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One Step Up Lyrics
Woke up this morning my house was cold
Checked out the furnace she wasn't burnin'
Went out and hopped in my old Ford
Hit the engine but she ain't turnin'
We've given each other some hard lessons lately
But we ain't learnin'
We're the same sad story that's a fact
One step up and two steps back
Bird on a wire outside my motel room
But he ain't singin'
Girl in white outside a church in June
But the church bells they ain't ringing
I'm sittin' here in this bar tonight
But all I'm thinkin' is
I'm the same old story same old act
One step up and two steps back
It's the same thing night on night
Who's wrong baby who's right
Another fight and I slam the door on
Another battle in our dirty little war
When I look at myself I don't see
The man I wanted to be
Somewhere along the line I slipped off track
I'm caught movin' one step up and two steps back
There's a girl across the bar
I get the message she's sendin'
Mmm she ain't lookin' to married
And me well honey I'm pretending
Last night I dreamed I held you in my arms
The music was never-ending
We danced as the evening sky faded to black
One step up and two steps back
Checked out the furnace she wasn't burnin'
Went out and hopped in my old Ford
Hit the engine but she ain't turnin'
We've given each other some hard lessons lately
But we ain't learnin'
We're the same sad story that's a fact
One step up and two steps back
But he ain't singin'
Girl in white outside a church in June
But the church bells they ain't ringing
I'm sittin' here in this bar tonight
But all I'm thinkin' is
I'm the same old story same old act
One step up and two steps back
Who's wrong baby who's right
Another fight and I slam the door on
Another battle in our dirty little war
When I look at myself I don't see
The man I wanted to be
Somewhere along the line I slipped off track
I'm caught movin' one step up and two steps back
I get the message she's sendin'
Mmm she ain't lookin' to married
And me well honey I'm pretending
Last night I dreamed I held you in my arms
The music was never-ending
We danced as the evening sky faded to black
One step up and two steps back
Song Info
Submitted by
oofus On Jun 05, 2004
More Bruce Springsteen
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When I first heard this song it was January of 2005, in the hot tub of the Hotel Beau Rivage in Biloxi Mississippi. It was my first vacation in over 5 years and that first full day I got there I spent 8 hours in that hot tub. It was 60 there and it was 8 in Chicago. I was a senior in High school and the prime of my life.
I can relate to every part of this song from beginning to end. I met a girlfriend who would change my life forever and I lost her. We were so deeply in love and her mom just didn't like me. Why, I still don't know. She loved me and I loved her. Prom came along and she was not allowed to go with me. It killed me to go with someone else. We eventually started fighting with arguments and it got to the point;
"It's the same thing night on night Who's wrong baby who's right Another fight and I slam the door on Another battle in our dirty little war When I look at myself I don't see The man I wanted to be Somewhere along the line I slipped off track I'm caught movin' one step up and two steps back"
I also dreamed about the two of us at Prom and just holding each other tight the way we wanted it to be. And her just being drop dead gorgeous and whispering "One Step Up" in my ear as the music continued to play and eventually the people around us all faded to black. All it was in my dream was her and I dancing on the hard wood dance floor with a spot light on us as we slowly danced the night away.
She eventually dumped me for some guy in New York. Back in June Where I am in my life now, I think I finally understand it: the anguish of loving someone completely and it still falling apart. It's a reality song – strong and brutally honest. To me, it's about being man enough to own that happily ever after isn't a given. Perfect can come apart no matter what you do… and all you can do is feel the pain and regret." We laughed together; we cried together we loved each other together. I still have feelings for her and I doubt she will ever be forgotten. This song has been a companion to me my whole senior year, lost love, lost time, friends who go off to war. If I try hard enough I can still “be back in that hot tub.”
Excellent post; you're a hell of a writer, and while reading what you had to say, I was taken back to my prom, back in the 80s, and the girl who should have been there but wasn't, because I let fear guide my actions. She slipped away, and I'll never forget her. I hope these days, my own steps are more up than back, but hope can be a tricky thing.
Excellent post; you're a hell of a writer, and while reading what you had to say, I was taken back to my prom, back in the 80s, and the girl who should have been there but wasn't, because I let fear guide my actions. She slipped away, and I'll never forget her. I hope these days, my own steps are more up than back, but hope can be a tricky thing.
Thank you for sharing such a personal, painful experience.
Thank you for sharing such a personal, painful experience.
Excellent post; you're a hell of a writer, and while reading what you had to say, I was taken back to my prom, back in the 80s, and the girl who should have been there but wasn't, because I let fear guide my actions. She slipped away, and I'll never forget her. I hope these days, my own steps are more up than back, but hope can be a tricky thing.
Excellent post; you're a hell of a writer, and while reading what you had to say, I was taken back to my prom, back in the 80s, and the girl who should have been there but wasn't, because I let fear guide my actions. She slipped away, and I'll never forget her. I hope these days, my own steps are more up than back, but hope can be a tricky thing.
