TENTH AVENUE FREEZE-OUT

Live 29 Dec 1980 version

[Spoken intro:] All right! How you doing tonight? Oh, yeah?

A-one, two, three, four!

One, two, three!

Now, listen!
Teardrops on the city
Bad Scooter searching for his groove
It's like the whole world's walking pretty
And you can't find the room to move
Everybody better move over, that's all
I'm running on the bad side
And I got my back to the wall, with the

(Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Say it, say it loud
(Tenth Avenue freeze-out)

I was stranded in the jungle
Taking all the heat they were giving
Hey, hey, the night is dark but the sidewalk's bright
Lined with the light of the living
From a tenement window a transistor blasts
Turn around the corner things got real quiet real fast
I walked into a (Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Say it, say it, now
(Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Let's go! Whoa!

Well, I'm all alone, I'm all alone
[Clarence Clemons:] Now, kid, you better get the picture!
Well, I'm on my own
And I can't go home

Let's do it!
Well, they made that change uptown
And the Big Man joined the band
From the coastline to the city
The little pretties raise their hands
Raise them up!
I'm gonna sit back right easy and laugh
When Scooter and the Big Man bust this city in half, with the
(Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Say it, say it loud
(Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Just a little bit louder
(Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Just a little bitty bit
(Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Baby, talking 'bout the Tenth
(Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
I'm talking 'bout the Tenth
(Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Oh, just a little bit louder
(Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Talking 'bout the Tenth
(Tenth Avenue freeze-out)
Come on, band!

Play it all night long!
Say, yeah, yeah
Oh, yeah, it's all right

[Spoken outro:] That's good!

Info

The above lyrics are for the live 29 Dec 1980 performance of TENTH AVENUE FREEZE-OUT at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, NY, during The River Tour. The song was played in a traditional full-band arrangement.

The 29 Dec 1980 Show

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band rounded up the 1980 leg of The River Tour with three concerts at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, on 28, 29, and 31 Dec 1980. The three shows were recorded live with the Record Plant Remote Truck by Toby Scott, assisted by David Bianco and Jim Scott, and later became one of the main sources for the Live/1975-85 box set which includes six recordings from these shows. Four additional recordings were released as B-sides and on compilation albums.

Promotional poster for the 29 Dec 1980 show at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY
(Taken from Brucebase)

Ticket stub for the 29 Dec 1980 show at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY
(Taken from Brucebase)

In July 2019 the complete 29 Dec 1980 concert was officially released on Live.BruceSpringsteen.net (see the "Official Live Downloads" section below for more details). The 24-track/30-IPS reel-to-reel master tapes were transferred and restored by Jamie Howarth in Spring 2019 using the Plangent Process. The audio was mixed by Jon Altschiller, with additional engineering by Danielle Warman, and mastered by Jon Altschiller.

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band -- Nassau Coliseum, New York 12/29/80

Credits

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

Available Versions

List of available versions of TENTH AVENUE FREEZE-OUT on this website:

Page last updated: 12 Sep 2012