Official studio version
I had a dream our love would last forever
I had a dream last night, she had a dream too
She'll be there tonight
If I'm down then she'll make me feel right
Ooh, rendezvous
Haven't I told you, girl, how much I like you
I got a feeling that you like me too
So if you hold me tight
We'll be riders, girl, on the night
Ooh, rendezvous
We deserve so much more than this, girl
I'm riding on the power and living on the promise in your last kiss
Because I had a dream our love would last forever
I had a dream, tonight she had a dream too
So come on hold me tight
We'll be riders, girl, on the night
Ooohh, ooohh, ooohh, rendezvous, I want to rendezvous
I want to rendez-, I want to rendez-, I want to rendezvous, I want a rendezvous
RENDEZVOUS is a song written by Bruce Springsteen. It was originally recorded during the Darkness On The Edge Of Town sessions. The song was officially released for the first time in a live version on the Tracks box set in 1998. See the live 31 Dec 1980 version for more details.
A studio version of RENDEZVOUS was released on The Promise in 2010. The above lyrics are for that official studio version of RENDEZVOUS as released in 2010.
RENDEZVOUS was donated to The Greg Kihn Band for their 1979 album With The Naked Eye. See The Greg Kihn Band's cover version for more details. Gary U.S. Bonds also recorded the song for his 1982 album On The Line. See Gary U.S. Bonds' cover version for more details.
Before the release of The Promise in 2010, one unofficial studio take of RENDEZVOUS was in circulation among collectors (see the unofficial studio version for more details). It was cut during the early stages of the Darkness On The Edge Of Town recording sessions, in June 1977 at Atlantic Studios in New York City, NY. It's a complete take but the circulating audio is marred by vocal drop-out during the first verse. In a 1978 interview Springsteen said that the song was kept off the album because it didn't fit thematically. A live version was released on the Tracks box set which may indicate that he wasn't satisfied with the available studio versions. And what supports that position is that the version officially released on The Promise in 2010 has modern vocals and a completely different arrangement than the previously circulating Darkness On The Edge Of Town sessions outtake. Some believe that the production on the new version of RENDEZVOUS sounds closer to that of the "power pop" material recorded during The River sessions.
In the handwritten lyrics notebook that was reproduced in The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story box set, there are reproductions of two demo tape inlays listing RENDEZVOUS. One contains tracks recorded at Atlantic Studios and dated 01 Jun 1977 (below scan left) and one titled "Bruce Springsteen - Ruffs" and dated June 1977 (below scan right).
The Promise is a Bruce Springsteen album that was released on 16 Nov 2010 as part of The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story box set, and separately as a 2-CD set. The album was also issued on a limited edition 3-LP set pressed on 180-gram vinyl.
The Promise is a collection of 22 previously-unreleased songs from the Darkness On The Edge Of Town recording sessions. Depending on their level of completion back in 1977-1978, some were only remastered, some were overdubbed with 2010 vocals or music, and some were completely re-recorded in 2010. The album was mixed by Bob Clearmountain.
Side 1:
Side 2:
Side 3:
Side 4:
Side 5:
Side 6:
Other versions of RENDEZVOUS were also officially released.
RENDEZVOUS is known to have been performed at least 44 times during what is known as The Lawsuit Tour (62 know dates, August 1976 to March 1977). Some of that period's setlists are incomplete or unknown, and therefore, the song must have been played on some more dates during the Lawsuit Tour; it may have been a stable number during the 1976 leg of the tour. The live 07 Feb 1977 version of RENDEZVOUS was released on the Palace Theatre, Albany 1977 official live download in 2017. The live 08 Feb 1977 version of RENDEZVOUS was released on the Auditorium Theatre, Rochester, NY 1977 official live download in 2017.
RENDEZVOUS is known to have been performed at least 7 times during the Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour (111 dates, May 1978 to January 1979), all in the tour's last three weeks. A few setlists from that period are incomplete or unknown, and therefore, the song may have been played on some more dates during the Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour, but that's unlikely. The live 16 Dec 1978 version of RENDEZVOUS was released on the Winterland 12/16/78 official live download in 2019.
RENDEZVOUS is known to have been performed at least 3 times during The River Tour (138 dates, October 1980 to September 1981), all in December 1980. A few setlists from that period are incomplete, and therefore, the song may have been played on some more dates during The River Tour, but that's unlikely. The live 31 Dec 1980 version of RENDEZVOUS was officially released on the Tracks box set in 1998.
RENDEZVOUS was performed 23 times during what is known as The Reunion Tour (132 dates, April 1999 to July 2000).
RENDEZVOUS was performed once during The Rising Tour (120 dates, August 2002 to October 2003), on 03 Oct 2003 in New York City, NY.
In preparation for the Magic Tour, RENDEZVOUS was performed during at least one of the private rehearsals that took place in February 2008 in Asbury Park prior to the tour's second U.S. leg.
RENDEZVOUS was performed 3 times during the Magic Tour (100 dates, October 2007 to August 2008). The song was always played by sign request. The live 23 Aug 2008 version of RENDEZVOUS was released on the Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO 8/23/2008 official live download in 2017.
RENDEZVOUS was performed 4 times during the Working On A Dream Tour (83 dates, April to November 2009). The live 04 May 2009 version of RENDEZVOUS was released on the Nassau Coliseum 05.04.09 official live download in 2020.
RENDEZVOUS was performed twice during the Wrecking Ball Tour (133 dates, March 2012 to September 2013).
RENDEZVOUS was performed off-tour on 12 May 1977 at Monmouth Arts Center in Red Bank, NJ, with The Asbury Park All-Star Revue.
RENDEZVOUS was performed off-tour on 19 Dec 2004 at Harry's Roadhouse in Asbury Park, NJ, during both holiday jam shows that took place that day.
Between 2002 and 2011, Bruce Springsteen played private benefit shows for schools and colleges that his kids attended ─ Rumson Country Day School of Rumson, NJ, and Ranney School of Tinton Falls, NJ, and Boston College of Chestnut Hill, MA. RENDEZVOUS was performed at 6 of these fundraisers, always at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ, and backed by Bobby Bandiera and his band.
On 17 Oct 1978, Bruce Springsteen made a guest appearance with The Knack during their gig at The Troubadour in West Hollywood, CA. Later, The Knack's drummer Bruce Gary asked Springsteen for songs they might use in their live shows. He offered them two unreleased numbers, RENDEZVOUS and DON'T LOOK BACK. The band then recorded the second and released it in 1979.
At least 5 artists have recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's RENDEZVOUS.
Some of the above info about the studio recording and the live performances is taken from Brucebase. Info about some of the above RENDEZVOUS cover releases is taken from the Nebraska website.
List of available versions of RENDEZVOUS on this website:
RENDEZVOUS [Official studio version]
