Backstreets

Backstreets

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Track 4 of Born To Run, 1975.

Born To Run (1975)
- Bruce Springsteen: vocals, guitar
- Roy Bittan: piano, organ
- Garry Tallent: bass
- Max Weinberg: drums

BACKSTREETS - V1a	6:44	WAR / BTRS / BTRCS / UBTROC / ROOI
BACKSTREETS - V1b	3:12	private cdr
BACKSTREETS - V1c	6:26	ESR / BTRS
BACKSTREETS - V2a	6:33	DDITV / BWNH / BTRS / UBTROC / ROOI
BACKSTREETS - V2b	6:02	BTRCS
BACKSTREETS - V3a	6:32	URT1 / BTRS / BTRCS
BACKSTREETS - V3b	6:42	UBTROC
BACKSTREETS - V3c	6:05	WAR / BWNH / ROOI
BACKSTREETS - V4	6:27	BTR / BTR: 30

Note: The story that the song "Born To Run" took six months to complete is well known, but "Jungleland", "Thunder Road", and "Backstreets" all took longer. Early drafts of "Backstreets" from 1974 were called "Hidin' On The River". After Roy Bittan and Max Weinberg joined the E Street Band in August 1974, the new version of the band attempted to record the song at 914 Sound Studios. Clinton Heylin reports that they "made stabs at" the "late-night betrayal song" on October 17, 1974. These sessions did not go well, and after several months of slow progress, Bruce asked Jon Landau to come aboard in March 1975. One of Landau's first moves was to relocate the sessions to the Record Plant.

On April 25, their second week there, V1 was recorded. The second verse starts with the line "Running in the dark" and includes mostly unwritten lyrics to the bridge, although it included the line "save yourself a new guitar string to get you around by"; however, the third verse and the ending are present. V1b is a short take, and circulates in some private CDR sources; this is the same take and mix as V1a. V1c, released on E Street Radio, has guitar overdubs. V2, the "strings version," was cut May 19 or 23. Lyric changes now include "St. Johns" in the second verse and a still-incomplete bridge, with the placeholder lyric "the heroes in the funhouse ripping off the fags." V2a and 2b are vastly different mixes, but share the same lyrics, and were probably cut on the same day. V3 was recorded May 23 or July 6; the source quality is poor (V3b is pitch correction remastered by Fanatic Records, V4c is 30 seconds short), but what stands out is the second verse lyrics are now complete. However, the bridge remained incomplete. It appears Bruce envisioned the bridge containing a confrontation of great emotional power, but the words are still not there. The strings are dropped from all future versions. The final album sequence of July 2, 1975, had "Backstreets" as the album closer, but this was revised to the current configuration (ending Side 1) on July 7. V4, which is the album take and final mix, was completed on July 18, 1975, with a vocal overdub of the bridge.

^{Studio Sessions: Born To Run}

One soft infested summer me and Terry became friends
Trying in vain to breathe the fire we was born in
Catching rides to the outskirts, tying faith between our teeth
Sleeping in that old abandoned beach house, getting wasted in the heat
And hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
With a love so hard and filled with defeat
Running for our lives at night on them backstreets
Na, na na na

Slow dancing in the dark on the beach at Stockton's Wing
Where desperate lovers park we sat with the last of the Duke Street Kings
Huddled in our cars waiting for the bells that ring
In the deep heart of the night when you let loose of everything
To go running on the backstreets, running on the backstreets
Terry you swore we'd live forever
Taking it on them backstreets together
Yeah

Endless juke joints and Valentino drag
Where dancers scraped the tears up off the street dressed down in rags
Running into the darkness, some hurt bad some really dying
At night sometimes it seemed you could hear that whole damn city crying
Blame it on the lies that killed us, blame it on the truth that ran us down
You can blame it all on me Terry, it don't matter to me now
When the breakdown hit at midnight there was nothing left to say
But I hated him and I hated you when you went away
Whoah, whoah
Whoah, whoah

Now laying here in the dark, you're like an angel on my chest
Just another tramp of hearts crying tears of faithlessness
Remember all the movies, Terry, we'd go see
Trying to learn how to walk like the heroes we thought we had to be
Well after all this time to find we're just like all the rest
Stranded in the park and forced to confess
To hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Well we swore forever friends, hey!
On the backstreets until the end

Uh, uh, uh
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
It's alright
To go hiding on the backstreets tonight
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets
Whoah!
Hey!
Whoahhh!
Hey!
Hey, hey, hey
Yeah, yeah
Whoah, oh, oh
Whoo, ooh
Ooh
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooooh

^{Visit SpringsteenLyrics.com for other versions of this song.}

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