{"id":998,"date":"1980-01-02T11:00:19","date_gmt":"1980-01-02T19:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/?p=998"},"modified":"2026-09-07T08:49:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T15:49:29","slug":"roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1980\/01\/02\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ties that Bind"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On the afternoon of September 20, 1978, if you were lurking in the shadows of the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey, you might have witnessed first-hand Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band rehearsing a brand new song&#8211;or more accurately, a work in progress.<\/p>\n<p>For the rest of us, we&#8217;ll have to make do with this video record of a <em>very<\/em> early prototype for what would become &#8220;The Ties That Bind.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"758\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xYMBUT20VUw?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>It&#8217;s easy to focus on the unfamiliar melody, but it&#8217;s fascinating to examine the lyrics: they are a complete inversion of the classic we know and love (only a few snippets would survive in the final version), and yet the moral is the same: when you&#8217;re alone, you&#8217;re alone. Or perhaps more accurately: two hearts are better than one.<\/p>\n<p>(I&#8217;ve always thought that &#8220;The Ties That Bind&#8221; and &#8220;Two Hearts&#8221; are essentially the same song told the same way from the same perspective, and given the wealth of material to choose from for\u00a0<em>The River<\/em>, it remains a mystery to me why he chose to put both songs on that album. But that&#8217;s a mystery to ponder another day.)<\/p>\n<p>This early, unrecognizable version of &#8220;The Ties That Bind&#8221; is told from the opposite perspective. In this take, it&#8217;s the protagonist who is the loner&#8211;but with enough self-awareness to recognize that he can&#8217;t fully cut his heart off from his girl. He has unbreakable ties binding him to her, no matter how far away he rides:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>Well tonight I&#8217;ll pack my bags<\/em><br \/>\n<em>And babe tonight I&#8217;ll ride<\/em><br \/>\n<em>There won&#8217;t be anything<\/em><br \/>\n<em>No one at my side<\/em><br \/>\n<em>There&#8217;s just a cold dark highway (cold dark highway)<\/em><br \/>\n<em>And a thin white line (thin white line)<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Connecting me to the ties that bind<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>But in that lonely hour<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Right before the sun<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Baby, gotta believe<\/em><br \/>\n<em>You&#8217;re the only one<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Because this strength in your heart<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Is all I got to remind me<\/em><br \/>\n<em>No man can forsake the ties that bind<\/em><\/p>\n<p>It didn&#8217;t take long for Bruce to realize that the song would be more powerful if delivered from the other side of the bed, because by the time he played it live in concert for the first time only six weeks later in Princeton, it had already evolved to a much more familiar form.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s the second-ever performance from the following night in Largo, Maryland.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"758\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DNoj5FZ4dgo?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>The perspective has now shifted&#8211;in this version, we&#8217;re in &#8220;Two Hearts&#8221; territory&#8211;there&#8217;s even a line that would migrate over to that song someday:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em>Outside, inside, anyway you wanna go<\/em><br \/>\n<strong><em>There&#8217;s one thing, darling, that I know<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\n<em>People cry and wonder who&#8217;s gonna stop the rain<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Ease the sadness, who&#8217;s gonna quiet your pain<\/em><br \/>\n<em>You&#8217;ll walk the wire, will you stand and walk the line<\/em><\/p>\n<p>And then a completely different bridge (the same musical bridge from &#8220;The Brokenhearted&#8221;) with lyrics that seem more condemning and angry than empathetic:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em>Keeping it safe, if you can, then you&#8217;ll be a savior<\/em><br \/>\n<em>You can&#8217;t run from your blood, with that call<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Tell &#8217;em that you mean<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Don&#8217;t you feel it, baby<\/em><br \/>\n<em>It&#8217;s pumping in your veins, girl<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Bruce still had some tweaking to do, and it didn&#8217;t take him long&#8211;five weeks later, the song was in its almost-final form:<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"758\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CkL7_JVPxjo?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>The music isn&#8217;t\u00a0<em>quite<\/em> there, but it&#8217;s very close&#8211;and the lyrics are spot on, and the changes make all the difference:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>A cheap romance, you say it&#8217;s just just just a crush<\/em><br \/>\n<em>You don&#8217;t want nothing that anybody can touch<\/em><br \/>\n<em>You&#8217;re so afraid of being somebody&#8217;s fool<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Not walking tough, baby, not walking cool<\/em><br \/>\n<em>You&#8217;re walking cool, but baby can you walk the line<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Now it&#8217;s clear that the narrator has empathy for the woman he sings about&#8211;he understands that her aloofness is born from fear.