I'M A COWARD

Live 23 Apr 1988 version

[Spoken intro:] Is there anybody alive out there tonight? Is there anybody that can feel the living, the breathing spirit in their souls out there tonight? That's good. Because what I want to know is, do we have any rough, tough Los Angeles men out there tonight? Do we have any of those, uh, California macho men out there tonight? Because I've known men that would swim rivers, they would climb mountains, they would wrestle with the beasts of the jungle. But there was one thing they was afraid of, and I'm gonna tell you what that one thing was. They was afraid of L, U, V, love! That's what they were afraid of. Love scared 'em. Whenever they got close to love, they started running away like little babies back to their mommies. Now do we have any brave, heroic L.A. women out there tonight? Do we have any macho, sexy California girls out there tonight? Do we have 'em back there? Because I've known women that would jump out of an airplane at 30,000 feet. But there was one thing that they was afraid of, and that thing was love. Now I'm down here tonight because I've got a confession that I've got to make. I can't carry this around with me any longer. And what I wanna say, what I want to tell you is that I have sinned! And I don't need no Pat Robertson or Jim Baker or Jimmy Swaggert to forgive me. Them boys can kiss my ass. And that Jerry Falwell, he can kiss my ass three times, right there. Because what I've got to say is I ain't afraid of man-made things. But what I've got to confess to is that I'm a coward when it comes to love. Say, go!

I ain't afraid of no lions
I ain't afraid of no grizzly bear
I got in a wrestling match with old King Kong
He never even mussed my hair
There's just one thing in this whole wide world
That make me doubt my stuff

I'm a coward when it comes to love
I'm a coward when it comes to love
I'm a coward baby when it comes to love

Now you can bring on old Hulk Hogan
And bring on King Kong Bundy too
Bring down Big Mike Tyson
I'll show him what a real man can do
They say the tougher get going
Now baby when that going get tough

But I'm a coward when it comes to love
I'm a coward when it comes to love
I'm a coward yeah when it comes to love

Big Man, help me man!
[Spoken:] I don't know what I'm gonna do about it. I went to all the New York psychiatrists at 200 bucks an hour. But don't think you're alone out there, you see.

You can bring on a different sexy girl
At every night of the week
Buddy that's okay
But I start sweating, my knees get weak
Whenever I hear her say
"Do you love me baby?" Ah
"Do you love me baby?" Ah
"Do you love me baby?" Ah of course I do, baby

I got a muscle made of iron
I got another muscle made of steel
But when we start kissing and hugging
I, I, I ???
You may be the bravest man in the whole wide world
But buddy that ain't enough

If you're a coward when it comes to love
You're a coward when it comes to love
You're a coward when it comes to love

Come on!

That's right

I'm a coward when it comes to love
(He's a coward when it comes to love)
(He's a coward when it comes to love)
(He's a coward when it comes to love)
(He's a coward when it comes to love)
(He's a coward when it comes to love)
(He's a coward) when it comes to love
(He's a coward when it comes to love) Let me hear you!
(He's a coward when it comes to love)
(He's a coward when it comes to love) Once more!
(He's a coward when it comes to love)
(He's a coward when it comes to love)
(He's a coward when it comes to love) Baby I just wanted to kiss
(He's a coward when it comes to love) Get me to my analyst
(He's a coward) baby when it comes (to love)
(He's a coward when it comes to love) Whoaaa
Whoa-whoa! Whoa-whoa-woah!
Whoa-whoa! Whoa whoa-whoa-whoa!

Can I get a witness?

Info

The above lyrics are for the live 23 Apr 1988 performance of I'M A COWARD at Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles, CA, during the Tunnel Of Love Express Tour. The parts in bold are sung by Patti Scialfa.

The 23 Apr 1988 Show

During the Tunnel Of Love Express Tour, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band performed a series of five consecutive sold-out concerts at Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles, CA, on 22, 23, 25, 27, and 28 Apr 1988.

