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Album version
Princess cards she sends me with her regards
Whoa barroom eyes shine vacancy, to see her you gotta look hard
Wounded deep in battle, I stand stuffed like some soldier undaunted
To her Cheshire smile I'll stand on file, she's all I ever wanted
Oh but you let your blue walls get in the way of these facts
Honey get your carpetbaggers off my back
You wouldn't even give me time to cover my tracks
You said, "Here's your mirror and your ball and jacks"
But they're not what I came for, and I'm sure you see that too
I came for you, for you, I came for you, but you did not need my urgency
I came for you, for you, I came for you, but your life was one long emergency
And your cloud line urges me, oh, and my electric surges free
Oh crawl into my ambulance, your pulse is getting weak
Oh reveal yourself all now to me girl while you've got the strength to speak
'Cause they're waiting for you at Bellevue with their oxygen masks
But I could give it all to you now if only you could ask
Whoa and don't call for your surgeon, even he says it's too late
It's not your lungs this time, it's your heart that holds your fate
Don't give me my money, honey, I don't want it back
You and your pony face and your union jack
We'll take your local joker and teach him how to act
I swear I was never that way even when I really cracked
Didn't you think I knew that you were born with the power of a locomotive
Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound
And your Chelsea suicide with no apparent motive
You could laugh and cry in a single sound
Alright
Mmm
And your strength is devastating in the face of all these odds
Remember how I kept you waiting when it was my turn to be the god
You were not quite half so proud when I found you broken on the beach
Oh remember how I poured salt on your tongue and hung just out of reach
And the band they played the homecoming theme as I caressed your cheek
Yeah that ragged jagged melody, she still clings to me like a leech
But that medal you wore on your chest always got in the way
Like a little girl with a trophy so soft to buy her way
We were both hitchhikers but you had your ears tuned to the roar
Of some metal-tempered engine on an alien distant shore
So you left to find a better reason than the one we were living for
And it's not that nursery mouth I came back for
It's not the way you're stretched out on the floor
'Cause I've broken all your windows and I've rammed through all your doors
And who am I to ask you to lick my sores
And you should know that's true
I came for you, for you, I came for you, but you did not need my urgency
I came for you, for you, I came for you, your life was one long emergency
And your cloud line urges me, oh, and my electric surges free
Ooooh, ooh ooh
FOR YOU is a song written by Bruce Springsteen and released on his 1973 album Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. The above lyrics are for Bruce Springsteen's album version of FOR YOU as released in 1973.
The album version of FOR YOU was included on The Essential Bruce Springsteen (2003 edition) compilation album.
Bruce Springsteen's FOR YOU was most notably covered and released by Greg Kihn and by Manfred Mann's Earth Band. See Greg Kihn's cover version and Manfred Mann's Earth Band's cover version for more details.
Though its literal storyline is fiction, FOR YOU was inspired by Springsteen's impermanent breakup with Diane Lozito in late 1971. Lozito was his girlfriend between summer 1971 and early 1975. See ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) for more about Diane Lozito. Introducing FOR YOU on 03 Jun 1978 in Uniondale, NY, Springsteen told the crowd: "This is a song I wrote back in, I guess, in 1971. I was [...] living on top of this drug-store in Asbury Park and I didn't have a band. I was playing by myself. I was doing some gigs at old Gaslight Cafe and Max's Kansas City by myself. And I remember I was breaking up with this girlfriend and I went away for a week and I came back and she'd painted all the walls to my room black... That's not true, I made that, I made that up... actually she'd painted 'em all blue."
FOR YOU was recorded at 914 Sound Studios in Blauvelt, NY, during the Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. album recording sessions. According to Sony's logs of Bruce Springsteen's studio sessions, the song was cut 27 Jun 1972 and 26 Oct 1972. It's likely that the song was recorded during the first session (27 Jun 1972) and some overdubbing took place during the second session (26 Oct 1972). Bruce Springsteen plays guitar and sings vocals on this track, and is backed by Vini Lopez on drums, David Sancious on piano and keyboards, and Garry Tallent on electric bass. The track, as well as the whole album, was produced by Mike Appel and Jimmy Cretecos. Springsteen performed FOR YOU during an audition for Mike Appel and Jim Cretecos on 14 Feb 1972 at Appel's office at Pocketful Of Tunes. Bob Spitz was also present and he recorded the performance on a reel-to-reel tape recorder. According to Brucebase, FOR YOU was apparently a shorter, not fully realized version of a song that Bruce seems not to have gotten around to finishing until the sessions for the first album were underway. See the "1971-1972 Auditions" section below for more details.
