THE PRICE YOU PAY

Alternative version 1

You make up your mind, you choose the chance you take
To ride to where the highway ends and the desert breaks
Out on to an open road you ride until the day
You learn to sleep at night with the price you pay

Now with their hands held high
They reached out for the open skies
And in one last breath
They built the roads they'd ride to their death
Driving on through the night, unable to break away
From the everlasting pull of the price you pay

Oh, the price you pay, oh, the price you pay
Now you can't walk away from the price you pay

Some say forget the past, and some say don't look back**
But for every breath you take, you leave a track**
And it just don't seem fair, but for every smile that breaks**
A tear must fall somewhere, oh the price you pay**

Oh, the price you pay, oh, the price you pay
You just can't walk away from the price you pay

Little girl down on the strand
With that pretty little baby in your hands
Do you remember the story of the promised land?
How we crossed the desert sands
And could not enter the chosen land
On the banks of the river he stayed
To face the price you pay
So let the games start, you better run you little wild heart
You can run through all the nights and all the days
But just across the county line
A stranger passing through put up a sign
That counts the men fallen away
To the price you pay, and girl before the end of the day
I'm gonna tear it down and throw it away

No no no no no ah
No no no no no ah
No no no no no ah
No no no no no ah

This alternative version of THE PRICE YOU PAY was recorded on 21 Jun 1979 at The Power Station, New York City. It has the same third verse (**) as the live version and alternative version 2.

* This verse was used in PRODIGAL SON, ten years before...

Available on:

1. The River (disc 2- track 7)