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SEVEN ANGELS 
Official studio version
Whoa!
Hmmm
Seven angels got my number since I fell in love with you
Seven angels got my number, they're all telling me what to do
First angel says "Go on and love her"
Second angels says "Ain't you tired of being alone?"
Third angel says "Do the right thing, meat"
Fourth angels says "Check that other little angel walkin' on down the street"
Seven angels got my number since I fell in love with you
Seven angels got my number, they're all telling me what to do
Fifth angels says "Don't worry
Love's waitin' 'round the corner for you, son"
Sixth angel says "You better hurry
It don't take long for the good to get gone"
Walkin' on wings all sexy and blue
Seventh angel says I'm a fool
Hey!
Whoa!
Hey!
Hey!
I got seven angels calling on my pride
Seven devils crawling around inside
Seven angels tellin' me which way to turn, whoa!
One kiss and my soul wanna burn
Hey!
Seven angels got my number since I fell in love with you
Seven angels got my number, they're all telling me what to do
The earth's so lonely, sad and blue
And without love, your soul's dyin'
Sixth angel says to believe you
When you say you'll never leave me cryin'
Seventh angel says you're lyin'
Whoa!
Page last updated: 15 Aug 2008
Intro
Music and lyrics by Bruce Springsteen, SEVEN ANGELS is a Human Touch
outtake that was released on the Tracks box set in 1998.
Composition and Recording
Jon Landau mentioned in an interview that Springsteen did virtually no
songwriting during this Oct 1988 - Aug 1989 period. SEVEN ANGELS was probably written after that
writing break, and, of course, prior to the song's 27 Feb 1990 recording date.
According to
Brucebase, the sessions for what
became the Human Touch album took place entirely on the west coast (a first for
Springsteen) and spanned about a 19-month period, from Sep 1989 to Mar 1991. According to the
Tracks booklet liner notes, SEVEN ANGELS was recorded on 29 Jun 1990 at Oceanway Studios
in Los Angeles, CA. The track features Bruce Springsteen on vocals, guitar, bass, Roy Bittan on
keyboards, and Shawn Pelton on drums. It was recorded by Toby Scott, mixed by Bob Clearmountain,
and produced by Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin, and Roy Bittan.
Bruce Springsteen writes in his book Songs, "[The Human
Touch album] took shape when Roy [Bittan] and I would play together in my garage apartment
and make tapes of songs and arrangement ideas I came up with. Then we'd go into the studio and set
up what essentially a two-man band. I would sing and play guitar; Roy would play keyboards and
bass. Together we'd perform to a drum track. The two of us could create an entire band sound live
in the studio [...] Then musicians would come in and play to what we recorded, or we'd play with
them and record the songs live." On this official recording of SEVEN ANGELS, Springsteen
handles guitar, bass, and vocals, and is accompanied by Roy Bittan on keyboards and Shawn Pelton
on drums.
The Tracks Box Set
In the liner notes of his Tracks box set, Bruce Springsteen introduces
the box set as follows:
During long intervals between my record releases, as
I was spending more and more time in the studio, when I met a fan out on the street I was often
asked, "What are you guys doing in there?" I regularly pondered that question myself.
What we were doing in there was making a lot of music, a lot more music than I could use at any
one time. As a result, my albums became a series of choices – what to include, what to leave out?
I based my decisions on my creative point of view at the moment – the subject I was trying to
focus on, something musical or emotional I was trying to express. In certain instances, as on
Darkness on the Edge of Town, Nebraska, and The Ghost of Tom Joad,
these choices crystallized the album I was making. On some of my other records the reasons I had
for choosing one song over another, in hindsight, feel a good deal less significant. One of the
results of working like this was that a lot of music, including some of my favorite things,
remained unreleased.
This collection contains everything from the first notes I sang in the Columbia recording studio,
my early and later work with the E Street Band, through to my music in the 90s. It's the alternate
route to some of the destinations I travelled to on my records, an invitation into the studio on
the many nights we spent making music in search of the records we presented to you. I'm glad to
finally be able to share this music; here are some of the ones that got away.