On 04 Nov 1971, Carl "Tinker" West, then-manager of The Bruce Springsteen Band, drove Bruce Springsteen to New York City to introduce him to Mike Appel, a songwriter who carried on his songwriting activities jointly with Jim Cretecos. Appel was then employed at Pocketful Of Tunes Inc., Wes Farrell's publishing company in New York City, NY, and the meeting took place at Pocketful Of Tunes. Springsteen performed two or three songs, some on piano and some on acoustic guitar. Only Appel and West were present at this first meeting. Appel has stated in interview that he was not particularly impressed by what he heard at this initial audition but did see raw creativity in the lyrics of BABY DOLL. That performance was not recorded and the titles of the other song(s) performed remain unclear. Appel indicated an interest in promoting them in some way and the meeting ended with an agreement to keep in touch but no commitments from either party.
Meanwhile Springsteen continued gigging with The Bruce Springsteen Band in New Jersey and Virginia and visited his family in California for a few weeks around the holidays. The next meeting between Springsteen and Appel took place on 14 Feb 1972. Springsteen performed a set of seven songs at Appel's office at Pocketful Of Tunes. The songs were performed live solo on acoustic guitar to an audience of three: Mike Appel, Jim Cretecos, and Bob Spitz. Spitz recorded the performance on a reel-to-reel tape recorder. IT'S HARD TO BE A SAINT IN THE CITY was performed a second time at the request of Appel who reportedly was dazzled the lyrics. After that performance Appel and Cretecos began putting the wheels in motion to sign Springsteen to a comprehensive range of contracts.
In March 1972, it was agreed that Appel and Cretecos would promote Springsteen's interests. For that purpose, Appel and Cretecos formed three partnerships owned equally by the two: Laurel Canyon Management to act as Springsteen's manager, Laurel Canyon Productions to cover his recording activities, and Sioux City Music Inc to cover his songwriting activities. In the meantime, Springsteen entered into an "Exclusive Management Contract" with Laurel Canyon Management and an "Exclusive Recording Contract" with Laurel Canyon Productions, but did not sign any songwriting agreement at this time, apparently wishing to think this matter over a bit longer. The two contracts were signed at Appel's office.
Appel wanted to sign Springsteen to Columbia Records. He could not arrange a meeting with label head Clive Davis but was able to arrange one with CBS A&R Manager and talent scout John Hammond. An informal private audition took place around 10:30 AM on 02 May 1972 in Hammond's office in the A&R Department at Columbia Records in New York City. John Hammond and Mike Appel were the only two present at the audition. All songs were performed on acoustic guitar and the performance, which lasted about 30 to 40 minutes, was not recorded but based on the collective recollections of the attendees at least the following four songs were played:
In a 1980 interview, Hammond mentioned he wasn't all that enamored with MARY QUEEN OF ARKANSAS, but that he loved all the other songs that Springsteen performed that morning. "It was a big, big day for me," Springsteen told Mark Hagen in an interview for Mojo magazine published in January 1999. "I was twenty-two and came up on the bus with an acoustic guitar with no case which I'd borrowed from the drummer from The Castiles. I was embarrassed carrying it around the city. I walked into [John Hammond's] office and had the audition and I played a couple of songs and he said, 'You've got to be on Columbia Records. But I need to see you play. And I need to hear how you sound on tape.'"
