It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City

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"It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City"
Song by Bruce Springsteen
from the album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.
ReleasedJanuary 5, 1973 (1973-01-05)
Recorded1972
Studio 914 Sound, Blauvelt, New York
Genre Rock
Length3:13
Label Columbia
Songwriter(s) Bruce Springsteen
Producer(s)
Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. track listing
9 tracks

Side one

  1. "Blinded by the Light"
  2. "Growin' Up"
  3. "Mary Queen of Arkansas"
  4. "Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?"
  5. "Lost in the Flood"

Side two

  1. "The Angel"
  2. "For You"
  3. "Spirit in the Night"
  4. "It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City"

"It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City" is a song written and performed by Bruce Springsteen on his debut album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. in 1973. The song talks about a young man growing up on the streets of a city trying to stay good and do what he believes is right. It has been covered by David Bowie. [1] John Sayles included this song in a high school lunchroom scene of his movie Baby It's You . [2]

Contents

Background

The song inspired Mike Appel to quit his job to become Springsteen's manager, even though Springsteen did not have a record contract yet. [3] It was also the first song Springsteen played at his audition at CBS Records for John Hammond, who eventually signed him to a record contract, on May 2, 1972. [3] [4] The following day, he recorded it as part of a 12-song demo for Hammond. [3] [4] The demo version of the song was released on Tracks in 1998. The version included on Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. was recorded during the summer of 1972 backed by future E-Street Band members David Sancious on piano, Vini Lopez on drums and Garry Tallent on bass. [5]

Live performances

A 1975 live version can be found on the DVD of the Hammersmith Odeon concert that is included in the Born to Run (30th Anniversary Edition) and the Hammersmith Odeon London '75 CDs. [6] [7] A 1978 live version is also included in the Live/1975–85 set.

David Bowie version

David Bowie recorded multiple cover versions of "It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City", most of which went unreleased. [8] One version taped in late 1973 during the sessions for his album Diamond Dogs (1974) eventually surfaced on the 1989 box set Sound + Vision . Bowie had previously taped renditions of Springsteen's other Greetings songs "Growin' Up" and "Spirit in the Night". [9] [10] Bowie attempted another version of "It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City" in November 1974 during the sessions for Young Americans (1975); this rendition featured a guitar riff which was originally developed for another cover of the Flairs ' "Footstompin'" before being incorporated into the original song "Fame". [8] In 2025, archivist Max Ochester claimed to uncover the Young Americans version among a series of tapes purchased from a private collection in Philadelphia. [8] Springsteen himself stopped by during the session at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia. Bowie recalled that he struggled to relate to Springsteen due to his cocaine addiction at the time, and never played Springsteen his version because he was unhappy with it. [9] [10]

Personnel

According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon: [11]

Related Research Articles

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"Spirit in the Night" is a song written and originally recorded by American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen for his debut album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973). It was also the second single released from the album. A cover version performed by Manfred Mann's Earth Band using the title "Spirits in the Night" was released on the album Nightingales and Bombers and as a Top 40 single.

"Mary Queen of Arkansas" is a song by Bruce Springsteen from the album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., released in 1973. Springsteen played "Mary Queen of Arkansas" at his audition for John H. Hammond at CBS Records, who signed him to his first record contract on May 2, 1972, although Hammond was less impressed with this song than with "It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City" or with "Growin' Up". The day after signing the contract, Springsteen recorded "Mary Queen of Arkansas" as part of a 12-song demo for Hammond. The demo version of the song was released on Tracks in 1998.

"Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?" is a song by Bruce Springsteen from the album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., released in 1973. The song was part of the demo that Springsteen recorded for John Hammond of CBS Records in advance of getting his first recording contract. This demo version was released on Tracks in 1998.

"Lost in the Flood" is a song by Bruce Springsteen. It was released on his debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. in 1973.

"The Angel" is a song by Bruce Springsteen from the album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. in 1973. It was also released as the B-side to Springsteen's "Blinded by the Light" single. The song was part of the demo that Springsteen recorded for John Hammond of CBS Records in advance of getting his first recording contract. At the time Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. was released, Springsteen considered it his most sophisticated song. It has had very few live performances.

"For You" is a song written and recorded by Bruce Springsteen in 1972 for his debut album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., released in 1973. It was later included on the compilation album The Essential Bruce Springsteen. The song has been covered by Manfred Mann's Earth Band, The Format, and Greg Kihn.

"Darkness on the Edge of Town" is the last song on the 1978 album of the same name, Darkness on the Edge of Town, by Bruce Springsteen. It was the last song recorded and mixed, and in April 1978 it was designated the title song to a thematic album whose songs portray the struggles of the less-fortunate, not only to survive, but to keep their spirit and will to live. The title track portrays a hard-luck loser in life who refuses to give up. Springsteen's fourth album, released three years after his 1975 effort Born to Run, was delayed two years because of legal problems with his former manager, Mike Appel. Expectations were high after he took one year to complete the album.

References

  1. ↑ "Allmusic It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City". AllMusic . Retrieved 2012-08-23.
  2. ↑ Dave Marsh (1996). Glory Days. p. 296. ISBN   1-56025-101-8.
  3. 1 2 3 Rob Kirkpatrick (2007). The Words and Music of Bruce Springsteen . pp.  12–16. ISBN   978-0-275-98938-5.
  4. 1 2 "The Demo Sessions" . Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  5. ↑ "Greetings from Asbury Park" . Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  6. ↑ "Born to Run (30th Anniversary Edition)" . Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  7. ↑ "Hammersmith Odeon, London '75" . Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  8. 1 2 3 Grant, Richard (16 January 2025). "The extraordinary untold story of Bowie's lost tapes". The Daily Telegraph . Archived from the original on 18 January 2025. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  9. 1 2 Pegg, Nicholas (2016). The Complete David Bowie (Revised and Updated ed.). London: Titan Books. pp. 135–136. ISBN   978-1-78565-365-0.
  10. 1 2 O'Leary, Chris (2015). "Chapter 8". Rebel Rebel: All the Songs of David Bowie from '64 to '76. Winchester: Zero Books. ISBN   978-1-78099-244-0.
  11. ↑ Margotin, Philippe; Guesdon, Jean-Michel (2020). Bruce Springsteen All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. London: Cassell Illustrated. p. 38. ISBN   978-1-78472-649-2.
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