You make up your mind, you choose the chance you take
You ride to where the highway ends and the desert breaks
Out on to an open road you ride until the day
You learn to sleep at night with the price you pay
Now with their hands held high, they reached out for the open skies
And in one last breath they built the roads they'd ride to their death
Driving on through the night, unable to break away
From the restless pull of the price you pay
The price you pay, the price you pay
Now you can't walk away from the price you pay
Some say forget the past, and some say don't look back
But for every breath you take, you'll leave a track
And though it don't seem fair for every smile that breaks
A tear must fall somewhere for the price you pay
The price you pay, the price you pay
Now you can't walk away from the price you pay
Little girl, down on the strand
With that pretty little baby in your hands
Do you remember the story of the promised land (1)
How he crossed the desert sands
And could not enter the chosen land
On the banks of the river he stayed
To face the price you pay
So let the games start, you better run you little wild heart
You can run through all the nights and all the days
But just across the county line, a stranger passing through put up a sign
That counts the men fallen away to the price you pay
And girl before the end of the day
I'm gonna tear it down and throw it away
You ride to where the highway ends and the desert breaks
Out on to an open road you ride until the day
You learn to sleep at night with the price you pay
Now with their hands held high, they reached out for the open skies
And in one last breath they built the roads they'd ride to their death
Driving on through the night, unable to break away
From the restless pull of the price you pay
The price you pay, the price you pay
Now you can't walk away from the price you pay
Some say forget the past, and some say don't look back
But for every breath you take, you'll leave a track
And though it don't seem fair for every smile that breaks
A tear must fall somewhere for the price you pay
The price you pay, the price you pay
Now you can't walk away from the price you pay
Little girl, down on the strand
With that pretty little baby in your hands
Do you remember the story of the promised land (1)
How he crossed the desert sands
And could not enter the chosen land
On the banks of the river he stayed
To face the price you pay
So let the games start, you better run you little wild heart
You can run through all the nights and all the days
But just across the county line, a stranger passing through put up a sign
That counts the men fallen away to the price you pay
And girl before the end of the day
I'm gonna tear it down and throw it away
****
NOTES
La version studio de The Price You Pay a été enregistrée le 15, 18, 19 et 21 juin 1979 au studio Power Station, à New York City, et retravaillée le 04 avril 1980. Cette version utilise la même piste musicale que la version officielle parue sur l'album The River, mais le troisième couplet est différent.
****
(1) Dans la Bible, Moïse, envoyé de Dieu, reçoit pour mission de libérer le peuple hébreu de l'esclavage qu'il subit en Égypte et de le guider vers Canaan, la Terre Promise. Durant l'Exode, Moïse leur fait traverser la mer Rouge, puis les sables du désert. Mais la contestation des promesses de Dieu et de l'autorité de Moïse, vaut au peuple hébreu la colère de Dieu, qui les condamne à errer dans le désert quarante années supplémentaires. Moïse ne foulera jamais le sol de la Terre Promise.