Springsteen said that he and Mike Appel "walked all around the Village trying to find some place that would let somebody just get up on stage and play. We went to the Bitter End, it didn't work out. We went to another club. And finally we went to the old Gaslight on MacDougal Street and the guy says, 'Yeah, we have an open night where you can come down and play for half an hour'. There were about 10 people in the place and I played for about half an hour." The performance took place at the Gaslight Au Go Go club in New York City. No recording has emanated from this club appearance which lasted about 30 minutes and included just 4 or 5 songs. Both Springsteen and Appel have mentioned these two tracks as having been played:
John Hammond was impressed. "The kid absolutely knocked me out," he told Newsweek in 1975. "I only hear somebody really good once every ten years, and not only was Bruce the best, he was a lot better than Dylan when I first heard him." As Springsteen recalled, Hammond said, "Gee, that was great. I want you to come to the Columbia Recording Studio and make a demo tape". He invited Springsteen back to CBS to make a studio demo audition tape the following day. Springsteen said, "A demo I made at Bill Graham's studio in San Francisco in '69 was the only other time I'd ever been in a real recording studio. Columbia was very old-fashioned: everybody in ties and shirts; the engineer was in a white shirt and a tie and was probably 50, 55 years old, it was just him and John and Mike Appel there, and he just hits the button and gives you your serial number, and off you go. I was excited. I felt I'd written some good songs and this was my shot. I had nothing to lose and it was like the beginning of something."
Springsteen's first "formal" studio audition for CBS took place on 03 May 1972 at CBS Studios in New York City. The session consisted of 12 songs. Click on any of the below links for more details.
Four of the tracks recorded during that demo session would be officially released in 1998 on the Tracks box set. John Hammond's introduction of the audition was kept intact at the start of MARY QUEEN OF ARKANSAS which opens the box set. Hammond was prepared to sign Bruce on the spot but administrative formalities within CBS meant that it would take several weeks for that to become reality. According to Clinton Heylin's 2012 book E Street Shuffle: The Glory Days of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Hammond send Clive Davis a dub of the audition and a memo saying: "Here is a copy of a couple of the reels of Bruce Springsteen, a very talented kid who recorded these twelve songs in a period of around two hours last Wednesday... I think we better act quickly because many people heard the boy at The Gaslight so that his fame is beginning to spread." Davis responded the next day, "I love Bruce Springsteen! He's an original in every respect. I'd like to meet him if you can arrange it."
Springsteen told Mark Hagen, "I knew a lot about John Hammond, the work he'd done, the people he'd discovered, his importance in music and it was very exciting to feel you were worth his time. No matter what happened afterwards, even it was just for this one night, you were worth his time. That meant a lot to me. He was very encouraging – simply being in that room with him at the board was one of my greatest recording experiences."
According to Heylin, Hammond thought that Springsteen might be better off on the Epic subsidiary, but Mike Appel intercepted: "[Hammond] decided that Bruce should be with the younger people at Epic and not with the stodgier, older people at Columbia – and he got this in his head. I always felt that Columbia was the classiest label on the planet. I just always saw [Bruce's] record going round on that red label, just like Dylan's did."
About a week following the audition, Springsteen entered into an "Exclusive Songwriting Contract" with Sioux City Music Inc and a new/revised "Exclusive Management Contract" with Laurel Canyon Management. The two contracts were signed at the office of New York attorney Jules Kurz, a sole practitioner specializing in music and entertainment law who was then handling Appel and Cretecos' business affairs. This new management agreement replaced the one from March and made changes in remuneration and compensation rates between the parties; it was a better deal for Springsteen than the previous one.
Following the signing of the agreements, Springsteen began a series of demo sessions for Sioux City Music Inc in May and June 1972. The session took place at two locations in New York City: Wes Farrell's Pocketful Of Sounds Studios where Appel was then still employed, and the apartment of Jim Cretecos. There were multiple sessions held at each location and the session dates at the two locations may have actually intertwined. Cretecos' apartment was utilized due to the limited availability of the studio at Pocketful Of Sounds. Cretecos was an electronics engineer and was able to emulate a reasonable recording environment in his apartment, so much so that it is difficult to distinguish some of the recordings Bruce made in Cretecos' apartment from those made in a professional studio.
On 09 Jun 1972 Laurel Canyon Productions (describing itself as Laurel Canyon Productions Inc) entered into a recording agreement with CBS Records. This meant that Springsteen was not signed directly to CBS, but his services were subcontracted to CBS by Laurel Canyon. Under the recording agreement, all individual recordings made by Springsteen under the CBS agreement remained the property of Laurel Canyon Productions until such point that they were assigned and transferred to CBS. This contract was signed by CBS at CBS Records offices and by Mike Appel at Laurel Canyon Productions offices. Bruce Springsteen signed it too, on the hood of a car in a dimly lit bar parking lot in New York City. Appel had him sign it as a matter of courtesy and as a matter of endorsement – from a legal standpoint it was not necessary that Springsteen signs this agreement as the "Exclusive Recording Agreement" between him and Laurel Canyon Productions did not grant him the right to block or refuse this contract between Laurel Canyon Productions and CBS. The contract was varied in August 1972 to also cover the master tapes of certain songs which had been recorded prior to the date of the agreement.
