REASON TO BELIEVE^©

Album's version

Seen a man standin' over a dead dog lyin' by the highway in a ditch
He's lookin' down kinda puzzled pokin' that dog with a stick
Got his car door flung open he's standin' out on Highway 31
Like if he stood there long enough that dog'd get up and run
It struck me kinda funny, seemed kinda funny sir to me
Still at the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe

Now Mary Lou loved Johnny with a love mean and true
She said "Baby I'll work for you every day, bring my money home to you"
One day he up and left her and ever since that
She waits down at the end of that dirt road for young Johnny to come back
Struck me kinda funny, funny yeah to me*
How at the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe

Take a baby to the river, Kyle William they called him
Wash the baby in the water, take away little Kyle's sin
In a whitewash shotgun shack an old man passes away
Take his body to the graveyard, over him they pray
Lord won't you tell us, tell us what does it mean
At the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe

Congregation gathers down by the riverside
Preacher stands with a Bible, groom stands waitin' for his bride
Congregation gone and the sun sets behind a weepin' willow tree
Groom stands alone and watches the river rush on so effortlessly
Wonderin' where can his baby be
Still at the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe

Uplifting closer of the "dark" Nebraska album, known to be written in late 1981. Bruce Springsteen first recorded a home demo of the song on or around 03 Jan 1982 at at Thrill Hill East, his home studio in Colts Neck, NJ. He recorded it on a four-track cassette recorder, which became the famous Nebraska demo tape of Jan 1982:

Following The River tour, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band were supposed to start recording the next album in New York City in February 1982. Bruce decided to record multi-channel, professional sounding, finished demos of some songs he had written during the period. He felt the upcoming band sessions would progress faster than they had for his previous three albums if he records these finished demos and demonstrates them to The E Street Band.

To achieve his goal, in December 1981, he asks his guitar technician, Mike Batlan, to set up a no frills "porta-studio" in a spare room of his home in Colt's Neck, NJ. Some modification work was done to the room making it more receptive to achieving a decent sound. Batlan purchased a Teac Tascom (Series 144) 4-track cassette recorder, two SM57's microphones, and two microphone stands. The sound was mixed through an old Gibson Echoplex, and an old Panasonic boom box acted as the mix-down deck.

Springsteen recorded during the first few days of January, with most of the songs cut in one all day/night session on 03 Jan 1982. There were 15 songs recorded on tape, and some of them were recorded 2 or 3 times in slightly different arrangements. The tape was never conceived to result in a commercially released album, as the songs were recorded by the E Street Band with multi-instrument arrangements, during what's known as the "Electric Nebraska Session". However two or three months later, Springsteen recorded two additional songs (MY FATHER'S HOUSE and THE BIG PAYBACK) at home on the same equipment – thus making a total of 17 different songs.

Most of the E Street Band arrangements of these songs were discarded and the original solo demos (including REASON TO BELIEVE) from the tape were released on Nebraska.

It is known that two different and complete takes of REASON TO BELIEVE were recorded during those sessions, but only one has surfaced, under two mixes, on:

• The Nebraska album
• The Lost Masters Vol. 1 bootleg (this mix is a little faster than the official one)

Not to be confused with the Tim Hardin's song of the same title, and that became a hit for Rod Stewart.

The song appeared live for the first time during the Born In The USA tour on 01 Jul 1984 at the Civic Center, Saint Paul, MN. Performed 59 times in total during that tour. The live 19 Aug 1984 version at the Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ, was released on the Live 1975-85 box set. Check the Live 1975-85 version.

Appeared only once during the Tunnel Of Love tour, being sound-checked on 28 Mar 1988 at Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, MI, but never played during the shows. Performed in acoustic version during both the benefit shows for the Christic Institute, on 16 and 17 Nov 1990 at the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA (check out the live 16 Nov 1990 version and live 17 Nov 1990 version). Played acoustic 25 times during The Ghost Of Tom Joad tour (check out the live 18 Feb 1996 version).

The song reappeared during the Devils & Dust tour in radical reworking sung into electric-harmonica mic -- boot-stompin', distorted delta-blues. Reported to be rehearsed for the tour on 11 Mar 2005 at the Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park, NJ. Also played during the second warm-up show for the tour on 22 Apr 2005 at the Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park, NJ. The song was played during each of the first 50 tour shows (either opener or second on the setlist), but often dropped out during the last two month of the tour; which makes a total of 56 on-tour performances. The 09 Nov 2005 performance at Wachovia Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA, marks the last appearance of the song. Check out the live 15 May 2005 version.

