BACKSTREETS

Live 18 Nov 1975 version



One soft infested summer me and Terry became friends
Trying in vain to breathe the fire we was born in
Catching rides from 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

Hey!

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 from everything
To go running on the backstreets, running on the backstreets
We swore we'd live forever
Bam!
On the backstreets we'd make it together
Together

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, on the truth that ran us down
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!

Laying here in the dark, you're like an angel on my chest
Another tramp of hearts crying tears of faithlessness
Remember all the movies, Terry, that 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
We swore forever friends
Do!
On the backstreets until the end

Till the end
Me and you baby
Run along baby
On the backstreets
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, 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
On the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets
On the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets
On the backstreets
On the backstreets
On the backstreets
Whoah!

Sing it out loud!
Sing it oh!
Whoah, I'm gonna whoah, whoah
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh


Info

The above lyrics are for the live 18 Nov 1975 performance of BACKSTREETS at Hammersmith Odeon in London, England, during the Born To Run Tour. The complete 18 Nov 1975 show was released on Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 album and home video in 2005.


Hammersmith Odeon, London '75

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band toured Europe for the first in 1975, during the Born To Run Tour. They performed a series of four concerts in England (18 and 24 Nov 1975), Sweden (21 Nov 1975), and The Netherlands (23 Nov 1975). It would be another six years before they return to Europe.

Springsteen and the band were under a lot of pressure when they first stepped foot in Europe. The 18 Nov 1975 show at Hammersmith Odeon in London, England, was overwhelmingly hyped. "For me, the set went by like a freight train," Springsteen wrote. "Later, all I remembered is an awkward record company party, that 'what just happened?' feeling, and thinking we hadn't played that well. I was wrong."

Promotional poster for the 18 and 24 Nov 1975 shows at Hammersmith Odeon, London, England
Promotional poster for the 18 and 24 Nov 1975 shows at Hammersmith Odeon, London, England
(Taken from Rock Explosion)
Ticket stub for the 18 Nov 1975 show at Hammersmith Odeon, London, England
Ticket stub for the 18 Nov 1975 show at Hammersmith Odeon, London, England

The complete concert was captured on 16mm film and recorded on 24-track. It is also known that this show was initially going to be broadcast on radio (either live or delayed) but Mike Appel, Springsteen's manager at the time, backed out at the last minute as he felt that Springsteen's mood at the time would not lead to a particularly good show.

The film remained largely untouched for nearly 30 years. "Lost in my private Idaho, I'd paid no attention to it. I never looked at it... for thirty years," Springsteen wrote. "At the end of the Rising tour, I became interested in checking out film of the early part of my work." Read complete liner notes below.

Emmy Award Winner Thom Zimny received the 16 mm negatives along with the 24-track recording. His production team painstakingly cleaned the original negatives and digitally restored the footage, ultimately presenting this indispensable concert in vibrant color and detail. Producer Bob Clearmountain remastered and remixed the DVD in both stereo and 5.1 surround sound. Zimny has worked with Springsteen on several projects, including editing the Live In New York City, Live In Barcelona, and VH1 Storytellers films. Clearmountain is the legendary mixer who has often collaborated with Springsteen over the last 25 years, most famously on the Born In The U.S.A. album.

The complete 18 Nov 1975 show was released in November 2005 on the Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 home video, which was issued on DVD as part of the Born To Run - 30th Anniversary Edition box set. Audio for the concert was released on a 2-CD set under the same title in February 2006. It was reissued on vinyl (a 4-disc set) for the first time for Record Store Day on 22 Apr 2017.

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band -- Hammersmith Odeon, London '75
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band -- Hammersmith Odeon, London '75

Liner notes from the Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 DVD and CD:

In 1975, we stepped of the plane into the land of our mythic heroes. A London, that was yet to see it's first McDonalds's, that was still wrasslin' with making good cheeseburger and that seemed very foreign and exotic to a bunch of provincial Jersey Shore beach bums and musicians.

From the "very" anxious heavens of our first trans-Atlantic flight we descended into... well... hell, as I would soon come to know it.

There was a lot of publicity.

