RENDEZVOUS

Official studio version



I had a dream our love would last forever
I had a dream last night, she had a dream too
She'll be there tonight
If I'm down then she'll make me feel right
Ooh, rendezvous

Haven't I told you, girl, how much I like you
I got a feeling that you like me too
So if you hold me tight
We'll be riders, girl, on the night
Ooh, rendezvous

We deserve so much more than this, girl
I'm riding on the power and living on the promise in your last kiss
Because I had a dream our love would last forever
I had a dream, tonight she had a dream too
So come on hold me tight
We'll be riders, girl, on the night
Ooohh, ooohh, ooohh, rendezvous, I want to rendezvous
I want to rendez-, I want to rendez-, I want to rendezvous, I want a rendezvous


Info

RENDEZVOUS is a song written by Bruce Springsteen. It was originally recorded during the Darkness On The Edge Of Town sessions. The song was officially released for the first time in a live version on the Tracks box set in 1998. See the live 31 Dec 1980 version for more details.

A studio version of RENDEZVOUS was released on The Promise in 2010. The above lyrics are for that official studio version of RENDEZVOUS as released in 2010.

RENDEZVOUS was donated to The Greg Kihn Band for their 1979 album With The Naked Eye. See The Greg Kihn Band's cover version for more details. Gary U.S. Bonds also recorded the song for his 1982 album On The Line. See Gary U.S. Bonds' cover version for more details.

Studio Recording

Before the release of The Promise in 2010, one unofficial studio take of RENDEZVOUS was in circulation among collectors (see the unofficial studio version for more details). It was cut during the early stages of the Darkness On The Edge Of Town recording sessions, in June 1977 at Atlantic Studios in New York City, NY. It's a complete take but the circulating audio is marred by vocal drop-out during the first verse. In a 1978 interview Springsteen said that the song was kept off the album because it didn't fit thematically. A live version was released on the Tracks box set which may indicate that he wasn't satisfied with the available studio versions. And what supports that position is that the version officially released on The Promise in 2010 has modern vocals and a completely different arrangement than the previously circulating Darkness On The Edge Of Town sessions outtake. Some believe that the production on the new version of RENDEZVOUS sounds closer to that of the "power pop" material recorded during The River sessions.

In the handwritten lyrics notebook that was reproduced in The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story box set, there are reproductions of two demo tape inlays listing RENDEZVOUS. One contains tracks recorded at Atlantic Studios and dated 01 Jun 1977 (below scan left) and one titled "Bruce Springsteen - Ruffs" and dated June 1977 (below scan right).

Bruce Springsteen's 01 Jun 1977 Atlantic Studios demo tape
Bruce Springsteen's 01 Jun 1977 Atlantic Studios demo tape
Bruce Springsteen's June 1977 "Ruffs" demo tape
Bruce Springsteen's June 1977 "Ruffs" demo tape

The Promise

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.

Bruce Springsteen -- The Promise
Bruce Springsteen -- The Promise

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.

Other Official Releases

Other versions of RENDEZVOUS were also officially released.

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band -- Palace Theatre, Albany 1977
The live 07 Feb 1977 version of RENDEZVOUS was released on the Palace Theatre, Albany 1977 official live download in 2017.
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band -- Auditorium Theatre, Rochester, NY 1977
The live 08 Feb 1977 version of RENDEZVOUS was released on the Auditorium Theatre, Rochester, NY 1977 official live download in 2017.
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band -- Winterland 12/16/78
The live 16 Dec 1978 version of RENDEZVOUS was released on the Winterland 12/16/78 official live download in 2019.
Bruce Springsteen -- Tracks
The live 31 Dec 1980 version of RENDEZVOUS was first released on the Tracks box set in 1998.
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band -- Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO 8/23/2008
The live 23 Aug 2008 version of RENDEZVOUS was released on the Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO 8/23/2008 official live download in 2017.
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band -- Nassau Coliseum 05.04.09
The live 04 May 2009 version of RENDEZVOUS was released on the Nassau Coliseum 05.04.09 official live download in 2020.

