Live 13 May 1981 version
[Spoken intro:] This is uh... this is the first time this song, first time, we haven't played it. And uh... I think everybody remembers where they were when they heard that, that Elvis, Elvis died. It is a hard thing to understand.
Well she drew out all her money from the Southern Trust
And she's put her little boy on a Greyhound bus
Leaving Memphis with a guitar in his hand
With a one-way ticket to the promised land
Now hey little girl with the red dress on
There's a party tonight down in Memphis town
I'll be going down there if you need a ride
Come on, come on, let's go tonight
How many have fallen with their dream denied
Now tell me baby are you lonesome tonight
'Cause a man on the radio says Elvis Presley died
Come on, come on, let's go tonight
Well now down in Dixie the sky she's hard and black
Over the hill I see a long black Cadillac
They're standing by the roadside in the heat
Brought together forever in the promise of an endless sleep
Well they found him slumped up against the drain
With a whole lot of nothing running through his veins
Now bye-bye Johnny, oh Johnny bye-bye
You didn't have to die, you didn't have to die
The above lyrics are for the live 13 May 1981 performance of JOHNNY BYE-BYE at Apollo Theatre in Manchester, England, during The River Tour. The song was played in a stripped down band arrangement. During this tour JOHNNY BYE-BYE featured lyrics different from the known studio versions of the song. See the official studio version for more details.
This concert was originally scheduled for 23 Mar 1981 (see ticket stub and pass above) but was rescheduled reportedly due to Springsteen's exhaustion following the first 1981 North American leg of the tour.
List of available versions of JOHNNY BYE-BYE on this website:
JOHNNY BYE-BYE [Official studio version]
