Live 01 Oct 2022 version
[Spoken intro (Brandon Flowers):] Everybody gets a little nervous when their boss shows up to work, right? I don't know if you've noticed, but me and my friends have all been sweating bullets up here all night out. Because The Boss is here. Ladies and gentlemen, Bruce Springsteen.
[Spoken intro (Bruce Springsteen):] Good evening.
| Bruce Springsteen: | One, two! |
| Bruce Springsteen: | Lights out tonight, trouble in the heartland |
| Got a head-on collision smashing in my guts, man | |
| I'm caught in a crossfire that I don't understand | |
| But there's one thing I know for sure | |
| I don't give a damn for the same old played out scenes | |
| I don't give a damn for just the in-betweens | |
| Honey, I want the heart, I want the soul, I want control right now | |
| Bruce Springsteen: | Talk about a dream, try to make it real |
| Wake up in the night with a fear so real | |
| Spend your life waiting for a moment that just don't come | |
| Don't waste your time waiting | |
| Springsteen and Flowers and backing singers: | Badlands, you gotta live it every day |
| Let the broken hearts stand as the price you've gotta pay | |
| Keep pushing till it's understood | |
| And these badlands start treating us good | |
| Bruce Springsteen: | Brandon! |
| Brandon Flowers: | Working in the fields, that'll get your back burned |
| Working 'neath the wheels till you get your facts learned | |
| Baby, I've got my facts learned real good right now | |
| You better get it straight, darling | |
| Springsteen and Flowers: | Poor man wanna be rich, rich man wanna be king |
| And a king ain't satisfied till he rules everything | |
| I wanna go out tonight, I wanna find out what I got | |
| Brandon Flowers: | Well I believe in the love that you gave me |
| I believe in the faith that could save me | |
| I believe in the hope and I pray that some day it may raise me above these | |
| Springsteen and Flowers and backing singers: | Badlands, you gotta live it every day |
| Let the broken hearts stand as the price you've gotta pay | |
| Keep pushing till it's understood | |
| And these badlands start treating us good | |
| Bruce Springsteen: | Whoa! |
| Flowers and backing singers: | Whoa whoa whoa whoa |
| Bruce Springsteen: | [Guitar solo] |
| Jake Clemons: | [Saxophone solo] |
| Crowd: | Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa |
| Crowd: | Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa |
| Bruce Springsteen: | Come on! |
| Crowd: | Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa |
| Bruce Springsteen: | Come on! |
| Crowd: | Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa |
| Bruce Springsteen: | Come on! |
| Crowd: | Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa |
| Bruce Springsteen: | Come on! |
| Crowd: | Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa |
| Bruce Springsteen: | Come on! |
| Crowd: | Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa |
| Crowd: | Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa |
| Springsteen and Flowers: | For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside |
| That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive | |
| I wanna find one face that ain't looking through me | |
| I wanna find one place, I wanna spit in the face of these | |
| Springsteen and Flowers and backing singers: | Badlands, you gotta live it every day |
| Let the broken hearts stand as the price you've gotta pay | |
| Keep moving till it's understood | |
| And these badlands start treating us good | |
| Springsteen and Flowers: | Whoa whoa whoa whoa |
| Springsteen and Flowers and backing singers: | Badlands |
| Springsteen and Flowers: | Whoa whoa |
| Brandon Flowers: | Whoa whoa |
| Springsteen and Flowers and backing singers: | Badlands |
| Brandon Flowers: | Whoa whoa whoa whoa |
| Springsteen and backing singers: | Badlands |
| Brandon Flowers: | Whoa whoa whoa whoa |
| Springsteen and backing singers: | Badlands |
| Brandon Flowers: | Whoa whoa whoa whoa |
The above lyrics are for the live 01 Oct 2022 performance of BADLANDS at Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY, during a guest appearance with The Killers. Bruce Springsteen and Brandon Flowers traded lead vocals. The song also featured a guest appearance by Jake Clemons on Saxophone.
This was a The Killers concert, part of the band's The Imploding The Mirage Tour. Bruce Springsteen made a surprise guest appearance at the end of the show, joining the band for a 3-song encore. They performed Springsteen's BADLANDS, followed by The Killers' DUSTLAND, and ended with Springsteen's BORN TO RUN. Jake Clemons also joined them onstage for the encore's first and third song, playing saxophone.
The three songs from The Killer's 01 Oct 2002 concert's encore were officially released on 12 Apr 2025 on Encore At The Garden, a Record Store Day exclusive EP.
On the same day that Encore At The Garden was released, professionally shot video footage of the full encore was posted on The Killers' YouTube channel. The video was directed By Giorgio Testi.
Most likely some overdubbing work was done on the official release, including saxophone parts by Jake Clemons and guitar parts by The Killers' Dave Keuning. The live vocals seem to have been left intact.
List of available versions of BADLANDS on this website:
BADLANDS [Album version]