Bruce recorded the song for the 2006 album 'We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions' . On June 23, 2006, near the end of the American leg of that tour, Springsteen performed the song on Late Night with Conan O'Brien with his E-Street Band, along with host Conan O'Brien, the show's band The Max Weinberg 7, and guests Thomas Haden Church and Jimmy Fallon. It was also the only Seeger song to date to return to regular play with the E-Street Band in the later stages of the 2013 Wrecking Ball Tour.

 

Bruce recorded the song with The Seeger Sessions Band on his 2006 album We Shall Overcome:  The album was recorded over the course of nine years at Thrill Hill East, Springsteen's home studio in Colts Neck, NJ: During these sessions, all of the album's songs were cut live in the living room of Springsteen's farmhouse – they were not rehearsed and all arrangements were conducted by Springsteen as he and the band played them. "We were doing trapeze without a safety net," Sam Barfeld told Backstreets magazine. "He plays the song for you once, a couple of arrangement ideas. Have enough time to scrawl out a chord chart, and then boom! You record."

 

'Pay me my money down' was recorded during the second session  

 

First Session : 02/11/1997 

Six songs were recorded during the first session: JESSE JAMES, MY OKLAHOMA HOME, WE SHALL OVERCOME, HOBO'S LULLABY, I COME AND STAND AT EVERY DOOR, and PRETTY BOY FLOYD. 

 

• Soon after the conclusion of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's short Vote For Change Tour, Springsteen was liaising with manager Jon Landau regarding material for a potential future second volume of the Tracks boxed set. Some of the leftover material from the 02 Nov 1997 session was being evaluated and out of those discussions came the idea of releasing this session material as a stand-alone album project. "Thanks to Jon Landau for another one of his 'I think we've got something here...' phone calls," Springsteen later wrote in the liner notes of the 2006 album.  

 

Second Session: 19/03/2005  

There were not enough songs recorded on 02 Nov 1997 to fill an album, so the original 1997 musicians were contacted again and an additional recording session took place on 19 Mar 2005, just prior to Springsteen embarking on his Devils & Dust Solo Acoustic Tour. Nine songs were recorded during the second session: ERIE CANAL, JOHN HENRY, O MARY DON'T YOU WEEP, PAY ME MY MONEY DOWN, OLD DAN TUCKER, FROGGIE WENT A COURTIN', SHENANDOAH, MRS. MCGRATH, and MICHAEL ROW YOUR BOAT ASHORE. Eight of the songs recorded during this second session ended up on the album. 

 

Third Session: 14/01/2006

Springsteen undertook a third and final studio session following the Devils & Dust Solo Acoustic Tour. There were eight songs recorded during the third session: JACOB'S LADDER, BUFFALO GALS, EYES ON THE PRIZE, HOW CAN I KEEP FROM SINGING?, AMERICAN LAND, BRING 'EM HOME, IF I HAD A HAMMER (THE HAMMER SONG), and 

WORRIED MAN BLUES.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bruce performed the song 102 times:

 

 

2023-05-15 Paris La Défense Arena, Nanterre, France 

2023-05-07 RDS Arena, Dublin, Ireland 

 

 

 

