Official studio version
Woke up this morning, was a chill in the air
Went into the kitchen, my cigarettes were lying there
Jacket hung on the chair, the way I left it last night
Everything was in place, everything seemed alright
But you were missing, missing, missing
Last night I dreamed the sky went black
You were drifting down, couldn't get back
Lost in trouble, so far from home
I reached for you, my arms were like stone
Woke and you were missing, missing, missing
Woah
Searched for something to explain
In the whispering rain and the trembling leaves
Tell me baby, where did you go
You were here just a moment ago
There's nights I still hear your footsteps fall
I can hear your voice moving down the hall
Drifting through the bedroom
I lie awake but I don't move
Missing, missing, missing, missing
Whoa
Missing
MISSING is a song written by Bruce Springsteen and used in the soundtrack of Sean Penn's 1995 film The Crossing Guard. It was released as a single in 1996. The above lyrics are for Bruce Springsteen's official studio version of MISSING as released in 1996.
The official studio version of MISSING was included on The Essential Bruce Springsteen (2003 3-disc edition) compilation album.
Though not confirmed, it's likely that Bruce Springsteen wrote MISSING in early 1994. He recorded the song in April 1994 at Thrill Hill West, his home studio in Los Angeles, CA. This was a rented house that Springsteen relocated to following the 17 Jan 1994 Northridge earthquake. The song was produced by Bruce Springsteen and recorded by Toby Scott. Springsteen handles all vocals and instruments on the track. These 1994 sessions were for an album that was ultimately shelved. See the "Unreleased 1994 Album" section below for more details.
Track credits:
Bruce Springsteen: vocals, guitar, percussion, keyboards, drums, bass, recorder, loops
Bruce Springsteen: producer
Toby Scott: recording engineer
Bob Clearmountain: mixing engineer
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:
Bruce Springsteen's liner notes in The Essential Bruce Springsteen album booklet:
I was experimenting with drum looping at my home studio and recorded this in California in the mid '90s. I played it for Sean Penn and he used it in his film "The Crossing Guard."
The official studio version of MISSING was released as a single in Europe and South Africa. In 1997 it was included on some issues of the Secret Garden EP which was released to promote the Jerry Maguire movie soundtrack. In 1998 it was included on some issues of the Sad Eyes EP.
The 4-track Missing EP was also included as a bonus disc with a limited 2-disc European edition of Greatest Hits in 1996, a limited 2-disc Australian edition of The Ghost Of Tom Joad in 1997, and a limited 2-disc Japanese edition of The Ghost Of Tom Joad in 1997.
The official studio version of MISSING appears on some promotional various artists albums.
In early 1994, Bruce Springsteen reportedly stated that he was writing new songs for a new album to be released in 1995 and followed by a world tour. This was reported in German teen magazine Bravo and could not be considered reliable news. However, we knew that he did record a complete album with members of the 1992-1993 touring band in 1994. His manager Jon Landau wasn't a fan of the project and recommended shelving it and focusing more on a career-overview release. This lead to the Greatest Hits sessions with the E Street Band in January 1995. The 1994 album remained unreleased until its inclusion on the Tracks II: The Lost Albums box set in 2025.
"After STREETS OF PHILADELPHIA I spent the better part of [1994] in Los Angeles trying to come up with an album in that vein," Springsteen wrote in his 2016 autobiography Born To Run. "It was an album centering on men and women and it was dark. I'd just made three of those records, varying in tone, in a row. The last two had been met with not indifference, but something like it. I was feeling a faint disconnect with my audience. [...] This would've been my fourth record in a row about relationships. If I could've felt its fullness, I wouldn't have hesitated to put it out. But a not-fully-realized record around the same topic felt like one too many. I had to come to terms with the fact that after my year of work writing, recording, mixing, it was going on the shelf. That's where she sits."
"I've been listening to that for almost 20 years," Springsteen told Andy Greene in a December 2013 interview for Rolling Stone. "There was something at the time that was missing, but sometimes somebody comes along and plugs in that missing piece, or I'll pick it out sometimes every two or three years, and I'll see if I have any fresh insights. And if not, I put it away, and if I do I may work on it a little bit."
According to Brucebase, Springsteen recorded three or four new songs in March 1994, accompanied by a three-man backup band consisting of 1992-1993 touring band members Roy Bittan on keyboards, Tommy Sims on bass, and Zach Alford on drums. He also recorded seven or eight new songs in October-December 1994, accompanied by a three-man backup band consisting of 1992-1993 touring band members Shane Fontayne on guitar, Tommy Sims on bass, and Zach Alford on drums.
