Live 07 May 1981 version
[Spoken intro:] In... in around 1977, we played a show in Memphis, Tennessee. And I went down, it was late at night, it was three in the morning, when me and Steve, we got in a taxi cab and we went down to Elvis Presley's house. And we stood outside the gates and the gates were all locked up, but there was one little light on in, in the window. And I said, "Steve, I bet that's the bedroom, I bet you he's in there awake right now." So, so we had the taxi cab driver with us, he said, "No, don't, don't climb over that wall because they got big dogs over there and they'll eat you up and everything." So I climbed up over the wall, and... (chuckles) and I jumped... (chuckles) (cheers) and I jumped down on the other side and I was ready for to be attacked. But nothing happened so I ran up the driveway and I stood, I stood in front of the front door, and as I was about to knock, this guard came out of the woods and said, "What do you want?" I said "Is Elvis home?" And... (chuckles) (cheers) and he said, "No, he's not home, he's in Lake Tahoe." So I said, "Oh, well can you tell him, uh, that I was here or something?" (chuckles) I said, you know, I said, "I got a band and we just played in town tonight and I have some records that, that we made." And he said, "Sure, sure," then he said... (chuckles) he said, "You gotta get out now." So he walked me down and they unlocked the front gate and we walked out. I felt pretty good about it even though I didn't get to see him. But... (chuckles) (cheers) but it was, it wasn't too long, it wasn't too long after that that he died. And that summer I had just started listening to all, all his old records again and, and a lot of the new things. And I used to think a lot, and I used to wonder how it was that somebody that seemed, that seemed like such a big winner could lose, lose so bad in the end, you know. And... because he deserved a lot better than what he got. And uh... (cheers) But this song, this song is about living free. It's about, it's about not having to die poor after working in some factory, it's about not having to die in some million-dollar mansion with a whole lot of dope running through you, it's about feeling, feeling yourself strong inside, no matter who you are.
Well once I rode that ribbon highway
I saw above me the endless sky
I saw below me a golden valley
Well this land was made for you and me
I roamed and I rambled, and I followed my footsteps
Through the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me a voice was crying
It sang this land was made for you and me
The sun came shining as I went strolling
Through the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
And the bells were ringing and the fog was lifting
And I heard this land was made for you and me
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forests to the Gulf Stream waters
Oh this land was made for you and me
Now from the streets of New York to Harlem County
Through Liberty City and the streets of Brixton
People watching and people wonder
If this land was made for you and me
The above lyrics are for the live 07 May 1981 performance of THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND at Johanneshovs Isstadion in Stockholm, Sweden, during The River Tour. The song was played in a solo acoustic guitar and harmonica arrangement. This version is one of eight on this tour that feature Springsteen's own "Liberty City" verse. Here Springsteen adds a reference to the 1981 Brixton riot that took place the previous month.
List of available versions of THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND on this website:
THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND [1988 studio version]