Album version
Last night I stood at your doorstep trying to figure out what went wrong
You just slipped something into my palm, then you were gone
I could smell the same deep green of summer, above me the same night sky was glowing
In the distance I could see the town where I was born
It's gonna be a long walk home
Hey pretty darling, don't wait up for me, gonna be a long walk home
A long walk home
In town I passed Sal's grocery, barbershop on South Street
I looked in their faces, they were all rank strangers to me
Hey Veteran's Hall high upon the hill stood silent and alone
The diner was shuttered and boarded with a sign that just said "gone"
It's gonna be a long walk home
Hey pretty darling, don't wait up for me, gonna be a long walk home
Hey pretty darling, don't wait up for me, gonna be a long walk home
It's gonna be a long walk home
[Guitar break]
[Saxophone break]
Here everybody has a neighbor, everybody has a friend
Everybody has a reason to begin again
My father said, "Son, we're lucky in this town, it's a beautiful place to be born
It just wraps its arms around you, nobody crowds you and nobody goes it alone
You know that flag flying over the courthouse means certain things are set in stone
Who we are, what we'll do and what we won't"
It's gonna be a long walk home
Hey pretty darling, don't wait up for me, gonna be a long walk home
Hey pretty darling, don't wait up for me, gonna be a long walk home
It's gonna be a long walk home
It's gonna be a long walk home
Hey pretty darling, don't wait up for me, gonna be a long walk home
Hey pretty darling, don't wait up for me, gonna be a long walk home
It's gonna be a long walk home
It's gonna be a long walk home
[Guitar break]
[Saxophone break]
LONG WALK HOME is a song written by Bruce Springsteen and released on his 2007 album Magic. The above lyrics are for Bruce Springsteen's album version of LONG WALK HOME as released in 2007.
The album version of LONG WALK HOME was included on the Greatest Hits (2009 Europe edition) compilation album.
Bruce Springsteen debuted LONG WALK HOME on 11 Nov 2006 in London, England, during The Seeger Sessions Tour. He introduced it as being a "work in progress" — he must have written it not long before, probably in October or early November. See the live 11 Nov 2006 version for more details. That early version features significantly different lyrics and has more verses than the album's version.
The song was recorded during the Magic recording sessions which took place between March and May 2007 at Southern Tracks Studios in Atlanta, GA. Patrick Warren contributes Chamberlin and/or tack piano on this track.
The lyrics "I looked in their faces / They were all rank strangers to me", and much of this song's theme, are borrowed from the old country/gospel song RANK STRANGERS (TO ME): "They knew not my name and I knew not their faces / I found they were all rank strangers to me".
"In that particular song a guy comes back to his town and recognizes nothing and is recognized by nothing," Springsteen told The New York Times' A. O. Scott. "The singer in 'Long Walk Home,' that's his experience. His world has changed. The things that he thought he knew, the people who he thought he knew, whose ideals he had something in common with, are like strangers. The world that he knew feels totally alien. I think that's what's happened in this country in the past six years."
"It's sort of the summational song of the album," manager Jon Landau told Rolling Stone. "I think it's one of Bruce's great masterpieces."
"That's one of my favorite songs that he's done in a long time," producer Brendan O'Brien told Rolling Stone. "It's mournful, but also hopeful. It has very introspective verses and then he opens up lyrically as the song progresses. It hits me in a real great spot."
Although LONG WALK HOME was not released as a single, a music video for the song premiered on 24 Sep 2007 on Amazon.com. The video features real-life scenes from Springsteen's Jersey Shore interpersed with shots of Springsteen at Asbury Park Convention Hall and at Tony's Freehold Grill on East Main Street in Freehold, NJ.
The music video for LONG WALK HOME was included on the Japanese Singles Collection -Greatest Hits- compilation album. It was posted on Bruce Springsteen's VEVO YouTube channel in October 2009.
Magic is Bruce Springsteen's fifteenth studio album. It was released on 02 Oct 2007 on Columbia Records. The album was officially announced, along with its track listing, on 16 Aug 2007. It was produced by Brendan O'Brien and was recorded between March and May 2007 at Southern Tracks Studios in Atlanta, GA.
Magic was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album but failed to win. It debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, becoming Springsteen's eighth number one album in the U.S. and selling about 335,000 copies in its first week. Magic also peaked at number one in several European countries including the UK.
The album features 12 tracks and clocks at 50:48. The twelfth track is bonus hidden track that was added to the album two weeks after the album was announced.
Greatest Hits (2009 edition) is a compilation album released by Columbia Records on 13 Jan 2009 in the United State where it was sold exclusively through Wal-Mart retailers. The album was also released (but non-exclusively) in Canada. Unlike the 1995 Greatest Hits release and The Essential Bruce Springsteen in 2003, this compilation was billed to "Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band" instead of just "Bruce Springsteen". The album contains 12 previously released studio tracks and clocks at 53:08.
On 01 Jun 2009, Columbia Records released a European edition of the compilation album with an alternative track listing to promote Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band's European leg of the Working On A Dream Tour. The European edition was also released in Israel and Mexico, and in Australia in August 2009. The album comes in a standard jewel case, but a limited digipack edition was also released in Europe. Greatest Hits (2009 European edition) contains 16 previously released studio tracks and 2 live bonus tracks taken from the Live/1975-85 box set. It clocks at 79:03.
