Song title: The fever
The fever - Studio 1977 version
When I get home from my job I turn on my T.V.
But I can’t keep my mind on the show
When I lay down at night
I don’t get no sleep so I turn on the radio
But, Lord, the only thing I hear
Is you whisperin’ in my ear
The words that you used to say
Well, now the days grow longer
My love grows stronger
And the fever gets worse every day
I got a fever for a girl
He’s got the fever oh, he’s got the fever
Nothing that a boy can do
When he’s got the fever for a girl
He’s got the fever, oh, he’s got the fever
Left this little boy blue
I can remember comin’ home
See you standin’ at the stove
With the dishes on the table
Dinner ready to go
Or maybe out to a movie show
Something that you’d like to see
Oh, you were my sun in the morning
And my moon at night
When you put your arms around me made me fell alright
Well, now the days grow longer
And my love just grows stronger
And the fever gets so bad at night
I got a fever for a girl
He’s got the fever, oh, he’s got the fever
Nothing that a boy can do
When he’s got the fever for a girl
He’s got the fever oh, he’s got the fever
Left this little boy blue
It’s gonna be alright, now
If I can make it to the morning
I’m gonna be alright, now
If I can just make it to the morning
It’s just this long and lonely nights
Everytime I close my eyes
All I see is her face, everytime I shut my eyes
All I see is her face
But I’m gonna be alright, now
I’ll be alright, now
When I shut down all the lights
When I turn off all the lights, when I turn down all the lights
And when I lay my head on the pillow
I can’t stop myself in thinking
“Baby, where are you tonight?”
“Where is she tonight?” Notes:
One of the few out-takes to be "offically leaked" in tape form. The song was originally written in 1971, this is a fact as the lyric sheet (titled "Fever For The Girl") is dated and was on display in the Hard Rock Cafe, Sydney Australia. The lyrics on this sheet are an exact match. The song was recorded again for the Southside Johnny LP "I Don't Wanna Go Home" in 1975/6. It was played live some times in 1978 and during the Reunion tour, second part. Many performances in off-tour occasions.
An interesting snippet on a recent Backstreets auction item stated that the commonly circulated tape was recorded at WGOE Studios, presumably at one of the sessions for a radio broadcast. The auction item itself was the 7-inch reel to reel tape in a 914 Sound Recording Studios box is a 15 IPS recording of the song. This tape contains the band's studio version recorded at 914 Studios. "Bruce Springsteen, Fever" handwritten on label. The recent release of 18 TRACKS has a version recorded at the Record Plant on 16/5/73.
The fever - Live 1978 version
When I get home from my job, I turn on the TV
But I can't keep my mind on the show
When I lay down at night, I don't get no sleep
So I turn on the radio
But the only thing I hear is you whisperin' in my ear
Them words you used to say
Now my day grows longer, my love grow stronger
And the fever gets worse each day
I got the fever for a girl
He got the fever, oh he got the fever
Whoa there's nothing that a boy can do
He's got the fever for a girl
He got the fever, oh he got the fever
Yeah she left me insane
But I can remember comin' home
See you standin' at the stove
With the dishes on the table
Dinner ready to go
Maybe out to a movie show
Something that you like to see
Well baby you're my sun in the morning, and my moon at night
When put your arms around me made me feel alright
Now the day grows longer, and the love grows stronger
And the fever gets worse each night
I got the fever for you girl
He got the fever, oh he got the fever
Hey yeah
He got the fever, oh he got the fever
Whoa there's nothing that a boy can do
When he's got the fever for a girl
Baby I got the fever
She left this little boy
Alright
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
It's gonna be alright, now
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
If I can make it to the morning
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
I'm gonna be alright, now
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
If I can just make it to the morning
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
It's just these long and lonely nights
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
It's just these long long long nights
And every time I close my eyes, all I see is her face
Every time I close my eyes, all I see is her face
But I'm gonna be alright now
I'll be alright now
I'll be alright now
I'll be alright now, yeah
I'll be alright now
But when I shut down the lights
When I turn off all the lights
When I turn down the lights
When I turn down the lights
And when I lay my head on the pillow
I can't stop myself from thinking
Baby where are you tonight?
