Secret Garden

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Track 15 of Greatest Hits, 1995, and, in a different version, disc 1 track 9 of Tracks II: The Lost Albums, 2025.

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Credits

• Greatest Hits (1995)
  • Bruce Springsteen: vocals, guitar
  • Roy Bittan: piano
  • Clarence Clemons: saxophone, triangle
  • Danny Federici: synthesizers
  • Nils Lofgren: guitar
  • Patti Scialfa: backing vocals
  • Garry Tallent: bass
  • Max Weinberg: drums

• Blood Brothers (EP, 1996)
  • Bruce Springsteen: vocals, guitar
  • Roy Bittan: piano
  • Clarence Clemons: saxophone, triangle
  • Danny Federici: synthesizers
  • David Kahne: synth strings, sting arrangement
  • Nils Lofgren: guitar
  • Patti Scialfa: backing vocals
  • Garry Tallent: bass
  • Max Weinberg: drums

• Tracks II: The Lost Albums (2025)
  • Bruce Springsteen: vocals, bass, piano, keyboards
  • Shane Fontayne: guitar
  • Toby Scott: drum programming

Performances

Performed live 7 times. 2017-02-14 Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 2016-09-01 Nationals Park, Washington, DC 2016-08-30 MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ 2013-07-24 First Direct Arena, Leeds, England 2000-06-22 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY 1995-04-05 Sony Music Studios, New York City, NY 1995-04-05 Ed Sullivan Theater, New York City, NY

Performances broken down by tour (not including rehearsals and snippet performances) Performed at 0 show(s) of 130 on the 2023-25 International Tour. Performed at 0 show(s) of 266 on the Springsteen On Broadway run. Performed at 1 show(s) of 14 on the Summer '17 Tour. Performed at 2 show(s) of 75 on the The River Tour 2016. Performed at 0 show(s) of 33 on the High Hopes Tour. Performed at 1 show(s) of 133 on the Wrecking Ball Tour. Performed at 0 show(s) of 83 on the Working On A Dream Tour. Performed at 0 show(s) of 99 on the Magic Tour. Performed at 0 show(s) of 56 on The Seeger Sessions Tour. Performed at 0 show(s) of 72 on the Devils & Dust Tour. Performed at 0 show(s) of 7 on the Vote For Change Tour. Performed at 0 show(s) of 120 on The Rising Tour. Performed at 1 show(s) of 132 on The Reunion Tour. Performed at 2 known other show(s), plus 0 public tour rehearsal(s).

Released on Album

Released on Greatest Hits (1995), Secret Garden (Single, 1995), Blood Brothers (EP, 1996), Jerry Maguire (Soundtrack, 1996), Best Of (2024), and Tracks II: The Lost Albums (2025).

Released as Live Download

Live versions are available on the following 4 official live downloads:

• 2017-02-14 Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
• 2016-09-01 Nationals Park, Washington, DC
• 2016-08-30 MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
• 2013-07-24 First Direct Arena, Leeds, England

One of these recordings is also available on the playlist The Live Series: Songs Of Love (2019).

On The Tracks

SECRET GARDEN - V1	4:00	TRACKSII
SECRET GARDEN - V2	0:53	BB / YBNT2
SECRET GARDEN - V3a	4:10	BB / RT / YBNT2
SECRET GARDEN - V3b	2:12	BB / YBNT2
SECRET GARDEN - V4	4:15	DDITV / GT
SECRET GARDEN - V5a	4:27	GREATEST / BESTOF
SECRET GARDEN - V5b	4:32	BB: EP
SECRET GARDEN (Jerry Maguire Mix) - V5c	4:31	OST: MAGUIRE / 1997 single

Note: V1 was recorded in 1994 in Los Angeles with Toby Scott (drum programmer/engineer). Shane Fontayne subsequently overdubbed a guitar track, likely at A&M Studios in Los Angeles in September or November 1994. The finished track was mixed by Bob Clearmountain, but never used until it was issued on Tracks II: The Lost Albums in 2025.