The album charted in several countries, but only made it to # 1 in Sweden. In general, the album did much better in Europe than in North America.
Japanese Singles Collection -Greatest Hits- is a Bruce Springsteen compilation album released by Sony Music Japan in 2023. The compilation, which was exclusively released in Japan, consists of previously released 35 audio tracks and 62 video tracks. The collection is part of a 26-title reissue campaign to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Bruce Springsteen's debut album. The series, issued in three waves (25 Oct 2023, 22 Nov 2023, and 20 Dec 2023), includes 25 albums originally released between 1973 and 2014 plus a new compilation album that includes all of Springsteen's singles released in Japan from 1975 to 1999. All audio CD's were manufactured using Sony Japan's Blu-spec CD2 format.
Disc 1: (audio CD)
Disc 2: (audio CD)
Disc 3: (DVD)
Disc 4: (DVD)
In addition to its release on Magic, LONG WALK HOME was also issued on CD-R for promotional purposes in The Netherlands.
Other versions of LONG WALK HOME were also officially released.
SECTION NOT YET COMPLETED
LONG WALK HOME was performed once during The Seeger Sessions Tour (56 dates, April to November 2006), on 11 Nov 2006 in London, England. The live 11 Nov 2006 version of LONG WALK HOME was released on the Wembley Arena, November 11, 2006 official live download in 2020.
In preparation for the Magic Tour, LONG WALK HOME was performed during all of the tour's three public warm-up rehearsal shows that took place in September 2007 in Asbury Park and East Rutherford. The song is also known to have been practiced during at least 5 of the private rehearsals that took place in September 2007 in Asbury Park prior to the tour's first leg, and during at least one of the private rehearsals that took place in February 2008 in Asbury Park prior to the tour's second U.S. leg.
LONG WALK HOME was performed 100 times during the Magic Tour (100 dates, October 2007 to August 2008); that is each and every one of the tour's regular dates. The 30 Aug 2008 performance was during Harley-Davidson's 105th Anniversary Celebration. The live 19 Nov 2007 version of LONG WALK HOME was released on the TD Banknorth Garden, Boston 11/19/07 official live download in 2018. The live 22 Apr 2008 version of LONG WALK HOME was released on the St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, FL, April 22, 2008 official live download in 2019. The live 28 Apr 2008 version of LONG WALK HOME was released on the Greensboro, North Carolina April 28, 2008 official live download in 2020. The live 23 Aug 2008 version of LONG WALK HOME was released on the Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO 8/23/2008 official live download in 2017.
In preparation for the Working On A Dream Tour, LONG WALK HOME was performed during one of the tour's two public warm-up rehearsal shows that took place in March 2009 in Asbury Park. The song is also known to have been practiced during at least two of the private rehearsals that took place in March 2009 in Asbury Park prior to the tour's first leg.
LONG WALK HOME was performed 8 times during the Working On A Dream Tour (83 dates, April to November 2009), all in the United States in the tour's last two months. The live 22 Nov 2009 version of LONG WALK HOME was released on the HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY 11/22/2009 official live download in 2016.
In preparation for the Wrecking Ball Tour, LONG WALK HOME is known to have been practiced during at least one of the private rehearsals that took place between January and March 2012 in Fort Monmouth, Trenton, and Asbury Park prior to the tour's first U.S. leg.
LONG WALK HOME was performed 10 times during the Wrecking Ball Tour (133 dates, March 2012 to September 2013). The song was played in a full-band arrangement, except on the first of these 10 dates (24 Jul 2012 in Bergen, Norway) when it was played solo acoustic.
LONG WALK HOME was performed once during the High Hopes Tour (34 dates, January to May 2014). The song was played in its full-band album arrangement. Audio recordings for most High Hopes Tour shows are officially available for purchase. See the live 12 Feb 2014 version for more details.
LONG WALK HOME was performed twice during The River Tour 2016 (75 dates, January to September 2016). On this tour, the song was played in a solo acoustic guitar arrangement. Audio recordings for all The River Tour 2016 shows are officially available for purchase. See the live 11 Sep 2016 version and the live 14 Sep 2016 version for more details.
In preparation for Springsteen On Broadway, LONG WALK HOME was performed during two of the tour's three known private rehearsal shows that took place in September 2017 in West Long Branch, NJ, and New York City, NY.
LONG WALK HOME was performed 148 times during Springsteen On Broadway (268 dates, October 2017 to December 2018 and June to September 2021). On this tour, the song was played solo on acoustic guitar.
LONG WALK HOME was performed off-tour on 28 Sep 2007 (morning) at Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, NY, during Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band's live broadcast on The Today Show.
Bruce Springsteen has been performing on almost all the annual Stand Up for Heroes benefits since 2007. LONG WALK HOME was performed during the tenth (2016) and fourteenth (2020) annual benefits. The song was played in a solo acoustic guitar arrangement. See the live 01 Nov 2016 version and live 18 Nov 2020 version for more details.
LONG WALK HOME was performed on one (of only one) Hillary Clinton 2016 election rally on which Springsteen appeared. The song was played in a solo acoustic guitar arrangement. See the live 07 Nov 2016 version for more details.
At least 3 artists have recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's LONG WALK HOME.
List of available versions of LONG WALK HOME on this website:
LONG WALK HOME [Album version]