The 23 Apr 1988 show features Springsteen leading the crowd into Happy Birthday to Roy Orbison who turned 52 that day. An audience recording of the show has long circulated among collectors, in addition to incomplete amateur video footage.

Promotional poster the April 1988 five-night stand at Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles, CA

Ticket stub for the 23 Apr 1988 show at Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles, CA

Pass for the 23 Apr 1988 show at Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles, CA
(Taken from Brucebase)

In July 2015 the complete 23 Apr 1988 concert was officially released on Live.BruceSpringsteen.net (see the "Official Live Downloads" section below for more details). The show was recorded by Toby Scott, assisted by Paul Du Gré. It was mixed from Digital PCM Multitracks to DSD by Toby Scott in May/June 2015, assisted by Kenta Yonesaka at Germano Studios in New York City and by Rob Lebret at Thrill Hill, NJ. It was mastered by Adam Ayan in June 2015 at Bob Ludwig's Gateway Mastering Studios in Portland, ME.

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band -- LA Sports Arena, California 1988

"I picked this show mainly from fan input, and a desire to get away from the recent releases that were shows on the east coast," Toby Scott told Backstreets. "We only recorded select cities, and this was one of them. I want to give the fans a new, good mix of a show to improve on the bootleg audience tapes that circulate."

Official Live Downloads

Prior to the High Hopes Tour, Bruce Springsteen's management announced a new service allowing fans to download concert recordings approximately 48 hours after each show. The initial plan required fans to purchase a special USB wristband, which could then be used to download a single High Hopes Tour show of the purchaser's choice and also functions as a regular reusable USB flash drive. The wristband, which could be purchased online or at the concert venue, was priced at $40. Following some negative response from fans over the high cost for the wristband, Springsteen's management subsequently announced a separate cheaper option for purchasing shows directly, without the need for the wristband. The shows were available for purchase and download via Live Nation, Bruce Springsteen's concert promoter, priced at $9.99 for MP3 and $14.99 for FLAC. Audio recordings for 31 of the 34 High Hopes Tour dates (all except 16 Feb 2014, 06 Apr 2014, and 03 May 2014) were released as such and they were available until 30 Jun 2014.

On 17 Nov 2014, Live.BruceSpringsteen.net was launched. It's a new addition to the official website, serving as an online store offering high-quality live concert recordings as well as high-resolution digital releases of Springsteen's album catalog. The download store is powered by Nugs.net in cooperation with Columbia Records. Audio recordings for 30 of the 34 High Hopes Tour dates (all except 16 Feb 2014, 06 Apr 2014, 03 May 2014, and 18 May 2014) were re-released on the new download store in multiple formats, including MP3, lossless CD-quality FLAC or ALAC, and 24-bit HD FLAC or ALAC or MQA, as well as audio CD-R with custom artwork. Nugs.net adopted the MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) format on 24 May 2017. From then on, all Bruce Springsteen live concert recordings, including the previously released ones, became also available in MQA.

Audio recordings for all 75 The River Tour 2016 dates were also released on Live.BruceSpringsteen.net in multiple formats, including MP3, lossless CD-quality FLAC or ALAC, and 24-bit HD FLAC or ALAC or MQA, as well as audio CD-R with custom artwork. Each show was generally released within a month after it took place.

Audio recordings for all 14 Summer '17 Tour dates were also released on Live.BruceSpringsteen.net in multiple formats, including MP3, lossless CD-quality FLAC or ALAC, and 24-bit HD FLAC or ALAC or MQA, as well as audio CD-R with custom artwork. Each show was generally released within a month after it took place.

Archival releases were periodically released on the same site, as part of the Bruce Springsteen Archive Series. These shows were also made available in multiple formats, including MP3, lossless FLAC or ALAC, 24-bit FLAC or ALAC or MQA, DSD, and audio CD-R. So far 90 shows (or sets of shows) were released from the ongoing series.

Available Versions

List of available versions of I'M A COWARD on this website:

Page last updated: 29 Nov 2016