-- Bruce Springsteen, September 1998
Bruce Springsteen's albums were thematically linked even if they were not
strictly concept albums; so some tracks that didn't fit the theme of the album ended up orphaned,
not necessarily because they didn't meet his high standards, but because, he says, they didn't fit
in with the tone or themes he mined for each set. Many of these unreleased studio outtakes got
under the hands of bootleggers. Discussing that issue in 1984, Springsteen told Rolling
Stone's Kurt Loder, "We record a lot of material, but we just don't release it all. [...] I
always tell myself that some day I'm gonna put an album out with all this stuff on it that didn't
fit in. I think there's some good material there that should come out. Maybe at some point, I'll
do that."
During a break in The Ghost Of Tom Joad Solo Acoustic Tour,
Springsteen thought that "if it's gonna be a year or longer in between records, I have all this
music that I know is very good that I never released and I should release some of it whether it
was just a CD or something. In that period of time, I should put something out because people
would like to have it and I'd like to see it get out." He told Toby Scott (his audio archivist and
recording engineer), "send me all the archives, send everything that we recorded". Scott then went
to work gathering the potential material from Springsteen's massive audio library (located, along
with Sony's sound archives, in the high-tech Iron Mountain facility near Buffalo, NY). "For a week
or so," he told Billboard in a Nov 1998 interview, "I just listened to everything that
I'd done that we hadn't put out. I made some very brief notes in a notebook, and then I just put
it away. It was something that I could do at some point when I get to that place in a new project
where I'm not sure how long it's going to take and it would be nice to sort of fill the gap so the
fans wouldn't be so long without hearing any music from me".
Springsteen told Mark Hagen in an interview for Mojo magazine
published in January 1999, "So it began just with that idea and we listened to about 250 songs,
maybe more, I made quick notes in a notebook and put it away. A year went by, more maybe, and I
came off the Tom Joad tour and I began to write acoustically again and I wrote about half a
record. Then I got stuck and said, 'Well, I'm going to put this aside for a while.' Then I wrote
half of an electric record, and hit the same place. So I thought, instead of waiting for another
year to put something out I'll put some of this music together. So once again I went back to the
archives." According to interview comments made by engineer Toby Scott (Springsteen's audio
archivist and recording engineer), it was in February 1998 during solo sessions being conducted at
Thrill Hill Recording (Springsteen's home studio) in Colts Neck, NJ, that Springsteen told Scott
that the time was right to proceed with the long-anticipated box set of archived, unreleased
studio takes. Thrill Hill Recording served as the main operational center for all Tracks
project activities. Note that the "Thrill Hill Recording" name is used for whatever home studio
Springsteen is recording at, whether it's in Rumson, NJ, Colts, NJ, or Beverly Hills, CA.
Springsteen told Billboard that the songs were culled from between 200
and 300 tunes. According to Toby Scott, the number was down to about 128 songs by late June 1998.
It was then narrowed down yet again in July to about 100 songs that were prepped for the
Tracks release. Although the project was originally projected to be a 6-disc set, there
was a commercial decision made later in the summer to reduce the size of the release to a 4-disc
(66-track) set. The package was delivered to Sony in mid-September in order to facilitate the
mid-November 1998 release schedule.
Unreleased songs from the Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ sessions were
not included on the box set due to ongoing and still-unresolved court proceedings involving most
of these unreleased 1972 recordings. The court battle wasn't resolved until in 2001 (April 2001 in
the UK and June 2001 in the U.S.), and those recordings are now free for release at any time. The
opening four tracks of the box set – which were culled from Springsteen's 03 May 1972 Columbia
Records audition – were not part of the court proceedings.
The Tracks box set was released on Columbia Records on 10 Nov 1998.
It's a 4-disc set consisting of a total of 66 tracks (almost 4.5 hours long), 10 of which were
heretofore unavailable single B-sides, 6 were demos and alternate versions of already-released
material, and 50 (48 studio and 2 live) were never-before-released songs recorded during the
sessions for Springsteen's many albums. Some tracks were treated with a recent touch-up here or
there to give the older recordings a fresh polish.
- Disc 1 consists of material from 1972 to 1980, including Springsteen's very first Columbia
Records audition for legendary A & R executive John Hammond. This disc also features
additional songs most of which recorded for (but never released on) Springsteen's first four
albums.
