Home demo version
My name James Francis Deer, I was born in Remington
Now my home's Richfield prison where I pay for the wrongs I done
Once I was free and on the streets of Indiana and I was twenty-two
Just a kid looking─ [recording cut] ─and no better or worse than you
Me and Terry married in the spring, we moved in with her ma and pa
On our wedding night she sighed, "Jimmy, we can have anything we want"
She got a job in Silverton, we worked hard and we scraped and saved
And we got by alright on the money that we made
Terry had a brother, a brother name of Sill
Made a living stealing farm equipment down in Wiggonville
He'd sit at my kitchen table Friday nights, a roll of dough he'd flash
Say, "Johnny, you need a little extra work, all you gotta do is ask
You got a wife and a child to feed, there's nobody looking out here for you
In this world a man takes what he can or he ain't nothing but a fool"
Then came the shutdowns and our whole world went black
Man said, "These jobs are going, boys, and ain't coming back"
Then I required a good job, couldn't find none
Found myself sitting on the curb outside Sill's house
The trial, the trial was short, honest man had died
They put us on prison trucks and let us ride
Now I got nothing to do except wait for these days to pass
I see my wife and child through double-paned Richfield glass
Me and Sill we robbed a Stop & Shop on a cold and windy night
I had my pistol and I shot a boy in flight
I held my pistol to his face, his eyes caught fire with fear
Said, "Remember me before you die, my name's James Lincoln Deer"
The above lyrics are for an acoustic home demo take of JIM DEER recorded, according to Brucebase, at Thrill Hill Recording (Springsteen's home studio) in Colts Neck, NJ, sometime around March 1982.
This early version of JIM DEER contains a line that would later appear in MY HOMETOWN ("Man said, 'These jobs are going, boys, and ain't coming back'").
This home demo take of JIM DEER can be found on bootlegs, including The Lost Masters Essential Collection Vol. 2 (Labour Of Love) [disc 2, track 20].
On The Lost Masters Essential Collection Vol. 2, the song is listed under the title "James Lincoln Dear". According to the bootleg's liner notes, that demo was recorded "circa 1981 or 1982."
Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.
If you have any corrections or additions, please contact me via the below form or by email: .
List of available versions of JIM DEER on this website:
JIM DEER [Official studio version]