 2015 and released to retail on 04 Dec 2015.
The first two discs consist of the 2014 remastered version of The River album. The third disc contains The River: Single Album, a 10-track album originally planned for release in 1979, under the title "The Ties That Bind". "The songs lacked the kind of unity and conceptual intensity I liked my music to have. So we went back in the studio," Springsteen wrote in his 1998 book Songs. He scrapped the project and went on to rework some of the songs and write and record some others, leading to the double-disc release the following year. All but one of these ten tracks were previously released.
| 1. | THE TIES THAT BIND | Different version previously released on The River |
| 2. | CINDY | Previously unreleased |
| 3. | HUNGRY HEART | Previously released on The River |
| 4. | STOLEN CAR | Previously released on Tracks |
| 5. | BE TRUE | Previously released as a B-side and on Tracks |
| 6. | THE RIVER | Previously released on The River |
| 7. | YOU CAN LOOK (BUT YOU BETTER NOT TOUCH) | Different version previously released on The River |
| 8. | THE PRICE YOU PAY | Different version previously released on The River |
| 9. | I WANNA MARRY YOU | Previously released on The River |
| 10. | LOOSE ENDS | Previously released on Tracks |
The fourth discs contains The River: Outtakes, a 22-track album collection consisting of outtakes from the 1979-1980 sessions that didn't make the cut for either the single- or double-album versions of The River. The CD is divided into two parts, "Record One" (the first 11 tracks) and "Record Two" (the remaining 10 tracks). The former consists of unreleased songs while the latter consists of previously released songs.
| 1. | MEET ME IN THE CITY | Previously unreleased |
| 2. | THE MAN WHO GOT AWAY | Previously unreleased |
| 3. | LITTLE WHITE LIES | Previously unreleased |
| 4. | THE TIME THAT NEVER WAS | Previously unreleased |
| 5. | NIGHT FIRE | Previously unreleased |
| 6. | WHITETOWN | Previously unreleased |
| 7. | CHAIN LIGHTNING | Previously unreleased |
| 8. | PARTY LIGHTS | Previously unreleased |
| 9. | PARADISE BY THE "C" | Live version previously released on Live/1975-85 |
| 10. | STRAY BULLET | Previously unreleased |
| 11. | MR. OUTSIDE | Previously unreleased |
| 12. | ROULETTE | Previously released on Tracks |
| 13. | RESTLESS NIGHTS | Previously released on Tracks |
| 14. | WHERE THE BANDS ARE | Previously released on Tracks |
| 15. | DOLLHOUSE | Previously released on Tracks |
| 16. | LIVING ON THE EDGE OF THE WORLD | Previously released on Tracks |
| 17. | TAKE 'EM AS THEY COME | Previously released on Tracks |
| 18. | RICKY WANTS A MAN OF HER OWN | Previously released on Tracks |
| 19. | I WANNA BE WITH YOU | Previously released on Tracks |
| 20. | MARY LOU | Previously released on Tracks |
| 21. | HELD UP WITHOUT A GUN | Previously released as a B-side |
| 22. | FROM SMALL THINGS (BIG THINGS ONE DAY COME) | Previously released on The Essential Bruce Springsteen (2003 3-disc edition) |
The fifth disc contains the 60-minute documentary, The Ties That Bind, produced and directed by Grammy and Emmy-winning filmmaker Thom Zimny. The documentary features an intimate interview with Bruce Springsteen as he reflects on writing and recording of The River. The film transitions between Springsteen telling the stories behind the music ─ and illustrating them with solo acoustic guitar performances ─ interspersed with period concert footage and rare photos of him and the band in and out of the studio.
The sixth disc (on the Blu-Ray release) or sixth and seventh disc (on the DVD release) feature(s) The River Tour, Tempe 1980, a new professionally shot film consisting of 24 songs from Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band's 05 Nov 1980 concert at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ. The film uses four cameras and is recorded in multitrack audio and clocks at 2 hours and 40 minutes. The tapes were edited by Thom Zimny and the audio was mixed by Bob Clearmountain and mastered by Bob Ludwig.
The ten songs that are not included on The River Tour, Tempe 1980 (DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN, INDEPENDENCE DAY, FACTORY, RACING IN THE STREET, CANDY'S ROOM, THE TIES THAT BIND, STOLEN CAR, WRECK ON THE HIGHWAY, POINT BLANK, and BACKSTREETS) were later officially released on Live.BruceSpringsteen.net.
The last disc also contains The River Tour Rehearsals, which consists of a 5-song 20-minute bonus footage from Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band's private rehearsals in late September 1980 at Clair Brothers Audio in Lititz, PA. Springsteen and the band can be seen working through live arrangements of what was then unreleased material from the upcoming album.
A very slightly different mix of the official studio version of HELD UP WITHOUT A GUN (but same core recording) was released on The Definitive River Outtakes Collection Volume 1 (E. St. Records) [disc 2, track 11] bootleg.
SECTION NOT YET COMPLETED
In addition to its release as a B-side and its inclusion on The Ties That Bind: The River Collection, HELD UP WITHOUT A GUN also appears on one Bruce Springsteen promo-only sampler.
Other versions of HELD UP WITHOUT A GUN were also officially released.
HELD UP WITHOUT A GUN was performed once during The River Tour (138 dates, October 1980 to September 1981), on 31 Dec 1980 in Uniondale, NY. The live 31 Dec 1980 version of HELD UP WITHOUT A GUN was first released on The Essential Bruce Springsteen compilation album in 2003.
In preparation for the Vote For Change Tour, HELD UP WITHOUT A GUN is known to have been practiced during one of the tour's three private rehearsals that took place from 27 to 29 Sep 2004 in Asbury Park.
HELD UP WITHOUT A GUN was performed 3 times during the Magic Tour (100 dates, October 2007 to August 2008).
HELD UP WITHOUT A GUN was performed once during the Wrecking Ball Tour (133 dates, March 2012 to September 2013), on 25 Oct 2012 in Hartford, CT.
As far as it's known, no artist has recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's HELD UP WITHOUT A GUN.
Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.
List of available versions of HELD UP WITHOUT A GUN on this website:
HELD UP WITHOUT A GUN [Official studio version]
