Home demo version 1
I work down in the highway
For the county out on the line
Da da da da da da
Da da da
I left my family and my friends
I camped out on the highway
As you know better now
Baby, baby you were mine
Went away baby, oh man
I went away
I didn't count on that honestly
A man his life should wait instead
Yeah I think they're leaving me
Think you and I are dead
Da da da da da da closing time
Da da da da da closing time
If we're wrong, we've got nothing to hide
If we... we're not... run away
Run away
We ran away
Run away
Ran away
In the night we sit around the moon
Form a cir-, circle in the sky
I put on my jacket
And back into town I ride
Yeah, that was true
Looking for faces that I don't know
And all the things that ripped us apart
Will never again bring us from each other's heart
Each other's hearts
But I'm the man who got away
But I'm the man who got away
But I'm the man who got away
But I'm the man who got away
But I'm the man who got away
But I'm the man who got away
But I'm the man who got away
The above lyrics are for a rough work-in-progress demo of THE MAN WHO GOT AWAY. It was recorded solo on acoustic guitar at Springsteen's home in Holmdel, NJ, sometime between January and June 1979. The lyrics and the melody for this version are completely different from the released official studio version, basically sharing only "the man who got away" lyric that repeats at the end of the song. This home demo can basically be considered a different song.
Springsteen recorded many demos at his home around the time The River was being cut in studio. These home demos were not professionally recorded; it seems that Springsteen used a regular cassette recorder. They were just song fragments, and there is much stopping and starting heard as Springsteen records bits and pieces, manually stops the recorder, and then returns sometime later to add more ideas.
This home demo recording of THE MAN WHO GOT AWAY can be found on The Lost Masters Vol. 4 (Labour Of Love) [track 12] bootleg.
Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.
List of available versions of THE MAN WHO GOT AWAY on this website:
THE MAN WHO GOT AWAY [Official studio version]