Lyrics

HEY, WESTERN UNION MAN

Album version


Western Union man, send a telegram to my baby
Send a telegram, send a telegram, oh
Send a telegram to my baby

This is what I want you to say
I want you to tell her that I'm all alone
I tried to call her on the phone
Tell her I'm in misery and I think she's avoiding me
And if the telegram don't do
Send a box of candy too, maybe some flowers
Tell her that I miss her for hours and hours

Send a telegram, send a telegram, hey-yeah
Send a telegram, man, to my baby
Do you hear what I say

Western Union man, send a telegram
Oh, send a telegram to my baby
Western Union man, send a telegram, oh
Send a telegram, send a telegram, come on
Send a telegram, man, to my baby

This is what I want you to do
Have you got a man you can send
Well this is what I want him to do
I'd get him over there right away
And see if he can get my message through
No, not, not maybe tomorrow, he's got to mail it right away
I want the girl to know that I missed her
Yeah something like yesterday

Send a telegram, send a telegram, come on
Send a telegram, man, to my baby
Do you hear now what I say

Western Union man, send a telegram
Oh send a telegram to my baby
Western Union man, send a telegram
Oh send a telegram, send a telegram, send it
Send a telegram, send a telegram to my baby
Do you hear now what I say

Come on!
Western Union

Western Union man, send a telegram
Oh send a telegram to my baby
Western Union man, send a telegram
Oh send a telegram, come on now
Won't you send a telegram, well, to my baby
(Western Union man, send a telegram) Tell her that I'm all alone
(Send a telegram to my baby) Tell her that I'm waiting home for her
(Western Union man, send a telegram) Western Union
(Send a telegram, send a telegram, send it) Send a telegram
(Send a telegram, send a telegram) Right to my baby
(Western Union man, send a telegram) Western Union
(Send a telegram to my baby) Tell her that I need her and I'll do it all again
(Western Union man, send a telegram) Tell her to come on home
(Send a telegram, send a telegram, send it) Come on
(Send a telegram, send a telegram) Send that telegram to my baby
(Western Union man, send a telegram) Oooh-hoo
(Send a telegram to my baby) Western Union man, oh send that telegram...
[Fades out]

Info

HEY, WESTERN UNION MAN is a 1968 song by Jerry Butler. See the original Jerry Butler version for more details.

Bruce Springsteen released HEY, WESTERN UNION MAN on his 2022 album Only The Strong Survive. The above lyrics are for Bruce Springsteen's album version of HEY, WESTERN UNION MAN as released on Only The Strong Survive.


Studio Recording

There's no information on when exactly HEY, WESTERN UNION MAN was recorded, but, just like all other songs on Only The Strong Survive, it was likely cut sometime between late 2020 and mid-2022. See the "Only The Strong Survive" section below for more details.

Track credits:

Bruce Springsteen: lead vocal
Ron Aniello: drums, bass, percussion, guitar, piano, organ, vibes, keyboards
Rob Lebret: additional guitar
E Street Horns: horns
Curtis King Jr.: background vocals
Fonzi Thornton: background vocals
Dennis Colins: background vocals

Only The Strong Survive

Only The Strong Survive is Bruce Springsteen's twenty-first studio album. It was officially released on 11 Nov 2022 on Columbia Records. It consists of 15 tracks, all of which are covers. This marks the second time that Springsteen releases a cover album following We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions in 2006.

Bruce Springsteen -- Only The Strong Survive
Bruce Springsteen -- Only The Strong Survive

The album is "a collection of fifteen soul music greats," as described in the press release. It "celebrates soul music gems from the legendary catalogues of Motown, Gamble and Huff, Stax and many more." Springsteen commented: "I wanted to make an album where I just sang. And what better music to work with than the great American songbook of the Sixties and Seventies? I've taken my inspiration from Levi Stubbs, David Ruffin, Jimmy Ruffin, the Iceman Jerry Butler, Diana Ross, Dobie Gray, and Scott Walker, among many others. I've tried to do justice to them all and to the fabulous writers of this glorious music. My goal is for the modern audience to experience its beauty and joy, just as I have since I first heard it. I hope you love listening to it as much as I loved making it."

Only The Strong Survive was tracked at Thrill Hill Recording (Springsteen's home studio) in Colts Neck, NJ, following the sessions for Letter To You, which took place around November 2020. The core recording featured only Bruce Springsteen and producer Ron Aniello. In addition to lead vocals, Springsteen played guitar and keys on some tracks and Aniello played virtually every other instrument. Additional parts, including horns, strings, and background vocals were recorded at Power Station At BerkleeNYC in New York City, NY. Sam Moore makes a guest appearance on the album, singing harmony vocals on two tracks. His parts were recorded at Bullseye Studios in Miami, FL, with Andres Bermudezat engineering. Only The Strong Survive was produced by Ron Aniello with Bruce Springsteen, executive produced by Jon Landau, engineered by Rob Lebret and Ron Aniello at Thrill Hill Recording, mixed by Rob Lebret with Ron Aniello at Thrill Hill Recording, and mixed by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios in Portland, ME.

