| WORKING ON THE HIGHWAY - V1 | 3:30 | circulating |
| WORKING ON THE HIGHWAY - V2 | 3:21 | NEBRASKA82: OUTTAKES |
| WORKING ON THE HIGHWAY - V3 | 3:18 | MI / THLRR / BUERM / TDB |
| WORKING ON THE HIGHWAY - V4 | 3:35 | private cdr |
| WORKING ON THE HIGHWAY - V5a | 3:09 | LM-19 / UH / GS |
| WORKING ON THE HIGHWAY - V5b | 3:10 | BITUSA |
Note: The long-standing theory has always been that Springsteen took the lyrics of "Child Bride" and wrote an entirely new rock melody to create "Working On The Highway". V1 is a Colts Neck full band performance which has a completely different final verse from both "Child Bride" and the final studio take of "Working On The Highway". Recorded on April 15, 1982, this version lacks the "We lit out down to Florida" verse entirely, and replaces it with the protagonist suggesting that he wants to see her father to say "my love is pure and true," but first he must "drop a two lane blacktop from here to Timbuktu." There are also a few minor lyrical elements closer to "Child Bride", for example parts of lines three and four are reversed, as they are in the Nebraska outtake. Studio logs indicate that the song was recorded at Power Station on April 30 and May 6, 1982. V2, released on October 24, 2025 on Nebraska '82: Expanded Edition, is a solo acoustic recording from April 30, with many lyrical elements left over from the April 15 band rehearsal, including the alternative verse described above. According to logs, just one single take was cut. One week and one re-written verse later, V3-V5 were all recorded with the band on May 6, 1982.