And then there’s “30 Days Out.”
It didn’t make the Human Touch album it was recorded for, and it never made it into the vault for a Tracks release. Instead, it slipped out the door when no one was looking, hitched a ride on the b-side of a “Leap of Faith” promo single, and took off for Austria, The Netherlands, Japan, and Australia–the only countries that ever saw anything resembling an official release for this song.
I’m mystified, because “30 Days Out” is a darn good song, stronger than many of the songs that made it to the album.
Musically, “30 Days Out” suffers from the same overproduction that plagues Human Touch. (There’s an album I’d love to see Bruce completely re-record some day.) But it grooves, the lyrics are catchy, and Bruce’s vocals are at his peak, some of his purest on record.
Perhaps the reason Bruce cast this song off is that lyrically, it’s ground well trod for him:
We fell in love and I made you the world
I spent all my time trying to satisfy you, girl
Just one thing that I can’t figure out
Closer I get, farther baby I am out
Thirty days, thirty days out
Well I’m six days running but I’m thirty days out
Thirty days, thirty days out
With every kiss you leave a little shadow of doubt
The roof was leaking honey where we live
And I’m wondering what’s that something that you won’t give
I started loving you but I gotta stop
You got me mostly waiting for that other shoe to drop
Tried to talk about what’s going on
You just smile and tell me “Baby there ain’t nothing wrong”
In your smile there’s a sign in red
It said “Thousand miles of hard road dead ahead”
The notion of the mysterious girl he can never quite please–who remains just emotionally out of reach even though she professes otherwise–that’s familiar territory in the vein of “I’m Goin’ Down,” “Brilliant Disguise” and “Secret Garden.” Even “One Step Up” compares in its titular hook and its ain’t-burning furnace vs. the leaky roof in “30 Days Out.”
Perhaps Bruce felt he’d gone to that well a bit too often; regardless, “30 Days Out” deserves rediscovery and airtime in concert. (Bruce has never performed it live.)
Bonus: Here’s an alternate take–a bit faster with an alternate ending.
30 Days Out
Recorded: March-April 1990
Released: Leap of Faith promo (1992) (select countries only)
Never performed
Looking for your favorite Bruce song? Check our full index. New entries every week!
