IT'S MY LIFE [Live 12 Dec 1975 version]

It's a hard world to get a break in
All the good things have been taken
But girl there are ways to make certain things pay
Though I'm dressed in these rags, I'll wear sable someday

Hear what I say
I'm gonna ride the serpent
No more time spent sweatin' rent
I'm breakin' now, it ain't no use
Holdin' me down, stick around

But baby (baby)
Remember (remember)
It's my life and I'll do what I want
It's my mind and I'll think what I want
Show me I'm wrong, hurt me sometime
But someday I'll treat you real fine

There'll be women with their fortunes
Who just want to mother orphans
Are you gonna cry when I'm squeezing them dry
Taking all I can get with no regrets
When I openly lie
And live on their money
Believe me honey, that money
Can you believe that I ain't no saint, no complaints
So get out, don't stop, I shout

'Cause baby (baby)
Remember (remember)
It's my life and I'll do what I want
It's my mind and I'll think what I want
Show me I'm wrong, hurt me sometime
Someday I'll treat you real fine

(It's my life and I'll do what I want) don't push me
(It's my mind and I'll think what I want) it's my life
(It's my life and I'll do what I want) ???
(It's my mind and I'll think what I want)

Page last updated: 17 Jan 2012

Intro

IT'S MY LIFE is a song written by Carl D'Errico and Roger Atkins and originally released by The Animals in 1965. See the original The Animals version for more details. The above lyrics are for Bruce Springsteen's live 12 Dec 1975 performance of IT'S MY LIFE at C.W. Post College in Greenvale, NY, during the Born To Run Tour. That was the first know Springsteen performance of the song, and one of the very few times that he didn't start it with a spoken narrative.

Springsteen and The Animals' Song

Introducing the song during his live concerts, Springsteen mentioned that IT'S MY LIFE is a song he was listening to when he came to New York in the sixties. He began performing it live frequently between late 1975 and 1978, preceding it by a spoken narrative about the troubled relationship between him and his father.

Co-songwriter Carl D'Errico and his wife Didi were Springsteen's VIP guests at the 04 Nov 1976 show at Palladium in New York City, NY. He dedicated IT'S MY LIFE to them (see the live 04 Nov 1976 version) and they met him backstage and invited him to their apartment for a home-cooked Italian dinner. As Carl D'Errico recalls, the dinner took place within a week of the concert. Springsteen's tour schedule in New York suggests that the dinner most probably took place on Sunday, 07 Nov 1976. The two did an acoustic version of IT'S MY LIFE, and, as D'Errico recalled, Springsteen said he would put the song on a live album. Carl signed the original sheet music of IT'S MY LIFE for Bruce (see photo below).

In the handwritten lyrics notebook that was reproduced in The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story box set, Springsteen dedicated a page for what looks like a list of potential tracks for his fourth studio album. Titled "Album IV", the list included 15 tracks, with the Animal's cover among them.

Live History

IT'S MY LIFE is known to have been performed at least 25 times during the Born To Run Tour: 5 times during the 1st leg (73 know dates / 81 known shows, between July and December 1975) and 20 times during the 2nd leg (35 know dates, between March and May 1976). The 1976 portion of the tour would soon be nicknamed the "Chicken Scratch Tour" by the road crew because of the high proportion of secondary market, southern state locations. Some of that period's setlists are incomplete or unknown, and therefore, the song must have been played on some more dates during the Born To Run Tour, from mid-December 1975 onwards. It must have also been a stable number during the 2nd leg. Among the known performances on this tour, IT'S MY LIFE always started with a spoken narrative, except for its debut on 12 Dec 1975 in Greenvale, NY.

12 Dec 1975 at C.W. Post College, Greenvale, NY
27 Dec 1975 at Tower Theater, Upper Darby, PA
28 Dec 1975 at Tower Theater, Upper Darby, PA
30 Dec 1975 at Tower Theater, Upper Darby, PA
31 Dec 1975 at Tower Theater, Upper Darby, PA
26 Mar 1976 at Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA
28 Mar 1976 at Duke University, Durham, NC
29 Mar 1976 at Ovens Auditorium, Charlotte, NC
02 Apr 1976 at Macauley Theatre, Louisville, KY
04 Apr 1976 at Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
07 Apr 1976 at Allen Theatre, Cleveland, OH
08 Apr 1976 at Allen Theatre, Cleveland, OH
09 Apr 1976 at Colgate University, Hamilton, NY
10 Apr 1976 at Paul Mellon Arts Center, Wallingford, CT
13 Apr 1976 at Penn State University, University Park, PA
15 Apr 1976 at Syria Mosque, Pittsburgh, PA
17 Apr 1976 at University Of Rochester, Rochester, NY
22 Apr 1976 at Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, VA
24 Apr 1976 at Appalachian State University, Boone, NC
29 Apr 1976 at Ellis Auditorium, Memphis, TN
03 May 1976 at Robinson Auditorium, Little Rock, AR
11 May 1976 at Auburn University, Auburn, AL
13 May 1976 at Municipal Auditorium, New Orleans, LA
27 May 1976 at Eisenhower Hall Auditorium, West Point, NY
28 May 1976 at Halsey Field House, Annapolis, MD