<\/p>\n<p>But it&#8217;s the bridge that seals the deal:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>I&#8217;d rather feel the hurt inside, yes I would darling<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Than know the emptiness that you hide<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Yes I would darling, yes I would darling, yes I would honey<\/em><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s now crystal clear that he&#8217;s wounded, too&#8211;in fact, the &#8220;darling&#8221; and &#8220;honey&#8221; imply that he&#8217;s probably the one she&#8217;s running from. Perhaps they&#8217;d had a fight. Perhaps he&#8217;d said or done something hurtful&#8211;something that sent her packing, down the street, cried out and pushing people out of her way. But he recognizes their connection and wants to work for it.<\/p>\n<p>(It&#8217;s only at this point&#8211;at the end of the song&#8211;that &#8220;Ties&#8221; becomes a different song than &#8220;Two Hearts,&#8221; in which the narrator remains detached.)<\/p>\n<p>By the time Bruce recorded the song in April 1979 (and revisited it a year later for <em>The River<\/em>), he&#8217;d added a final verse, salvaging discarded lyrics from earlier versions but making the connection between the two characters clearer:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>You sit and wonder just who&#8217;s gonna stop the rain<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Who&#8217;ll ease the sadness, who&#8217;s gonna quiet your pain<\/em><br \/>\n<em>It&#8217;s a long dark highway and a thin white line<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Connecting baby your heart to mine<\/em><br \/>\n<em>We&#8217;re running now but darling we will stand in time<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"758\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5LqOgFrfuJY?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>By the time &#8220;The Ties That Bind&#8221; was officially released on\u00a0<em>The River<\/em> in 1980, Bruce and the band had performed it in concert 27 times, steadily evolving it along the way. It isn&#8217;t the only song from his catalog (or even that album) previewed and refined on stage, but given its remarkable journey and powerful theme (Bruce would often revisit the battle of isolation vs. vulnerability), it&#8217;s not surprising that it was almost the title track of the album before it expanded from one to two discs.<\/p>\n<p>On the River Tour, &#8220;The Ties That Bind&#8221; was a setlist staple, but it disappeared immediately after, resurfacing only after 18 years on the Reunion tour. It&#8217;s been a staple of every E Street Band tour since&#8211;and I don&#8217;t think that&#8217;s a coincidence. Some ties really do bind.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bonus<\/strong>: There are many arrangements of &#8220;The Ties That Bind&#8221; prior to its release, but only a single new one since&#8211;and it&#8217;s wonderful. Here&#8217;s the rarely performed (seven times only) acoustic version:<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"758\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/q83NktVFUD0?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p><strong>The Ties That Bind<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Recorded:<\/strong> April 10-11, 1979; April 10, 1980<br \/>\n<strong>Released:<\/strong><em> The River<\/em> (1980), <em>The Ties That Bind: The River Collection<\/em> (alternate version) (2015)<br \/>\n<strong>First Performed:<\/strong> November 1, 1978 (Princeton, NJ)<br \/>\n<strong>Last Performed:<\/strong> June 14, 2024 (Madrid, Spain)<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 March 9, 2018<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The fascinating evolution of &#8220;The Ties That Bind,&#8221; prototyped, previewed, and repeatedly revised on the road long before it ever saw vinyl.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":71531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3623,3],"tags":[508,467,507],"class_list":["post-998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-river","category-roll-of-the-dice","tag-darkness-tour","tag-the-river","tag-the-ties-that-bind"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO 5.0.3 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-image-preview:large\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ken\"\/>\n\t<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1980\/01\/02\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\/\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"generator\" content=\"All in One SEO (AIOSEO) 5.0.3\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"E Street Shuffle\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Ties that Bind | E Street Shuffle\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1980\/01\/02\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\/\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"fb:app_id\" content=\"506162303136980\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"fb:admins\" content=\"358461094680441\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/bruce-sprinsteen-ties.jpg\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image:secure_url\" content=\"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/bruce-sprinsteen-ties.jpg\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"1980-01-02T19:00:19+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-07T15:49:29+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/estreetshuffleblog\/\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Krosen\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"The Ties that Bind | E Street Shuffle\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/bruce-sprinsteen-ties.jpg\" \/>\n\t\t<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"aioseo-schema\">\n\t\t\t{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/1980\\\/01\\\/02\\\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\\\/#article\",\"name\":\"The Ties that Bind | E Street Shuffle\",\"headline\":\"The Ties that