Mike Appel and Jimmy Cretecos later decided to change their business structure and model. They wanted to cease the partnership model and incorporate their businesses with the two having a 50/50 split in shares of the new incorporated business entities. These matters did not involve Springsteen – his signature or permission was not required. Laurel Canyon Productions (the sound recordings partnership) became Laurel Canyon Limited (incorporated) on 28 Jun 1972, Sioux City Music Inc (the songwriting partnership) became Sioux City Music Limited (incorporated) on 05 Oct 1972, and Laurel Canyon Management (the management partnership) became Laurel Canyon Management Limited (incorporated) on 05 Mar 1973. The three new companies were incorporated in New York and Appel and Cretecos were appointed the first directors. Appel and Cretecos wanted to change the name of Sioux City to Laurel Canyon in order to have name consistency among their family of companies, so on 24 Apr 1973 Sioux City Music Limited changed its name to Laurel Canyon Music Limited. In January 1974 Jimmy Cretecos sold his 50% shareholding in each of the Laurel Canyon companies to Mike Appel, thus Appel becoming the sole owner of the companies.
After signing the contract with CBS Records, Laurel Canyon Productions was to receive an immediate cash advance from CBS and this money was to be used to pay for the studio time to record Springsteen' debut album. A delay by CBS in delivering the advance money to Laurel Canyon Productions resulted in delaying the sessions till early July 1972. During June Springsteen had finalized the selection of the musicians that would be used for the initial sessions. The musicians chosen, with an ok from Appel and Cretecos, constituted the entire line-up of the former Bruce Springsteen Band: David Sancious on keyboards, Garry Tallent on bass, Vini Lopez on drums, and Steve Van Zandt on quitar. Van Zandt ended up partaking in almost none of the 914 Sound Studios band sessions because of a prior commitment to tour as a member of The Dovells backing group.
The recording sessions for Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. spanned a period of five months, from early June to late October 1972 (the majority were in June), and they all took place at 914 Sound Studios in Blauvelt, NY. The core "band" sessions were completed in only about two weeks. No unreleased band recordings from the debut album sessions have surfaced. Following these band sessions the various band members scattered. It should be noted that Springsteen had not decided to form a touring band at this stage.
Springsteen spent the next few weeks recording solo material. It was during this period that differences of opinion surfaced about what material was going to dominate the eventually released album. There were two sides in this disagreement: Mike Appel and John Hammond wanted a solo-dominated LP while Jim Cretecos was in favor of a band-dominated one. Springsteen was undecided at first, but soon sided with Cretecos. Appel later said that he was so impressed by Bruce's lyrics and told him, "Who needs a band when you can write lyrics like that?" In early August a compromise was reached and the album track selection was decided upon, featuring five band recordings (DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET?, GROWIN' UP, IT'S HARD TO BE A SAINT IN THE CITY, FOR YOU, and LOST IN THE FLOOD) and five solo recordings (THE ANGEL, MARY QUEEN OF ARKANSAS, JAZZ MUSICIAN, ARABIAN NIGHTS, and VISITATION AT FORT HORN). On 10 Aug 1972 Laurel Canyon transferred the sound recording copyrights to these ten songs to CBS. It seemed the album was finalized, but when then CBS president Clive Davis listened to the tracks he commented that not only did he prefer the band tracks, but he also felt the album lacked a potential hit single. In essence Davis was siding with Springsteen's vision of the album as being more rock-orientated.
