Live Nov 1971 version
[Spoken intro:] [recording cut]...and Mark Romanski and the crew. (cheers) So if you wanna be on TV you have to raise your hand and they'll come around with the county police (chuckles). This is a lady's choice.
Well I remember the first time I saw you
Because I thought to myself
I said ooh there's one woman that sure looks good, yes she does
And I prayed to the Lord each night, I said oh Lord, if there's a Lord
I told him I had to have you
Because I thought that you would love me like I would want my baby to, yes
Yes and I remember the first time I loved you
It sure was true, yes it was
Because I gotta have your loving, yes I, yes I
???
??? your loving
Yes I do, oh yes I do, babe
Well I remember the first time I touched you
I swear the stars fell from the sky
And glowed down on the earth like a thousand fireflies
And I thought to myself, I swear this is one time, yes I knew it
I said maybe baby if we tried, perhaps we could get through it
Yes I knew, I knew we could get out and do it
Without, without later wondering which one of us blew it
Yes and I, well I remember the first time I touched you, oh you were so true
And I gotta have your loving, yes I, yes I
I gotta have your loving, oh baby child
I gotta have your loving, yes I sure do babe
Ah and the Lord knows I do
Well I remember the first time you loved me
Sure you was a young girl just fresh from schooling
But how on earth did you expect me to know that you was only fooling
Ah baby you were just, you was only a lonely teenager
And I was on the hunt and I tried to cage her
Soon as I found you babe on the corral you tried to get down
Oh I wanted to surround you
But you went away from me, yes you did, oh she went away for one year
I hadn't seen that woman so long
Bring it down right now, bring it down right now
And I had, yes I had not seen that woman so long
And one day I saw her walking down on the other side of the street
I said, hey baby, there goes my baby, yes she did
And I said, and I said, I said "hey baby, what's going on
Won't you come back to me", and she said "uh-uh uh-uh"
And I said, I said "hey baby, what's going on
Won't you come on home to your daddy and should know I care"
And I said "oh baby don't you know I need you"
[Recording cut]
I REMEMBER is an unreleased song written by Bruce Springsteen. He performed it live with The Bruce Springsteen Band in 1971 and 1972.
The above lyrics are for a live performance of I REMEMBER at Student Prince in Asbury Park, NJ, with The Bruce Springsteen Band. The exact date is unknown, but it's from a November 1971 show at Student Prince. Southside Johnny was a guest at this show and he can be heard playing harmonica on I REMEMBER. Unfortunately the recording of I REMEMBER is cut.
In a 6-song Bruce Springsteen Band soundboard recording form 1971 that has long been in circulation among collectors, Bruce Springsteen can be heard informing the audience that a gentleman named Mark Romanski is present and filming. According to Brucebase, the comments made by Springsteen regarding video footage being shot during the show positively link this audio to The Student Prince. Romanski, a friend of Steven Van Zandt, was filming as part of a course project he was taking at University. Sadly all the film footage was destroyed in the early seventies. It is believed that this filming was undertaken at one of the November 1971 shows, although the specific date has not been determined. Whenever performing THE BAND'S JUST BOPPING THE BLUES, Springsteen mentions the day of the week in the first line. The song is on the November 1971 soundboard recording and Springsteen sings "it's another Saturday night". The Bruce Springsteen Band is known to have played on the second, third, and fourth Saturdays at Student Prince in November 1971. This narrows the soundboard recording's possible dates to 13, 20, and 27 Nov 1971. Brucebase lists the recording under its 13 Nov 1971 entry.
I REMEMBER is known to have been performed at least three times in Bruce Springsteen's early years (pre-October 1972). All of these confirmed performances are from between November 1971 and February 1972. Very little is known about shows from this early period, and therefore, the song may have been played on some more dates in 1971 and 1972.
As far as it's known, no artist has recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's I REMEMBER.
Much of the above info about the song's live history and the Student Prince recording is taken from Brucebase.
If you have any additional information about this performance, or any corrections to the above lyrics, please contact me via the below form or by email: .
List of available versions of I REMEMBER on this website:
I REMEMBER [Live Nov 1971 version]