Thank you for sharing such a personal, painful experience.
Thank you for sharing such a personal, painful experience.
@fordtrucker1986 you shouldn't spend that long in a hot tub you can get deydrated, you may get skin problems and of course a hot tub is full of other peoples fecal matter. Sorry to hear about your break up.
@fordtrucker1986 you shouldn't spend that long in a hot tub you can get deydrated, you may get skin problems and of course a hot tub is full of other peoples fecal matter. Sorry to hear about your break up.
What you want to be vs. what you have become..
Brilliant...
One of the subtly saddest songs ever written. I think every guy out there can relate to these feelings of failure, regret and dissapointment.
When I look at myself I don't see The man I wanted to be Somewhere along the line I slipped off track
Those lines cut right through me...
But, then the last verse, he picks up a stranger in a bar, AND while sleeping in bed next to her dreams of his wife and what they could, or should, have had.....WOW.
Bruce is simply a master. BTW, fordtrucker, your entry here is amazingly touching.
@dedaz He actually said "last night", and he is talking about the bar like it's happening in the present moment... So he had a dream day before he picked up the stranger. Still, a nice interpretation dude. I think this song is about the inevitable pain of life: "We've given each other some hard lessons lately, but we ain't learning We're the same sad story, that's a fact One step up and two steps back" I think the couple in this song is only a metaphor for all the people - overall, all over the world - "WE'RE the same sad story - that's...
@dedaz He actually said "last night", and he is talking about the bar like it's happening in the present moment... So he had a dream day before he picked up the stranger. Still, a nice interpretation dude. I think this song is about the inevitable pain of life: "We've given each other some hard lessons lately, but we ain't learning We're the same sad story, that's a fact One step up and two steps back" I think the couple in this song is only a metaphor for all the people - overall, all over the world - "WE'RE the same sad story - that's a FACT" - he is talking about how life is tough, and to "live" a perfect life is to dream. In reality there's no such thing as perfection.
Clearly this album was all about his whirlwind romance, marriage to Julianne Phillips. The agony of 2 people mismatched in a marriage/relationship headed down completely separate paths. Her loved her, but knew they were not meant to be together. He found solace in his heartbreak with a woman who was always there Patti Scialfa, the rest is history. Ever man can identify with this album, we all have somebody in our past that we long for, but know deep down just not good for us..;....
This song is so perfect. I've loved it since it was released, and it might be my favourite song by him. I was 14 when was released, so needless to say it hits even harder now. :)
The last verse, with the almost film noir dreamy quality when he moves the focus between the bar and the dream, is simply amazing.
This is a really great song. It's about a man who's life hasn't turned out that great. It rings of regret, longing for times past and mourning for the way things are.
To me this is about compulsive behavior. I know I can relate. We try, but we just don't know how to do the right thing -- somewhere along the way we "slipped off track." I, too, find this a chillingly good song, and while I feel for what fordtrucker has been through, I don't think it's about a guy "being man enough" to get over it. Rather, it's about a guy who cheats and lies for some temporary lovin', and regrets it again and again.
This is one of my favs by him. I'm definitely getting a huge vibe of regret...There's the person he wants to be...and then the person he is and the distinction that really exists between the two is making him feel so full of pain.
This great song and this album remind me of Dylans blood on the tracks. Like Dylan, Bruce here isn't writing about other characters, he's speaking about himself. It seems at that time after marrying a glamorous model and living in Hollywood that he lost his roots, his way, becoming someone he really wasn't. Who hasn't been down that path. Of course in One step up he expresses what he's sadly come to realize, that his glamorous relationship aint working out. Like brilliant disguise, probably not much depth or real love in their marriage. One of his best albums about his love life back then. On equal par with Dylans classic Blood on the tracks,
@michaelbax I also think one step up and two steps back reminds me kind of a dance, too. Great metaphor.
@michaelbax I also think one step up and two steps back reminds me kind of a dance, too. Great metaphor.
i think it's about a man and his struggle to be the person he wants to be, to the woman he loves. Everytime he's ''almost'' there, he just takes one step back again, and he's disapointing himself and her, once more. my favourite lines are
There's a girl across the bar I get the message she's sendin' Mmm she ain't lookin' to married And me well honey I'm pretending
you can just picture bruice sat in some little american bar, looking at a woman and knowing nobody will be able to love him, the way that his woman did.
The dream at the end is also beautiful, when i first heard this song it made me cry.
You nailed it. 8 years later, ya should know someone read your post and saw himself in it. I struggle with the man I need to be at 24, and I hurt the women who loves me more than anything. I let her down. This song hits me like a ton of bricks and your post adds to the depth of it all. It's true, everytime I'm almost there I find a way to take a step back.
You nailed it. 8 years later, ya should know someone read your post and saw himself in it. I struggle with the man I need to be at 24, and I hurt the women who loves me more than anything. I let her down. This song hits me like a ton of bricks and your post adds to the depth of it all. It's true, everytime I'm almost there I find a way to take a step back.