The Big Muddy

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Track 6 of Lucky Town, 1992.

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Credits

• Lucky Town (1992)
  • Bruce Springsteen: vocals, guitar, bass guitar, harmonica, percussion
  • Roy Bittan: keyboards
  • Gary Mallaber: drums

Performances

Performed live 41 times (not including snippet performances). 1992-12-17 Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY 1992-12-13 Boston Garden, Boston, MA 1992-12-07 Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA 1992-12-05 Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, IN 1992-12-03 St. Louis Arena, St. Louis, MO 1992-12-02 Reunion Arena, Dallas, TX 1992-11-30 Omni (The), Atlanta, GA 1992-11-24 Miami Arena, Miami, FL 1992-11-23 Orlando Arena, Orlando, FL 1992-11-18 Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, NC 1992-11-17 Dean E. Smith Student Activities Center, Chapel Hill, NC 1992-11-15 Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, CT 1992-11-13 Carrier Dome, Syracuse, NY 1992-11-10 Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY 1992-11-09 Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY 1992-11-05 SkyDome, Toronto, ON 1992-11-03 Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI 1992-10-31 Target Center, Minneapolis, MN 1992-10-30 Hilton Coliseum, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 1992-10-26 McNichols Sports Arena, Denver, CO 1992-10-22 Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA 1992-10-21 Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA 1992-10-18 Northlands Coliseum, Edmonton, AB 1992-10-17 Olympic Saddledome, Calgary, AB 1992-10-15 Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver, BC 1992-10-13 Tacoma Dome, Tacoma, WA 1992-10-06 ARCO Arena, Sacramento, CA 1992-10-03 America West Arena, Phoenix, AZ 1992-10-02 America West Arena, Phoenix, AZ 1992-09-29 San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, CA 1992-09-28 Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles, CA 1992-09-25 Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles, CA 1992-09-24 Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles, CA 1992-09-22 Warner Hollywood Studios, Los Angeles, CA 1992-09-03 World Music Theatre, Tinley Park, IL 1992-08-02 Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ 1992-07-28 Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ 1992-07-12 Wembley Arena, London, England 1992-06-15 Globen, Stockholm, Sweden 1992-06-05 Hollywood Center Studios, Studio #4, Los Angeles, CA 1992-05-06 Bottom Line (The), 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 0 show(s) of 14 on the Summer '17 Tour. Performed at 0 show(s) of 75 on the The River Tour 2016. Performed at 0 show(s) of 33 on the High Hopes Tour. Performed at 0 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 0 show(s) of 132 on The Reunion Tour. Performed at 0 show(s) of 128 on The Ghost Of Tom Joad Tour. Performed at 38 show(s) of 102 on the World Tour 1992-93. Performed at 1 known other show(s), plus 2 public tour rehearsal(s).

Released on Album

Released on Lucky Town (1992).

A live version is released on Streets Of Philadelphia (Single, 1994) (recorded September 22, 1992).

Released as Live Download

Live versions are available on the following 1 official live downloads:

• 1992-12-13 Boston Garden, Boston, MA

On The Tracks

THE BIG MUDDY

4:01

LUCKY

Note: Recorded sometime from July to December 1991 at A&M Studios, Los Angeles. Springsteen handles all guitars and vocals; his two-man backing band on this recording is Roy Bittan (keyboards) and Gary Mallaber (drums). Bittan is credited as a co-producer of this recording.

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^{Studio Sessions: Lucky Town}

Lyrics

The Big Muddy

Billy had a mistress down on A and 12th
She was that little something that he did for himself
His own little secret didn't hurt nobody
Come the afternoon he'd take her wading

Waist deep in the big muddy
Waist deep in the big muddy
You start out standing but end up crawling, sonny

Got in some trouble and needed a hand from a friend of mine
This old friend had a figure in mind
It was nothing illegal, just a little bit funny
He said "C'mon don't tell me that the rich don't know, sonny
Sooner or later it all comes down to money"

And you're waist deep in the big muddy
Waist deep in the big muddy
You start on higher ground but end up crawling, sonny
Whoa!

Well I had a friend, said "You watch what you do
Poison snake bites you and you're poison too"

Well how beautiful the river flows and the birds they sing
But you and I we're messier things
There ain't no one leaving this world buddy
Without their shirttail dirty or hands a little bloody

Waist deep in the big muddy
Waist deep in the big muddy
You start on higher ground but end up somehow crawling, sonny
Waist deep in the big muddy

Waist deep in the big muddy
Waist deep in the big muddy
Woo whoa
Woo

Visit SpringsteenLyrics.com for other versions of this song.

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