2023-04-09 UBS Arena, Belmont Park, NY 

2023-04-07 CFG Bank Arena, Baltimore, MD 

2023-04-05 Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, Cleveland, OH

2023-03-07 fiserv.forum, Milwaukee, WI 

2023-03-05 Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul, MN

2015-05-16 Tribeca Grill, New York City, NY
2014-05-03 New Orleans Fairgrounds, New Orleans, LA
2014-05-01 MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa, FL
2014-04-08 U.S. Bank Arena, Cincinnati, OH
2014-02-23 Hope Estate, Hunter Valley, Australia
2014-02-12 Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide, Australia
2014-02-07 Perth Arena, Perth, Australia
2014-01-26 Bellville Velodrome, Cape Town, South Africa
2013-07-23 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales
2013-07-18 Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork, Ireland
2013-06-29 Stade De France, Saint Denis, France
2013-06-22 Goffertpark, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
2013-06-20 Ricoh Arena, Coventry, England
2013-06-15 Wembley Stadium, London, England
2013-05-31 Stadio Euganeo, Padua, Italy
2013-05-26 Olympiastadion, Munich, Germany
2013-05-23 Piazza Del Plebiscito, Naples, Italy
2013-05-14 Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark
2013-05-07 HK Areena, Turku, Finland
2013-05-03 Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden
2013-04-29 Telenor Arena, Oslo, Norway
2013-03-30 Hanging Rock, Mt. Macedon, Australia
2013-03-27 Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, Australia
2013-03-24 Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, Australia
2013-03-22 Allphones Arena, Sydney, Australia
2013-03-18 Allphones Arena, Sydney, Australia
2012-11-30 Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA
2012-11-12 Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul, MN
2012-09-22 MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
2012-09-08 Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
2012-08-26 Magnetic Hill, Moncton, NB
2012-04-29 New Orleans Fairgrounds, New Orleans, LA
2006-11-21 Odyssey Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland
2006-11-19 Point Theatre (The), Dublin, Ireland
2006-11-18 Point Theatre (The), Dublin, Ireland
2006-11-17 Point Theatre (The), Dublin, Ireland
2006-11-14 Hallam FM Arena, Sheffield, England
2006-11-12 Wembley Arena, London, England
2006-11-11 Wembley Arena, London, England
2006-11-09 NEC Arena, Birmingham, England
2006-11-07 Sportpaleis, Antwerp, Belgium
2006-11-06 Kölnarena, Cologne, Germany
2006-10-30 Globen, Stockholm, Sweden
2006-10-29 Oslo Spektrum, Oslo, Norway
2006-10-28 Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark
2006-10-25 Pabellón Deportivo, Santander, Spain
2006-10-24 Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain
2006-10-22 Plaza De Toros De Granada, Granada, Spain
2006-10-21 Estadi Ciutat De València, València, Spain
2006-10-19 Plaza De Toros De Las Ventas, Madrid, Spain
2006-10-13 Sportpaleis Ahoy, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
2006-10-12 Color Line Arena, Hamburg, Germany
2006-10-10 PalaLottomatica, Rome, Italy
2006-10-08 PalaMaggiò, Caserta, Italy
2006-10-07 Arena Santa Giuliana, Perugia, Italy
2006-10-05 Arena Di Verona, Verona, Italy
2006-10-04 Villa Manin, Udine, Italy
2006-10-02 PalaIsozaki, Turin, Italy
2006-10-01 PalaMalaguti, Bologna, Italy
2006-06-25 PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ
2006-06-24 PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ
2006-06-23 Rockefeller Center, GE Building, Studio 6A, New York City, NY
2006-06-22 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
2006-06-20 Tweeter Center At The Waterfront, Camden, NJ
2006-06-19 Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY
2006-06-17 DTE Energy Music Theatre, Clarkston, MI
2006-06-16 Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH
2006-06-14 Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI
2006-06-13 First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre, Tinley Park, IL
2006-06-11 Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul, MN
2006-06-10 Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, IA
2006-06-06 Sleep Train Pavilion, Concord, CA
2006-06-05 Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
2006-06-03 Glendale Arena, Glendale, AZ
2006-05-31 Verizon Wireless Music Center, Noblesville, IN
2006-05-30 Germain Amphitheater, Columbus, OH
2006-05-28 Nissan Pavilion, Bristow, VA
2006-05-27 Tweeter Center For The Performing Arts, Mansfield, MA
2006-05-21 Hovet, Stockholm, Sweden
2006-05-20 Oslo Spektrum, Oslo, Norway
2006-05-17 Festhalle, Frankfurt, Germany
2006-05-16 Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2006-05-14 Pavelló Olímpic De Badalona, Barcelona, Spain
2006-05-12 DatchForum, Milan, Italy
2006-05-10 Palais Omnisports De Paris-Bercy, Paris, France
2006-05-09 LSO St. Luke's, London, England
2006-05-08 Hammersmith Apollo, London, England
2006-05-07 Manchester Evening News Arena, Manchester, England
2006-05-05 Point Theatre (The), Dublin, Ireland
2006-04-30 New Orleans Fairgrounds, New Orleans, LA
2006-04-26 Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ
2006-04-25 Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ
2006-04-24 Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ
2006-04-20 Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ  

