As the saying goes, this one is for the completists.
As Steel Mill songs go, “Temporarily Out of Order” is a pretty tight, light, and fun mid-tempo rocker with a clever conceit. The only problem is the recording: while it’s clear enough to make out most of Bruce’s important lyrics, the guitar jams completely drown out the vocals at times, leaving us with an incomplete document of Bruce’s 1970 original song.
But like I said, this is still a fun song, so let’s take a listen.
“Temporarily Out of Order” takes the once-ubiquitous but dreaded sign that used to adorn malfunctioning payphones, laundry machines and the like, and it applies it to the narrator’s doomed relationship.
Well I called my baby the other day
Ah this is just what went down
I said “You remember our Friday night date, don’t ya?”
She said “sure, yeah, sure I do”
But come Friday, no, she was nowhere to be found
I’m ???
I’m watchin’ the late late show
I’ve tried so hard but can’t sleep
???
Wait a minute, I’m gonna call her on the telephone
I’m gonna find out that she wasn’t home
Temporarily out of order
Yeah that’s what the operator said now
Temporarily out of order
It’s alright, don’t worry about it
Poor guy: his girl ghosted him before ghosting was a thing. And while the operator’s message applies literally to his girlfriend’s phone number, Bruce implies that it refers to the romance too, and even the narrator himself, as he complains in the song’s coda:
Temporarily out of order
That’s the only thing I hear
Temporarily out of order
Now there’s a buzzer pumpin’ in my ear
Temporarily out of order
I guess I am temporarily out of order
While only one performance of “Temporarily Out of Order” is definitively documented (the muddy one above), given the scarcity of recordings and set lists from that era, it’s likely the band performed it at least a few times in early 1970.
So let’s keep our fingers crossed for a cleaner, clearer recording someday–it may not be one of Bruce’s deepest early songs, but it’s got a self-deprecating “I’m Goin’ Down” charm that makes it worth a listen.
Temporarily Out of Order
Never recorded
Never released
First performed: May 23, 1970 (Richmond, VA)
Last performed: May 23, 1970 (Richmond, VA)
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