Despite the marvelous reception received by both Born To Run and the tour which followed, the relationship between Bruce Springsteen and his now former manager and producer Mike Appel was deteriorating. In July 1976 the storm broke; Mike Appel wrote to Springsteen saying that he would not allow Jon Landau (Springsteen's friend and co-producer of Born To Run) to produce the next album, citing a particular paragraph from their original agreement. Bruce replied on 27 Jul 1976 by firing manager Mike Appel and suing him and his management company Laurel Canyon Ltd. in Federal Court in Manhattan, claiming fraud, breach of trust, and undue influence. Appel countersued on 29 Jul 1976 in New York State Supreme Court, asking the court to prohibit Springsteen and Jon Landau from working together in studio. Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band were slated to enter the studio that year for the recording of a new album, except that on 15 Sep 1976 the judge in the lawsuits case ruled that Springsteen was enjoined from any further recording with Columbia Records until Appel's suit was resolved. This would drag for about a year. Meanwhile, Springsteen continued gigging, and in the process broke his self-imposed rule of not playing the larger arenas. This was basically because he was not able to put a record out, and it was the only way his fans would be able to hear him at all. The tour became known as the "Lawsuit Tour".

IT'S MY LIFE is known to have been performed at least 52 times during the Lawsuit Tour: 26 times during the 1st leg (29 known dates, between August and November 1976) and 26 times during the 2nd leg (33 known dates, between February and March 1977). Some of that period's setlists are incomplete or unknown, and therefore, the song may have been played on some more dates during the Lawsuit Tour. On this tour, the song featured a spoken narrative.

01 Aug 1976 at Monmouth Arts Center, Red Bank, NJ
02 Aug 1976 at Monmouth Arts Center, Red Bank, NJ
03 Aug 1976 at Monmouth Arts Center, Red Bank, NJ
05 Aug 1976 at Monmouth Arts Center, Red Bank, NJ
06 Aug 1976 at Monmouth Arts Center, Red Bank, NJ
07 Aug 1976 at Monmouth Arts Center, Red Bank, NJ
21 Aug 1976 at Palace Theater, Waterbury, CT
22 Aug 1976 at Springfield Civic Center, Springfield, MA
26 Sep 1976 at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Phoenix, AZ
29 Sep 1976 at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, CA
30 Sep 1976 at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, CA
02 Oct 1976 at Paramount Theatre, Oakland, CA
05 Oct 1976 at Santa Barbara County Bowl, Santa Barbara, CA
09 Oct 1976 at University Of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN
10 Oct 1976 at Miami University, Oxford, OH
12 Oct 1976 at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
13 Oct 1976 at Kean College, Union, NJ
16 Oct 1976 at The College Of William And Mary, Williamsburg, VA
17 Oct 1976 at Georgetown University, Washington, DC
25 Oct 1976 at Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA
27 Oct 1976 at Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA
28 Oct 1976 at Palladium, New York City, NY
29 Oct 1976 at Palladium, New York City, NY
30 Oct 1976 at Palladium, New York City, NY
02 Nov 1976 at Palladium, New York City, NY
03 Nov 1976 at Palladium, New York City, NY
04 Nov 1976 at Palladium, New York City, NY
07 Feb 1977 at Palace Theatre, Albany, NY
08 Feb 1977 at Auditorium Theatre, Rochester, NY
09 Feb 1977 at Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo, NY
12 Feb 1977 at Ottawa Civic Centre, Ottawa, Canada
13 Feb 1977 at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Canada
15 Feb 1977 at Masonic Temple Theatre, Detroit, MI
16 Feb 1977 at Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
17 Feb 1977 at Richfield Coliseum, Richfield, OH
19 Feb 1977 at Saint Paul Civic Center Theatre, Saint Paul, MN
22 Feb 1977 at Milwaukee Auditorium, Milwaukee, WI
23 Feb 1977 at Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL
25 Feb 1977 at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
26 Feb 1977 at Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, IN
27 Feb 1977 at Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, OH
28 Feb 1977 at Fox Theatre, St. Louis, MO
02 Mar 1977 at Civic Center Auditorium, Atlanta, GA
04 Mar 1977 at Civic Auditorium, Jacksonville, FL
05 Mar 1977 at Jai Alai Fronton, Orlando, FL
06 Mar 1977 at Jai Alai Fronton, Miami, FL
10 Mar 1977 at Sports Arena, Toledo, OH
13 Mar 1977 at Towson State University, Towson, MD
15 Mar 1977 at Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena, Binghamton, NY
18 Mar 1977 at New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum, New Haven, CT
19 Mar 1977 at Central Maine Youth Center, Lewiston, ME
20 Mar 1977 at Providence College, Providence, RI
22 Mar 1977 at Music Hall, Boston, MA

In preparation for the Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour, IT'S MY LIFE was practiced on 19 May 1978 at Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, NJ, during the only known/confirmed private rehearsal prior to the tour's start.

IT'S MY LIFE is known to have been performed at least 6 times during the 111-date-long Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour, all around September 1978. 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. On this tour, the song did not feature a spoken narrative.

IT'S MY LIFE was sound-checked prior to the 23 Mar 1988 show in Atlanta, GA, (as far as it's known) but it was not performed on any of the Tunnel Of Love Express Tour's regular shows.

Available Versions

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