  • Bruce Springsteen appears on all of the album's tracks. He sings lead vocal and background vocals and plays guitar, keyboards, and piano.
  • Ron Aniello appears on all of the album's tracks. He plays drums, bass, percussion, guitar, vibes, piano, organ, keyboards, glockenspiel, Farfisa, Timpani, and chimes and sings background vocals.
  • Rob Lebret plays additional guitar on track 8.
  • Sam Moore makes a guest appearance on the album, singing harmony vocal (tracks 2 and 12) and second vocal (track 2).
  • Soozie Tyrell sings background vocals on tracks 2, 4, 6, and 15.
  • Lisa Lowell sings background vocals on tracks 2, 4, 6, and 15.
  • Michelle Moore sings background vocals on tracks 4 and 6.
  • Curtis King Jr. sings background vocals on tracks 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, and 15.
  • Fonzi Thornton sings background vocals on tracks 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, and 14.
  • Dennis Colins sings background vocals on tracks 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, and 14.
  • E Street Horns is a horn section consisting of Curt Ramm (trumpet), Barry Danielian (trumpet), Clark Gayton (trombone), Bill Holloman (tenor saxophone), Ed Manion (baritone saxophone), and Toni Timko (baritone saxophone). They appear on all tracks.
  • A strings section consisting of Rob Mathes (string arranger and conductor), Lisa Kim (concertmaster), and Sandy Park (string contractor) is listed in the album credits but it's not clear on which tracks it appears.

Only The Strong Survive was officially announced on 29 Sep 2022 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time (02:00 p.m. GMT). The announcement was made by Springsteen himself who addressed fans in a pre-recorded video posted online a few minutes earlier.


In anticipation to the announcement, Springsteen dropped hints on his social media accounts over the course of the previous three days. On 26 and 27 September, he shared each morning a photo of a road and of a steering wheel respectively, without any caption or comment.


On 28 September, he posted a 26-second promo clip of a vintage car FM radio dial turning to different stations and listening in for a few seconds, each station playing a different song from the upcoming album.


Only The Strong Survive is available as a single-disc CD and as a two-disc LP set, as well as digital download and streaming. Three editions of the vinyl release were issued: a regular edition on black vinyl, a limited edition on nightshade green vinyl exclusive to Bruce Springsteen's official webstore, and a limited edition on sundance orange or orbit orange vinyl exclusive to independent retailers.

Only The Strong Survive track list (vinyl edition)

Side 1:

  1. ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVE (Jerry Butler cover)
  2. SOUL DAYS (Dobie Gray cover)
  3. NIGHTSHIFT (Commodores cover)
  4. DO I LOVE YOU (INDEED I DO) (Frank Wilson cover)
  5. THE SUN AIN'T GONNA SHINE ANYMORE (The Walker Brothers cover, originally by Frankie Valli)

Side 2:

  1. TURN BACK THE HANDS OF TIME (Tyrone Davis cover)
  2. WHEN SHE WAS MY GIRL (Four Tops cover)
  3. HEY, WESTERN UNION MAN (Jerry Butler cover)
  4. I WISH IT WOULD RAIN (The Temptations cover)
  5. DON'T PLAY THAT SONG (Aretha Franklin cover, originally by Ben E. King)

Side 3:

  1. ANY OTHER WAY (William Bell cover)
  2. I FORGOT TO BE YOUR LOVER (William Bell cover)
  3. 7 ROOMS OF GLOOM (Four Tops cover)
  4. WHAT BECOMES OF THE BROKENHEARTED (Jimmy Ruffin cover)
  5. SOMEDAY WE'LL BE TOGETHER (Diana Ross & The Supremes cover, originally by Johnny & Jackey)

Only The Strong Survive track list (CD edition)

  1. ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVE (Jerry Butler cover)
  2. SOUL DAYS (Dobie Gray cover)
  3. NIGHTSHIFT (Commodores cover)
  4. DO I LOVE YOU (INDEED I DO) (Frank Wilson cover)
  5. THE SUN AIN'T GONNA SHINE ANYMORE (The Walker Brothers cover, originally by Frankie Valli)
  6. TURN BACK THE HANDS OF TIME (Tyrone Davis cover)
  7. WHEN SHE WAS MY GIRL (Four Tops cover)
  8. HEY, WESTERN UNION MAN (Jerry Butler cover)
  9. I WISH IT WOULD RAIN (The Temptations cover)
  10. DON'T PLAY THAT SONG (Aretha Franklin cover, originally by Ben E. King)
  11. ANY OTHER WAY (William Bell cover)
  12. I FORGOT TO BE YOUR LOVER (William Bell cover)
  13. 7 ROOMS OF GLOOM (Four Tops cover)
  14. WHAT BECOMES OF THE BROKENHEARTED (Jimmy Ruffin cover)
  15. SOMEDAY WE'LL BE TOGETHER (Diana Ross & The Supremes cover, originally by Johnny & Jackey)

Live History

As far as it's known, Bruce Springsteen has never performed HEY, WESTERN UNION MAN live.

Request

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Available Versions

List of available versions of HEY, WESTERN UNION MAN on this website:

HEY, WESTERN UNION MAN [Album version]
HEY, WESTERN UNION MAN [Original Jerry Butler version]
Page last updated: 13 Nov 2022