- Disc 2 consists of material from 1979 to 1983, taken primarily from the recording sessions of
The River, Nebraska, and Born In The USA. Springsteen describes this
disc as "almost the completely other album from 'The River'."
- Disc 3 consists of material from 1982 to 1987, taken primarily from the recording sessions of
Born In The USA and Tunnel Of Love.
- Disc 4 consists of material from 1989 to 1998, taken primarily from the recording sessions of
Human Touch.
Tracks, disc 1 track listing:
| 1. | | MARY QUEEN OF ARKANSAS | | Recorded at CBS Studios, New York City, NY, on 03 May 1972 |
| 2. | | IT'S HARD TO BE A SAINT IN THE CITY | | Recorded at CBS Studios, New York City, NY, on 03 May 1972 |
| 3. | | GROWIN' UP | | Recorded at CBS Studios, New York City, NY, on 03 May 1972 |
| 4. | | DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET | | Recorded at CBS Studios, New York City, NY, on 03 May 1972 |
| 5. | | BISHOP DANCED | | Recorded live at Max's Kansas City, New York City, NY, on 31 Jan 1973 |
| 6. | | SANTA ANA | | Recorded at 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, NY, on 28 Jun 1973 |
| 7. | | SEASIDE BAR SONG | | Recorded at 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, NY, on 28 Jun 1973 |
| 8. | | ZERO AND BLOND TERRY | | Recorded at 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, NY, on 28 Jun 1973 |
| 9. | | LINDA LET ME BE THE ONE | | Recorded at Record Plant, New York City, NY, on 28 Jun 1975 |
| 10. | | THUNDERCRACK | | Recorded at Record Plant, New York City, NY, on 28 Jun 1975 |
| 11. | | RENDEZVOUS | | Recorded live at Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY, on 31 Dec 1980 |
| 12. | | GIVE THE GIRL A KISS | | Recorded at Record Plant, New York City, NY, on 10 Nov 1977 |
| 13. | | ICEMAN | | Recorded at Record Plant, New York City, NY, on 27 Oct 1977 |
| 14. | | BRING ON THE NIGHT | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 13 Jun 1979 |
| 15. | | SO YOUNG AND IN LOVE | | Recorded at Record Plant, New York City, NY, on 06 Jan 1978 |
| 16. | | HEARTS OF STONE | | Recorded at Record Plant, New York City, NY, on 14 Oct 1977 |
| 17. | | DON'T LOOK BACK | | Recorded at Record Plant, New York City, NY, on 02 Jul 1977 |
Tracks, disc 2 track listing:
| 1. | | RESTLESS NIGHTS | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 11 Apr 1980 |
| 2. | | A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND (PITTSBURGH) | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 05 May 1982 |
| 3. | | ROULETTE | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 03 Apr 1978 |
| 4. | | DOLLHOUSE | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 21 Aug 1979 |
| 5. | | WHERE THE BANDS ARE | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 09 Oct 1979 |
| 6. | | LOOSE ENDS | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 18 Jul 1979 |
| 7. | | LIVING ON THE EDGE OF THE WORLD | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 07 Dec 1979 |
| 8. | | WAGES OF SIN | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 10 May 1982 |
| 9. | | TAKE 'EM AS THEY COME | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 10 Apr 1980 |
| 10. | | BE TRUE | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 21 Jul 1979 |
| 11. | | RICKY WANTS A MAN OF HER OWN | | Recorded at Record Plant, New York City, NY, on 16 Jul 1979 |
| 12. | | I WANNA BE WITH YOU | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 31 May 1979 |
| 13. | | MARY LOU | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 30 May 1979 |
| 14. | | STOLEN CAR | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 26 Jul 1979 |
| 15. | | BORN IN THE USA | | Recorded at Thrill Hill Recording, Colts Neck, NJ, in Jan 1982 |
| 16. | | JOHNNY BYE-BYE | | Recorded at Thrill Hill Recording, Beverly Hills, CA, in Jan 1983 |
| 17. | | SHUT OUT THE LIGHT | | Recorded at Thrill Hill Recording, Beverly Hills, CA, in Jan 1983 |
Tracks, disc 3 track listing:
| 1. | | CYNTHIA | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 20 Apr 1983 |
| 2. | | MY LOVE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 05 May 1982 |
| 3. | | THIS HARD LAND | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 11 May 1982 |
| 4. | | FRANKIE | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 14 May 1982 |
| 5. | | TV MOVIE | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 13 Jun 1983 |
| 6. | | STAND ON IT | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 16 Jun 1983 |
| 7. | | LION'S DEN | | Recorded at The Power Station, New York City, NY, on 25 Jan 1982 |
| 8. | | CAR WASH | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 31 May 1983 |
| 9. | | ROCKAWAY THE DAYS | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 03 Feb 1984 |
| 10. | | BROTHERS UNDER THE BRIDGES ('83) | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 04 Sep 1983 |
| 11. | | MAN AT THE TOP | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 12 Jan 1984 |
| 12. | | PINK CADILLAC | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 31 May 1983 |
| 13. | | TWO FOR THE ROAD | | Recorded at Thrill Hill Recording, Colts Neck, NJ, in Feb 1987 |
| 14. | | JANEY DON'T YOU LOSE HEART | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 16 Jun 1983 |
| 15. | | WHEN YOU NEED ME | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 10 Jan 1987 |
| 16. | | THE WISH | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 22 Feb 1987 |
| 17. | | THE HONEYMOONERS | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 22 Feb 1987 |
| 18. | | LUCKY MAN | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 04 Apr 1987 |
Tracks, disc 4 track listing:
| 1. | | LEAVIN' TRAIN | | Recorded at Oceanway Studios, Los Angeles, CA, on 27 Feb 1990 |
| 2. | | SEVEN ANGELS | | Recorded at Oceanway Studios, Los Angeles, CA, on 29 Jun 1990 |
| 3. | | GAVE IT A NAME | | Recorded at Thrill Hill Recording, Colts Neck, NJ, on 24 Aug 1998 |
| 4. | | SAD EYES | | Recorded at Soundworks West, Los Angeles, CA, on 25 Jan 1990 |
| 5. | | MY LOVER MAN | | Recorded at Soundworks West, Los Angeles, CA, on 04 Dec 1990 |
| 6. | | OVER THE RISE | | Recorded at Soundworks West, Los Angeles, CA, on 07 Dec 1990 |
| 7. | | WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT | | Recorded at Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA, on 06 Dec 1990 |
| 8. | | LOOSE CHANGE | | Recorded at Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA, on 31 Jan 1991 |
| 9. | | TROUBLE IN PARADISE | | Recorded at Soundworks West, Los Angeles, CA, on 01 Dec 1989 |
| 10. | | HAPPY | | Recorded at A & M Studios, Los Angeles, CA, on 18 Jan 1992 |
| 11. | | PART MAN, PART MONKEY | | Recorded at Soundworks West, Los Angeles, CA, in Jan 1990 |
| 12. | | GOIN' CALI | | Recorded at A & M Studios, Los Angeles, CA, on 29 Jan 1991 |
| 13. | | BACK IN YOUR ARMS | | Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York City, NY, on 12 Jan 1995 |
| 14. | | BROTHERS UNDER THE BRIDGE | | Recorded at Thrill Hill Recording, Beverly Hills, CA, on 22 May 1995 |
Official Releases
In addition to its release on
Tracks,
SEVEN ANGELS was also included on Tracks Sampler, a 1998 single disc
advance promotional album containing a selection of 15 tracks taken from the Tracks box
set. The sampler was issued in the U.S., Australia, and Germany with identical catalogue numbers
(COL CSK 41561).
Live History
SEVEN ANGELS was sound-checked prior to the 28 Apr 1999 show in Lyon, France,
(as far as it's known) but it was not performed on any of The Reunion Tour's regular
shows.
SEVEN ANGELS was sound-checked prior to the 08 and 09 Nov 2005 shows in
Philadelphia, PA, (as far as it's known) but it was not performed on any of the Devils &
Dust Solo Acoustic Tour's regular shows.
Covers
As far as it's known, no artist has recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's
SEVEN ANGELS.
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