Live History: on-tour

RENDEZVOUS is known to have been performed at least 44 times during what is known as The Lawsuit Tour (62 know dates, August 1976 to March 1977). Some of that period's setlists are incomplete or unknown, and therefore, the song must have been played on some more dates during the Lawsuit Tour; it may have been a stable number during the 1976 leg of the tour. The live 07 Feb 1977 version of RENDEZVOUS was released on the Palace Theatre, Albany 1977 official live download in 2017. The live 08 Feb 1977 version of RENDEZVOUS was released on the Auditorium Theatre, Rochester, NY 1977 official live download in 2017.

  1. 01 Aug 1976 at Monmouth Arts Center, Red Bank, NJ
  2. 02 Aug 1976 at Monmouth Arts Center, Red Bank, NJ
  3. 03 Aug 1976 at Monmouth Arts Center, Red Bank, NJ
  4. 05 Aug 1976 at Monmouth Arts Center, Red Bank, NJ
  5. 06 Aug 1976 at Monmouth Arts Center, Red Bank, NJ
  6. 07 Aug 1976 at Monmouth Arts Center, Red Bank, NJ
  7. 21 Aug 1976 at Palace Theater, Waterbury, CT
  8. 22 Aug 1976 at Springfield Civic Center, Springfield, MA
  9. 26 Sep 1976 at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Phoenix, AZ
  10. 29 Sep 1976 at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, CA
  11. 30 Sep 1976 at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, CA
  12. 02 Oct 1976 at Paramount Theatre, Oakland, CA
  13. 05 Oct 1976 at Santa Barbara County Bowl, Santa Barbara, CA
  14. 09 Oct 1976 at University Of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN
  15. 10 Oct 1976 at Miami University, Oxford, OH
  16. 12 Oct 1976 at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
  17. 13 Oct 1976 at Kean College, Union, NJ
  18. 16 Oct 1976 at The College Of William And Mary, Williamsburg, VA
  19. 17 Oct 1976 at Georgetown University, Washington, DC
  20. 25 Oct 1976 at Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA
  21. 27 Oct 1976 at Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA
  22. 28 Oct 1976 at Palladium, New York City, NY
  23. 29 Oct 1976 at Palladium, New York City, NY
  24. 30 Oct 1976 at Palladium, New York City, NY
  25. 02 Nov 1976 at Palladium, New York City, NY
  26. 03 Nov 1976 at Palladium, New York City, NY
  27. 04 Nov 1976 at Palladium, New York City, NY
  28. 07 Feb 1977 at Palace Theatre, Albany, NY
  29. 08 Feb 1977 at Auditorium Theatre, Rochester, NY
  30. 12 Feb 1977 at Ottawa Civic Centre, Ottawa, Canada
  31. 13 Feb 1977 at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Canada
  32. 15 Feb 1977 at Masonic Temple Theatre, Detroit, MI
  33. 17 Feb 1977 at Richfield Coliseum, Richfield, OH
  34. 19 Feb 1977 at St. Paul Civic Center Theatre, Saint Paul, MN
  35. 22 Feb 1977 at Milwaukee Auditorium, Milwaukee, WI
  36. 23 Feb 1977 at Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL
  37. 25 Feb 1977 at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
  38. 26 Feb 1977 at Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, IN
  39. 27 Feb 1977 at Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, OH
  40. 28 Feb 1977 at Fox Theatre, St. Louis, MO
  41. 02 Mar 1977 at Civic Center Auditorium, Atlanta, GA
  42. 04 Mar 1977 at Civic Auditorium, Jacksonville, FL
  43. 05 Mar 1977 at Jai Alai Fronton, Orlando, FL
  44. 06 Mar 1977 at Jai Alai Fronton, Miami, FL

RENDEZVOUS is known to have been performed at least 7 times during the Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour (111 dates, May 1978 to January 1979), all in the tour's last three weeks. A few setlists from that period are incomplete or unknown, and therefore, the song may have been played on some more dates during the Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour, but that's unlikely. The live 16 Dec 1978 version of RENDEZVOUS was released on the Winterland 12/16/78 official live download in 2019.

