Bruce Springsteen lyrics -- Bruce Springsteen shows -- Bruce Springsteen records

Song title: This hard land


This hard land

Hey there mister can you tell me what happened to the seeds I’ve sown
Can you give me a reason sir as to why they’ve never grown
They’ve just blown around from town to town
Till they’re back out on these fields
Where they fall from my hand
Back into the dirt of this hard land

Now me and my sister from Germantown
Yeah, we did ride
We made our bed sir from the rock on the mountainside
We been blowin’ around from town to town
Lookin for a place to stand
Where the sun burst through the cloud
To fall like a circle
Like a circle of fire down on this hard land

Now even the rain it don’t come ‘round
It don’t come ‘round here no more
And the only sound at night’s the wind
Slammin’ the back porch door
It just stirs you up like it wants to blow you down
Twistin’ and churnin’ up the sand
Leavin’ all them scarecrows lyin’ face down
Face down in the dirt of this hard land

From a building up on the hill
I can hear a tape deck blastin’ “Home on the Range”
I can see them Bar-M choppers
Sweepin’ low across the plains
It’s me and you Frank we’re lookin’ for lost cattle
Our hooves twistin’ and churnin’ up the sand
We’re ridin’ in the whirlwind searchin’ for lost treasure
Way down south of the Rio Grande
We’re ridin’ cross that river
In the moonlight
Up onto the banks of this hard land

Hey Frank won’t ya pack your bags
And meet me tonight down at Liberty Hall
Just one kiss from you my brother
And we’ll ride until we fall
We’ll sleep in the fields
We’ll sleep by the rivers and in the morning
We’ll make a plan
We’ll if you can’t make it
Stay hard, stay hungry, stay alive
If you can
And meet me in a dream of this hard land

Notes: Played acoustically in the 2nd leg of the HT tour and in the TGOTJ tour, and full band during the reunion tour.

Statistics from the KILLING FLOOR (www.brucespringsteen.it) database

Published on the following official releases:

First known live performance: 23/03/1993 Count Basie Theater, Red Bank,NJ ,USA
Last known live performance: 05/12/2018 Walter Kerr Theatre, New York,NY ,USA

Song 'history':


Recorded during the BITUSA sessions (late 1982-mid 1984), but then not included on the album.
29 perfomances were given during the Human Touch tour
Played at the Bridge Benefit show of 1995.
The song made its first official apparition being included, as inedit track, GREATEST HITS compilation, released in 1995.
In 1996 Sony released the BLOOD BROTHERS video (and mini-CD), which included also this song
Played quite each night of the Ghost of Tom Joad tour, with a unique exception
The TRACKS studio out-take collection included an alternate version of the song.
Just less than a dozen shots during the Reunion tour
It only saw the light less than a dozen times in the whole Rising tour
Played during the 'Double Take' shows in 2002
Played during the rehearsals for the Devils and dust Tour, in Mar/Apr 2005.
Often played during the Devils and Dust tour (24 times)
Played during the rehearsals for the We shall overcome / The Seeger session tour, in Mar/Apr 2006. but still not played in the regular tour.
Scarcely used during the Magic tour, with 4 inclusions
During the Working on a Dream tour, the song was played 4 times
It only saw the light less than a dozen times in the whole Wrecking Ball tour
During the High Hopes tour, the song was played 3 times
During the 2016 The River tour, the song was played less than a dozen times
Performed 1 times during the 2017 Summer tour
The Springsteen on Broadway tour counted 12 apparitions of this song

The song was also played in informal happenings or off-tour appearances
Data from the www.brucespringsteen.it database