This.
This is what should have been on Born in the U.S.A. instead of “Cover Me.”
Even Bruce must have recognized at some point just that “Cover Me” wasn’t ready for prime time, because he continued to work on the song long, long after he recorded the version that’s on the album.
In early June of 1983–almost a year and a half after he recorded “Cover Me,” Bruce went back into the studio with the E Street Band and recorded a much, much stronger version of it. While the lyrics were still largely the same, Bruce stripped out the paranoid urgency, dialed up the tenderness, and set it all against one of his best mid-eighties backing tracks (a melody so good, in fact, that he’d nick it a couple of weeks later for “Janey, Don’t You Lose Heart“).
The result: “Drop on Down and Cover Me,” which I’d rank at or very near the top of the still-missing-in-action outtakes crying out for an official release.
Take a listen:
I’m not sure there’s a better example of how subtle changes can dramatically alter a song than “Drop on Down and Cover Me.” The lyrics undoubtedly sound very familiar–most of them are virtually identical.
Times are tough there baby
It’s getting tougher now
This world is rough honey
It’s just getting rougher now
You’re on top there, baby
Just tryin’ to score, well
I seen enough, honey
I don’t wanna see no more
Drop on down and cover me
Sometimes girl I just wanna
Leave it all behind us
Hold me in your arms tonight
let’s let our love blind us
But “Cover Me” rings of paranoia (“Now promise me baby you won’t let them find us“) and desperation, especially in the bridge:
Outside’s the rain, the driving snow
I can hear the wild wind blowing
Turn out the light, bolt the door
I ain’t going out there no more
In contrast, notice how Bruce alters the inclement weather of “Cover Me” to an internal storm in “Drop on Down and Cover Me.”
Inside I feel the pain that
The hatred and the sorrow
I wanna shut the light, baby
C’mon and shut the door
Drop on down and cover me
I just wanna close my eyes and
Let your love surround me
I wanna close my heart
To this world around me
Both narrators are looking for shelter, but the protagonist of “Cover Me” is hiding from the world. The hero of “Drop on Down and Cover Me” merely seeks momentary refuge and the strength that comes from having a partner in this world.
The anger and the heartlessness
All the good things killed
Come closer baby
Now closer still
Drop on down and cover me
Like all art, music is subjective. But “Drop on Down and Cover Me” is such a superior song to the officially released “Cover Me” that I can’t help but wonder why Bruce chose to release the older version.
It clearly wasn’t always his intention to do so–in the summer of 1983, Bruce had an album sequence that included “Drop on Down and Cover Me” right in the middle of Side One (after “None But the Brave” and before “Shut Out the Light“–what an album that would have been).
Unless we’re lucky enough to get a sign-requested debut someday, we’re not likely to ever gain any more insight; for now, we’ll just chalk it up as just one more unsolved Springsteen mystery.
Drop on Down and Cover Me
Recorded: May 31 – June 2, 1983
Never released
Never performed
Looking for your favorite Bruce song? Check our full index. New entries every week!
