From late 1981 through early 1982, Bruce recorded a series of acoustic demos at his home in Colts Neck. Several of those compositions became the album we know as Nebraska; others evolved into electric arrangements and would be featured on Born in the U.S.A.
A few of them didn’t go anywhere, though, and today’s entry is one of them.
As far as we know, “Wheels Make the World Go Round” never made it past the first two verses we hear in the one-minute clip below, but what we hear is intriguing.
“Wheels Make the World Go Round” is an acoustic demo, but it certainly sounds like it was intended to be a rocker with an earworm melody.
Lyrically, there’s not enough here for us to know exactly where Bruce was headed, but it seems clear that this would have been another entry in his canon of car metaphor songs.
Turning, turning baby round
Spinning baby round and round
Turning underground
Moving, streets of a one-dog town
Wheels make the world go round
Turning, turning left and goin’ right
Disappear boulevard ???
Wishing, secrets baby to be found
Wheels make the world go round
Baby wheels make the world go round
Many of Bruce’s discarded outtakes contained lyrical or musical DNA that found their way to one or more officially released songs, but sadly (because I really like this one) “Wheels Make the World Go Round” appears to be a true dead end.
Wheels Make the World Go Round
Recorded: Late 1981-mid 1982
Never released
Never performed
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