In August 1972 Springsteen composed two more commercial-sounding songs, BLINDED BY THE LIGHT and SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT. Consequently a further "band" session was required. However both Sancious and Tallent, then-employed at Alpha Sound Studios in Richmond, NJ, were unable to return to New York to record. Bruce wished to incorporate saxophone in both new songs and contacted Clarence Clemons, a then-member of Norman Seldin & The Joyful Noyze. So the studio session line-up for these two songs was Clemons, Lopez, and Springsteen who played all other instruments, except for the piano on BLINDED BY THE LIGHT which was handled by Harold Wheeler. BLINDED BY THE LIGHT and SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT were completed by early September. These two band recordings bumped three solo recordings: JAZZ MUSICIAN, ARABIAN NIGHTS, and VISITATION AT FORT HORN. Therefore the final album was reduced from 10 tracks to 9, encompassing 7 band tracks and 2 solo tracks. Columbia Records' original intention was to release the album in late November 1972, but decided the album might get overlooked among the massive amount of pre-Christmas releases so the LP was held back for until early January.
Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. was released on Columbia Records on 05 Jan 1973. It was produced by Mike Appel and Jim Cretecos. The album received mixed but mostly positive reviews and some critics found it under-produced, as Appel and Cretecos tried to spend as little as possible from Columbia's $65,000 advance and recording budget. The album sold 25,000 copies only in its first year of release and did not chart until the summer of 1975 when the hype over the BORN TO RUN single attracted buyers to Springsteen's earlier albums.
The album features 9 new Springsteen compositions and clocks at 37:08.
A slightly different mix (but same instrumentation and vocal recording) of the album version of FOR YOU was released on the briefly-legal album The Early Years (Early Records). See PRODIGAL SON for more details.
The Essential Bruce Springsteen is a compilation album released as part of Sony BMG'S (previously Sony Music Entertainment) series of "Essential" sets. According to Springsteen's liner notes comments, the collection was intended as an introduction to his music for new fans who attended shows on The Rising Tour.
The collection is fundamentally a 2-disc set (clocking at 153:37) compiling songs from all of Springsteen's studio albums to date plus his Live In New York City release. A 3-disc limited edition (clocking at 201:04) was also released. It includes a bonus third disc comprising of a selection of rarities and previously unreleased recordings.
The Essential Bruce Springsteen was released on 11 Nov 2003 on Columbia Records. It debuted and peaked at #14 on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart where it spent 13 weeks. It also reached #28 on the UK Albums Chart. The album was awarded certified gold and platinum records by the RIAA on 16 Dec 2003.
Disc 1:
Disc 2:
Disc 3:
The Essential Bruce Springsteen was reissued on 16 Oct 2015, this time as a 2-disc set (clocking at 156:25) with an updated track list, compiling songs from all of Springsteen's studio albums to date plus his Greatest Hits (1995 edition) collection. This 2015 reissue features remastered tracks not found in that form on other Springsteen releases.
Disc 1:
Disc 2:
In addition to its release on the Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. album, FOR YOU was also released on the B-side of the SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT single in May 1973, issued in the United States only. This was the second of two singles released off the album and it failed to appear on the music charts. This is one of the rarest Springsteen records, mainly due to its virtually non-existent original sales.
The album version of FOR YOU can also be found on two Bruce Springsteen promo-only samplers.
Other versions of FOR YOU were also officially released.
FOR YOU is known to have been performed at least 4 times during what is considered the Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. Tour (October 1972 to September 1973). Many of that period's setlists are incomplete or unknown, and therefore, the song must have been played on some more dates during the Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. Tour. The only circulating version from the tour was a full-band album-style performance from Richmond, with an unusual piano intro. See the live 14 Feb 1973 version for more details. It is not known how the other versions were played.
FOR YOU is known to have been performed at least 31 times during what is considered The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle Tour (September 1973 to March 1975). Some of that period's setlists are incomplete or unknown, and therefore, the song must have been played on some more dates during The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle Tour. Of these performances, 20 were played in a solo piano arrangement, while 4 were in a full-band album-style arrangement; it is unknown in what arrangement the remaining performances were played.
FOR YOU is known to have been performed at least 26 times during the Born To Run Tour (73 know dates / 81 known shows, July to December 1975). Some of that period's setlists are incomplete or unknown, and therefore, the song may have been played on some more dates during the Born To Run Tour. On this tour, the song was played in a solo piano arrangement. The live 18 Nov 1975 version of FOR YOU was released on the Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 album and home video in 2005. The live 24 Nov 1975 version of FOR YOU was released on the London 11/24/1975 official live download in 2020.
