Studio version
Two, three, four
I remember girl, you walking down my street
Well you were looking at me, I'd seen my baby
You know she loves him and I can't beat her style
Right now I wanna drive wild and I wanna try wild
Bring it home, try it out, I'll do just whatever you want, yeahhh
Don't say no
Don't say no
Don't say no
Don't say no
Well I'm being wild in here, and it can't be real
Well there's a real and huh-nuh-nuh-nuh me that I can do
But I'm a real livewire and I'm feeling light outside
Right now I'll get down on my knees, you know I'm wild
Bring it home, bring it home, open up and just let me in, ohhh
Don't say no
Don't say no
Don't say no
Don't say no
In tune!
Whoa!
There's a cool river and a color and fire when I came here
Well I've been on that high road searching for you
And I love you girl and I want you girl and I swear
Even when you're lonesome, baby, I'm beside you
I'm your captive, I'm a little downside
Ah, and I want you and I'm gonna get you and I'm gonna treat you and I'm gonna love you
Alright, I'm ready to rip, open up and then bring it home
Oh, oh
Don't say no
Don't say no
Don't say no
Don't say no
Don't say no
Don't say no
Don't say no
Don't say no
DON'T SAY NO is a song written by Bruce Springsteen and recorded during the Darkness On The Edge Of Town sessions. The above lyrics are for the only circulating version of the song.
There are actually two versions of this Darkness On The Edge Of Town outtake in circulation. The first one (from which the above lyrics are transcribed) has "Don't say no" repeated in the chorus, and therefore it is known under the title "Don't Say No". The second one has "I wanna be wild" repeated in the chorus, and therefore it is known under the title "I Wanna Be With You" (see I WANNA BE WILD for more details). They are practically the same song and they share the same music, but have alternate work-in-progress lyrics.
The Darkness On The Edge Of Town sessions took place at both Atlantic Studios and The Record Plant in New York City, NY, between early June 1977 and late December 1977. It is not clear from which period DON'T SAY NO and I WANNA BE WILD were recorded, but they probably emanate from The Record Plant. Both songs suffer from weak sound quality (vocals very low in the mix), which makes the lyrics unintelligible. According to Brucebase, a take of this song with the title "I Want To Be Wild" was recorded at The Record Plant on 11 Nov 1977.
This studio version of DON'T SAY NO can be found on The Definitive Darkness Outtakes Collection (E. St. Records) [disc 1, track 03] and Darkness Outtakes 1978 Vol. 1: The Iceman (Scorpio) [track 09] bootlegs.
In the 2010 documentary The Promise: The Making Of Darkness On The Edge Of Town, Bruce Springsteen rehearsing DON'T SAY NO with the band. This can be seen on the DVD release in chapter 3 ("The Sound Picture"), between 00:27:30 and 00:27:52.
DON'T SAY NO was registered at the U.S. Copyright Office on 10 Jan 2011. According to the copyright record, the creation year of this composition is 1977 and the publication date is 16 Nov 2010. 1977 corresponds to the Darkness On The Edge Of Town recording sessions and 16 Nov 2010 is none other than the release date of The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story box set and The Promise collection.
The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story is a Bruce Springsteen box set released in 2010 on Columbia Records. It was originally expected to be released for the Darkness On The Edge Of Town album's 30th anniversary in 2008, but that didn't happen, possibly due to Springsteen's touring schedule. The box set was officially announced on 26 Aug 2010 and released to retail on 16 Nov 2010.
The 8.5"x11" box set contains three CDs, three Blu-Ray discs or three DVDs, and an 80-page spiral-bound notebook containing facsimiles from Springsteen's original notebooks from the recording sessions, which include alternate lyrics, song ideas, recording details, and personal notes, in addition to a new essay by Springsteen on the album and never-before-seen photographs. The box set won the 2012 Grammy Award for Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package.
Disc 1 consists of a digitally remastered version of the Darkness On The Edge Of Town album. Disc 2 and 3 consist of The Promise, a collection of unreleased songs from the Darkness On The Edge Of Town recording sessions.
Disc 4 is The Promise: The Making Of Darkness On The Edge Of Town, a documentary that was produced for the box set. It was directed by Grammy- and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Thom Zimny. The ninety-minute film combines never-before-seen footage of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band shot between 1976 and 1978, including home rehearsals and studio sessions, with new interviews with Springsteen, E Street Band members, manager Jon Landau, former manager Mike Appel, and others closely involved in the making of the record.
The documentary premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 14 Sep 2010 and also aired on HBO on 07 Oct 2010. It was first exclusively available as part of The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story box set, but was then released separately on 03 May 2011, in both DVD and Blu-Ray formats, with some bonus features.
Disc 5 consists of two parts: Darkness On The Edge Of Town, Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park 2009 and Thrill Hill Vault 1976 - 1978. The former is a Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band's live performance of the Darkness On The Edge Of Town album in its entirety, shot in HD on 13 Dec 2009 at Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, NJ, without an audience.
Thrill Hill Vault 1976-1978 is a collection of archival footage from Springsteen's personal vault It consists of an about-an-hour's worth (it clocks at about 56 minutes) of home rehearsals footage from 1976, studio sessions footage from 1978, and live in concert footage from 1978. It was produced and edited by Emmy- and Grammy-winner Thom Zimny and the audio for the live 1978 footage and some of the 1978 studio footage was mixed by Bob Ludwig. Zimny re-edited the 1978 concert footage making use of previously unseen camera angles. The home rehearsals and studio session footage was originally produced and directed by Barry Rebo, while the live in concert footage was originally directed by Arnold Levine.
Disc 6 is Houston '78 Bootleg: House Cut, a video of the complete 08 Dec 1978 concert at The Summit in Houston, TX. The footage was taken from the in-house video screen at The Summit, which was one of the first arenas in the United States to have this system at the time. This gave the release its title "Houston '78 Bootleg: House Cut". Considering that it was taken from the mono soundboard, the sound is only available in PCM stereo and not in 5.1 surround. The video was produced by Emmy- and Grammy-winner Thom Zimny and the audio was mastered by Bob Ludwig. It clocks at around 176 minutes.
As far as it's known, Bruce Springsteen has never performed DON'T SAY NO live.
As far as it's known, no artist has recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's DON'T SAY NO.
Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.
Some of the above lyrics might be guessed or not correct, and they are open for revisions and corrections. If you can assist, or if have any additions or comments, please contact me via the below form or by email: .
List of available versions of DON'T SAY NO on this website:
DON'T SAY NO [Studio version]