In January 1995 Bruce re-recorded it at The Hit Factory, New York during his reunion with the E Street Band. V2 is a combination of two brief snippets that was shown in the Blood Brothers video. V3 is a complete, alternate take, and V4 is prefaced by recording "take #1". V5a was released as a single, and included on Greatest Hits, released February 28, 1995. V5b features strings (courtesy David Kahn) added to V5a, and released November 19, 1996 on the official Blood Brothers EP, as well as a single b-side in some countries. V5c, known as "the Jerry Maguire Remix", was produced by Matt Jones at Portland, Oregon radio station Z-100 (with permission from Springsteen/Sony) as part of a spring 1997 listener contest promotion exclusive to that station. It features dialog excerpts from the movie added on top of the instrumental sections of the regular commercial version of the song. There are also additional, brief radio station plug spots before and after the song that are heard on this promo-only CD issued on June 26, 1997.

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^{Studio Sessions: Greatest Hits}

Lyrics

Secret Garden

She'll let you in her house
If you come knocking late at night
She'll let you in her mouth
If the words you say are right
If you pay the price
She'll let you deep inside
There's a secret garden she hides

She'll let you in her car
To go driving 'round
She'll let you into the parts of herself
That'll bring you down
She'll let you in her heart
If you got a hammer and a vise
But into her secret garden, don't think twice

You've gone a million miles
How far'd you get
To that place where you can't remember
And you can't forget

She'll lead you down a path
There'll be tenderness in the air
She'll let you come just far enough
So you know she's really there
And she'll look at you and smile
And her eyes will say
She's got a secret garden
Where everything you want
Where everything you need
Will always stay a million miles away

Visit SpringsteenLyrics.com for other versions of this song.

Wreck On The Highway (Jerry Maguire Mix)

[Dorothy Boyd:]
I was just about to tell you
[Laurel:]
Uh huh
[Dorothy Boyd:]
That I love him. I do! I love him, I love him! And I don't care what you think.
I love him for the man he wants to be, and I love him for the man that he almost is.
I love him, Laurel. I love him! I love him.

She'll let you in her house
If you come knocking late at night
She'll let you in her mouth
If the words you say are right
If you pay the price
She'll let you deep inside
But there's a secret garden she hides

[Rod Tidwell:]
You gotta be fair to her. She loves you. If you don't love her, you got to tell her.

She'll let you in her car
To go driving 'round
She'll let you into the parts of herself
That'll bring you down
She'll let you in her heart
If you got a hammer and a vise
But into her secret garden, don't think twice

[Jerry Maguire:]
What if we got married? If I said that, would you stay?
[Dorothy Boyd:]
Oh no. Don't do that. Don't say that unless…

You've gone a million miles
[Dorothy Boyd:]
Well… Say it if you want to.
How far'd you get
[Jerry Maguire:]
Will you marry me?
To that place where you can't remember
[Jerry Maguire:]
What do you think?
And you can't forget
[Dorothy Boyd:]
Laurel? We're getting married!

She'll lead you down a path
There'll be tenderness in the air
She'll let you come just far enough
So you know she's really there
And she'll look at you and smile
And her eyes will say
She's got a secret garden
Where everything you want
Where everything you need
Will always stay a million miles away

[priest:]
Do you, Jerry McGuire, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife? And do you…
[Dorothy Boyd:]
No, not now, sweetheart.
[priest:]
Dorothy Boyd take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband? I now pronounce you husband and wife.

[Dorothy Boyd:]
I pretended that proposal by the car was real, and it might have just been a hypothetical.
I did this. And at least I can do something about it now.
[Jerry Maguire:]
So this break is a breakup?
It's…
[Dorothy Boyd:]
Come on, Jerry. You know this isn't easy for me.
[Jerry Maguire:]
Kay. Okay.
If this is where it has to end then this is where it has to end.
I'm not letting you get rid of me.
How about that?
I miss my wife.
I love you.
You complete me.
And I'm just, I…
[Dorothy Boyd:]
Shut up. Just shut up.
You had me at hello.
You had me at hello.

Visit SpringsteenLyrics.com for other versions of this song.

Media

Links

• MusicBrainz

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