"Be True" is a song by

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

. It was recorded on July 18, 1979 at The Power Station in New York in one of the early recording sessions for Bruce Springsteen's album '' The River''. It was not released on the album, but in 1981 it was released as the B-side to the

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

release of " Fade Away", a song taken from ''The River'' album. According to Springsteen, "Be True" was left off ''The River'' album in favor of the song "Crush on You", a decision he has a hard time understanding in retrospect. Springsteen was already second guessing his decision to exclude "Be True" from ''The River'' before the album was even released.

Composition

"Be True" is a mid-tempo

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

song. It had been slated to be included on ''The Ties That Bind'', a single album Springsteen had submitted to his record company in 1979 but then pulled back to be replaced by ''The River''. Music critic

Clinton Heylin Clinton Heylin (born 8 April 1960) is an English author who has written extensively about popular music and the work of Bob Dylan. Education Heylin attended Manchester Grammar School. He read history at Bedford College, University of London, ...

considers it one of the "centrepieces" of the would-be album.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

critic Mark Deming notes that unlike many songs in which movies are used "as a symbol of people’s hopes and dreams," in "Be True" those dreams "stand in the way of a better reality." Its lyrics, which "contrast the romance of life in movies with the loneliness of real life" fit with one of the major themes of ''The River'', that of the "conflict between dreams and reality." According to author Jane Skinner Sawyers, the lyrics of the

refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in poetry — the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the vi ...

. "You be true to me/And I'll be true to you" ""sum up Springsteen's philosophy." Sawyer considers that its sweetness and tenderness would have made it a top hit had it been released in the 1960s.

Recording history

"Be True" went through several versions before its final incarnation. The original version, recorded in the first half of 1979, was titled "Mary Lou," which was intended as a "really catchy three minute pop tune" which "moved lyrically" and "linked together in a certain way." In "Mary Lou", the singer sings to a woman he is interested in that she should not sell herself cheap but rather "be true to erselfin some fashion." According to Springsteen, the theme was "how do you find yourself through the falseness of some of those things." The second version of the song, officially "Little White Lies," but also known as "White Lies" and "Don't Do It To Me," was recorded in June 1979. It contains an intro similar to that on the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

' single "

Paint It, Black "Paint It Black" is a song recorded in 1966 by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. A product of the songwriting partnership of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, it is a raga rock song with Indian, Middle Eastern, and Eastern European in ...

." Heylin claims that this version "explodes the moment the drums kick in" and that drummer Max Weinberg regards this version as one of his favorite

E Street Band The E Street Band is an American rock band, and has been musician Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band since 1972. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. For the bulk of Springsteen's recording and performing caree ...

songs. The final incarnation of "Be True" was recorded on July 18, 1979.

Release history

In France, it was released as the B-side of the "

Cadillac Ranch ''Cadillac Ranch'' is a public art installation and sculpture in Amarillo, Texas, US. It was created in 1974 by Chip Lord, Hudson Marquez and Doug Michels, who were a part of the art group Ant Farm. The installation consists of ten Cadilla ...

" single, and in Spain it was released as the B-side of the " Sherry Darling" single. Although left off the album and released only as a B-side of a single, "Be True" reached #42 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. A featured selection on the 1988 Tunnel of Love Express, a live version from that tour was included on the '' Chimes of Freedom'' EP. The live version also appeared on various different formats to promote the "Tougher Than The Rest" single release the same year. Eventually the studio version of "Mary Lou" and "Be True" were released on the Bruce Springsteen album '' Tracks'', a 4-disc box set released in 1998. "Little White Lies" was released on '' The Ties That Bind: The River Collection'' in 2015, along with "Mary Lou" and "Be True"; however, there are two circulating versions of "Little White Lies" that share the same music, but are lyrically two completely different songs. The unofficial studio "bootleg" version uses the same lyrics found in "Mary Lou" and "Be True" and does not contain "little white lies" anywhere in the lyrics, whereas the first verse from the official studio version of "Little White Lies" released in 2015 later appeared in "Loose Ends".

Personnel

According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon: *

– vocals, guitars *

Roy Bittan Roy J. Bittan (born July 2, 1949) is an American musician best known as a long-time member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. Nicknamed "The Professor", Bittan joined the E Street Band in 1974. He plays the piano, organ, accordion and synthe ...

– piano *

Clarence Clemons Clarence Anicholas Clemons Jr. (January 11, 1942 – June 18, 2011), also known as The Big Man, was an American musician and actor. From 1972 until his death in 2011, he was the saxophonist for The E Street Band. Clemons released several s ...

– saxophone, tambourine *

Danny Federici Daniel Paul Federici (January 23, 1950 – April 17, 2008) was an American musician, best known as the organ, glockenspiel, and accordion player and a founding member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. In 2014, Federici was posthumously induct ...

– organ, glockenspiel *

Garry Tallent Garry Wayne Tallent (born October 27, 1949), sometimes billed as Garry W. Tallent, is an American musician and record producer, best known for being bass player and founding member of the E Street Band, Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band si ...

– bass *

Steven Van Zandt Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandoli ...

– guitars, vocal harmonies * Max Weinberg – drums

References

{{Authority control Bruce Springsteen songs 1979 songs 1981 singles Song recordings produced by Jon Landau Songs written by Bruce Springsteen Song recordings produced by Bruce Springsteen Song recordings produced by Steven Van Zandt