Song title: American tune
American tune
Conquered freak soldiers return from the war
And the stares of the countrymen look just as they did before
And the women whom they loved have all turned into whores
And the band still can't play any better than before
And I'm tired and I think I'll go to bed
For America's under fire and the sky's turning red
They step off the train and wonder who's to blame
For all this madness and sorrow
The streets are filled with blind men, all viciously insane
You stand there and they hold you a cup and a cane
And I'm tired and I think I'll go to bed
For America's under fire and the sky's turning red
And the bombs they go boom like a big red balloon
In the evening sky
And the rockets they burst and shatter the earth
Making the little girls cry
And the bells they are ringing and the children are singing
Oh but they don't know why
And the airplanes are strafing and the people are laughing
They know not what it is to cry, to cry
Mother and daddy give him a kiss and shake his hand
Congratulations my son, on becoming a man
And the generals can't see the reason
There's such a high percentage of treason
They feel, they're quite sure that it must just be the season
And I'm tired and I think I'll go to bed
For America's under fire and the sky's turning red
And I'm tired and I think I'll go to bed
For America's under fire and the sky's turning red
"America, America, God shed his grace on me
And crown thy herd with brotherhood from sea to shining sea" Notes:
A.k.a. "American under fire". Steel Mill song about politics/military matters in USA in that period
American tune - 13-Jan-1970 version
Conquered freak soldiers return from the war
And the stares of their countrymen look just as they did before
And the women whom they love have all turned into whores
And the band still can't play any better than before
And I'm tired and I think I will remain
For America's under fire, the sky's turning grey
They step off the train and wonder who's to blame
For all this madness and sorrow
The streets are filled with blind men, all viciously insane
You stand there and they hand you a cup and a cane
And I'm tired and I think I will remain
For America's under fire, and the sky's turning grey
And the bombs they go boom like a big red balloon in the evening sky
And the rockets they burst and shatter the earth, making the little girls cry
And the bells they are ringing and the children are singing oh but they don't
know why
And the aeroplanes are scrapping and the people are laughing
They know not what it is to cry
To cry
Mother and daddy, give them a kiss and shake his hand
Congratulations my son on becoming a man
And the generals can see the reason
Theres such a high percentage of treason
They feel, they're quite sure that it must just be the season
And I'm tired and I think I will remain
For America's under fire, and the sky's turning grey
And I'm tired and I think I will remain
For America's under fire, and the sky's turning grey
America, America, god shares his grace on me
And crown thy hood with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea Notes:
A.k.a. "American under fire". Steel Mill song about politics/military matters in USA in that period. These lyrics refer specifically to the 13-Jan-1970 version.
This song has never been published on any official release.
Very few performances of this songs are known (to me, at least!):
- 13/01/1970 The Matrix, San Francisco,CA ,USA during the Child / Steel Mill Period
- 28/02/1970 Free University, Richmond,VA ,USA during the Child / Steel Mill Period
- 18/04/1970 Ocean County College, Toms River,NJ ,USA during the Child / Steel Mill Period
Data from the www.brucespringsteen.it database
First known live performance: 13/01/1970 The Matrix, San Francisco,CA ,USA
Last known live performance: 18/04/1970 Ocean County College, Toms River,NJ ,USA
Song 'history':
During the early years (1965-1972), played live (at least) 3 time(s) during the Child/Steel Mill period.
.
Keep in mind that only a small amount of the setlists of these years has surfaced, so it may have been played a lot more.
Data from the www.brucespringsteen.it database