  1. 16 Dec 1978 at Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, CA
  2. 19 Dec 1978 at Paramount Theatre, Portland, OR
  3. 20 Dec 1978 at Seattle Center Arena, Seattle, WA
  4. 27 Dec 1978 at Stanley Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA
  5. 30 Dec 1978 at Cobo Arena, Detroit, MI
  6. 31 Dec 1978 at Richfield Coliseum, Richfield, OH
  7. 01 Jan 1979 at Richfield Coliseum, Richfield, OH

RENDEZVOUS is known to have been performed at least 3 times during The River Tour (138 dates, October 1980 to September 1981), all in December 1980. A few setlists from that period are incomplete, and therefore, the song may have been played on some more dates during The River Tour, but that's unlikely. The live 31 Dec 1980 version of RENDEZVOUS was officially released on the Tracks box set in 1998.

  1. 09 Dec 1980 at Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA
  2. 11 Dec 1980 at Providence Civic Center, Providence, RI
  3. 31 Dec 1980 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY

RENDEZVOUS was performed 23 times during what is known as The Reunion Tour (132 dates, April 1999 to July 2000).

  1. 11 Apr 1999 at Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain
  2. 19 Apr 1999 at Fila Forum, Milan, Italy
  3. 20 Apr 1999 at Fila Forum, Milan, Italy
  4. 23 Apr 1999 at Donau Arena, Regensburg, Germany
  5. 24 Apr 1999 at Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna, Austria
  6. 02 May 1999 at Manchester Evening News Arena, Manchester, England
  7. 19 May 1999 at Earls Court, London, England
  8. 30 May 1999 at Parkbühne Wuhlheide, Berlin, Germany
  9. 19 Jun 1999 at Gelredome, Arnhem, The Netherlands
  10. 20 Jul 1999 at Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, NJ
  11. 29 Jul 1999 at Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, NJ
  12. 27 Aug 1999 at Fleet Center, Boston, MA
  13. 15 Sep 1999 at First Union Center, Philadelphia, PA
  14. 31 Mar 2000 at Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
  15. 03 Apr 2000 at Rose Garden, Portland, OR
  16. 08 Apr 2000 at Kiel Center, St. Louis, MO
  17. 18 Apr 2000 at Compaq Center, Houston, TX
  18. 21 Apr 2000 at Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, NC
  19. 30 Apr 2000 at Firstar Center, Cincinnati, OH
  20. 04 May 2000 at Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Canada
  21. 07 May 2000 at Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, CT
  22. 22 May 2000 at Arrowhead Pond Of Anaheim, Anaheim, CA
  23. 17 Jun 2000 at Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY

RENDEZVOUS was performed once during The Rising Tour (120 dates, August 2002 to October 2003), on 03 Oct 2003 in New York City, NY.

  1. 03 Oct 2003 at Shea Stadium, New York City, NY

In preparation for the Magic Tour, RENDEZVOUS was performed 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.

  1. 26 Feb 2008 at Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ (private rehearsal)

RENDEZVOUS was performed 3 times during the Magic Tour (100 dates, October 2007 to August 2008). The song was always played by sign request. The live 23 Aug 2008 version of RENDEZVOUS was released on the Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO 8/23/2008 official live download in 2017.

  1. 20 Mar 2008 at Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
  2. 27 Jun 2008 at Parc Des Princes, Paris, France
  3. 23 Aug 2008 at Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO

RENDEZVOUS was performed 4 times during the Working On A Dream Tour (83 dates, April to November 2009). The live 04 May 2009 version of RENDEZVOUS was released on the Nassau Coliseum 05.04.09 official live download in 2020.

  1. 04 May 2009 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY
  2. 05 Jul 2009 at Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria
  3. 08 Jul 2009 at MCH Arena Herning, Herning, Denmark
  4. 25 Aug 2009 at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY

RENDEZVOUS was performed twice during the Wrecking Ball Tour (133 dates, March 2012 to September 2013).

  1. 13 Apr 2012 at First Niagara Center, Buffalo, NY
  2. 12 Jul 2012 at Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria

Live History: off-tour

RENDEZVOUS was performed off-tour on 12 May 1977 at Monmouth Arts Center in Red Bank, NJ, with The Asbury Park All-Star Revue.

