The Price You Pay

Here’s my guess: The “hands held high” is an image for hopefulness and enthusiasm as is the reference to “open skies” (transcendence). He seems to be talking about the decision to venture out on your own — to chart your own path. This continues the image of standing at the end of the highway and looking into the desert. These are the words of a kindred spirit who’s about to chase a dream knowing full well that there’s no turning back and the road will be hard. Like so many others who started out before him with enthusiasm, he’s ready to see it through to the end — to his very death. Death comes to all, but he wants to meet it on his terms — on the road that he’s going to build. And he’s going into it with his eyes open — very few make it through the desert and the ones who don’t make it (as well as the ones who do), pay a heavy price. He’s made up his mind, and he’s fully ready to pay that price. (This song — the lyrics paired with the music - is Springsteen at his best.)

Life is hard, it must be fought for, but it's worth every damn minute of it. This is a Great Song! I love the way he tells of Moses disappointment and then comes in with the mighty bravado of "So let the games start....." And then the devil tries to discourage him, but he realizes his puprose in life is to give man hope through his music....... AWESOME!

Notice how the song features both musical and textual metareferences to "The Promised Land". Their piano intros are (deliberately) crafted in very similar patterns and melodies, and in the lyrics, we read a clear-cut statement that the dreams that were somewhat alive on the previous albums, are now dead and gone.

"Do you remember the story of the Promised Land? How he crossed the desert sands and could not enter the chosed land On the banks of the river he stayed To face the price you pay"

I think dillpickle got it right. There's a price you pay for every big decision you make - whether you get what you want or you don't.

This verse kills me: Now they'd come so far and they'd waited so long Just to end up caught in a dream where everything goes wrong Where the dark of night holds back the light of day And you've gotta stand and fight for the price you pay

When you go after your dreams with everything you've got, sometimes you fail outright but defeat is so hard to take. So you keep fighting, only now you're just fighting for the hard price you paid for chasing your dream. That's all there is left.

The previous review is so true, I am surprised that there is so few comment on this song, one of the greatest of the Boss for me and there are a lot ...

I agree JGL this is one of my favorite Springsteen songs. I also wonder why more people have not commented on it.

Can anyone help me understand what these two lines mean?

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

"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"

A great line - I think it means that the protagonists have made a definitive decision, one from which there is no going back. "with their hands held high / they reached out for the open sky" - in a way it sounds like they're not ashamed of their decision, but it a way it sounds like they're not convinced they've made the right choice, and are reaching out to heaven for strength, or for reassurance. "they built the roads they'd ride to their death" - there's no turning back from the decision they've made. Good or bad, right or wrong, they're stuck with the choice they made - and they'll need to pay the price.

This song is literally the sequel to the song "Promised Land" from Darkness on the Edge of Town album. In that song is reflected the enthusiasm of youth and boldness with the line: I've packed my bags and I'm heading strait into the storm" He is expecting trials: "Gonna be a twister to blow everything down that ain't got the strength to stand it's ground", Nevertheless, he believes that even nature itself is behind him: "The dogs on mainstreet howl, cause they understand if I could reach one moment into my hands, Mister I ain't a boy, no I'm a man, and I believe in a promised land". In this song, in the midst of adulthood, he is beginning to understand that there is a price to pay for not just realising your dreams, but even having them. He has found a woman and realises their is a price to pay for romantic love as well. This song shows a new maturity and suggests that Springsteen likes to revisit older material and expand on it. I don't necessarily agree with his political ideology, but he still remains one of my favorite lyricists.

I have always thought Springsteens ballads, anthems, or protest songs were his best. This one song is the cream of the top. Great tune.

The price you pay everyone can identify with. I believe this song is simply but eloquently about man choosing his own fate, doing it his way, building his own roads or life, but not doing it Gods way. And as a result he goes astray just like many Bible heroes {Moses for one} did in the past who had their moments when they were led into temptation, or simply failed at some point in their life. But since God is holy, and since we are all accountable to him, whether we know its our not, theres a price we pay or you pay for our misgivings or for our mistakes or our misdoings, and the suffering or the disappointment can be very great.

The biblical story of crossing the desert toward the promised land amply illustrates Springsteens point. The people had a hard time trusting God, or believing that Gods way were the best way, instead the did things their way, or what was right in their own eyes. The truth is often hard to swallow, and we are often blind to the truth, and end up in difficult circumstances.