Sting - I Hung My Head

First performance: 01/10/2011

Coverinfo

Bruce covered the song 2 times:
 
2014-12-07 John F. Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts, Washington, DC
The 37th annual Kennedy Center Honors. Springsteen attends to assist the induction of Sting, returning the favour from five years ago. Bruce performs "I Hung My Head", as he did for Sting's 60th birthday celebration in 2011. Bruce is also onstage to clap along to the end of Bruno Mars's performance of "Message In A Bottle". Curtis King, Cindy Mizelle, Clark Gayton, and Shane Fontayne are all part of the evening's house band. This year's honorees also include Tom Hanks and Al Green.
  
 
 
 
2011-10-01 Beacon Theatre, New York City, NY 
Charity concert marking Sting's 60th birthday and 25th anniversary of his solo career, with proceeds going to the Robin Hood Foundation to fight poverty. With all artists performing Sting's songs, Bruce plays "I Hung My Head" with Sting's band, before embarking on a solo acoustic "Fields Of Gold". Sting joins Bruce for "Can't Stand Losing You". The finales "Every Breath You Take" and "Happy Birthday" are with all the night's artists on stage, including Lady Gaga, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Branford Marsalis, Rufus Wainwright, will.i.am, Bryn Terfel, and Mary J. Blige, plus Sting himself, along with his wife Trudie Styler and a Gaelic bagpipe
 
I HUNG MY HEAD / FIELDS OF GOLD / CAN'T STAND LOSING YOU (with Sting) / EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE (with all performers) / HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU (with all performers)  
  
 
 
 
 

Songinfo

"I Hung My Head" is a song written by the singer-songwriter Sting and released on the 1996 album Mercury Falling. It reflects Sting's childhood fondness for TV Westerns, as well as his avowed interest in Country music, but also tackles deeper and more philosophical themes of life and death, justice and redemption. Blue Highway released a bluegrass version of the song in 1999 on their self-titled album Blue Highway. In 2002, Johnny Cash covered the song in the album American IV: The Man Comes Around. Sting re-recorded the song in an orchestral version for his 2010 album Symphonicities.It tells the story of a boy who shoots a man, the resulting shame, and the consequences he faces.
 
 
 

Other cover versions

Bruce on the artist

Bruce and Sting became very close friends since the Amnesty International - Human Rights Now! tour. They go frequently on vacation together with their families.
 
 
 
Together they had 29 times live performances 
2016-12-14 Carnegie Hall, New York City, NY
2013-02-08 Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, CA
2011-10-01 Beacon Theatre, New York City, NY
2010-05-13 Carnegie Hall, New York City, NY
1995-04-12 Carnegie Hall, New York City, NY
1991-02-09 Sting Residence, Malibu, CA
1990-02-12 Greenacres, Beverly Hills, CA
1990-02-12 China Club, Hollywood, CA
1990-01-17 Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York City, NY
1988-10-15 Estadio Antonio Vespucio Liberti, Buenos Aires, Argentina
1988-10-14 Estadio Mundialista Mendoza, Mendoza, Argentina
1988-10-12 Parque Antártica, São Paulo, Brazil
1988-10-09 Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan, Ivory Coast
1988-10-07 National Sports Stadium, Harare, Zimbabwe
1988-10-03 Olympiáko Stádio "Spyros Louis", Athens, Greece
1988-09-30 Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi, India
1988-09-21 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA
1988-09-19 John F. Kennedy Stadium, Philadelphia, PA
1988-09-17 Olympic Stadium, Montreal, QC
1988-09-15 Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, ON
1988-09-13 Estadio Nacional De Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica
1988-09-10 Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain
1988-09-08 Stadio Comunale, Turin, Italy
1988-09-06 Népstadion, Budapest, Hungary
1988-09-05 Palais Omnisports De Paris-Bercy, Paris, France
1988-09-04 Palais Omnisports De Paris-Bercy, Paris, France
1988-09-02 Wembley Stadium, London, England
1988-08-24 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
1987-01-21 Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York City, NY 
 

Lyrics

Early one morning with time to kill
I borrowed Jeb's rifle and sat on the hill
I saw a lone rider crossing the plain
I drew a bead on him to practice my aim
My brother's rifle went off in my hand
A shot rang out across the land
The horse he kept running, the rider was dead
I hung my head, I hung my head

I set off running to wake from the dream
My brother's rifle went into the stream
I kept on running into the salt lands
And that's where they found me, my head in my hands
The sheriff he asked me why had I run
Then it came to me just what I had done
And all for no reason, just one piece of lead
I hung my head, I hung my head

Here in the courthouse, the whole town is there
I see the judge high up in his chair
"Explain to the courtroom what went through your mind
And we'll ask the jury what verdict they find."
I said, "I felt the power of death over life
I orphaned his children I widowed his wife
I beg their forgiveness I wish I was dead."
I hung my head, I hung my head

I hung my head
I hung my head
I hung my head
I hung my head

Early one morning with time to kill
I see the gallows up on the hill
And out in the distance a trick of the brain
I see a lone rider crossing the plain
He's come to fetch me to see what they done
We'll ride together till Kingdom come
I pray for God's mercy for soon I'll be dead
I hung my head, I hung my head