Roll of the Dice/Cover Me: All I Need

In the early summer of 1981, inspiration struck (as it often did), and Bruce captured it on tape in his home studio in the form of a mostly-bluffed new song called “All I Need.”

His home demo was far from a fully-realized song (none of the lyrics would survive to the final version except for the chorus), but Bruce must have known he was on to something with that soulful hook and melody.

Bruce seemed eager enough to bring “All I Need” to life that he arranged it on the spot during a soundcheck run-through with the band just days later, during their venue-opening stand at the Brendan Byrne Arena in July 1981.

(If the melody sounds more than a bit familiar, that’s probably because Bruce borrowed heavily from his arrangement of Ike and Tina Turner’s “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine” that he and the band played frequently during the Born to Run Tour.)

It’s astonishing to listen to this first run-through and marvel at just how much potential “All I Need” had to be a hit if only Bruce had written it prior to the release of The River instead of just after. With a classic R&B backing track, passionate (albeit bluffed) vocals, and an arrangement right smack in the E Street sweet spot, “All I Need” needed to be finished and released.

And it was… sort of.

By the end of the summer of 1981, Bruce would be in full Nebraska song-writing mode, but that didn’t stop him from recording “All I Need” with the E Street Band at the Hit Factory in New York City in early 1982.

But a recording doesn’t guarantee a release, as Springsteen fans well know. Bruce had moved on to a new, sparer sound for his next album release, and more mature, less retro songs for his next band album after that.

So Bruce took “All I Need” and six other original songs in the same vein and donated them to Gary U.S. Bonds for Bonds’ next album, On the Line.

Bruce and Steve Van Zandt had produced Bonds’ “comeback” album, Dedication, in 1981, and they reprised their co-producer roles for On the Line as well. Between the two albums, Bruce donated an amazingly generous ten songs to Bonds, a number of which could have been hits for Bruce (including, of course, “This Little Girl” which Bonds scored with in 1981).

But of all the songs Bruce gave away for On the Line that cried out for an official Springsteen release, “All I Need” ranks near the top. Such a recording almost certainly exists, and it very probably uses the exact same E Street Band backing track that Bonds recorded his vocals over.  Let’s take a listen:

Bruce still sticks pretty close to that “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine” melody, but it’s lusher now, more romantic and soulful, with a coda at least inspired by if not lifted from “Darkness on the Edge of Town.”

The lyrics speak for themselves–not much is required in the way of analysis. This is a pure R&B pop song., with Bruce’s narrator finding all the validation he needs in the love of his girl.

Some men need riches and lots of money to spend
Some men need power to hold over other men
But not me, baby, girl you can believe
I’m telling you my darling

You’re all I need in this world, girl

Some men need fine clothes, big diamond rings
To feel like somebody some men need expensive things
But I feel like somebody, girl, every time you look at me
I don’t need nothing to remind me that

You’re all I need in this world, girl

And it’s hard to keep holding on
When you put your arms around me, I feel strong

Some men need a fine home on a far hillside
Some men need a big car to show off as they ride
Some men need a pretty woman just to walk by their side
And some men need to see the fear in another man’s eyes
But all I need baby, is all I can see
When you wrap your loving arms around me

You’re all I need in this world, girl

“All I Need” is such confection perfection that we’ll set aside its irony: a protagonist who pooh-poohs men who require external validation for internal confidence and security, but who ultimately owns up to the very same thing. This isn’t a song you think about–it’s a song you feel.

Bruce has never performed “All I Need” live, not even with Bonds. But as long as both men keep performing, hope is alive.

All I Need
Recorded: Early 1982
Released: On the Line (1982)
Never performed

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