FOR YOU is known to have been performed at least 3 times during the so-called Chicken Scratch Tour (35 know dates, March to May 1976). Some of that period's setlists are incomplete or unknown, and therefore, the song may have been played on some more dates during the Chicken Scratch Tour. None of the 3 known versions from this tour is in circulation; the one from Louisville was played in a solo piano arrangement, but it is not clear in what arrangement the versions from Johnstown and Pittsburgh were performed. Although every performance from the previous tour had been solo piano, the version from Pittsburgh was performed midset, which means that it was likely performed full-band.
In preparation for the Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour, FOR YOU is known to have been 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.
FOR YOU is known to have been performed at least 42 times during the Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour (111 dates, May 1978 to January 1979), mostly in the tour's first two months. 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 was played in its full-band album-style arrangement. The live 01 Jul 1978 version of FOR YOU was released on the Berkeley, July 1, 1978 official live download in 2021. The live 07 Jul 1978 version of FOR YOU was released on the b-side of the Fire European single in 1987.
FOR YOU is known to have been performed at least 42 times during The River Tour (138 dates, October 1980 to September 1981). A few setlists from that period are incomplete, and therefore, the song may have been played on some more dates during The River Tour. On this tour, the song was played in its full-band album-style arrangement. The live 29 Dec 1980 version of FOR YOU was released on the Nassau Coliseum, New York 12/29/80 official live download in 2019.
In preparation for the Tunnel Of Love Express Tour, FOR YOU is known to have been practiced during at least one of the private rehearsals that took place in late January and early February 1988 at Expo Theater in Fort Monmouth, NJ, prior to the tour's first leg. See the live 28 Jan 1988 version for more details. The song was not played on any of the tour's regular dates.
FOR YOU was performed once during World Tour 1992-1993 (104 dates, June 1992 to June 1993), on 07 Aug 1992 in East Rutherford, NJ. The song was played in a stripped-down arrangement featuring only Bruce Springsteen and Roy Bittan.
FOUR YOU was performed 4 times during The Ghost Of Tom Joad Solo Acoustic Tour (128 dates, November 1995 to May 1997). The two versions from 1996 were played with Springsteen on acoustic guitar and with Danny Federici guesting on accordion, and the two version from 1997 were straightforward solo acoustic guitar renditions.
In preparation for The Reunion Tour, FOR YOU was performed during one of the tour's two public warm-up rehearsal shows that took place in March 1999 in Asbury Park. It was played in a full-band album-style arrangement.
FOR YOU was performed 5 times during what is known as The Reunion Tour (132 dates, April 1999 to July 2000). The song was played in its full-band album-style arrangement. The live 23 Oct 1999 version of FOR YOU was released on the Los Angeles October 23, 1999 official live download in 2019.
FOR YOU was performed 12 times during The Rising Tour (120 dates, August 2002 to October 2003). The song was played 8 times in a version featuring Springsteen on piano and Patti Scialfa (and sometimes Soozie Tyrell) on backing vocals, and 4 times in the usual full-band album-style arrangement.
In preparation for the Devils & Dust Solo Acoustic Tour, FOR YOU was performed during both of the tour's two public warm-up rehearsal shows that took place in April 2005 in Asbury Park. It was played in a solo piano arrangement. The song is also known to have been practiced during at least two of the private rehearsals that took place in March and April 2005 in Asbury Park prior to the tour's first leg.
FOR YOU was performed 16 times during the Devils & Dust Solo Acoustic Tour (72 dates, April to November 2005). The song was always played in a solo piano arrangement (see the live 14 Jul 2005 version and the live 31 Jul 2005 version), except once, on 11 Aug 2005 in Seattle, WA, when it was played in a solo acoustic guitar arrangement (see the live 11 Aug 2005 version). The live 31 Jul 2005 version of FOR YOU was released on the Schottenstein Center, Ohio 2005 official live download in 2015.
FOR YOU was performed twice during The Seeger Sessions Tour (56 dates, April to November 2006); on the last two shows of the tour. The song was played in a radically revamped full-band arrangement. The live 19 Nov 2006 version of FOR YOU was released on the Bruce Springsteen With The Sessions Band PBS Exclusive EP in 2007.
FOR YOU was performed 7 times during the Magic Tour (100 dates, October 2007 to August 2008). The song was played three times in a solo piano arrangement and four times in its traditional full-band arrangement. The first one, a full-band performance from 15 Oct 2007 in Toronto, Canada, was the last ever (and the only of the tour) to feature Danny Federici. The live 23 Aug 2008 version of FOR YOU was released on the Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO 8/23/2008 official live download in 2017.