Where are you tonight?
Where is she tonight?
Where is she tonight?
Where is she tonight?
Where is she tonight?
Where is she tonight? Notes:
This is one version played live 1978 (15-Dec-1978). Other versions played in that year are identical.
The fever - 18 Tracks version
Alright
When I get home from my job, I turn on the TV
But I can't keep my mind on the show
When I lay down at night, I don't get no sleep
So I turn on the radio
But Lord, the only thing I hear is you whisperin' in my ear
The words that you used to say
Well now the days grow longer
My love grows stronger
The fever gets worse every day
I got the fever for this girl
He's got the fever, oh he's got the fever
Nothing that a po' boy can do
When he's got the fever for a girl
He's got the fever, oh he's got the fever
Left this little boy blue
Well, I can remember comin' home
See you standin' at the stove
With the dishes on the table
Dinner ready to go
Well maybe out to a movie show
Something that you like to see
Because you were my sun in the morning
You're my moon at night
When I think about it, makes me feel alright
Well now the day grow longer
The love just grows stronger, baby
And the fever gets so bad at night
I got the fever for a girl
He's got the fever, oh he's got the fever
Nothing that a po' boy can do
When he's got the fever for a girl
He's got the fever, oh he's got the fever
Left this little boy blue
Alright
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Baby alright
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Baby alright
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Let's make it alright
Well I can remember coming home, turning on my TV
But he can't keep his mind on the show
When I lay down at night,
I cannot get no sleep
So I turn on the radio
But still the only thing I hear is you whisperin' in my ear
Them words that you used to say
And now the days grow longer
And the love just grow stronger
And the fever gets bad everyday
I got the fever for this girl
He's got the fever, oh he's got the fever
Nothing a po' boy can do
When he's got the fever for a girl
He's got the fever, oh he's got the fever
Left this little boy blue
Alright
He's got the fever, oh he's got the fever
Nothing a po' boy can do
When he's got the fever for a girl
He's got the fever, oh he's got the fever
Left this little boy blue
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Alright
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Everybody
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Everybody
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Alright
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
???
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Alright now
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright Notes:
As published on 18 Tracks
Published on the following official releases:
- 18 TRACKS (Album,1999)
- THE PROMISE-DVD3 (Album,2010)
First known live performance: 15/03/1973 Oliver's, Boston,MA ,USA
Last known live performance: 28/04/2017 Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park,NJ ,USA
Song 'history':
Played live 1 time(s) during the so-called 'Greetings Tour'
and 1 time(s) during the gigs preceeding the official Born To Run Tour.
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.
Apart from the above live performances, the song was recorded during the Greetings / Wild sessions in 1972-73
The Darkness tour counted 23 apparitions of this song
Released for the first (official) time on the 18-TRACKS CD.
Played once in the whole Reunion tour (24/09/1999 The Spectrum, Philadelphia,PA ,USA)
One only performance during the Devils and Dust tour (20/10/2005 DCU Center, Worcester,MA ,USA)
Played only a couple of times in the whole Working on a Dream tour (28/04/2009 Wachovia Spectrum, Philadelphia,PA ,USA and 13/10/2009 The Spectrum, Philadelphia,PA ,USA)
Published in live version in the 3rd DVD: House Cut 'Houston '78 of 'The Promise'
In the Wrecking Ball tour, the song was only practiced (29/04/2013 Telenor Arena, Oslo ,Norway, during the soundcheck.)
but never played in the regular set.
Bruce gave this song one only shot through the 2016 The River tour (07/09/2016 Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia,PA ,USA)
The song was also played in informal happenings or off-tour appearances
Data from the www.brucespringsteen.it database