Live 29 May 2020 version
[Spoken intro:]
[Ken Casey:] Alright ladies and gentlemen it is now the moment, you've all been waiting for the special guest of the evening. Hailing from Freehold New Jersey, the reigning defending heavyweight champion of rock and roll, Mr. Bruce Springsteen! Yeah yeah! How you doing buddy?
[Bruce Springsteen:] It's good, it's good to hear you Ken.
[Ken Casey:] Listen, it's a pleasure to have you, it's an honor and a privilege, everyone's so excited. You ready to do a song together? I think it's time to do a song together.
[Bruce Springsteen:] Oh yeah, let's do it.
[Ken Casey:] I love it baby. Well here we go, here we go. Without further ado, "Rose Tattoo."
| Ken Casey: | The pictures tell the story |
| This life had many shades | |
| I'd wake up every morning | |
| And before I'd start each day | |
| I'd take a drag from last night's cigarette | |
| That smoldered in its tray | |
| Down a little something | |
| And then be on my way | |
| Bruce Springsteen: | I travel far and wide |
| Laid this head in many ports | |
| I was guided by a compass | |
| I saw beauty in the North | |
| I drew the tales of many lives | |
| Wore faces of my own | |
| I had these memories all around me | |
| So I wouldn't be alone | |
| Casey and Springsteen: | Some may be from showing up |
| Others are from growing up | |
| Ken Casey: | Sometimes I was so messed up |
| Casey and Springsteen: | And didn't have a clue |
| Ken Casey: | I ain't winning no one over |
| I wear it just for you | |
| Casey and Springsteen: | I've got your name written here |
| In a rose tattoo | |
| Dropkick Murphys and Springsteen: | In a rose tattoo, in a rose tattoo |
| I've got your name written here in a rose tattoo | |
| Ken Casey: | Hello ???! |
| Ken Casey: | This one's for the mighty sea |
| Mischief, gold and piracy | |
| This one's for the man that raised me | |
| Taught me sacrifice and bravery | |
| Bruce Springsteen: | Well this one's for our favorite game |
| Black and gold, we wave the flag | |
| This one's for my family name | |
| With pride I'll wear it to the grave | |
| Ken Casey: | Some may be from showing up |
| Casey and Springsteen: | Yeah others are from growing up |
| Sometimes I was so messed up | |
| I didn't have a clue | |
| I ain't winning no one over | |
| I wear it just for you | |
| I've got your name written here | |
| In a rose tattoo | |
| Dropkick Murphys and Springsteen: | In a rose tattoo, in a rose tattoo |
| I've got your name written here in a rose tattoo | |
| In a rose tattoo, in a rose tattoo | |
| I've got your name written here in a rose tattoo | |
| Ken Casey: | This one means the most to me |
| It stays here for eternity | |
| A ship that always stays the course | |
| An anchor for my every choice | |
| Bruce Springsteen: | A rose that shines down from above |
| I signed and sealed these words in blood | |
| I heard them once sung in a song | |
| It played again, we sang along | |
| Ken Casey: | You'll always be here with me |
| Even if you're gone | |
| Bruce Springsteen: | You'll always have my love |
| Yeah our memory will live on | |
| Casey and Springsteen: | Some may be from showing up |
| Others are from growing up | |
| Sometimes I was so messed up | |
| I didn't have a clue | |
| Ken Casey: | I ain't winning no one over |
| Casey and Springsteen: | I wear it just for you |
| Ken Casey: | I've got your name written here |
| Casey and Springsteen: | In a rose tattoo |
| Dropkick Murphys and Springsteen: | In a rose tattoo, in a rose tattoo |
| We've got your name written here in a rose tattoo | |
| In a rose tattoo, in a rose tattoo | |
| With pride I'll wear it to the grave for you | |
| In a rose tattoo, in a rose tattoo | |
| I've got your name written here in a rose tattoo | |
| In a rose tattoo, in a rose tattoo | |
| Ken Casey: | Signed and sealed in blood I would die |
| Casey and Springsteen: | For you |
| Ken Casey: | Yeah! |
| Ken Casey: | ???! |
| Dropkick Murphys: | Whoa whoa whoa whoa-whoa-whoa |
| Whoa whoa whoa whoa-whoa | |
| Ken Casey: | ???! |
| Dropkick Murphys and Springsteen: | Whoa whoa whoa whoa-whoa-whoa |
| Dropkick Murphys: | Whoa whoa whoa whoa-whoa |
| Ken Casey: | Yeaaah, come on! |
The above lyrics are for the live 29 May 2020 performance of ROSE TATTOO at Fenway Park in Boston, MA, during a remote guest appearance with Dropkick Murphys at their Streaming Outta Fenway concert. Springsteen shared lead vocals with Ken Casey and played electrical guitar.
Streaming Outta Fenway was a benefit concert by the Dropkick Murphys performed on 29 May 2020 from the infield dirt of Fenway Park with now audience in the stands. The event was streamed live on the band's social media accounts and on Sirius XM's E Street Radio channel. Donations were raised during the event to benefit Boston Resiliency Fund, Habitat For Humanity, and Feeding America.
The event was announced on 18 May 2020. "To make sure this is a night to remember, our friend Bruce Springsteen will be joining us remotely for a FENWAY DOUBLE PLAY," Dropkick Murphys wrote in their statement. "We'll play together - one of ours + one of his." Near the end of the show, Bruce Springsteen appeared on the Fenway Jumbotron, joining in remotely from Stone Hill Studio in Colts Neck, NJ. He performed two songs with the Dropkick Murphys: ROSE TATTOO and AMERICAN LAND.
"He was so all-in for that", Ken Casey told Variety about Springsteen's involvement. "It was like, 'Hey, let's ask Bruce.' Normally you wouldn't want to bother a legend like that, who has a busy schedule. But Bruce is a guy who likes to play. His schedule is open, as all of ours is now. He's always down to help."
The Dropkick Murphys, a Celtic punk band from Massachusetts, first met Bruce Springsteen in 2005 or 2006 when he attended a gig of theirs in New York. "He came back afterwards and introduced himself," Ken Casey told Rolling Stone. "We were just blown away, but we really hit it off. He's since invited us to play with him a few times."
During their Working On A Dream Tour, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band played the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, MA, on 22 Apr 2009. They were joined onstage by the Dropkick Murphys on GLORY DAYS and AMERICAN LAND. Then the band's guitarist, Tim Brennan, proposed onstage down on bended knee to his girlfriend Diana. Springsteen then dedicated the tour premiere of SO YOUNG AND IN LOVE to the couple, saying that "this was going to be their wedding song."
In his turn, Springsteen made a guest appearance at Dropkick Murphys' 18 Mar 2011 show at House Of Blues in Boston, MA, joining the band onstage for three songs: PEG O' MY HEART, BADLANDS (a Springsteen song that the band had covered on several occasions), and I'M SHIPPING UP TO BOSTON. He also took part of their 29 May 2020 concert at Fenway Park in Boston, MA, joining the band remotely for two songs: ROSE TATTOO and AMERICAN LAND.
Springsteen appears on two Dropkick Murphys studio tracks: PEG O' MY HEART in 2011 and ROSE TATTOO in 2013.
Ken Casey is a lifelong Springsteen fan, and his favorite Springsteen album is Darkness On The Edge Of Town. The Dropkick Murphys have covered BADLANDS live and Casey has said that the band wouldn't say no to recording an entire album as Bruce Springsteen's backing band. "Bruce, we're ready when you are," Casey told Rolling Stone in 2011.
List of available versions of ROSE TATTOO on this website:
ROSE TATTOO [Dropkick Murphys' EP version]