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Live 09 Dec 1995 version
[Spoken intro:] (Some fans in the audience, men and women, start yelling out telling Springsteen that they love him). You guys ought to get together then. This uh, this is a song about a fella who gets out of prison and... trying to find his way back into his family and trying to find his way back into the world. But uh... (A man yells "But we still love you!") What a polite way of saying "You're fucking up" (chuckles). And uh... and I think changing your old behavior, that's a hard thing to do, it's a hard thing for anybody to do. Your old habits and the way you've done things always feel like your old friends and they feel how you define yourself. So what do you do when, uh, the worst in you feels like hope. This is called "Straight Time".
I got out of prison back in '86 and I found a wife
Walked the clean and narrow just trying to stay out and stay alive
Got a job at the rendering plant, well it ain't gonna make me rich
In the darkness before dinner comes sometimes I can feel the itch
I got a cold mind to go tripping 'cross that thin line
I ain't making straight time
My uncle's at the evening table, he makes his living running hot cars
He slips me a hundred dollar bill, and says "Charlie you best remember who your friends are"
I got a cold mind to go tripping 'cross that thin line
I ain't making straight time
Well eight years in, and it feels like you're gonna die
But you get used to anything, sooner or later it just becomes your life
Kitchen floor in the evening, I'm tossing my little babies high
Mary's smiling but she's watching me always out of the corner of her eye
Seems you can't get, can't get any more than half free
I step out onto the front porch and suck the cold air deep inside of me
I got a cold mind to go tripping 'cross that thin line
I'm sick of doing straight time
In the basement a hunting gun and a hacksaw
Sip a beer and thirteen inches of barrel drop to the floor
I come home in the evening, I can't get the smell from my hands
I lay my head down on that pillow and go drifting off into foreign lands
The above lyrics are for the live 09 Dec 1995 performance of STRAIGHT TIME at Tower Theater in Upper Darby, PA, during The Ghost Of Tom Joad Solo Acoustic Tour.
A selection of four studio tracks from The Ghost Of Tom Joad album (see track list below) intercepted with interview segments with journalist Bob Costas were originally broadcast on the 21 Nov 1995 edition of the syndicated Columbia Records Radio Hour radio show which aired on U.S. album oriented rock stations. Costas conducted the interview with Bruce Springsteen that same day (21 Nov 1995) either prior to or following Springsteen's public warm-up show at the State Theater in New Brunswick, NJ. A total of 35 minutes of the 90-minute interview were used in the radio show.
Additionally, three songs from Springsteen's 08 Dec 1995 show and seven from his 09 Dec 1995 show at Upper Darby's Tower Theater (see track list below) were broadcast on the 14 Dec 1995 edition of the Columbia Records Radio Hour radio show.
The complete Columbia Records Radio Hour show was officially issued in December 1995 on cassette and reel-to-reel tapes for promotional use in the United States. Six of the ten live tracks from part 2 of the radio show (the 14 Dec 1995 broadcast) were never made available in commercial form.
Side A:
Side B:
Notes:
Part 2 of the Columbia Records Radio Hour radio show (the 14 Dec 1995 broadcast) was commercially released in Europe. Since 2005 some enterprising record labels in Europe (mostly in the UK) have been releasing Bruce Springsteen radio and TV broadcasts (and some soundboard recordings) from the seventies, eighties, and nineties. Though these releases are not authorized by Bruce Springsteen or his record company, they are lawful due to a legal loophole in Europe.
The live 09 Dec 1995 version of STRAIGHT TIME was released as the B-side of THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD in Europe and Japan. In 1997 it was also included on some issues of the Secret Garden EP which was released to promote the Jerry Maguire movie soundtrack.
Please contact me if you have scans for or info about any official release containing the live 09 Dec 1995 version of STRAIGHT TIME that's not mentioned on this page. I also need scans for the following releases:
Any additions, comments, or corrections to this page are welcome. You can contact me via the below form or by email: .
List of available versions of STRAIGHT TIME on this website:
STRAIGHT TIME [Album version]
