UNDER A BIG SKY

Official studio version

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Left my home, left my friends
I can't go back again
I don't know why
And I don't know why

Baby now here I am
Yeah just another hired hand
Watching the seasons fly by
Watching 'em fly on by

Summer comes around and I miss you
Without you I'm just another guy
Under a big sky

Well come the spring we ride the line
Mend the fence where it's been torn
Spent the day tearing out
That oak that fell in the winter storm

Well work's in and the day's gone down
Hop in a pickup, head into town
Just to end up dead drunk
Thrown back in your bunk

Winter comes around and I wanna kiss you
Kiss you and feel you by my side
Under a big sky

Well that morning I had to go
I packed my bags kind of slow
You said, "John, why must you always leave
The ones who love you so?"

But I had it set in my head
Believed every word the newspaper said
Now it's plain to see
Yeah the joke's on me

Tonight I'm chasing strays down in the canyon
Shout your name and listen as the echo dies
Under a big sky

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Info

UNDER A BIG SKY is a song written by Bruce Springsteen and first released on the Tracks II: The Lost Albums box set in 2025. The above lyrics are for Bruce Springsteen's official studio version of UNDER A BIG SKY as released in 2025.

The song, referred to as "A Big Sky", first appeared in a 2022 filing at the United States Copyright Office. See the "Copyright Filings" section below for more details.

Writing and Recording

UNDER A BIG SKY was originally recorded in summer 1995 and was likely written not long before it was recorded. See the "Somewhere North Of Nashville" section below for more details.

Track credits:

Bruce Springsteen: vocals, guitar, tambourine
Danny Federici: piano, synthesizer
Garry Tallent: bass
Charles Giordano: B3 organ
Soozie Tyrell: violin
Gary Mallaber: drums
Marty Rifkin: pedal steel guitar

Bruce Springsteen: producer
Ron Aniello: producer, recording engineer
Toby Scott: recording engineer
Rob Lebret: recording engineer
Ross Petersen: recording engineer
Bob Clearmountain: mixing engineer
Sergio Ruelas, Jr.: assistant mixing engineer
Bob Ludwig: mastering engineer
James Brown: additional engineering

Copyright Filings

In 2022, a "Recorded Document" consisting of 539 Bruce Springsteen "musical works" was filed at the United States Copyright Office. The two filings are related to Springsteen's late 2021 deal with Sony Music in which he sold the masters of his entire catalog and the coinciding music publishing rights. They show the transfer of the songs from Bruce Springsteen to Thrill Hill Music LLC and then from Thrill Hill Music LLC to Sony Music Publishing (US) LLC and Asbury Boss LLC. Thrill Hill Music LLC and Asbury Boss LLC are limited liability companies incorporated in September 2021 and October 2021 respectively and likely created for the deal.

Copyright entry #1:
Type of Work: Recorded Document
Document Number: V15007D317
Date of Recordation: 2022-05-13
Entire Copyright Document: V15007 D317 P1-13
Date of Execution: 01Nov21; 01Mar22
Title: 100 Miles From Jackson & 538 other titles; Musical Work.
Notes: Assignment.
Party 1: Bruce Springsteen
Party 2: Thrill Hill Music LLC
Links: List of titles
Names: Springsteen, Bruce | Thrill Hill Music LLC

Copyright entry #2:
Type of Work: Recorded Document
Document Number: V15007D318
Date of Recordation: 2022-05-13
Entire Copyright Document: V15007 D318 P1-14
Date of Execution: 22Nov21; 22Nov21
Title: 100 Miles From Jackson & 538 other titles; Musical Work.
Notes: Exhibit 10.1 Assignment
Party 1: Thrill Hill Music LLC
Party 2: Sony Music Publishing (US) LLC; Asbury Boss, LLC
Links: List of titles
Names: Thrill Hill Music LLC | Sony Music Publishing (US) LLC | Asbury Boss, LLC

Tracks II: The Lost Albums

Tracks II: The Lost Albums is Bruce Springsteen's follow-up to his 1998 box set Tracks, released on 27 Jun 2025. The box set consists of seven "lost albums" recoded between 1983 and 2018, totaling 83 songs, of which 74 have never been officially released in any form. The seven albums are: L.A. Garage Sessions '83, Streets Of Philadelphia Sessions, Faithless, Somewhere North Of Nashville, Inyo, Twilight Hours, and Perfect World.

Tracks II: The Lost Albums, along with its companion Lost And Found: Selections From The Lost Albums, was officially announced on 03 Apr 2025 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time (1:00 p.m. GMT). The announcement was accompanied by a "trailer" for the upcoming set, posted on Bruce Springsteen's YouTube channel and other online services. The previous day, Springsteen released a teaser on his social media accounts, linking to a new website, lostalbums.net, created for the two upcoming releases.

The box set is available in limited edition as a seven-disc CD set and a nine-disc LP set, as well as digital download and streaming. The physical releases will include original packaging for each of the previously unreleased records, with a 100-page cloth-bound, hardcover book featuring rare archival photos, liner notes on each lost album from essayist Erik Flannigan and a personal introduction on the project from Springsteen himself.

Somewhere North Of Nashville

Somewhere North Of Nashville is a 12-track album was eventually released in 2025 as one of the seven "lost albums" included on the Tracks II: The Lost Albums box set.

According to a press release, the album is a "collection inspired by the sounds of honky tonk, rockabilly and uptempo country." Somewhere North Of Nashville was recorded simultaneously with The Ghost Of Tom Joad in the summer of 1995 and features much of the core band at the heart of those sessions, including Danny Federici, Garry Tallent and Gary Mallaber, with added elements like pedal steel from Marty Rifkin and fiddle from Soozie Tyrell. The press release claims that the album "saw Springsteen spontaneously cutting material live in the studio with a full band."

"What happened was I wrote all these country songs at the same time I wrote 'The Ghost of Tom Joad.' Those sessions completely overlap each other. I'm singing 'Repo Man' in the afternoon and 'The Line' at night. So the country record got made right along with 'The Ghost of Tom Joad.' Very similar to 'Born in the U.S.A.' and 'Nebraska,'" Springsteen recalled. "'Streets of Philadelphia' got me connected to my socially conscious or topical songwriting. So that's where 'The Ghost of Tom Joad' came from. But at the same time I had this country streak that was also running through those sessions and I ended up making a country record on the side."

According to the album's credits, Somewhere North Of Nashville was recorded at "Thrill Hill Beverly Hills, CA" and "Stone Hill Studio, NJ".

• "Thrill Hill Beverly Hills, CA" is a recording studio Springsteen has set up at his residence on Tower Lane in Beverly Hills, CA. He purchased the estate in 1990 and used the studio between 1990 and, as far as it's known, as late as 1997 or 1998.
• "Stone Hill Studio, NJ" is a recording studio Springsteen has set up at his Stone Hill Farm, his residence and horse ranch on Muhlenbrink Road in Colts Neck, NJ. He purchased the property in 1994. He built a car garage on the property around 2007 and converted the garage to a studio in 2009 and has since been using it as a permanent recording facility.

This indicates that the material on Somewhere North Of Nashville was mostly recorded in the summer of 1995 recorded at Thrill Hill Beverly Hills and some work was later done at Stone Hill Studio prior to the release of the Tracks II: The Lost Albums box set.

Live History

Bruce Springsteen has never performed UNDER A BIG SKY live.

Covers

As far as it's known, no artist has recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's UNDER A BIG SKY.

Request

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Available Versions

List of available versions of UNDER A BIG SKY on this website:

UNDER A BIG SKY [Official studio version]

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Page last updated: 06 Jul 2025