Kevin Kinney performed a cover version of REASON TO BELIEVE during The Nebraska Project event that took place on 14 Jan 2006 at the World Financial Winter Garden, New York City, NY. He ended the song with an upbeat country-gospel coda. Check out the 14 Jun 2006 cover version for more details.

REASON TO BELIEVE has been covered by several artists through the years, including:

• The Beat Farmers
• Tammy Comstock
• Robin Dale Ford
• Aimee Mann & Michael Penn (check out Aimee Mann & Michael Penn's version)
• More Trouble Band
• Cassell Webb

Here's a list of the Bruce Springsteen tribute albums that include covers of REASON TO BELIEVE:

Various artists / Cover Me LP - Rhino (RNIN 70700) - USA - 1986 REASON TO BELIEVE is performed by The Beat Farmers

Various artists / Songs From The Boss LP - Dover Records (ADD 3) - UK - 1988 CD - Dover Records (CCD 3) - UK - 1988 REASON TO BELIEVE is performed by The Beat Farmers

Various artists / Cover Me CD - Rhino (R2 70700) - USA - 1989 REASON TO BELIEVE is performed by The Beat Farmers

Various artists / For You: A Tribute To Bruce Springsteen CD - Totem Records (TTM 480499 2) - Italy - 1995 REASON TO BELIEVE is performed by More Trouble Band

Various artists / The Bruce Springsteen Songbook CD - Connoisseur (VSOP CD 224) - UK - 1996 REASON TO BELIEVE is performed by The Beat Farmers

Various artists / Badlands - A Tribute To Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska CD - Sub Pop (SPCD 525) - USA - 2000 REASON TO BELIEVE is performed by Aimee Mann and Michael Penn

Various artists / Badlands - A Tribute To Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska promo CD copy in cardsleeve - Sub Pop (no label #) - USA - 2000 REASON TO BELIEVE is performed by Aimee Mann and Michael Penn

Various artists / Badlands - A Tribute To Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska promo 5-track EP - Sub Pop (no label #) - USA - 2000 REASON TO BELIEVE is performed by Aimee Mann and Michael Penn

Various artists / Born To Run 2003 - The Best of The Boss, Volume One CD - Uncut (UNCUT 2003 04A) - UK - 2003 REASON TO BELIEVE is performed by Townes Van Zandt Free CD (volume 1 of 2) released with the April 2003 issue of Uncut magazine

Various artists / Reason To Believe: A Country Music Tribute To Bruce Springsteen CD - Sterling / Warner Special Products (?) - USA - 2004 REASON TO BELIEVE is performed by The Beat Farmers

* On the album's booklet, this line is "Struck me kinda funny seemed kind of funny sir to me." However, this is not at all what Bruce sings. It's actually "Struck me kinda funny, funny yeah to me". At least, this is what I heard.

The above lyrics refer to the album's version. Check out the live versions (pretty similar): Live 1975-85, 16 Nov 1984, 18 Nov 1984, 19 Nov 1984, 07 Dec 1984, 07 Jan 1985, 16 Nov 1990, 17 Nov 1990, 18 Feb 1996, and 15 May 2005. Check also the 14 Jun 2006 cover version and Aimee Mann & Michael Penn's version.

Scans and info for the tribute albums are taken from the Nebraska website.
Recording info taken from Brucebase.

Request:
I heard that the 29 Aug 1984 (Capital Centre, Landover, MD) version of REASON TO BELIEVE features changed lyrics. If you have audio for it, would you please send me an mp3 for it so I transcribe the lyrics, or at least transcribe them for me. You can contact me via the below form or by email: . You will be credited. Thanks in advance.

Liner notes from The Lost Masters Vol. 1 bootleg booklet:

All songs: Bruce Springsteen. Acoustic home demos. Four track mixes. Colts Neck, New Jersey. Recorded over a period of days in late December 1981 through January 1982. Compiled and edited by Bruce Springsteen possibly January 3rd, 1982 (tracks 1-14).