Song title: Look towards the land
Look towards the land - Live
Well, I dreamed I was a gypsy riding the land
With a tambourine and a gypsy queen
And a rainbow caravan
Happy old land sailor, yeah, that's what I want to be
Stealing diamonds from the rich men to throw in the sea
Singing look toward the land
'cause the land holds the key
Keep an eye on the land
And an eye on man
Well, I dreamed I was a cabin boy
On an American Clipper line
Watering flowers for the captain
That they may not wilt
Bringing cargo to colonies of South Caroline
On the best ol' Clipper Dave McKay ever built
Singing look toward the land
'cause the land is the key
Singing keep an eye on the land
And an eye on the sea
Well, I dreamed I was your lover
'Cause that's what I want to be
And I dreamed that every night you dreamed only of me
And we walked along the beach, and ooh, we held hands
And I told you you were my only woman
And I was your only man
Singing look toward the lovers
For they are the key
Keep an eye on the lovers
And an eye on the war machine
Yes I dreamed I was a captain of a river queen
Caressing Mississippi waters down to New Orleans
Yeah, a happy ol' riverboat captain, that's what I'd like to be
And I'd let you ride my honey, I'd let you ride her for free
Singing look toward the river
'Cause the river's the key
Keep an eye on the river
And an eye on the sea
Well, I dreamed I was your friend
'Cause that's what I want to be
And every night, you had dreams
And they were all of me
We'd walk all the streets together
Hand in hand
And be kind to the women
And the women be kind to the men
If only that would happen someday again
Singing look toward the lovers
For they are the key
Keep an eye on the lovers
And an eye on the war machines
And that's why at night I'm afraid to sleep
Because some of my dreams frighten me Notes:
This is the live version. The studio take has rearranged lyrics.
Look towards the land - Studio
Well, I dreamed I was a gypsy riding the land
With a tambourine and a gypsy queen
And a rainbow caravan
Happy old land sailor, yeah, that's what I want to be
Stealing diamonds from the rich men to throw in the sea
Singing look toward the land
'cause the land holds the key
Keep an eye on the land
And an eye on the sea
Yes, I dreamed I was the cabin boy
On an American Clipper line
Stealing cargo to colonies of South Caroline
Watering flowers for the captain that they may not wilt
On the best ol' Clipper Donald McKay ever built
Singing look toward the land
'cause the land is the key
Singing keep an eye on the land
And an eye on the sea
Yes I dreamed I was a captain of a river queen
Caressing Mississippi waters down to New Orleans
Just a riverboat captain, that's what I want to be
Won't you come on now, I'd let you ride my mama for free
Singing look toward the river
'Cause the river's the key
Keep an eye on the river
And an eye on the sea
And you know it's all right
Where the river flows, I'll follow
Where the sun shines, I will go
Mama take my hand, I want to bring you to the land
Where the wild wind blows
And the mountains grow
And the people know
Yes, they know
You must let the river flow
Let the river flow
Where the river flows, I will follow
Where the sun shines, I must go
And mama, take my hand, I want to bring you the land
Where the wild wind blows
And the people know
And the mountains grow
Yes, they grow
And the river flows
Gotta let the river flow
Yes I dreamed I was a river
Flowing free
And I dreamed that everybody
Just flowed naturally
Yes, I dreamed I was a crystal mountain stream
Running down the biggest mountain you've ever seen
Singing look toward the river
For they hold the key
Keep an eye on the river
And an eye on the sea
Dreamed I was your lover
'Cause that's what I want to be
And I dreamed that every night you dreamed only of me
And we walked together by the sea, hand in hand
And I told you you were my only woman
And I'd be your only man
Singing look toward the lovers
For they are the key
Keep an eye on the lovers
And an eye on the war machine Notes:
This is the Surfboard Factory Demo version. The live version take has rearranged lyrics. This "studio" version is anterior to Bruce signing with Columbia (June 1972) and it it pre-dates Bruce signing with Mike Appel and Jimmy Cretecos (March 1972) too. Recorded with the Bruce Springsteen Band
Look towards the land - 14-May-1971 live version
Well I dreamed I was a gypsy riding the land
With a tambourine and a gypsy queen and a rainbow caravan
Happy old land sailor yeah that's what I want to be
Stealing diamonds from the rich men to throw in the sea
Singing look towards the land 'cause the land is the key
Singing look towards the land and keep an eye on the sea
Well I dreamed I was a cabin boy on that American Clipper line
Watering flowers for the captain that they may not wilt
Bringing cargo to the colonies of South Carolina
On the best old clipper Dave McKay ever built
Singing look toward the land 'cause the land is the key
Singing keep an eye on the land, and an eye on the sea
Well I dreamed I was your lover 'cause that's what I wanna be
And I dreamed that every night you dreamed only of me
And we walked along the beach, and oh we held hands
And I told you you were my only woman and I'll was you only man, singin'
Look towards the lovers for they are the key
Keep an eye on the lovers and an eye on the war machines
Well I dreamed I was the captain of a River Queen
Caressing Mississippi waters down to New Orleans
Yeah happy old river boat captain that's what I'd like to be
And I'd let you ride my honey I'll let you ride her for free
Singing look towards the river for the river's the key
Keep an eye on the river and an eye on the sea
Well I dreamed I was your friend, cause that's what I want to be
And every night you had dreams and they were all of me
We walked all the streets together hand in hand
And we be kind to the man, and the woman be kind to the man
If only that would happen some day again
And I would be singing look towards the lovers for they are the key
Keep an eye on the lovers and an eye on the war machines
And that's why at night I am afraid to sleep
Cause some of my dreams frighten me Notes:
Played in the early years. This is the 14-May-1971 live version. The studio take has rearranged lyrics.
This song has never been published on any official release.
Very few performances of this songs are known (to me, at least!):
- 15/05/1971 Newark State University, Union,NJ ,USA during the "Jamming" pre-BSB period
- 25/01/1972 Challenger Eastern Surfboards, Highlands,NJ ,USA during the BSB period
note: this date is only indicative of the general period
- 17/03/1972 Richmond Arena, Richmond,VA ,USA during the BSB period
Data from the www.brucespringsteen.it database
First known live performance: 15/05/1971 Newark State University, Union,NJ ,USA
Last known live performance: 17/03/1972 Richmond Arena, Richmond,VA ,USA
Song 'history':
During the early years (1965-1972), played live (at least) 1 time(s) during the 'jamming period' while forming the Bruce Springsteen Band, 2 time(s) with the Bruce Springsteen Band.
.
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 for the Laurel Canyon / London Publishing demos
Data from the www.brucespringsteen.it database