Live 07 Apr 1976 version
One, two, three, four!
Hey, breakdown!
Teardrops on the city
Bad Scooter searching for his groove
Oh, seem like the whole world's walking pretty
You can't find the room to move
Well, everybody better move over, that's all
'Cause I'm running on the bad side
And I got my back to the wall, oh
(Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
I'm talking 'bout a (Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
I was stranded in the jungle
Taking all the heat they was giving
Yeah, the night is dark and the sidewalk's bright
Lined with the light of the living
From a tenement window a transistor blasts
Turn around the corner things got real quiet real fast
I walked into a (Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
I'm talking 'bout a (Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Right there!
Well, I'm all alone, I'm on my own
[Clarence Clemons:] Kid, you better get the picture
Well, I'm all alone, I'm on my own
And I can't go home
Now, listen to me!
They made that change uptown
And the Big Man joined the band
From the coastline to the city
The little pretties raise their hands
They raise them high!
I'm gonna sit back right easy and laugh
When Scooter and the Big Man bust this city in half, hit me!
(Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
I'm talking 'bout a (Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
I'm talking 'bout the, tell me (Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Never gonna find out what I'm talking 'bout, (Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
I'm talking 'bout the, tell me, (Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Whoa! (Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Nothing but a, tell me (Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
I'm talking 'bout the, tell me (Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Hey, talk, hey!
Hey, oh, stop!
Whoa!
Oh, yeah, it's all right
Yes it is
Whoa!
The above lyrics are for the live 07 Apr 1976 performance of TENTH AVENUE FREEZE-OUT at Allen Theater in Cleveland, OH, during the so-called Chicken Scratch Tour. The song was played in a full-band, traditional arrangement.
This tour (35 know dates, March to May 1976) was nicknamed the "Chicken Scratch Tour" by the road crew because of the high proportion of secondary markets in the South.
During the so-called Chicken Scratch Tour, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band performed two consecutive shows at Allen Theatre in Cleveland, OH, on 07 and 08 Apr 1976. Soundboard recordings for both concert are in circulation among collectors. The recording from the second night is incomplete, but the one from the second night is complete and is of higher quality.
The 07 Apr 1976 show at Allen Theatre was commercially released in Europe. Since 2005 some enterprising record labels in Europe (mostly in the UK) have been releasing Bruce Springsteen radio and TV broadcasts (and some soundboard recordings) from the seventies, eighties, and nineties. Though these releases are not authorized by Bruce Springsteen or his record company, they are lawful due to a legal loophole in Europe.
Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.
List of available versions of TENTH AVENUE FREEZE-OUT on this website:
TENTH AVENUE FREEZE-OUT [Album version]