Bind\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/ken\\\/#author\"},\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/#person\"},\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/03\\\/bruce-sprinsteen-ties.jpg?fit=1600%2C1600&ssl=1\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":1600},\"datePublished\":\"1980-01-02T11:00:19-08:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-07T08:49:29-07:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/1980\\\/01\\\/02\\\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\\\/#webpage\"},\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/1980\\\/01\\\/02\\\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\\\/#webpage\"},\"articleSection\":\"River, Roll of the Dice, Darkness Tour, The River, The Ties That Bind\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/1980\\\/01\\\/02\\\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\\\/#breadcrumblist\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/category\\\/roll-of-the-dice\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Roll of the Dice\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/category\\\/roll-of-the-dice\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Roll of the Dice\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/category\\\/roll-of-the-dice\\\/\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/1980\\\/01\\\/02\\\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"The Ties that Bind\"},\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Home\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/1980\\\/01\\\/02\\\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"The Ties that Bind\",\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/category\\\/roll-of-the-dice\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Roll of the Dice\"}}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/#person\",\"name\":\"Ken\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/1980\\\/01\\\/02\\\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\\\/#personImage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d037d3a05b6c9e4ee09ccdf24f113649cbc6f244d3e0a5706ee0a42186f079dc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"width\":96,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"Ken\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/ken\\\/#author\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/ken\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ken\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/1980\\\/01\\\/02\\\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\\\/#authorImage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d037d3a05b6c9e4ee09ccdf24f113649cbc6f244d3e0a5706ee0a42186f079dc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"width\":96,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"Ken\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/1980\\\/01\\\/02\\\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\\\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/1980\\\/01\\\/02\\\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Ties that Bind | E Street Shuffle\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/#website\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/1980\\\/01\\\/02\\\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\\\/#breadcrumblist\"},\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/ken\\\/#author\"},\"creator\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/ken\\\/#author\"},\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/03\\\/bruce-sprinsteen-ties.jpg?fit=1600%2C1600&ssl=1\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/1980\\\/01\\\/02\\\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\\\/#mainImage\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":1600},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/1980\\\/01\\\/02\\\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\\\/#mainImage\"},\"datePublished\":\"1980-01-02T11:00:19-08:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-07T08:49:29-07:00\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"E Street Shuffle\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/#person\"}}]}\n\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO -->\n\n","aioseo_head_json":{"title":"The Ties that Bind | E Street Shuffle","description":"","canonical_url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1980\/01\/02\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\/","robots":"max-image-preview:large","keywords":"","webmasterTools":{"miscellaneous":""},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1980\/01\/02\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\/#article","name":"The Ties that Bind | E Street Shuffle","headline":"The Ties that Bind","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/author\/ken\/#author"},"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/#person"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/bruce-sprinsteen-ties.jpg?fit=1600%2C1600&ssl=1","width":1600,"height":1600},"datePublished":"1980-01-02T11:00:19-08:00","dateModified":"2026-09-07T08:49:29-07:00","inLanguage":"en-US","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1980\/01\/02\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\/#webpage"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1980\/01\/02\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\/#webpage"},"articleSection":"River, Roll of the Dice, Darkness Tour, The River, The Ties That Bind"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1980\/01\/02\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\/#breadcrumblist","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/#listItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/roll-of-the-dice\/#listItem","name":"Roll of the Dice"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/roll-of-the-dice\/#listItem","position":2,"name":"Roll of the Dice","item":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/roll-of-the-dice\/","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1980\/01\/02\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\/#listItem","name":"The