Official studio version
I don't need your answered prayers
Or the chains your lover wears
I don't need your rings of gold
Or the secrets that you hold
Lift me up, darling
Lift me up and I'll fall with you lift me up
Let your love lift me up
I don't need your sacred vow
Or the promise tomorrow brings
Veiled behind the morning clouds
I'll take the fate the daylight brings
Lift me up, darling
Lift me up and I'll fall with you lift me up
Let your love lift me up
When the morning bright
Lifts away this night
In the light above
We will find our love, we will find our love
Your skin, your hand upon my neck
This skin, your fingers on my skin
This kiss, this heartbeat, this breath
This heart, this heart, this wilderness
Lift me up, darling
Lift me up and I'll fall with you lift me up
Let your love lift me up
Lift me up, darling
Lift me up and I'll fall with you lift me up
Let your love lift me up
hooooo...
hooooo...
hooooo...
hooooo...
hooooo...
hooooo...
hooooo...
hooooo...
hooooo...
hooooo...
hooooo...
hooooo...
LIFT ME UP is a song written by Bruce Springsteen for the 1999 movie Limbo and first released on the film's soundtrack album. The above lyrics are for Bruce Springsteen's official studio version of LIFT ME UP as released in 1993.
John Sayles' liner notes in the Limbo soundtrack album booklet:
Bruce Springsteen has written a haunting new song for the final credits. In the prayer-like LIFT ME UP, the singer is asking for nothing more and promising nothing less than to take the risk of unconditional love.
The official studio version of LIFT ME UP plays over the end credits of Springsteen's 2001 DVD The Complete Video Anthology / 1978-2000 and was also included on The Essential Bruce Springsteen (2003 3-disc edition) compilation album.
According to Limbo director John Sayles, the movie producer Maggie Renzi ran into Bruce Springsteen at an airport and he asked if there's anything he could do to help. Sayles and Renzi thought of Springsteen for the final song of the movie, and they wanted "something that was healing but also something that was about risk", as Sayles described it.
Sayles says that the lyrics of LIFT ME UP were something that Springsteen "had been working on three years but had never really finished". This means that he started working on it during The Ghost Of Tom Joad Solo Acoustic Tour, or possibly during the time he was writing or recording The Ghost Of Tom Joad album.
Some lyrics lines in the Limbo soundtrack album booklet are different from the ones in The Essential Bruce Springsteen booklet. The latter seems to have the correct lyrics.
| Limbo booklet | The Essential Bruce Springsteen booklet |
| There behind the morning clouds | Veiled behind the morning clouds |
| I'll take the faith the daylight brings | I'll take the fate the daylight brings |
| Lifts away this night and the light above | Lifts away this night in the light above |
Bruce Springsteen recorded LIFT ME UP sometime between October 1998 and January 1999 at Thrill Hill Recording (Springsteen's home studio) in Colts Neck, NJ. Springsteen, who is the sole producer on the track, handles vocals (in a falsetto voice) and all instruments. The track was recorded and mixed by Toby Scott.
Springsteen's relation with Sayles dates back to 1983, when ADAM RAISED A CAIN, IT'S HARD TO BE A SAINT IN THE CITY, SHE'S THE ONE, and THE E STREET SHUFFLE were used in the soundtrack of his movie Baby It's You. Sayles also directed Springsteen's videos for BORN IN THE U.S.A. in 1984 and I'M ON FIRE and GLORY DAYS in 1985.
Video Anthology / 1978-88 is a collection of 18 Bruce Springsteen music videos and concert performances, released on VHS on 31 Jan 1989. The home video was also released on LaserDisc.
Sonny reissued the video on DVD on 16 Jan 2001. Titled The Complete Video Anthology / 1978-2000, the new expanded release added a second disc with 15 additional music video, concert performances, and television appearances.
Disc 1:
Disc 2:
The Essential Bruce Springsteen is a compilation album released as part of Sony BMG'S (previously Sony Music Entertainment) series of "Essential" sets. According to Springsteen's liner notes comments, the collection was intended as an introduction to his music for new fans who attended shows on The Rising Tour.
The collection is fundamentally a 2-disc set (clocking at 153:37) compiling songs from all of Springsteen's studio albums to date plus his Live In New York City release. A 3-disc limited edition (clocking at 201:04) was also released. It includes a bonus third disc comprising of a selection of rarities and previously unreleased recordings.
The Essential Bruce Springsteen was released on 11 Nov 2003 on Columbia Records. It debuted and peaked at #14 on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart where it spent 13 weeks. It also reached #28 on the UK Albums Chart. The album was awarded certified gold and platinum records by the RIAA on 16 Dec 2003.
Disc 1:
Disc 2:
Disc 3:
The Essential Bruce Springsteen was reissued on 16 Oct 2015, this time as a 2-disc set (clocking at 156:25) with an updated track list, compiling songs from all of Springsteen's studio albums to date plus his Greatest Hits (1995 edition) collection. This 2015 reissue features remastered tracks not found in that form on other Springsteen releases.
Disc 1:
Disc 2:
Bruce Springsteen's liner notes in The Essential Bruce Springsteen album booklet:
Director John Sayles called and said he was looking for a song to end his film "Limbo." The picture ends with a small plane approaching an island his main characters were stranded on. I tried to pick up the hum of the plane's engine and write something ethereal using the falsetto voice I'd developed in the '90s.
Other versions of LIFT ME UP were also officially released.
LIFT ME UP was performed once during the Devils & Dust Solo Acoustic Tour (72 dates, April to November 2005), on 31 Jul 2005 in Columbus, OH. This was the only time that Springsteen played this song live. The live 31 Jul 2005 version of LIFT ME UP was released on the Schottenstein Center, Ohio 2005 official live download in 2015.
Bruce Springsteen's LIFT ME UP appears in one movie.
At least 3 artists have recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's LIFT ME UP.
List of available versions of LIFT ME UP on this website:
LIFT ME UP [Official studio version]
