“Two For the Road” is short (not even two minutes long) and sweet, and that’s about the highest praise I can muster for it.
There’s nothing objectionable about “Two For the Road”–it would take a cynic to turn one’s nose up at it–but it’s essentially a blander version of “Two Hearts.” (The two songs even share a lyric.)
Bruce recorded “Two For the Road” during the Tunnel of Love sessions, and he first released it as the B-side to the single version of the album’s title track. That always struck me as a particularly cruel thing for Bruce to do: although thematically related, “Tunnel of Love” is such a vastly smarter, more mature and just plain superior song that “Two For the Road” underwhelms just by mere proximity.
Still, there are interesting tasting notes on which we should linger for a moment or two:
Let’s start with the title. We’ve looked at so many Springsteen songs with titles inspired by movies and books that I’ve lost count. “Two For the Road” is another one, inspired by the 1967 romantic comedy starring Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney.
Let’s move on to the lyrics:
It’s one for the money and one for the show
I got one kiss for you honey so come on let’s go
I didn’t see it coming but girl now I know
It takes one for the running but two for the road
One thousand dreams whispered in the dark
But a dream’s just a dream in one empty heart
It takes more than one to rev it up and go
So let’s get it running, we’re two for the road
Notice the repeated occurrence of the word “running” in the final lines of each verse. That’s almost certainly Bruce drawing a direct connection between “Two For the Road” and “Born to Run.”
Is this the same narrator from Bruce’s signature song more than a dozen years earlier, now older and wiser? Quite possibly. Or maybe it’s simply a metatextual aside–Bruce’s way of telling us that he’s matured now that he’s settled down (“Two For the Road” was written during Bruce’s first marriage). If “Born to Run” was about an escape artist, the protagonist of “Two For the Road” is a travel companion.
If Bruce had carried the comparison all the way through the song, “Two For the Road” might have made for a rewarding and nostalgic reconnection with a long lost friend. Unfortunately, he quickly abandons the notion.
Two one-way tickets and a diamond ring
Hell it don’t matter what the rain might bring
Whoa, when this world treats you hard and cold
I’ll stand beside you, we’re two for the road
The bridge is a callback as well–just to a different song. “This world treats you hard and cold” features prominently in the bridge of “Two Hearts.” (It works better there, too.)
When you’re alone my love’ll shine the light
Through the dark and starless night
I’ll hold you close and never let you go
C’mon now girl ’cause we’re two for the road
Well it’s two to get ready, babe, c’mon let’s go
Me and you, girl, we’re two for the road
Honestly, I have nothing to add about the third verse. It’s pedestrian. If you ever need a rare example of Bruce phoning in lyrics, the last verse of “Two For the Road” is about as strong a candidate as you’ll find.
Surprisingly, Bruce has played “Two For the Road” in concert no less than five times–always (wisely) solo and acoustic. All but one of those performances were during the summer and autumn legs of Bruce’s Devils & Dust Tour, when Bruce challenged himself (and sometimes his audience) by playing at least one song each night he’d never played before.
One of those debuts was “Two For the Road,” first surfacing in August in Cincinnati and Seattle, then again in November back home in New Jersey, all performed by Bruce solo on the electric piano. Here’s Bruce’s last uneven performance of “Two For the Road” from the penultimate show of the 2005 tour.
“Two For the Road” wouldn’t be heard from again for almost a decade, until it made a solitary appearance at Bruce’s post-High Hopes show in Pittsburgh with Joe Grushecky.
Bruce has never seemed fully comfortable with “Two For the Road,” and it’s a difficult song to slot into a set list without it feeling shoehorned. (In Pittsburgh, Bruce played it as part of an opening acoustic mini-set.)
I’d consider the odds to be pretty long against us hearing it again. Then again, I’d have said that every time he’s played it, so who knows…
Two For the Road
Recorded: February 1987
Released: Tunnel of Love (B-side, 1987), Tracks (1998)
First performed: August 1, 2005 (Cincinnati, OH)
Last performed: May 22, 2014 (Pittsburgh, PA)
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