Bruce covered this song 85 times:

 

Introduced with a intense narrative about the troubled relationship between him and his father. In the 1987 BBC documentary Glory Days, Max Weinberg spoke about the premiere of "It's My Life" when he was asked if Bruce had ever launched into a song without telling the band what he was going to play. Max said that the band had never rehearsed the song before playing it in concert, but fortunately they all knew it. The tempo of the song itself was greatly slowed down, to the point where it bore little obvious resemblance to the Animals' original, and renditions could easily run over ten minutes overall in duration; lyrics were varied somewhat across almost every performance. A live version of Springsteen's version was released in early 2015 as part of his 'Archives' series.

 

 

 

Narrative :

 

"I used to live in this house....in this town, about 10,000 people, a small town and uh....it was like a two-family house, was the kind of house that to get, to get into the house, you had to go through the kitchen, had a screen door....so like....my father would like, my father used to....at night he´d sit in the kitchen, you see, and he´d, he drinks beer and like he´d turn off all the lights in the house and he´d get real, he´d get really angry, pissed off if you switched them on (?) and he´d sit there, all you´d see of him was like a cigarette butt, just sitting there in the dark, you know, and like if you came in around, if you came in around 10, it wasn´t too bad, you know, but if you came in around like 1, you know, after he´d been sitting there for a while....he´d always stop me and so I´d walk in and.....so I walked in about 1 o´clock, 1.30, I´d slick my hair back so that, uh, so he couldn´t tell how long it was, you know (chuckles) and I´d walk in and he´d be sitting there, right, and I´d try to sneak by, (?) sneak by in the dark and he´d say ´Bruce´, I´d say ´Oh damn´....(?) I´d sit down, at first he´d start talking about how things doing, how´s it going, you know, what you been doing, where were you tonight, you know, and we´d be talking about things and then....then he´d start talking about, like....what a bad world it was, how hard it was and how I´d better get out there and start (?) and stop messing around, you know, if I was about to start making some bucks, you know....and he´d start rapping....(?)....and I´d just sit there and I´d try not to say nothing to him that could get him uptight, I´d just wanna sneak up to my room and get in bed (?)....we´d sit there....and he´d start, he´d turn on the gas....the gas in the stove....and he´d shut all the doors and the room would get real hot.....(?) start yelling at me....then we´d start screaming at each other, you know....and I´d tell him how it´s my life..."

 

1975-12-12 - POST DOME, C.W. POST COLLEGE, GREENVALE, NY
1975-12-27 - TOWER THEATER, UPPER DARBY, PHILADELPHIA
1975-12-28 - TOWER THEATER, UPPER DARBY, PHILADELPHIA
1975-12-30 - TOWER THEATER, UPPER DARBY, PHILADELPHIA
1975-12-31 - TOWER THEATER, UPPER DARBY, PHILADELPHIA
1976-03-25 - TOWNSHIP AUDITORIUM, COLUMBIA, SC
1976-03-26 - FOX THEATRE, ATLANTA, GA
1976-03-28 - CAMERON INDOOR STADIUM, DUKE UNIVERSITY, DURHAM, NC
1976-03-29 - OVENS AUDITORIUM, CHARLOTTE, NC
1976-04-02 - MACAULEY THEATRE, LOUISVILLE, KY
1976-04-04 - MSU AUDITORIUM, MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, EAST LANSING, MI
1976-04-07 - ALLEN THEATRE, CLEVELAND
1976-04-08 - ALLEN THEATRE, CLEVELAND
1976-04-09 - REID ATHLETIC CENTER, COLGATE UNIVERSITY, HAMILTON
1976-04-10 - PAUL MELLON ARTS CENTER, CHOATE ROSEMARY HALL, WALLINGFORD
1976-04-13 - REC HALL, PENN STATE UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY PARK, PA
1976-04-15 - SYRIA MOSQUE, PITTSBURGH

1976-04-17 - LOUIS A. ALEXANDER PALESTRA, UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER, ROCHESTER, NY
1976-04-22 - BURRUSS AUDITORIUM, VIRGINIA TECH UNIVERSITY, BLACKSBURG, VA
1976-04-24 - VARSITY GYM, APPALACHIAN STATE UNIVERSITY, BOONE, NC
1976-04-26 - SOLDIERS & SAILORS MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM, CHATTANOOGA, TN
1976-04-29 - ELLIS AUDITORIUM, MEMPHIS, TN
1976-05-03 - ROBINSON AUDITORIUM, LITTLE ROCK, AR
1976-05-11 - MEMORIAL COLISEUM, AUBURN UNIVERSITY, AUBURN, AL
1976-05-13 - MUNICIPAL AUDITORIUM, NEW ORLEANS
1976-05-27 - EISENHOWER HALL AUDITORIUM, U.S. MILITARY ACADEMY, WEST POINT
1976-05-28 - HALSEY FIELD HOUSE, U.S. NAVAL ACADEMY, ANNAPOLIS, MD
1976-08-01 - MONMOUTH ARTS CENTER, RED BANK
1976-08-02 - MONMOUTH ARTS CENTER, RED BANK
1976-08-03 - MONMOUTH ARTS CENTER, RED BANK

