Official studio version
The way your heart beats when I hold you tight
The way you sigh when we kiss goodnight
The way the wind blows through the trees
Well hey, that's the way you belong to me
The way you warm me baby when I'm cold
The way you make me want you body and soul
The way the rivers run to the sea
Well hey, that's the way you belong to me
The way you soothe me when I'm in pain
The way you make the blood rush in my veins
The way the winds rush through the trees
Well hey, that's the way you belong to me
When I lose faith you take my hand
The way you make me feel like I'm a man
The way the sun belongs to the sea
Well hey, that's the way you belong to me
[Sax solo]
The way you make me feel like I belong
And if I could girl though I know it'd be wrong
I'd lock you deep inside 'till the last rains fall
And hide you from the emptiness of it all
Sometimes at night I lie awake
I pull you close and feel each breath you take
The way the rivers belong to the seas
Well hey, that's the way you belong to me
Well hey, that's the way you belong to me
Hmmmmm
Hmmmmm
Hmmmmm
Hmmmmm
Hmmmmm
Hmmmmm [fades out]
THE WAY is a song written by Bruce Springsteen and released on The Promise collection in 2010. The above lyrics are for Bruce Springsteen's studio version of THE WAY as released in 2010.
THE WAY was not listed on The Promise press release, and is not listed on the album artwork. It's a hidden/bonus track probably due to being a last minute addition to the album. It is not a separate track; it's plays after CITY OF NIGHT following a digital pause.
On 15 Nov 2010, the eve of The Promise release, Sirius XM's E Street Radio channel broadcasted a two-hour special titled "E Street Radio on the Edge of Your Town" and hosted by Dave Marsh. The show featured Bruce Springsteen live in the studio with an intimate audience of 20 contest winners. In the first hour, each audience member had the chance to ask him a question in-person about the upcoming release, and in the second hour, the phone lines opened to E Street Radio callers. According to Backstreets.com, when asked about THE WAY, Springsteen answered that "the main reason it's hidden is because I never liked it." Conjuring visions of Dean Stockwell, he went on to say "I would like to see it placed in a David Lynch film over a sexually perverse scene. That, to me, is it's righteous home." He also noted that recording engineer Jimmy Iovine "lobbied for it in '78 like he was gonna keel over."
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:
Prior to the release of The Promise in 2010, this same studio take of THE WAY had been circulating on bootlegs in slower and slightly different mixes. It was recoded in October or November 1977 at The Record Plant in New York City, NY.
This only circulating studio take of THE WAY has been available on several bootlegs, including Darkness Outtakes 1978 Vol. 2: The Way (Scorpio), Deep Down In The Vaults (E. St. Records), and Ultra Rare Trax Vol. 1 (Mosquito Records). Note that Ultra Rare Trax Vol. 1 contains two slightly different mixes (but same take) of the song.
In preparation for the Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour, THE WAY is known to have been practiced on 19 May 1978 at Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, NJ, during the only known/confirmed private rehearsal prior to the tour's start.
At least 2 artists have recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's THE WAY.
Short-lived American country rock band Lone Justice recorded Bruce Springsteen's THE WAY for their self-titled debut album in 1985, but the song didn't make the album cut due to complicated rights issues. It is of note that the album was produced by the band's manager, Jimmy Iovine, who was a recording engineer during Springsteen's the Darkness On The Edge Of Town sessions. Iovine was a big fan of THE WAY and tried to have it included on Darkness On The Edge Of Town, and this explains how Lone Justice ended up recording the song seven years later. Lone Justice's version of THE WAY remains unreleased to this day.
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List of available versions of THE WAY on this website:
THE WAY [Official studio version]
