Unofficial studio version
One, two, three, four
I had a wife, I had a child
I had a home upon a hill
Had a good life for seven years
Now all I've got is seven tears
Went down to see my gypsy man
He said, "Now son, I understand"
When I said, "I want one for every year"
He tattooed on my face these seven tears
Oh seven tears, oh seven tears
I want one for every happy year
My baby's gone, she's gone, gone, gone
And I'll cry forever ever on
Woo!
Oh yeah
When I walk out into the lights of town
People see me coming and they gather 'round
They wanna know how I ended up here
With this tattoo on my face of seven tears
Well seven tears, oh seven tears
I want one for every happy year
My baby's gone, she's gone, gone, gone
And I'll cry forever ever on
Mmm-mmm-mmm ooh ooh ooh ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh-ooh...
[Fades out]
The above lyrics are for a studio take of SEVEN TEARS most likely recorded on 15 Feb 1983 at Thrill Hill West, Springsteen's home studio in Los Angeles, CA.
This is the same version (same take) as the one officially released in 2025, but the official version does not include the count-in and the mix may be slightly different. See the official studio version for more details.
This unofficial studio version of SEVEN TEARS can be found on several bootlegs, including The Lost Masters Vol. 16 (Labour Of Love) [track 14] and The Lost Masters Essential Collection Vol. 2 (Labour Of Love) [disc 2, track 20].
The Lost Masters Vol. 16 (and The Lost Masters Essential Collection Vol. 2) liner notes state that the song was recorded on 04 Jan 1983. This is probably an error since studio logs only list one take, recorded on 15 Feb 1983.
List of available versions of SEVEN TEARS on this website:
SEVEN TEARS [Official studio version]