In an interview published in the Fall/Winter 2003 issue (#78) of Backstreets magazine, Shane Fontayne confirmed that the album had been sequenced and was ready for release, but was eventually shelved. He only mentioned one song from those sessions, and that was WAITING ON THE END OF THE WORLD. He also said that it was going to be the title of the record. About the album and the sessions, he recounted:
"I came out, and the record was largely recorded. It was as yet unmixed, but as I say, [Springsteen] had a sequence in mind, which I know for him had been such a crucial thing with any records that he made. [...] So I came in, and he wanted me to play on a couple of tracks ─ a couple of tracks turned into four or five, then there were more and more. I spent several days recording with him, with Chuck Plotkin and Toby Scott, while mixing was going on for some of the other stuff across town with Bob Clearmountain. [...] We were recording at his house in L.A. and a little bit at the Record Plant, too, I think it was."
"They had a deadline they were trying to meet. And so there was this frantic, frantic activity, where Bruce was trying to get the recording finished. I mean, I was playing guitar on stuff, trying different ideas, trying stuff with Chuck Plotkin (and getting on great with Chuck); Bruce would come in and would want to try some other stuff, and we'd keep recording; I did some backing vocals... and in the end, this was the record that was going to be coming out."
"It had a hip-hop edge to it. And I thought the material was great. Aside from the rush of recording with him, it also was just a great-sounding record. When I've talked to him about it over the years, he always brings it up and says that he still thinks about releasing it. But at the time, I heard that Jon Landau had felt that lyrically it 'wasn't there.' That's what I seem to remember. Meaning what, I'm not sure. But that seemed to be what the emphasis was about: was this the next statement that was going to be made? 'I'm not sure...'"
"[...] So at that point, yeah, it seemed a surprise. It was a shock ─ because there was a deadline being met, mixes were being done and recording was being done, and then it was shelved. And that's when Greatest Hits replaced it ─ presumably they wanted some new Bruce record to come out."
Until 2025, we knew only of five titles that were recorded during these sessions. BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH and BLIND SPOT never leaked and remained unreleased until 2025. MISSING was used on the soundtrack of a film in 1995 and released as a single the following year. A 2002 re-recording of NOTHING MAN with The E Street Band was released on The Rising album, but the 1994 version never leaked and remains unreleased. A 1995 re-recording of WAITING ON THE END OF THE WORLD with The E Street Band leaked in 1998 when it was released on a bootleg, but the 1994 version never leaked and remains unreleased. Three of those five recordings (the first two and the last one) plus seven more would eventually be released in 2025 on the Tracks II: The Lost Albums box set in 2025.
With the release of the Tracks II: The Lost Albums box set in 2025, more information came to light about the 1994 album when an article about the "Streets Of Philadelphia Sessions" was published on Springsteen's official website.
Written on the heels of its Oscar-winning namesake, "Streets of Philadelphia Sessions" found Springsteen exploring an interest in the rhythms of mid-1990s contemporary music, and particularly West Coast hip-hop. Initially pouring over CDs of drum samples at his home in Los Angeles, Springsteen began making his own loops with engineer Toby Scott — which formed a rhythmic base he'd build on with keyboards and synthesizers. Both a revelation and departure in his home recording, Springsteen is the primary instrumentalist throughout most of "Streets of Philadelphia Sessions" — with some assists from his 1992-1993 touring band as well as Patti Scialfa, Soozie Tyrell and Lisa Lowell.
Fully completed, mixed and slated for a spring 1995 release, "Streets of Philadelphia Sessions" was ultimately put aside — as Springsteen decided to reunite with The E Street Band for the first time in seven years. "I said, 'Well, maybe it's time to just do something with the band, or remind the fans of the band or that part of my work life,'" he remembers. "So that's where we went. But I always really liked 'Streets of Philadelphia Sessions'... during the Broadway show, I thought of putting it out [as a standalone release]. I always put them away, but I don't throw them away."
As far as it's known, Bruce Springsteen has never performed MISSING live.
Bruce Springsteen's official studio version of MISSING appears in one movie.
At least one artist has recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's MISSING.
Please contact me if you have scans for or info about any official release containing Bruce Springsteen's official studio version of MISSING that's not mentioned on this page. If you have any additions, comments, or corrections to this page, please contact me via the below form or by email at .
List of available versions of MISSING on this website:
MISSING [Official studio version]
