Bruce played the song 3 times:

 

Always together with Neil Young

 

1995-10-28 Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA

1989-06-14 Jones Beach Theater, Wantagh, NY

1985-03-22 Sydney Entertainment Centre, Sydney, Australia

Bruce joins Neil Young onstage during the final encore in Neil's final show in Sydney. Bruce and Neil trade vocals and blistering guitar solos on an extended version of Young's 1969 classic "Down By The River". Nils Lofgren also made a guest appearance earlier in this show, playing piano on "Tell Me Why" and accordion on "Comes A Time". Still rated by many as Bruce's most memorable walk-on guest appearance. First known Springsteen performance of the song. 

 

 

 

 

 

"Down by the River" is a song composed by Neil Young. It was first released on his 1969 album with Crazy Horse, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere. Young explained the context of the story in the liner notes of his 1977 anthology album Decade, stating that he wrote "Down by the River," "Cinnamon Girl" and "Cowgirl in the Sand" while delirious in bed in Topanga Canyon with a 103 °F (39 °C) fever. The lyrics are apparently about someone who kills his lover by shooting her, as in a murder ballad." An author argues the killer's motive is that she takes him to emotional heights from which he cannot bear to go on. But Young himself has provided multiple explanations for the lyrics. In an interview with Robert Greenfield in 1970 Young claimed that "there's no real murder in it. It's about blowing your thing with a chick. It's a plea, a desperate cry." Introducing the song in New Orleans on September 27, 1984 Young claimed that it depicts a man "who had a lot of trouble controlling himself" who catches his woman cheating on him, then meets her down by the river and shoots her. According to Young, the local sheriff comes to the man's house and arrests him a few hours later.