FOR YOU was performed 7 times during the Working On A Dream Tour (83 dates, April to November 2009). The song was played five times in its traditional full-band arrangement, and twice in a solo piano arrangement. The live 04 May 2009 version of FOR YOU was released on the Nassau Coliseum 05.04.09 official live download in 2020. The live 22 Nov 2009 version of FOR YOU was released on the HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY 11/22/2009 official live download in 2016.
FOR YOU was performed 9 times during the Wrecking Ball Tour (133 dates, March 2012 to September 2013). On this tour, the song was played 4 times in a solo acoustic guitar arrangement (during the solo acoustic pre-show), 4 times in a solo piano arrangement, and once in a full-band arrangement.
FOR YOU was performed twice during the High Hopes Tour (34 dates, January to May 2014). On this tour, the song was played in a solo piano arrangement. Audio recordings for most High Hopes Tour shows are officially available for purchase. See the live 05 Feb 2014 version and the live 14 May 2014 version for more details.
FOR YOU was performed 4 times during The River Tour 2016 (75 dates, January to September 2016). On this tour, the song was played twice in a solo piano arrangement (as a show opener), once in a solo acoustic guitar and harmonica arrangement (as a show closer), and once in a solo acoustic guitar arrangement (as a show closer). Audio recordings for all The River Tour 2016 shows are officially available for purchase. See any of the below listed versions for more details.
FOR YOU was performed off-tour on 30 Jul 2002 (morning) at Convention Hall in Asbury Park, NJ, prior to Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band's live broadcast on The Today Show. The song was played in a solo acoustic arrangement. See the live 30 Jul 2002 (morning) version for more details.
FOR YOU was performed off-tour on 20 Feb 2003 at Somerville Theatre in Somerville, MA, during the DoubleTake Magazine benefit shows. The song was played in a solo piano arrangement. See the live 20 Feb 2003 version for more details.
FOR YOU was performed off-tour on 02 Dec 2004 at Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh, PA, during the "Flood Aid '04" benefit concert. The song was played solo on acoustic guitar. See the live 02 Dec 2004 version for more details.
FOR YOU was performed off-tour on 19 Dec 2004 at Harry's Roadhouse in Asbury Park, NJ, during the second of the two holiday jam shows that took place that day. The song was played in a solo acoustic guitar arrangement. See the live 19 Dec 2004 (late show) version for more details.
FOR YOU was performed during both 2000 Asbury Park holiday shows. These concerts were billed as "Bruce Springsteen with The Max Weinberg 7 and Friends", with The Max Weinberg 7 serving as the house band, and Springsteen bringing guests on and off the stage throughout the shows. On these shows the song was played in a piano arrangement with Springsteen backed by the Max Weinberg 7, plus the Redheaded Women (Patti Scialfa, Soozie Tyrell, and Lisa Lowell) who provided light backing vocals.
Between 2002 and 2011, Bruce Springsteen played private benefit shows for schools and colleges that his kids attended ─ Rumson Country Day School of Rumson, NJ, and Ranney School of Tinton Falls, NJ, and Boston College of Chestnut Hill, MA. FOR YOU was performed at one of these fundraisers, on 22 May 2010 in New York City, NY. The song was played solo on piano.
Bruce Springsteen appeared at a total of six Joe Grushecky & The Houserockers concerts at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum in Pittsburgh, PA, in 2010, 2011, and 2014. FOR YOU was performed on 04 Nov 2010 and 03 Nov 2011. The song was played solo acoustic on guitar and harmonica. See the live 04 Nov 2010 version for more details.
Bruce Springsteen has been performing on almost all the annual Stand Up for Heroes benefits since 2007. FOR YOU was performed during the ninth (2015) annual benefit. The song was played in a solo acoustic arrangement.
At least 14 artists have recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's FOR YOU.
Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.
Some of the above info about the studio recording and the live performances is taken from Brucebase. Info for some of the above FIR YOU cover releases is taken from the Nebraska website.
Any additions, comments, or corrections to this page are welcome. You can contact me via the below form or by email: .
List of available versions of FOR YOU on this website:
FOR YOU [Album version]
