The Promise

The Promise:

Johnny works in a factory. Billy works downtown.
Terry works in a rock and roll band looking for that million dollar sound.
Got a job down in Darlington. Some nights I don't go.
Some nights I go to the drive in. Some nights I stay home.
-- Bruce Springsteen, "The Promise"

"I listened to the version of The Promise on 18 Tracks. It's not the version Springsteen recorded more than 30 years ago. This version is stripped down to almost nothing, just Springsteen and a piano. And the weirdest thing happened, something I can never remember happening before or since when I listened to a song. I felt myself crying." Joe Posnanski writes about fathers and sons, factory work, and the magic of the Boss and one of his most beautiful and haunting songs.

Some live versions:



1976 Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band at The Palladium (NY)

1977 Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band at Boston Music Hall

1978 Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band at Memorial Hall (Kansas City, MO)

2009 (?) Bruce and his piano

2010 Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band at The Carousel House (Asbury Park, NJ)

2012 Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band at the Verizon Center (Washington, DC)