Live 01 Oct 2022 version
[Spoken intro (Brandon Flowers):] You want one more? No. I think we got just this song.
| Bruce Springsteen: | One! Two! |
| Bruce Springsteen: | In the day we sweat it out in the streets of a runaway American dream |
| At night we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines | |
| Sprung from cages on Highway 9, chrome-wheeled, fuel-injected, stepping out over the line | |
| Crowd: | Whoah |
| Bruce Springsteen: | Baby, this town rips the bones from your back |
| It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap, we gotta get out while we're young | |
| 'Cause tramps like us | |
| Springsteen and Flowers: | Baby we were born to run |
| Brandon Flowers: | Wendy, let me in, I wanna be your friend, I wanna guard your dreams and visions |
| Just wrap your legs 'round these velvet rims and strap your hands 'cross my engines | |
| Together we could break this trap, we'll run till we drop, and baby we'll never go back | |
| Whoah, will you walk with me out on the wire | |
| 'Cause baby I'm just a scared and lonely rider but I gotta know how it feels | |
| I wanna know if love is wild, baby, I wanna know if love is real | |
| Brandon Flowers: | Oh can you show me |
| Bruce Springsteen: | One, two, three, four! |
| Jake Clemons: | [Saxophone solo] |
| Bruce Springsteen: | Beyond the Palace hemi-powered drones scream down the boulevard |
| The girls comb their hair in rearview mirrors as the boys try to look so hard | |
| Brandon Flowers: | The amusement park rises bold and stark, kids are huddled on the beach in a mist |
| I wanna die with you, Wendy, on the street tonight in an everlasting kiss | |
| Huh! | |
| Bruce Springsteen: | One, two, three, four! |
| The highway's jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive | |
| Brandon Flowers: | Everybody's out on the run tonight but there's no place left to hide |
| Together, Wendy, we can live with the sadness, I'll love you with all the madness in my soul | |
| Woah, someday soon, I don't know when | |
| We're gonna get to that place we really wanted to go and | |
| Springsteen and Flowers: | We'll walk in the sun |
| But till then | |
| Bruce Springsteen: | Tramps like us |
| Springsteen and Flowers: | Baby we were born to run |
| Brandon Flowers: | Ah honey |
| Springsteen and Flowers: | Tramps like us, baby we were born to run |
| Brandon Flowers: | Come on Wendy |
| Springsteen and Flowers: | Tramps like us, baby we were born to run |
| Whoah whoah-whoah whoah | |
| Whoah whoah-whoah whoah | |
| Oh-oh oh whoah whoah-whoah whoah | |
| Oh oh oh oh whoah | |
| Whoah whoah-whoah whoah | |
| Whoah whoah-whoah whoah | |
| Brandon Flowers: | Whoah whoah-hoah whoah |
| Oh oh oh oh whoah | |
| Bruce Springsteen: | Jake clemons! |
| The Killers! | |
| Brandon Flowers: | Bruce Springsteen! |
[Spoken outro (Brandon Flowers):] Have a good night everybody.
The above lyrics are for the live 01 Oct 2022 performance of BORN TO RUN 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 BORN TO RUN on this website:
BORN TO RUN [Album version]