FOREVER YOUNG^©

Live 22 Oct 1987 version

May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you

May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
And may you stay forever young

May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of change shift
May your heart always be joyful
May your song always be sung
And may you stay forever young

Forever young, forever young
May you stay-ay-ay-ay forever young

Page last updated: 23 Oct 2007

Written by Bob Dylan, FOREVER YOUNG was originally released by Dylan in 1974. Check out Bob Dylan's original version for more details.

Live Performances

Bruce Springsteen performed FOREVER YOUNG live twice:

• On 22 Oct 1987 at St. Peter's Church, New York City, NY. The above lyrics are for an edited version of that performance.
• On 02 Sep 1995 at Cleveland Stadium, Cleveland, OH, during the concert for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Check out the live 02 Sep 1995 version for more details.

Live 22 Oct 1987 Performance

The 22 Oct 1987 performance was during a memorial service for John H. Hammond who had passed away on 10 July that year. An edited version (that omits the second verse from Bob Dylan's original three verses and to which the above lyrics correspond) of that performance of FOREVER YOUNG plays over the closing credits of the 1990 documentary John Hammond: From Bessie Smith To Bruce Springsteen. The documentary was first broadcast via PBS stations across the US on 20 Aug 1990 and released the next year internationally on VHS and laserdisc.

John H. Hammond

Hammond was a record producer, musician, activist, music critic, and record company talent scout from the 1930s to the early 1980s. He was credited with discovering a diverse array of artists, including Billy Holiday, Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, Charlie Christian, Aretha Franklin, George Benson, Bob Dylan, and Stevie Ray Vaugham.

In late April 1972, Springsteen's manager Mike Appel arranged a private audition for his client with CBS A&R manager John Hammond. The audition took place on 02 May 1972 in Hammond's office in the A&R Department at Columbia Records, New York City, NY. Hammond told Crawdaddy magazine that "Mike started yakking. He said, 'I want you to know that we're just, you know, being nice to you because you're the guy who discovered Dylan and we just wanted to find out if that was luck or whether you really have ears.' So I said, 'Stop, you're making me hate you!'" When Bruce was finished with this audition, Hammond mentioned that he would need to see how he interacts in front of a live audience, so Appel immediately organized a live performance for that evening at a local club, the Gaslight Au Go Go, New York City, NY. John Hammond attended this show and was impressed. "The kid absolutely knocked me out," he told Newsweek in 1975. "I only hear somebody really good once every ten years, and not only was Bruce the best, he was a lot better than Dylan when I first heard him." Hammond invited Springsteen back to CBS the following day to make a studio demo audition tape.

According to Brucebase, Springsteen's first studio demo session for CBS took place on 03 May 1972 at CBS Studios, New York City, NY. This was the so-called "John Hammond Demo Session". Springsteen made 14 recordings, four of which were officially published on the Tracks box set in 1998. John Hammond was prepared to sign Bruce Springsteen on the spot that day, but administrative formalities within CBS meant that it would take several weeks for that to become reality. Springsteen didn't sign any contract with CBS records. What happened was that a week or so following this 03 May 1972 demo session, Springsteen signed his "Exclusive Songwriting Agreement" with Laurel Canyon Music Ltd., a production, management, and publishing company recently established by Mike Appel and Jim Cretecos. In its turn, the company signed a recording contract with CBS Records on 09 Jun 1972. Bruce was not signed directly to CBS, but his services were subcontracted to CBS by Laurel Canyon. The recording sessions for Springsteen's debut LP would kick off in early July 1972.

Available Versions

List of available versions of FOREVER YOUNG on this website:

• Live 02 Sep 1995 version
• Bob Dylan's original version

Credits

Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake from BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help and Peter (from Lost In The Flood) for the VHS and LaserDisc scans.

Request:

It is reported that an audience recording of the original/unedited version of this 22 Oct 1987 performance of FOREVER YOUNG exists. If you have it, please contact me via the below form or by email: . Thanks in advance.

Spoken intro to FOREVER YOUNG [Live 22 Oct 1987 version]:

This is a song by uh... another young fellow that John gave a break to.

Spoken outro to FOREVER YOUNG [Live 22 Oct 1987 version]:

Thanks John.