Outtake version
One, two, three, four
One, two, three
Da, da, da, da, da, da
Da, da, da, da, da, da, da
Teardrops on the city
Bad Scooter searching for a groove
Seem like the whole world walking pretty
You can't find the room to make your move
Walking down the street feeling tough
And I'm running down while the Big Man blows his soul
Playing the Tenth Avenue freeze-out
Tenth Avenue freeze-out
Well, now, there's dealing 'bout the dealing
With some locals in some Chinatown
Yeah, I was talking 'bout them old cats
Like they're trying to put the local dudes down
When the Big Man take off his hat
Should have seen them dudes turn back
Was a Tenth Avenue freeze-out
Tenth Avenue freeze-out
And I'm on my own, on my own, I'm on my own
Kid you better get the picture
You're all alone, and I can't go home
Well everybody singing
When the Big Man joined the band
Coastline to the city
All the little pretties raise their hands
Big Man played it up
He and Miami had us shoot their shot
Tenth Avenue freeze-out
Tenth Avenue freeze-out
Tenth Avenue freeze-out
Tenth Avenue freeze-out
Talkin' about a ten
I'm talkin' about a, tell me
I walked into a, tell me
Ah, you walk into a, tell me
Yeah, walk into a 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
It's just a Tenth Avenue freeze-out
Tenth Avenue freeze-out
Tenth Avenue freeze-out
Tenth Avenue freeze-out
The above lyrics are for an unreleased early studio take of TENTH AVENUE FREEZE-OUT.
After remaining unheard by fans for more than three decades, totally out of the blue, Sirius XM's E Street Radio channel suddenly started playing this studio take of TENTH AVENUE FREEZE-OUT around late 2005. Of course, this quickly resulted in an mp3 recording making the rounds. The song, as aired on E Street Radio, has a running time of around 3:30.
This early, but complete studio version should be considered a rough run-through take at best. The song was still a work-in-progress with considerably different lyrics to what was later officially released, and it sounds as if Springsteen is singing over a basic backing track.
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]