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Official studio version
Put on your black dress baby, and put your hair up right
There's a party way down in Factory Town tonight
I'll be going down there if you need a ride
Come on, come on, let's go tonight
How many men fail, their dreams denied
They walk through these streets with death in their eyes
Now the man on the radio says "Elvis Presley died"
Come on, come on, let's go tonight
Well now some came to witness, now some came to weep
Drawn by death's strange glory, they stood in the street
Drawn together forever in the promise of an endless sleep
Come on, come on, let's go tonight
Baby, come on, come on, let's go tonight
Da da da da da da da
Da da da da da da da da
Da da da da da da da
COME ON (LET'S GO TONIGHT) is a song written by Bruce Springsteen and released on his 2010 compilation album The Promise. The above lyrics are for that officially released studio version of COME ON (LET'S GO TONIGHT) as released on The Promise.
COME ON (LET'S GO TONIGHT) premiered on 29 Oct 2010 on "Live from the E Street Nation", a program hosted by Dave Marsh and airing on Sirius XM's E Street Radio channel.
COME ON (LET'S GO TONIGHT) evolved in 1981 into JOHNNY BYE-BYE. The song also shares the same melody with and some of the lyrics of FACTORY. Some lyrics were also used a few years later in The River track OUT IN THE STREET.
Prior to the release of The Promise in 2010, one studio take and one home demo of COME ON (LET'S GO TONIGHT) have been circulating on bootlegs. The unofficial studio version was recorded in June 1977 at Atlantic Studios in New York City, NY. It is an earlier version of the song that features some different lyrics and does not reference Elvis Presley. Bootleggers have used the title "Let's Go Tonight" for this studio take. The home demo was recorded around late March or early April 1981 at Springsteen's home in Colts Neck, NJ. It features some different lyrics and would soon evolve into JOHNNY BYE-BYE. Bootleggers have mistakenly used the title "Bye Bye Johnny" for this home demo.
The official studio version of COME ON (LET'S GO TONIGHT) features overdubbed viola by David Lindley. It references the death of Presley, which took place on 16 Aug 1977, and the earliest known version of FACTORY was recorded in August 1977. This indicates that the official studio version was recorded just a few days after Presley's passing.
As far as it's known, David Lindley's viola was used on two songs from the Darkness On The Edge Of Town sessions: RACING IN THE STREET and COME ON (LET'S GO TONIGHT). According to Sony's logs of Bruce Springsteen's studio sessions, the one date on which both songs appear is 09 Dec 1977. This leads to the conclusion that most likely Lindley's viola on this version of COME ON (LET'S GO TONIGHT) was overdubbed during the 09 Dec 1977 session at The Record Plant in New York City, NY.
David Lindley is a multi-instrumentalist musician who's notably known for his work with Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon, and other rock musicians. He is a premiere session musician and was involved in the early recording sessions of Darkness On The Edge Of Town. Before the release of The Promise in 2010, the only evidence of his involvement was a bootlegged studio outtake of FACTORY on which Lindley's viola was overdubbed. On The Promise, Lindley's viola appears on COME ON (LET'S GO TONIGHT) and RACING IN THE STREET.
The Promise is a Bruce Springsteen album that was released on 16 Nov 2010 as part of The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story box set, and separately as a 2-CD set. The album was also issued on a limited edition 3-LP set pressed on 180-gram vinyl.
The Promise is a collection of 22 previously-unreleased songs from the Darkness On The Edge Of Town recording sessions. Depending on their level of completion back in 1977-1978, some were only remastered, some were overdubbed with 2010 vocals or music, and some were completely re-recorded in 2010. The album was mixed by Bob Clearmountain.
Side 1:
Side 2:
Side 3:
Side 4:
Side 5:
Side 6:
COME ON (LET'S GO TONIGHT) was performed off-tour on 07 Dec 2010 at Carousel House in Asbury Park, NJ, during the taping of the "Songs From The Promise" webcast. The song was played twice and featured David Lindley on violin.
As far as it's known, no artist has recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's COME ON (LET'S GO TONIGHT).
Thanks Bill G for the help.
If you have any corrections or additional info, please contact me via the below form or by email: .
List of available versions of COME ON (LET'S GO TONIGHT) on this website:
COME ON (LET'S GO TONIGHT) [Official studio version]