Live 31 Jan 1998 version
One, two!
Teardrops on the city
Bad Scooter searching for his groove
See, it's the whole world walking pretty
But you can't find the room to move
Everybody better move over, that's all
I'm running on the bad side
With my back to the wall
Say!
(Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Say it, say it again
(Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Come on, Jonny!
I was stranded in the jungle
Trying to take in all the heat they was giving
The night is dark and the sidewalk's bright
It's lined with the light of the living
From a tenement window a transistor blasts
Turn around the corner things got real quiet real fast
We walked into a (Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Tenth Avenue freeze-out
And I'm all alone, I'm all alone
Now, kid, you better get the picture!
I'm on my own, I'm on my own
And I can't go home
Well, they made that change uptown
And the Big Man joined the band
From the coastline to the city
All the little pretties raise their hands
I'm gonna sit back right easy and laugh
When Scooter and the Big Man bust this city in half, say!
(Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Say it, say it again
(Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Say it, say it again
(Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Say it, say it again
(Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Say it one more time
(Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Just one more time
(Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Everybody form a line
(Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Say it one more time
(Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Everybody form a line
(Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Say it one more time
(Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Everybody form a line
(Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Say it one more time
(Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Come on!
I said, say it, say it, say it, say it, say it, say it, say it, say it, say it, say it, say it,
say it, say it, say it, say it, say it, say it, say it, say it, say it, say it, say it, say it,
say it, say it, say it, say it, say it, say it
Ooh, ooh
Come on, band!
Oh, yeah
Oh, yeah, it's all right, now
Yeah!
The above lyrics are for live 31 Jan 1998 performance of TENTH AVENUE FREEZE-OUT at Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, NJ, during the "Come Together: Jon Bon Jovi & Friends" benefit concert. The song was played in a full-band arrangement backed by Bobby Bandiera and his band and (what sounds like) Clarence Clemons (lyrics in bold), and featuring Jon Bon Jovi on shared lead vocals (lyrics in italic).
The song was also rehearsed the previous day at Count Basie Theatre.
The "Come Together: Jon Bon Jovi & Friends" benefit concert was organized by the Long Branch Police Department, The Asbury Park Press, and FPI Concerts, along with Jon Bon Jovi. The concert was to honor slain Long Branch police officer Sgt. Patrick King and raise money for the Sgt. Patrick King Memorial Fund to provide for his family. King, 45-year-old father of two young boys, was fatally shot on 20 Nov 1997 by a fugitive who had vowed to kill himself and a police officer rather than be captured and returned to jail.
Twenty musicians with ties to the Jersey shore music scene answered Jon Bon Jovi's call, including Bruce Springsteen and several members of the then-disbanded E Street Band (Clarence Clemons, Danni Frederici, Patti Scialfa, Steven Van Zandt, and Max Weinberg), Southside Johnny, Bobby Bandiera, and Richie Sambora among others. Actor Danny DeVito was the event's MC. Tickets, which were priced at $125, went on sale on 17 Jan 1998 noon and sold out in just eight minutes. The concert that was organized in short order raised more than $112,000 for King's widow and his two sons.
"It was a chance to forget about [the murder] a little bit," Long Branch police Sgt. Bruce Johantgen, one of about 50 city police officers who attended the show, told The Asbury Park Press. "The outpouring of love from the performers to the audience was unbelievable". Johantgen said he found it ironic that Bon Jovi and other performers thanked the audience for coming to the sold-out show. "From the police perspective, I kept thinking, 'We should be thanking you for giving your time'," Johantgen said.
This was a near-reunion of the fabled E Street Band and Springsteen's first full-length electric gig following the acoustic The Ghost Of Tom Joad Solo Acoustic Tour. Springsteen spent much (or possibly all) of the night onstage, singing or playing guitar only. Soundboard recording for the complete concert is available among collectors.
The 31 Jan 1998 show at Count Basie 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]
