WILD BILLY'S CIRCUS STORY

Live 16 Nov 1990 version

[Spoken intro:] (coughs) Used to have a girlfriend, uh, who rode one of those elephants in the Ringling Brothers' circus. Nice girl.

The machinist climbs his Ferris wheel like a brave
The fire eater's lyin' in a pool of sweat, victim of a heat wave
Behind the tent, the hired hand tightens his legs on the sword swallower's blade
And circus town's on the shortwave

Well, the runway lies ahead like a great false dawn
Fat Lady, Big Mama, Missy Bimbo sits in her chair and yawns
And the man-beast lies in his cage sniffing popcorn
And the midget licks his fingers and suffers Missy Bimbo's scorn
And circus town's been born

Well, and a press roll, drummer go, ballerina to-and-fro
Cartwheelin' up on that tightrope with a cannon blast, lightin' flash
Movin' fast, through the tent, Mars bent, he's gonna miss his fall
Oh, God save the human cannonball
And the flying Zambinis watch Margarita do her neck twist
The ringmaster gets the crowd to count along: "Ninety-five, ninety-six, ninety-seven"
Suitcase in his hand, moving silently away from the circus ground
Oh, this highway's haunted by them carnival sounds
They dance like a great greasepaint ghost on the wind
Man in baggy pants and a grin
Runnin' home to some small Ohio town
Jesus, send some good women to save all the clowns

Well, circus boy dances like a monkey on barbed wire
And the barker romances with a junkie, she's got a flat tire
And the elephants dance real funky, and the band plays like a jungle fire
And circus town's on the live wire
And the strong man, Sampson, lifts the midget, little Tiny Tim, up on his shoulders, way up
Carries him off down the midway
Past the kids, past the sailors, into his dimly lit trailer
And the Ferris wheel turns and turns like it ain't ever gonna stop
And the circus boss leans over and whispers in a little boy's ear, "Hey son, you wanna try the big top?"
All aboard, Nebraska's our next stop

Info

The above lyrics are for the live 16 Nov 1990 performance of WILD BILLY'S CIRCUS STORY at Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, CA, during the first of the two Christic Institute benefit shows. The song was played solo on acoustic guitar.

Ticket stub for the 16 Nov 1990 show at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA

Christic Institute Benefit Shows

Bruce Springsteen joined Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne on 16 and 17 Nov 1990 at Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, CA, for two acoustic benefit shows for the Christic Institute. The shows "were two of the most important and dramatic concerts of [Springsteen's] career", Backstreets magazine founder Charles R. Cross wrote. According to the Golden Globe, Springsteen and manager Jon Landau even considered making an album from these shows at one point.

Promotional poster for the 16-17 Nov 1990 Christic Institute benefit shows at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA

The Christic Institute was a public interest law firm whose most high-profile case was going to expose the CIA's involvement in the Iran-Contra drug smuggling scandals. The case was dismissed by the judge days before the trial was to begin, claiming that Christic's attorneys had failed to present some of the evidence. Christic was ordered to pay over $1 million in court costs for the defendants, effectively bankrupting the firm.

In June 2016, the complete recordings of Bruce Springsteen sets from both the 16 and the 17 Nov 1990 Christic Institute benefit shows were officially released on Live.BruceSpringsteen.net (see the "Official Live Downloads" section below for more details). The audio was sourced from digital audio tape (16-bit/44.1kHz) and was transferred by Rob Lebret at Thrill Hill Studio, NJ, and mastered by Adam Ayan at Gateway Mastering Studios in Portland, ME.

Bruce Springsteen -- The Christic Shows November 16 & 17, 1990

Official Live Downloads

Prior to the High Hopes Tour, Bruce Springsteen's management announced a new service allowing fans to download concert recordings approximately 48 hours after each show. The initial plan required fans to purchase a special USB wristband, which could then be used to download a single High Hopes Tour show of the purchaser's choice and also functions as a regular reusable USB flash drive. The wristband, which could be purchased online or at the concert venue, was priced at $40. Following some negative response from fans over the high cost for the wristband, Springsteen's management subsequently announced a separate cheaper option for purchasing shows directly, without the need for the wristband. The shows were available for purchase and download via Live Nation, Bruce Springsteen's concert promoter, priced at $9.99 for MP3 and $14.99 for FLAC. Audio recordings for 31 of the 34 High Hopes Tour dates (all except 16 Feb 2014, 06 Apr 2014, and 03 May 2014) were released as such and they were available until 30 Jun 2014.

On 17 Nov 2014, Live.BruceSpringsteen.net was launched. It's a new addition to the official website, serving as an online store offering high-quality live concert recordings as well as high-resolution digital releases of Springsteen's album catalog. The download store is powered by Nugs.net in cooperation with Columbia Records. Audio recordings for 30 of the 34 High Hopes Tour dates (all except 16 Feb 2014, 06 Apr 2014, 03 May 2014, and 18 May 2014) were re-released on the new download store in multiple formats, including MP3, lossless CD-quality FLAC or ALAC, and 24-bit HD FLAC or ALAC or MQA, as well as audio CD-R with custom artwork. Nugs.net adopted the MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) format on 24 May 2017. From then on, all Bruce Springsteen live concert recordings, including the previously released ones, became also available in MQA.

Audio recordings for all 75 The River Tour 2016 dates were also released on Live.BruceSpringsteen.net in multiple formats, including MP3, lossless CD-quality FLAC or ALAC, and 24-bit HD FLAC or ALAC or MQA, as well as audio CD-R with custom artwork. Each show was generally released within a month after it took place.

Audio recordings for all 14 Summer '17 Tour dates were also released on Live.BruceSpringsteen.net in multiple formats, including MP3, lossless CD-quality FLAC or ALAC, and 24-bit HD FLAC or ALAC or MQA, as well as audio CD-R with custom artwork. Each show was generally released within a month after it took place.

Archival releases were periodically released on the same site, as part of the Bruce Springsteen Archive Series. These shows were also made available in multiple formats, including MP3, lossless FLAC or ALAC, 24-bit FLAC or ALAC or MQA, DSD, and audio CD-R. So far 90 shows (or sets of shows) were released from the ongoing series.

Credits

Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.

Available Versions

List of available versions of WILD BILLY'S CIRCUS STORY on this website:

Page last updated: 01 Jun 2016