Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: The Price You Pay

Driving cars are a common subject of Bruce Springsteen songs. Religious themes sometimes trickle into into his work. "The Price You Pay," a rarely-performed song from the dark Side Four (vinyl flashback, my friends)of The River has both.

We all start out with big dreams--but often we don't live long enough to see them.

Moses died before he reached the Promised Land.

Little girl down on the strand. With that pretty little baby in your hands. Do you remember the story of the promised land. How he crossed the desert sands. And could not enter the chosen land. On the banks of the river he stayed. To face the price you pay.

So let the game start, you better run you little wild heart. You can run through all the nights and all the days.  But just across the county line, a stranger passing through put up a sign. That counts the men fallen away to the price you pay. And girl before the end of the day, I'm gonna tear it down and throw it away.

Two songs later on The River is the concluding track, "Wreck on the Highway." Prior to that album Springsteen released Darkness on the Edge of Town One of the songs on that work was "The Promised Land." Perhaps "The Price You Pay" is a somber sequel. This video is from the November 8, 2009 performance at Madison Square Garden where Springsteen and the E Street Band played The River in its entirety.

Related posts:

Bruce Springsteen: Jesse James

Dave Edmunds: From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)--Springsteen cover