"Fade Away" is a 1980 song written and performed by

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

, accompanied by the

E Street Band The E Street Band is an American rock band, and has been musician Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band since 1972. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. For the bulk of Springsteen's recording and performing caree ...

. It is included on his album ''

The River The River may refer to: Films * ''The River'' (1929 film), an American film by Frank Borzage * ''The River'' (1933 film), a Czech film by Josef Rovenský * ''The River'' (1938 film), an American film by Pare Lorentz * ''The River'' (1951 fi ...

'', and the second single released from it in the United States, reaching the top twenty in both the United States and Canada.

History

The song was recorded at the Power Station in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in March to June 1980, one of the last songs to be recorded for the album. Musically and lyrically it is a slow, pained lament: Rock author Jimmy Guterman wrote that "Fade Away" is "certainly among his most pessimistic and helpless depictions of life and love gone wrong." ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record Wo ...

'' said that "Bruce expresses every man's fears with all the genuine emotional intensity that's come to make his ballads special." This was the second single taken from ''The River'', released in February 1981 in the U.S. and in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. (In the UK and Europe, " The River" was released instead.) In the U.S., "Fade Away" was not as successful as the previous single from the album, "

Hungry Heart "Hungry Heart" is a ballad written and performed by Bruce Springsteen on his fifth album, ''The River''. It was released as the album's lead single in 1980 and became Springsteen's first big hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart peaking at numbe ...

", but still reached #20 on the U.S. pop singles chart. It was only performed sporadically on

The River Tour The River Tour was a concert tour featuring Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band that took place in 1980 and 1981, beginning concurrently with the release of Springsteen's album ''The River''. Itinerary The first leg of the tour took place ...

,Killing Floor database: query and searches online
/ref> and not at all for nearly the first two months. p. 147. The judgement behind its selection as the second single was questioned, considering the more radio-friendly songs on the record, and the choice was blamed for slowing down sales of the album. It was then dropped from Springsteen's concert repertoire completely, only rematerializing for a handful of solo renditions on the 2005

Devils & Dust Tour The Devils & Dust Tour was a 2005 concert tour featuring Bruce Springsteen performing alone on stage on a variety of instruments. It followed the release of his 2005 album ''Devils & Dust''. The tour was named the Top Small Venue Tour of 2005 b ...

. E Streeter

Steve Van Zandt Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandolin ...

has proclaimed "Fade Away" as one of his favorite Springsteen songs, but thinks that it is not played in band shows because it is too slow. Regardless, he says, "It's just one of those funny, lost little gems, you know?" It was finally given an E Street Band performance again at

Stockholms Stadion Stockholm Olympic Stadium ( sv, Stockholms Olympiastadion), most often called Stockholms stadion or (especially locally) simply Stadion, is a stadium in Stockholm, Sweden. Designed by architect Torben Grut, it was opened in 1912; its original u ...

on June 7, 2009, during the European second leg of the

Working on a Dream Tour The Working on a Dream Tour was a concert tour by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, which began in April 2009 and ended in November 2009. It followed the late January 2009 release of the album ''Working on a Dream''. This was the first ful ...

; Springsteen made reference on stage to Van Zandt's desire to hear it. The song was performed once on the

Wrecking Ball Tour The Wrecking Ball World Tour was a concert tour by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band to promote Springsteen's seventeenth studio album, ''Wrecking Ball'', which was released on March 5, 2012. It was the first tour for the E Street Band with ...

on July 20, 2013, at King's Hall in Belfast; Springsteen made reference on stage that it was Van Zandt's favorite song. The song was played nightly during the North American leg of Springsteen's 2016 River Tour, where ''

'' was played in its entirety. When the tour reached Europe, the album presentation format of the tour was dropped, with the exception of a few shows. "Fade Away" has not been performed outside of the album format. Meanwhile,

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes are an American musical group from the Jersey Shore led by Southside Johnny. They have been recording albums since 1976 and are closely associated with Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. They have recor ...

(old Van Zandt cohorts) had added "Fade Away" to his concerts from the 1980s on, and it would be included on his 1997 ''Spittin' Fire'' live album. Southside's renditions have often been of a slow, bluesy nature, accompanied only by bandmate

Bobby Bandiera Robert "Bobby" Bandiera (born October 19, 1953) is an American rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter from New Jersey. Bandiera played rhythm guitar for Bon Jovi in live performances from 2005 until 2015 and for nearly two decades was lead g ...

Track listing

# Fade Away – 4:46 #

Be True "Be True" is a song by Bruce Springsteen. It was recorded on July 18, 1979 at The Power Station in New York in one of the early recording sessions for Bruce Springsteen's album ''The River''. It was not released on the album, but in 1981 it was r ...

– 3:39 "Be True" is a track from ''The River'' sessions that continued the new Springsteen tradition of using songs that did not appear on his albums as

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

s. It was recorded on July 21, 1979, at the Power Station, in one of the first sessions for the album. According to Springsteen, "Be True" was left off ''The River'' album in favor of the song "Crush on You", a decision he has a hard time understanding in retrospect. Although left off the album and released only as a B-side of a single, "Be True" reached #42 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. A featured selection on the 1988

Tunnel of Love Express The Tunnel of Love Express was a concert tour by Bruce Springsteen and featuring The E Street Band along with The Horns of Love that took place in 1988. It was followed by a four and a half months of the release of Springsteen's October 198 ...

, a live version from that tour was included on the '' Chimes of Freedom'' EP. The studio recording of "Be True" was eventually released on the '' Tracks'' box set in 1998.

Personnel

According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon: *

– vocals, guitars *

Roy Bittan Roy J. Bittan (born July 2, 1949) is an American musician best known as a long-time member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. Nicknamed "The Professor", Bittan joined the E Street Band in 1974. He plays the piano, organ, accordion and synth ...

– piano *

Clarence Clemons Clarence Anicholas Clemons Jr. (January 11, 1942 – June 18, 2011), also known as The Big Man, was an American musician and actor. From 1972 until his death in 2011, he was the saxophonist for The E Street Band. Clemons released several s ...

– tambourine, shaker *

Danny Federici Daniel Paul Federici (January 23, 1950 – April 17, 2008) was an American musician, best known as the organ, glockenspiel, and accordion player and a founding member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. In 2014, Federici was posthumously induct ...

– organ *

Garry Tallent Garry Wayne Tallent (born October 27, 1949), sometimes billed as Garry W. Tallent, is an American musician and record producer, best known for being bass player and founding member of the E Street Band, Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band si ...

– bass *

Steven Van Zandt Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandolin ...

– guitars, vocal harmonies *

Max Weinberg Max Weinberg (born April 13, 1951) is an American drummer and television personality, most widely known as the longtime drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and as the bandleader for Conan O'Brien on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' a ...

– drums

Chart history

References

{{authority control Bruce Springsteen songs 1980 songs 1981 singles Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes songs Songs written by Bruce Springsteen Song recordings produced by Jon Landau Columbia Records singles Song recordings produced by Bruce Springsteen Song recordings produced by Steven Van Zandt