HIGHWAY 29^©

Album's version

I slipped on her shoe, she was a perfect size seven
I said "there's no smokin' in the store ma'am"
She crossed her legs and then
We made some small talk, that's where it should have stopped
She slipped me a number, I put it in my pocket
My hand slipped up her skirt, everything slipped my mind
In that little roadhouse on highway 29

It was a small town bank, it was a mess
Well I had a gun, you know the rest
Money on the floorboards, shirt was covered in blood and she was cryin'
Her and me we headed south on highway 29

In a little desert motel, the air was hot and clean
l slept the sleep of the dead, I didn't dream
I woke in the morning, washed my face in the sink
We headed into the Sierra Madres 'cross the borderline
The winter sun, shot through the black trees
I told myself it was all something in her
But as we drove I knew it was something in me
Something had been comin' for a long long time
And something that was here with me now on highway 29

The road was filled with broken glass and gasoline
She wasn't sayin' nothin', it was just a dream*
Wind come silent through the windshield
All I could see was snow and sky and pines
I closed my eyes and I was runnin'
And I was runnin' then I was flyin'

Page last updated: 02 Sep 2007

Music and lyrics by Bruce Springsteen, recorded sometime between March and August 1995 at Thrill Hill West, Bruce's home in Los Angeles, CA. The story in HIGHWAY 29 seems to be very similar to the one in LOSIN' KIND. The song was released on The Ghost Of Tom Joad in Nov 1995.

HIGHWAY 29 was included on the Dead Man Walkin' European single (catalogue # COL 663190 2) in 1996: DEAD MAN WALKIN' / HIGHWAY 29 / THIS HARD LAND [live 09 Dec 1995[ / DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET? [live 08 Dec 1995].

It was also included on the Secret Garden European single (catalogue # COL 664324 5) in 1997: SECRET GARDEN [string version] / BLOOD BROTHERS [alternate version] / STREETS OF PHILADELPHIA / HIGHWAY 29.

It also appeared on Interview With Bruce Springsteen, an extremely scarce promotion 2-CD set released in Germany in 1996. This release features 16 full-length Springsteen music tracks interspersed with segments from an exclusive interview for German radio station "Radio Eins" conducted in Los Angeles in Feb 1996 (info and scans taken from the Lost In The Flood website).

HIGHWAY 29 was performed during every show during The Ghost Of Tom Joad Solo Acoustic Tour, except on 24 and 26 Nov 1996 at the Paramount Theater, Asbury Park, NJ. It appeared again three times during the Devils & Dust Solo Acoustic Tour:
- 16 Jun 2005 at Philipshalle, Dusseldorf, Germany
- 23 Jun 2005 at Scandinavium, Gothenburg, Sweden
- 27 Jun 2005 at Color Line Arena, Hamburg, Germany

The above lyrics refer to the album's version. The live versions are almost identical to it, but the live 24 Apr 1996 version differs in one line (*).

Credits:
Bruce Springsteen: vocals, guitar, keyboard
Produced by Bruce Springsteen and Chuck Plotkin
Recorded and mixed by Toby Scott