RENDEZVOUS was performed off-tour on 19 Dec 2004 at Harry's Roadhouse in Asbury Park, NJ, during both holiday jam shows that took place that day.

  1. 12 May 1977 at Monmouth Arts Center, Red Bank, NJ
  2. 02 Dec 2004 at Heinz Hall, Pittsburgh, PA

Between 2002 and 2011, Bruce Springsteen played private benefit shows for schools and colleges that his kids attended ─ Rumson Country Day School of Rumson, NJ, and Ranney School of Tinton Falls, NJ, and Boston College of Chestnut Hill, MA. RENDEZVOUS was performed at 6 of these fundraisers, always at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ, and backed by Bobby Bandiera and his band.

  1. 10 Apr 2005 at The Stone Pony, Asbury Park, NJ (during a private fundraiser for Rumson Country Day School)
  2. 02 May 2006 at The Stone Pony, Asbury Park, NJ (during a private fundraiser for Rumson Country Day School)
  3. 17 Sep 2006 at The Stone Pony, Asbury Park, NJ (during a private fundraiser for Ranney School)
  4. 29 Apr 2007 at The Stone Pony, Asbury Park, NJ (during a private fundraiser for Ranney School)
  5. 13 May 2008 at The Stone Pony, Asbury Park, NJ (during a private fundraiser for Ranney School)
  6. 17 Oct 2009 at The Stone Pony, Asbury Park, NJ (during a private fundraiser for Boston College)

Covers

On 17 Oct 1978, Bruce Springsteen made a guest appearance with The Knack during their gig at The Troubadour in West Hollywood, CA. Later, The Knack's drummer Bruce Gary asked Springsteen for songs they might use in their live shows. He offered them two unreleased numbers, RENDEZVOUS and DON'T LOOK BACK. The band then recorded the second and released it in 1979.

At least 5 artists have recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's RENDEZVOUS.

The Greg Kihn Band -- With The Naked Eye
The Greg Kihn Band -- With The Naked Eye

LP - Beserkley (BZ-10063) - USA, 1979

The Greg Kihn Band's cover of RENDEZVOUS was included on several more releases, including some various artists Bruce Springsteen tribute albums. See The Greg Kihn Band's cover version for more details.
Dark Side -- Rumours In Our Own Time, Legends In Our Own Room
Dark Side -- Rumours In Our Own Time, Legends In Our Own Room

LP - Gohog Records (B-004) - USA, 1980
Albert Hammond -- Somewhere In America
Albert Hammond -- Somewhere In America

LP - Columbia (FC 38181) - USA, 1982
Gary U.S. Bonds -- On The Line
Gary U.S. Bonds -- On The Line

LP - EMI America (SO-17068) - USA, 1982

See Gary U.S. Bonds' cover version for more details.
Ostbahn Kurti -- Die Größten Hits Der 80er Und 90er Aus Österreich 2 - Ostbahn Kurti
Ostbahn Kurti -- Die Größten Hits Der 80er Und 90er Aus Österreich 2 - Ostbahn Kurti

CD - BMG Ariola Austria (74321 529742) - Austria, 1997

This is volume 2 from a BMG Ariola's "Die Größten Hits Der 80er Und 90er Aus Österreich" series of CD albums. Includes three Bruce Springsteen covers: FIRE, POINT BLANK, and RENDEZVOUS. RENDEZVOUS is a German version.

References

Some of the above info about the studio recording and the live performances is taken from Brucebase. Info about some of the above RENDEZVOUS cover releases is taken from the Nebraska website.

Available Versions

List of available versions of RENDEZVOUS on this website:

RENDEZVOUS [Official studio version]
RENDEZVOUS [Unofficial studio version]
RENDEZVOUS [Live 31 Dec 1980 version]
RENDEZVOUS [The Greg Kihn Band's cover version]
RENDEZVOUS [Gary U.S. Bonds' cover version]

Page last updated: 21 Jan 2013