Band rehearsal #1
One two
One, two, three
???
???
???
???
???
[Music stops, starts]
???
???
???
???
[Music stops, starts]
A-one, two, three, four
???
???
???
???
Point blank, right between the eyes, girl
Point blank, right between your pretty eyes
Point blank, right between the eyes, girl
Point blank
???
???
???
???
Point blank, right between the eyes, girl
Point blank, right between your pretty eyes
Point blank, right between the eyes, girl
Point blank
[Music stops, starts]
One, two, three
???
???
Tomorrow's fall in number one by one
You wake up and you're dying, ???
Point blank, right between the eyes, girl
Point blank, right between your pretty eyes
Point blank, right between the eyes, girl
Point blank
???
??? lose
???
???
Point blank, right between the eyes, girl
Point blank, right between your pretty eyes
Point blank, right between the eyes, girl
Point blank, whoa-oh
???
???
[Music stops, starts]
One, two, three
One, two, three, four
[Music stops, starts]
One, two, three, four
[Music stops, starts]
One, two, three, four
??? when you go to bed at night
Praying that tomorrow will be alright
Tomorrow's falling in number one by one
??? don't know what from
Point blank, right between the eyes, girl
Point blank, right between your pretty eyes
Point blank, right between the eyes
Point blank
???
???
???
???
[Music stops, starts]
Oh whoa
???
[Music stops, starts]
??? tomorrow
???
???
Point blank, right between the eyes, girl
Point blank, right between your pretty eyes
???
???
???
[Music stops, starts]
Yeah yeah
Yeah yeha
???
???
???
???
??? every night
???
[Music stops, starts]
Whoa whoa
???
???
???
???
???
???
[Music stops, starts]
???
???
???
???
???
???
???
???
[Music stops, starts]
???
???
[Music stops, starts]
???
???
???
???
???
[Music stops, starts]
I say ??? baby
???
Alright
???
???
???
???
???
???
???
???
???
??? tomorrow
[Music stops, starts]
???
[Music stops, starts]
???
[Music stops, starts]
???
???
[Music stops, starts]
[Music stops, starts]
???
???
I saw you last night down on the avenue
Your face was in the shadows but I knew that it was you
You were standing in the corner ???
???
???
???
???
???
Point blank
Point blank
Point blank
Point blank
Whoa oh
[Music stops, starts]
[Spoken:] Let's do the bridge.
One, two
[Music stops, starts]
Two
Hey little darling, you go to bed at night
Praying tomorrow will be alright
??? one by one
???, baby
Point blank, right between the eyes, girl
Point blank, right between your pretty eyes, baby
Point blank, baby
Point blank
???
SLOW FADE is an unreleased Bruce Springsteen song known from a 1980 band rehearsal session.
The above lyrics are for a band rehearsal workout of SLOW FADE recorded on 05 Feb 1980 at Springsteen's Telegraph Hill Road property in Holmdel, NJ. It actually consists of many practice takes and snippets.
Several band rehearsal takes of the song, amounting to about 38 minutes, appeared for the first time when they were released on The Lost Masters bootleg series in 1996. The lengthy rehearsal session consists of run-throughs with various instrumental breaks, count-ins, and vocal directions from Springsteen. Unfortunately, the audio recording is very rough and the vocals are very distant and buried. According to The Lost Masters bootleg's liner notes, the rehearsal takes of SLOW FADE were recorded on 05 Feb 1980.
These rehearsals took place at Springsteen's Telegraph Hill Road property in Holmdel, NJ. Nicknamed "Telegraph Hill Studios", this was a converted barn that Springsteen and the band used to practice songs around the time The River was being cut in studio. Working out arrangements cuts down pricey hours at The Power Station where the album was recorded. A significant amount of The River sessions audio that has surfaced unofficially comes from these Telegraph Hill sessions. Unfortunately the audio quality leaves much to be desired. It sounds as if a single boom recording mike was used and Springsteen's vocals are buried under the instruments on virtually all these recordings.
"Slow Fade" is the title that The Lost Masters bootleg's liner notes attributed to the song, but this title does not appear in any studio documentation as far as we know. It is likely taken from the J-card of the cassette tape that was used as source for the bootleg. Moreover, Springsteen does mention "slow fade" on the audio following on of the rehearsal takes.
SLOW FADE doesn't appear on Sony's logs of Bruce Springsteen's studio sessions, which means that it didn't make it to The Power Station. However, it could very well be the uncirculated I WILL BE THE ONE which was recorded in the studio just eleven days after these rehearsals. In his 2012 book E Street Shuffle: The Glory Days of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Clinton Heylin wrote: "Given the six known attempts made at this song on February 5, each an E Street tour de forceful, it would be somewhat surprising if the song went unrecorded at Power Station. (Actually, they spent most of January 31 and February 1 working on an untitled song. But if I had to put my money on a likely contender, it would be 'I Will Be The One', one of three songs recorded on February 16.)"
Based on the lyrics, SLOW FADE seems to be an alternative arrangement of POINT BLANK. But, as Brucebase puts it, "it is possible that Springsteen was using the lyrics of 'Point Blank' as substitute lyrics for another incomplete, work-in-progress song, an activity that we have documented evidence of." Moreover, aside from later overdubs, POINT BLANK was finished in August 1979, so it is unlikely that Springsteen was working on another arrangement of the song six months later ─ assuming that the date in The Lost Masters bootleg's liner notes is reliable and that there was no mix up with source cassette tapes labels.
The band rehearsal takes of SLOW FADE can be found on The Lost Masters Vol. 15 (Labour Of Love) [tracks 05-10] bootleg, spread over six tracks.
Liner notes from The Lost Masters Vol. 15 bootleg:
More "behind the scenes" eavesdropping at an E Street Band rehearsal continues this edition - a lengthy session of run-throughs, various instrumental breaks, count-ins and vocal direction from Bruce on an unreleased tune called "Slow Fade". Bruce dominates the proceedings with lots of direction-giving, like "let's do the bridge". Interesting stuff.
As far as it's known, Bruce Springsteen has never performed SLOW FADE live.
As far as it's known, no artist has recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's SLOW FADE.
The audio recording of the Telegraph Hill band rehearsal takes of SLOW FADE is very rough and the vocals are very distant and buried, which makes the lyrics very unintelligible. If you can help in transcribing the lyrics in these takes, or if you have any corrections, additions, or comments, please contact me via the below form or by email: .
List of available versions of SLOW FADE on this website:
SLOW FADE [Band rehearsal #1]