 

Pay me my money down is a traditional American song. It is a work song that originated among the Negro stevedores working in the Georgia Sea Islands. It was collected by Lydia Parrish and published in her 1942 book Slave Songs Of The Georgia Sea Islands (Creative Age Press). The song's melody is much older and was used in other songs.

 

 

 

 

"As Pete and I traveled to Washington for President Obama's Inaugural Celebration, he told me the entire story of "We Shall Overcome". How it moved from a labor movement song and with Pete's inspiration had been adapted by the civil rights movement. That day as we sang "This Land Is Your Land" I looked at Pete, the first black president of the United States was seated to his right, and I thought of the incredible journey that Pete had taken. My own growing up in the sixties in towns scarred by race rioting made that moment nearly unbelievable and Pete had thirty extra years of struggle and real activism on his belt. He was ao happy that day, it was like, Pete, you outlasted the bastards, man!...It was so nice. At rehearsals the day before, it was freezing, like fifteen degrees and Pete was there; he had his flannel shirt on. I said, man, you better wear something besides that flannel shirt! He says, yeah, I got my longjohns on under this thing. And I asked him how he wanted to approach "This Land Is Your Land". It would be near the end of the show and all he said was, "Well, I know I want to sing all the verses, I want to sing all the ones that Woody wrote, especially the two that get left out, about private property and the relief office." I thought, of course, that's what Pete's done his whole life. He sings all the verses all the time, especially the ones that we'd like to leave out of our history as a people. At some point Pete Seeger decided he'd be a walking, singing reminder of all of America's history. He'd be a living archive of America's music and conscience, a testament of the power of song and culture to nudge history along, to push American events towards more humane and justified ends. He would have the audacity and the courage to sing in the voice of the people, and despite Pete's somewhat benign, grandfatherly appearance, he is a creature of a stubborn, defiant, and nasty optimism. Inside him he carries a steely toughness that belies that grandfatherly facade and it won't let him take a step back from the things he believes in. At 90, he remains a stealth dagger through the heart of our country's illusions about itself. Pete Seeger still sings all the verses all the time, and he reminds us of our immense failures as well as shining a light toward our better angels and the horizon where the country we've imagined and hold dear we hope awaits us. Now on top of it, he never wears it on his sleeve. He has become comfortable and casual in this immense role. He's funny and very eccentric. I'm gonna bring Tommy out, and the song Tommy Morello and I are about to sing I wrote in the mid-nineties and it started as a conversation I was having with myself. It was an attempt to regain my own moorings. Its last verse is the beautiful speech that Tom Joad whispers to his mother at the end of The Grapes of Wrath."

'Wherever there's a cop beatin' a guy
Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries
Where there's a fight 'gainst the blood and hatred in the air
Look for me Mom I'll be there'

"Well, Pete has always been there. For me that speech is always aspirational. For Pete, it's simply been a way of life. The singer in my song is in search of the ghost of Tom Joad. The spirit who has the guts and toughness to carry forth, to fight for and live their ideals. I'm happy to report that spirit, the very ghost of Tom Joad is with us in the flesh tonight. He'll be on this stage momentarily, he's gonna look an awful lot like your granddad who wears flannel shirts and funny hats. He's gonna look like your granddad if your granddad could kick your ass. ..

This is for Pete... "