Ties that Bind"},"previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/#listItem","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1980\/01\/02\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\/#listItem","position":3,"name":"The Ties that Bind","previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/roll-of-the-dice\/#listItem","name":"Roll of the Dice"}}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/#person","name":"Ken","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1980\/01\/02\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\/#personImage","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d037d3a05b6c9e4ee09ccdf24f113649cbc6f244d3e0a5706ee0a42186f079dc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","width":96,"height":96,"caption":"Ken"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/author\/ken\/#author","url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/author\/ken\/","name":"Ken","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1980\/01\/02\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\/#authorImage","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d037d3a05b6c9e4ee09ccdf24f113649cbc6f244d3e0a5706ee0a42186f079dc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","width":96,"height":96,"caption":"Ken"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1980\/01\/02\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1980\/01\/02\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\/","name":"The Ties that Bind | E Street Shuffle","inLanguage":"en-US","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/#website"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1980\/01\/02\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\/#breadcrumblist"},"author":{"@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/author\/ken\/#author"},"creator":{"@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/author\/ken\/#author"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/bruce-sprinsteen-ties.jpg?fit=1600%2C1600&ssl=1","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1980\/01\/02\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\/#mainImage","width":1600,"height":1600},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1980\/01\/02\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\/#mainImage"},"datePublished":"1980-01-02T11:00:19-08:00","dateModified":"2026-09-07T08:49:29-07:00"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/","name":"E Street Shuffle","inLanguage":"en-US","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/#person"}}]},"og:locale":"en_US","og:site_name":"E Street Shuffle","og:type":"article","og:title":"The Ties that Bind | E Street Shuffle","og:url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1980\/01\/02\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\/","fb:app_id":"506162303136980","fb:admins":"358461094680441","og:image":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/bruce-sprinsteen-ties.jpg","og:image:secure_url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/bruce-sprinsteen-ties.jpg","og:image:width":1600,"og:image:height":1600,"article:published_time":"1980-01-02T19:00:19+00:00","article:modified_time":"2026-09-07T15:49:29+00:00","article:publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/estreetshuffleblog\/","twitter:card":"summary_large_image","twitter:site":"@Krosen","twitter:title":"The Ties that Bind | E Street Shuffle","twitter:image":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/bruce-sprinsteen-ties.jpg"},"aioseo_meta_data":{"post_id":"998","title":null,"description":null,"keywords":null,"keyphrases":{"focus":{"keyphrase":"","score":0,"analysis":{"keyphraseInTitle":{"score":0,"maxScore":9,"error":1}}},"additional":[]},"primary_term":null,"canonical_url":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"og_object_type":"article","og_image_type":"default","og_image_url":null,"og_image_width":null,"og_image_height":null,"og_image_custom_url":null,"og_image_custom_fields":null,"og_video":"","og_custom_url":null,"og_article_section":null,"og_article_tags":null,"twitter_use_og":false,"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image_type":"default","twitter_image_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_fields":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"schema":{"blockGraphs":[],"customGraphs":[],"default":{"data":{"Article":[],"Course":[],"Dataset":[],"FAQPage":[],"Movie":[],"Person":[],"Product":[],"ProductReview":[],"Car":[],"Recipe":[],"Service":[],"SoftwareApplication":[],"WebPage":[]},"graphName":"Article","isEnabled":true},"graphs":[]},"schema_type":null,"schema_type_options":null,"pillar_content":false,"robots_default":true,"robots_noindex":false,"robots_noarchive":false,"robots_nosnippet":false,"robots_nofollow":false,"robots_noimageindex":false,"robots_noodp":false,"robots_notranslate":false,"robots_max_snippet":"-1","robots_max_videopreview":"-1","robots_max_imagepreview":"large","priority":null,"frequency":"default","local_seo":null,"breadcrumb_settings":null,"limit_modified_date":false,"ai":{"faqs":[],"keyPoints":[],"schemas":[],"titles":[],"descriptions":[],"socialPosts":{"email":{"subject":"","preview":"","content":""},"linkedin":[],"twitter":[],"facebook":[],"instagram":[]}},"created":"2020-12-21 06:18:29","updated":"2026-09-07 16:50:05","seo_analyzer_scan_date":null,"focus_keyword":null,"additional_keywords":null,"truseo_locale":null},"aioseo_breadcrumb":"<div class=\"aioseo-breadcrumbs\"><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/\" title=\"Home\">Home<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">\u00bb<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/roll-of-the-dice\/\" title=\"Roll of the Dice\">Roll of the Dice<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">\u00bb<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\tThe Ties that Bind\n\t\t<\/span><\/div>","aioseo_breadcrumb_json":[{"label":"Home","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/"},{"label":"Roll of the Dice","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/roll-of-the-dice\/"},{"label":"The Ties that Bind","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1980\/01\/02\/roll-of-the-dice-the-ties-that-bind\/"}],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9w3Lk-g6","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10317,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1980\/07\/15\/roll-of-the-dice-mr-outside\/","url_meta":{"origin":998,"position":0},"title":"Mr. Outside","author":"Ken","date":"July 15, 1980","format":false,"excerpt":"The curious case of a bootleg turned official release (and the mystery of why bother).","rel":"","context":"In &quot;River&quot;","block_context":{"text":"River","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/river\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Mr.