1976-08-05 - MONMOUTH ARTS CENTER, RED BANK
1976-08-06 - MONMOUTH ARTS CENTER, RED BANK
1976-08-07 - MONMOUTH ARTS CENTER, RED BANK 

1976-08-21 - PALACE THEATER, WATERBURY, CT 

1976-08-22 - SPRINGFIELD CIVIC CENTER, SPRINGFIELD, MA 

1976-09-26 - ARIZONA VETERANS MEMORIAL COLISEUM, PHOENIX

1976-09-29 - SANTA MONICA CIVIC AUDITORIUM, SANTA MONICA 

1976-09-30 - SANTA MONICA CIVIC AUDITORIUM, SANTA MONICA
1976-10-02 - PARAMOUNT THEATRE, OAKLAND
1976-10-05 - SANTA BARBARA COUNTY BOWL, SANTA BARBARA
1976-10-09 - ATHLETIC & CONVOCATION CENTER, UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME, SOUTH BEND, IN 

1976-10-10 - MILLETT HALL, MIAMI UNIVERSITY, OXFORD, OH

1976-10-12 - RUTGERS GYM, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY, NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ

1976-10-13 - WILKINS THEATRE, KEAN COLLEGE, UNION, NJ 

1976-10-16 - WILLIAM & MARY HALL, THE COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY, WILLIAMSBURG. VA 

1976-10-17 - McDONOUGH ARENA, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY, WASHINGTON, DC

1976-10-25 - SPECTRUM, PHILADELPHIA 

1976-10-28 - PALLADIUM, NEW YORK CITY
1976-10-30 - PALLADIUM, NEW YORK CITY
1976-11-02 - PALLADIUM, NEW YORK CITY 
1976-11-03 - PALLADIUM, NEW YORK CITY
1976-11-04 - PALLADIUM, NEW YORK CITY 
1977-02-07 - PALACE THEATRE, ALBANY, NY
1977-02-08 - AUDITORIUM THEATRE, ROCHESTER
1977-02-09 - KLEINHANS MUSIC HALL, BUFFALO
1977-02-12 - OTTAWA CIVIC CENTRE, OTTAWA, ON
1977-02-13 - MAPLE LEAF GARDENS, TORONTO, ON
1977-02-15 - MASONIC TEMPLE THEATRE, DETROIT, MI
1977-02-16 - VETERANS MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM, COLUMBUS
1977-02-17 - RICHFIELD COLISEUM, RICHFIELD

1977-02-19 - ST PAUL CIVIC CENTER THEATRE, ST PAUL, MN
1977-02-22 - MILWAUKEE AUDITORIUM, MILWAUKEE
1977-02-23 - AUDITORIUM THEATRE, CHICAGO
1977-02-25 - EDWARD C. ELLIOTT HALL OF MUSIC, PURDUE UNIVERSITY, WEST LAFAYETTE, IN
1977-02-26 - INDIANA CONVENTION CENTER, INDIANAPOLIS, IN
1977-02-27 - RIVERFRONT COLISEUM, CINCINNATI, OH
1977-02-28 - FOX THEATRE, ST LOUIS, MO
1977-03-02 - CIVIC CENTER AUDITORIUM, ATLANTA
1977-03-04 - CIVIC AUDITORIUM, JACKSONVILLE
1977-03-05 - JAI ALAI FRONTON, ORLANDO
1977-03-06 - JAI ALAI FRONTON, MIAMI
1977-03-13 - TOWSON CENTER, TOWSON STATE UNIVERSITY, TOWSON, MD

1977-03-15 - BROOME COUNTY VETERANS MEMORIAL ARENA, BINGHAMTON
1977-03-18 - NEW HAVEN VETERANS MEMORIAL COLISEUM, NEW HAVEN
1977-03-19 - CENTRAL MAINE YOUTH CENTER, LEWISTON
1977-03-20 - ALUMNI HALL, PROVIDENCE COLLEGE, PROVIDENCE
1977-03-22 - MUSIC HALL, BOSTON

1978-08-29 - STANLEY THEATRE, PITTSBURGH
1978-08-30 - RICHFIELD COLISEUM, RICHFIELD

1978-09-03 - SAGINAW CIVIC CENTER, SAGINAW, MI

1978-09-05 - VETERANS MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM, COLUMBUS, OH

1978-09-09 - ATHLETIC & CONVOCATION CENTER, UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME, SOUTH BEND, IN

1978-09-20 - CAPITOL THEATRE, PASSAIC, NJ

1978-10-01 - FOX THEATRE, ATLANTA, GA

 

 

 

  

"It's My Life" is a song written by Brill Building songwriters Roger Atkins and Carl D'Errico. The song was originally performed by English R&B band The Animals, who released it as a single in October 1965 (see 1965 in music). The song became a hit in several different countries and has since been recorded by multiple artists.