Live 01 Sep 1971 version
Empty tin cans cover the ground
Empty love bands bled the last chords down
Stoned out people running wild
Someone announces they lost that night
Then you know, then you know
Oh, how you know
When you're standing in the middle of a crowd and you feel so alone
The party's over, it's time to go home
Every two-bit junky in the world
Every psychedelisised little girl
You find too late there's no room to breathe
You're feeling sick, you know you gotta leave
Because you know, yes you know
Oh how you know
When you're standing in the middle of a crowd and you feel so alone
The party's over, it's time to go home
Sometimes I think I was born too late
To be what I wanna be
Because when I look around me I can't relate
There's no room, there's no place for me
The band stops, there's no electricity
We can hassle the cops or go watch TV
And off behind some crazy tree
There's a little girl and she's crying so silently
Because she knows, yes she knows
Oh God she knows
When you're standing in the middle of a crowd and you feel so alone
The party's over, it's time to go home
Yes when you're standing in the middle of a crowd and you feel so alone
The party's over and it's time to go home
Time to go home
IT'S TIME TO GO HOME is an unreleased song written by Bruce Springsteen. He performed it live in 1971. The song is also known under the title "Festival".
According to Brucebase, IT'S TIME TO GO HOME was probably written in mid 1971. No studio recording of the song is known to exist.
The adjective "two-bit" in the line "Every two-bit junky in the world" means cheap. A dollar was originally a Spanish coin worth 8 Reales, originally an 8 with lines through it, hence the dollar symbol. A "bit" was one Real. However, the expression is virtually only used in the form "two bits" (= "a quarter") or in its adjectival form "two-bit" (= "cheap").
The above lyrics are for a live 01 Sep 1971 performance of IT'S TIME TO GO HOME at Garfield Park in Long Branch, NJ, with The Bruce Springsteen Band. Bruce Springsteen performed the song solo on piano.
This was a triple-bill outdoor show orchestrated by Tinker West's Blah Productions. The show was headlined by The Bruce Springsteen Band (Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt, David Sancious, Garry Tallent, and Vini Lopez). The support acts were originally Sweet Chariot and Tumbleweed, but it appears that the latter was replaced at the last minute by The Joe Hagstrom Squeak Band. A 66-minute fair-quality audience recording from this show is in circulation among collectors. However, this performance apparently lasted nearly two hours, so there's quite a bit missing and discernible edits can be heard in between songs on the audio source.
IT'S TIME TO GO HOME is known to have been performed at least once in Bruce Springsteen's early years (pre-October 1972), on 01 Sep 1971 in Long Branch, NJ. Very little is known about shows from this early period, and therefore, the song must have been played on some more dates. The song was played in a solo piano arrangement.
As far as it's known, no artist has recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's IT'S TIME TO GO HOME.
Thanks Chris at born2run.de and Ian (Kentboss) for the help. Much of the above information about the 01 Sep 1971 show is taken from Brucebase.
If you have any additional information about this song, or any corrections to the above lyrics, please contact me via the below form or by email: .
List of available versions of IT'S TIME TO GO HOME on this website:
IT'S TIME TO GO HOME [Live 01 Sep 1971 version]