Live 28 Jul 2013 version
[Spoken intro:] Thank you, thank you, thank you. I don't know what else to say. I've been doing this, next July, for fifty years. I feel like I just started, man! I got another fifty in me (chuckles). Well, the older you get, the more it means. I've been doing this tour, I think... even losing so many people out that are so close to us... it's ??? this band are... you've been really wonderful to us. I got uh... just like uh... I gotta thank the E Street Band. I gotta thank that crew who puts this show up every night. I gotta thank Jon Landau, Barbra Carr, my long longtime partners. Longtime partners. The older you get, the more it means. So...
Hey there mister, can you tell me what happened to the seeds I've sown
Can you give me a reason, sir, as to why they've never grown
They just blown around from town to town till they're back out on these fields
Where they fall from my hand back into the dirt of this hard land
Now me and my sister, from Germantown yeah we did ride
Well we made our beds, sir, from the rock on the mountain side
We've been blown around from town to town looking for a place to land
Where the sun bursts through the clouds to fall like a circle, like a circle of fire down on this hard land
Now even the rain it don't come around, don't come around here no more
And the only sound at night's the wind slamming that back porch door
It stirs you up like it wants to blow you down, twisting and churning up the sand
Leaving all them scarecrows lying face down, face down in the dirt of this hard land
From a building up on the hill I hear a tape deck blasting "Home On The Range"
I can hear them bar rim choppers sweeping low across the plains
It's me and you Frank, we're looking for lost cattle, our hooves twisting and churning up the sand
We're riding in the whirlwind, searching for lost treasure way down south of the Rio Grande
We're riding across that river in the moonlight up onto the banks of this hard land
Hey Frank, won't you pack your bags, meet me tonight down at Liberty Hall
Just one kiss from you my brother and we'll ride 'til we fall
We'll sleep in the fields, we'll sleep by the rivers and in the morning we'll make a plan
Well if you can't make it, stay hard, stay hungry, stay alive if you can and meet me in a dream of this hard land
[Spoken outro:] 'Til we meet again! Take care of yourselves. We love you so.
The above lyrics are for the live 28 Jul 2013 performance of THIS HARD LAND at Nowlan Park in Kilkenny, Ireland, during the Wrecking Ball Tour. The song was the show closer and was played solo on acoustic guitar and harmonica.
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band concluded the 2013 European leg of the Wrecking Ball Tour with two shows at Nowlan Park in Kilkenny, Ireland, on 27 and 28 July 2013. The Saturday-Sunday shows were billed the "Wrecking Ball Weekender" and were headlined by Springsteen and the band, with opening acts Josh Ritter, Damien Dempsey, and Glen Hansard on the first day, and Delorentos, LAPD, and Imelda May on the second day.
Pro-shot video of the entire live 28 Jul 2013 performance of THIS HARD LAND was subsequently posted on Bruce Springsteen's official website and Bruce Springsteen's YouTube channel. On his website, Springsteen introduces the clip: "As we've been on break we've had a chance to look back on some of the tour highlights. Here's 'This Hard Land' from our last night in Kilkenny. Best, Bruce."
List of available versions of THIS HARD LAND on this website:
THIS HARD LAND [Official 1982 studio version]
