Song title: My city of ruins
My city of ruins - The Rising version
There's a blood red circle
On the cold dark ground
And the rain is falling down
The church door's thrown open
I can hear the organ's song
But the congregation's gone
My city of ruins
My city of ruins
Now the sweet bells of mercy
Drift through the evening trees
Young men on the corner
Like scattered leaves
The boarded up windows
The empty streets
While my brother's down on his knees
My city of ruins
My city of ruins
Come on rise up! Come on rise up!
Come on rise up! Come on rise up!
Come on rise up! Come on rise up!
Come on rise up! Come on rise up!
Now there's tears on the pillow
Darlin' where we slept
And you took my heart when you left
Without your sweet kiss
My soul is lost, my friend
Tell me how do I begin again?
My city's in ruins
My city's in ruins
Now with these hands
With these hands
With these hands
With these hands
I pray Lord
With these hands
With these hands
I pray for the strength, Lord
With these hands
With these hands
I pray for the faith, Lord
With these hands
With these hands
I pray for your love, Lord
With these hands
With these hands
I pray for the strength, Lord
With these hands
With these hands
I pray for your love, Lord
With these hands
With these hands
I pray for the faith, Lord
With these hands
With these hands
I pray for the strength, Lord
Come on, rise up!
Come on, rise up! Notes:
As released on The Rising
My city of ruins - Live 2000 Version
There's a blood red circle
On the cold dark ground
And the rain is falling down
The church doors blown open
I can hear the organ's song
But the congregation's gone
My city of ruins
My city of ruins
Now the sweet veils of mercy
Drift through the evening trees
Young men on the corner
Like scattered leaves
The bordered up windows
The hustlers and thieves
While my brother's down on his knees
My city of ruins
My city of ruins
Come on rise up!
Come on rise up!
Come on rise up!
Come on rise up!
Come on rise up!
Come on rise up!
Now there's tears on the pillow
Darling where we slept
And you took my heart when you left
Without your sweet kiss
My soul is lost, my friend
Now tell me how do I begin again?
My city's in ruins
My city's in ruins
Now with these hands
With these hands
With these hands
I pray Lord
I pray Lord
I pray Lord
With these hands
Give me strength Lord
With these hands
Give me faith Lord
With these hands
I pray Lord
With these hands
Give me strength Lord
With these hands
Give me faith Lord
With these hands
Come on rise up!
Come on rise up!
Come on rise up!
Come on rise up!
Come on rise up!
Come on rise up!
Come on rise up!
Come on rise up!
Rise up Notes:
Conventional Hall premiered version.
My city of ruins - 11-9-2001 tribute version
This is a prayer for our fallen brothers and sisters.
There is a blood red circle
on the cold dark ground
and the rain is falling down
The church door's blown open
I can hear the organ's song,
but the congregation's gone
My city of ruins
My city of ruins
Now the sweet bells of mercy
drift through the evening trees,
young men on the corner
like scattered leaves,
the boarded up windows,
the empty streets
While my brother's down on his knees
My city of ruins
My city of ruins
Come on, rise up!
Come on, rise up!
Come on, rise up!
Come on, rise up!
Come on, rise up!
Come on, rise up!
Now's there's tears on the pillow,
darlin' where we slept
and you took my heart when you left
Without your sweet kiss
my soul is lost, my friend
Tell me how do I begin again?
My city's in ruins
My city's in ruins
Now with these hands,
with these hands,
with these hands,
I pray lord
With these hands,
with these hands,
I pray for the strength, Lord
With these hands,
with these hands,
I pray for the faith, Lord
We pray for your love, Lord
We pray for the lost, Lord
We pray for this world, Lord
We pray for the strength, Lord
We pray for the strength, Lord
Come on
Come on
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up
Come on, rise up Notes:
Modified lyrics of the 11-Sep tribute version
Published on the following official releases:
- THE RISING (Album,2002)
- LIVE IN BARCELONA (Album,2004)
First known live performance: 17/12/2000 Convention Hall, Asbury Park,NJ ,USA
Last known live performance: 25/02/2017 Mt. Smart Stadium, Auckland ,New Zealand
Song 'history':
Played during the Conventional Hall shows in 2000 and 2001
Published on THE RISING, in 2001.
Performed every night of the Rising tour
The Barcelona show of the Rising tour was broadcast and released on DVD 'LIVE IN BARCELONA', which included also this song
Played during the rehearsals for the Devils and dust Tour, in Mar/Apr 2005. but not played in the regular tour.
Played during the rehearsals for the We shall overcome / The Seeger session tour, in Mar/Apr 2006.
Often played during the The Seeger Session tour (33 times)
Played once in the whole Working on a Dream tour (19/07/2009 Stadio Olimpico, Rome ,Italy)
Largely (95 times) played during the Wrecking Ball tour
One only rendering for this song in the High Hopes tour (02/03/2014 Mt. Smart Stadium, Auckland ,New Zealand)
It only saw the light less than a dozen times in the whole 2016 The River tour
Performed 4 times during the 2017 Summer tour
The song was also played in informal happenings or off-tour appearances
Data from the www.brucespringsteen.it database