Live 24 Apr 1996 version
[Spoken intro:] This is a nice little theatre you know, you know. I like those red lights (chuckles). Here's a uh, here's a [somebody from the crowd: "This is a song"] alright, alright, glad to be here (chuckles). Here's a song uh, probably one of the few pop songs where its protagonist is a, is a shoe salesman. And uh, it's a song about self-knowledge coming too late... which is when it usually comes, unfortunately (chuckles), after you've fucked up.
I slipped on her shoe, she was a perfect size seven
I said "there's no smoking in the store ma'am"
She crossed her legs and then
We made some small talk, that's where it should have stopped
She slipped me a number, I put it in my pocket
My hand slipped up her skirt, everything slipped my mind
In that little roadhouse on highway 29
It was a small town bank, it was a mess
Well I had a gun, you know the rest
Money on the floorboards, my shirt was covered in blood and she was crying
Her and me we headed south on highway 29
In a little desert motel, the air was hot and clean
I slept the sleep of the dead, I didn't dream
I woke in the morning washed my face in the sink
We headed into the Sierra Madres 'cross the borderline
The winter sun, shot through the black trees
I told myself it was all something in her
But as we drove I knew it was something in me
Something had been coming for a long long time
Something that was here with me now on highway 29
The road was filled with broken glass and gasoline
She was just a ragged doll now, it was just a dream
Wind come silent through the windshield
All I could see was snow and sky and pines
I closed my eyes and I was running
Yeah I was running then I was flying
The above lyrics are for the live 24 Apr 1996 performance of HIGHWAY 29 at Brixton Academy in London, England, during The Ghost Of Tom Joad Solo Acoustic Tour. This live version of HIGHWAY 29 differs from the album version in one line; Springsteen sings "She was just a ragged doll now, it was just a dream" in the last verse.
List of available versions of HIGHWAY 29 on this website:
HIGHWAY 29 [Album version]