Without going into excessive and ancient detail, yeah, there were promo posters, yeah; there was the "London is finally ready for..." marquee; the raves, the pans, the fans, the existential angst... the... the... HYPE!

The whole city, or at least the part that was interested in pop music, seemed primed for... a party? a funeral? a coronation? All of the above? With the shadow of the crown and the noose upon my neck, I stood in the middle of it, this week's Next... Big... Thing. All I remember thinking was, Whoa! This is a little more than I bargained for. Not quite savvy enough to realize that this was exactly what I had bargained for, I arrived at the theater and created pre-show chaos, stomping through the aisles, pulling promo flyers of the seats in a "The Man can't steal my music" frenzy. The record company, of course, was just doing its job, and I was just learning mine... real fast.

Later that evening an E Street Band, with a good deal of the carnival still left in it and armed with a set list I still dare any young band to match, strode onto the stage of the Hammersmith Odeon. The tempos were fast. A Jersey stew of almost punk soul, fueled by the visionary songwriters, 60's records, garage bands, and Rhythm and Blues we loved. For me, the set went by like a freight train. Later, all I remembered is an awkward record company party, that "what just happened?" feeling, and thinking we hadn't played that well. I was wrong. With the keys to the kingdom dangling in front of us and the knife at our neck, we'd gone for broke. Whatever happened, it became one of our "legendary" performances, marked only in memory, bits of bootleg tape, and "I was there when" stories. It was the show that put us on the map in England and began a long and beautiful relationship with our fans overseas.

The evening had been recorded and filmed. Lost in my private Idaho, I'd paid no attention to it. I never looked at it... for thirty years. At the time I was anxious to move away from the commotion and on down the road, as the band and I were "busy bein' born."

At the end of the Rising tour, I became interested in checking out film of the early part of my work. It had remained a blank spot with virtually nothing released. I started with bits and pieces of this show figuring we could cut together a song or two. To our surprise the entire concert emerged from the vault along with the 24-track recording. Restore by Thom Zimny and mixed by Bob Clearmountain, removed from the bluster and noise of the moment, all that's left if the music. So Ladies and Gentelmen... "London is finally ready for Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band." Live! At the Hammersmith Odeon.

- BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, 9/22/05

Credits

Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.

Available Versions

List of available versions of BACKSTREETS on this website:

BACKSTREETS [Album version]
BACKSTREETS [Unofficial studio version 1]
BACKSTREETS [Unofficial studio version 2]
BACKSTREETS [Unofficial studio version 3]
BACKSTREETS [Live 18 Nov 1975 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 22 Aug 1976 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 29 Sep 1976 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 30 Sep 1976 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 09 Oct 1976 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 25 Oct 1976 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 28 Oct 1976 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 29 Oct 1976 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 30 Oct 1976 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 02 Nov 1976 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 03 Nov 1976 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 04 Nov 1976 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 13 Feb 1977 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 22 Feb 1977 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 06 Mar 1977 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 13 Mar 1977 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 19 Mar 1977 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 22 Mar 1977 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 23 Mar 1977 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 24 Mar 1977 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 25 Mar 1977 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 31 Dec 1977 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 23 May 1978 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 31 May 1978 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 09 Jun 1978 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 16 Jun 1978 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 01 Jul 1978 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 07 Jul 1978 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 04 Aug 1978 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 09 Aug 1978 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 01 Sep 1978 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 19 Sep 1978 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 30 Sep 1978 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 15 Dec 1978 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 19 Dec 1978 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 20 Dec 1978 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 28 Dec 1978 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 31 Dec 1978 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 01 Jan 1979 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 28 Aug 1981 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 20 Aug 1984 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 25 Aug 1984 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 13 Jun 1985 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 21 Jun 1985 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 17 Mar 1988 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 20 Mar 1988 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 23 Apr 1988 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 03 May 1988 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 21 Feb 1995 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 31 Jan 1998 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 15 Mar 1999 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 01 Jul 2000 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 16 Sep 2003 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 22 Nov 2005 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 17 Oct 2007 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 22 Apr 2008 version]
BACKSTREETS [Live 21 Jul 2009 version]

Page last updated: 21 Oct 2010