-Outside-Front.jpg?fit=1200%2C1184&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Mr.-Outside-Front.jpg?fit=1200%2C1184&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Mr.-Outside-Front.jpg?fit=1200%2C1184&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Mr.-Outside-Front.jpg?fit=1200%2C1184&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Mr.-Outside-Front.jpg?fit=1200%2C1184&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4788,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1980\/07\/20\/roll-of-the-dice-living-on-the-edge-of-the-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":998,"position":1},"title":"Living on the Edge of the World","author":"Ken","date":"July 20, 1980","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Living on the Edge\" is a glorious hot mess of a song. An unreleased outtake until 1998, it nevertheless spawned no less than three officially released Springsteen originals along the way.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;River&quot;","block_context":{"text":"River","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/river\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/edgeworld.jpg?fit=1200%2C873&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/edgeworld.jpg?fit=1200%2C873&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/edgeworld.jpg?fit=1200%2C873&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/edgeworld.jpg?fit=1200%2C873&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/edgeworld.jpg?fit=1200%2C873&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1648,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1980\/07\/10\/roll-of-the-dice-whitetown\/","url_meta":{"origin":998,"position":2},"title":"Whitetown","author":"Ken","date":"July 10, 1980","format":false,"excerpt":"Bruce fakes us out with this River outtake that sounds more like a Working on a Dream outtake.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;River&quot;","block_context":{"text":"River","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/river\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/whitetown-1.jpg?fit=598%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/whitetown-1.jpg?fit=598%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/whitetown-1.jpg?fit=598%2C600&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5739,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1980\/07\/22\/roll-of-the-dice-ricky-wants-a-man-of-her-own\/","url_meta":{"origin":998,"position":3},"title":"Ricky Wants a Man of Her Own","author":"Ken","date":"July 22, 1980","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Ricky Wants a Man of Her Own\" is a fun, poppy outtake from the River sessions--guaranteed to make you smile (unless you're a parent to a teenage girl, in which case you'll wince).","rel":"","context":"In &quot;River&quot;","block_context":{"text":"River","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/river\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Ricky-designstyle-love-heart-m.png?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":37176,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1980\/07\/08\/roll-of-the-dice-the-time-that-never-was\/","url_meta":{"origin":998,"position":4},"title":"The Time That Never Was","author":"Ken","date":"July 8, 1980","format":false,"excerpt":"\ufeff A true hidden gem from the Darkness\/River era that should have seen an official release long before.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;River&quot;","block_context":{"text":"River","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/river\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/TheTimeThatNeverWas_PRINTREADY_31-3-22.jpg?fit=767%2C679&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/TheTimeThatNeverWas_PRINTREADY_31-3-22.jpg?fit=767%2C679&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/TheTimeThatNeverWas_PRINTREADY_31-3-22.jpg?fit=767%2C679&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/TheTimeThatNeverWas_PRINTREADY_31-3-22.jpg?fit=767%2C679&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16719,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1980\/07\/06\/roll-of-the-dice-the-man-who-got-away\/","url_meta":{"origin":998,"position":5},"title":"The Man Who Got Away","author":"Ken","date":"July 6, 1980","format":false,"excerpt":"\"The Man Who Got Away\" is a terrific piece of sleight-of-hand songwriting that should never have been allowed to get away.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;River&quot;","block_context":{"text":"River","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/river\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/1494700._UY630_SR1200630_.jpg?fit=680%2C505&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/1494700._UY630_SR1200630_.jpg?fit=680%2C505&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/1494700._UY630_SR1200630_.jpg?fit=680%2C505&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/bruce-sprinsteen-ties.jpg?fit=1600%2C1600&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=998"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/998\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71532,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/998\/revisions\/71532"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}