What did she slip into his Palm?

I think perhaps it could be the key to the apartment...
I don't think the relationship was at the ring stage yet.

You may be right.
He says "Your doorstep" not "our doorstep".

Then he walks home to his place.

I thought she was returning an engagement ring.

The bit about not "waiting up for me" was sarcasm.

The narrator doesn't care what it is, so why should we? The flag over the courthouse has been dishonored. Many of the people in the town where he was born support the crimes and have turned into rank strangers. He is probably splitting with that pretty baby because she turned out to be one of the mindless. He is bitter and sarcastic allright. There's a lot that has to be changed before he can call this his home again or feel connected to the town members.

last night I stood at your doorstep
trying to figure out what went wrong
you just slipped somethin' into my palm
then you were gone
I could smell the same
deep green of summer
above me the same night sky was glowin'
in the distance I could see the town
where I was born

it's gonna be a long walk home
hey pretty darling, don't wait up for me
gonna be a long walk home
a long walk home

in town I passed Sal's grocery
the barbershop on South Street
I looked into their faces
they were all rank strangers to me
the veterans' hall high up on the hill
stood silent and alone
the diner was shuttered and boarded
with a sign that just said "gone"

it's gonna be a long walk home
hey pretty darling, don't wait up for me
gonna be a long walk home
hey pretty darling, don't wait up for me
gonna be a long walk home
it's gonna be a long walk home

here everybody has a neighbor
everybody has a friend
everybody has a reason to begin again

my father said "Son, we're
lucky in this town
it's a beautiful place to be born
it just wraps its arms around you
nobody crowds you, nobody goes it alone,
you know that flag
flying over the courthouse
means certain things are set in stone
who we are, what we'll do
and what we won't,"

it's gonna be a long walk home
hey pretty darling, don't wait up for me
gonna be a long walk home
hey pretty darling, don't wait up for me
gonna be a long walk home
it's gonna be a long walk home

I thought he said once, in 2006, that it was a metaphor for the degenerated state of America under the Bush regime. Will have to listen to the 06 London seeger to see if it was in the introduction - no need, good ole bruce base
??Thank you....thank you....yes, the, uh, the ass-seat-separation was a success, let?s hear it.... a very tricky surgical procedure here in London on occasion, I?m glad to see it was accomplished....alright....(tunes his guitar)....oh, I went out to see Lucinda Williams last night and, uh.....she was fabulous, of course....beautiful songwriter and, uh, she was brave ?cause she played all new songs....and, uh (?) between my whoring and drinking, when I come home after that, I sit up in the hotelroom occasionally and I, I try to write so, uh (chuckles) this is, uh....this is a song, it?s kind of a work-in-progress....I was saying earlier, you know, we had some, returned to some level of sanity in the States but there was so much destruction done, uh, just to basic principles of democracy that not only is it broken, it needs to be fixed now (chuckles) you know, so....this is a song called, uh, ?Gonna Be A Long Walk Home?....??
So I'm thinking, the slipped item represents a moment of rejection from (the metaphorical embodiment of) the thing he loves, the US of A.

In my mind the person the narrator is speaking to is the listener. We slipped something into his palm that is metaphorical. The 1st thing that comes to mind is a religeous one. "Take this: This is my body..." it is shared knowledge, that we pass down.

I go for the key....

It's an economic stimulus plan.

Or the refund check?!

Maybe it was a box of Thin Mints... or Tagalongs

LOL

but keep in mind this is Open All Night and supposed to be serious discussions.

Alright, Julius & Mars in the penalty box for 5

mmm, I don't buy it. A little too metaphorical.

I don't buy it too. Recently Bruce made some lyrics speaking to a person literally but to the US metaphorically (see Lonesome Day).
But in my opinion here he's just talking to his partner. He's going away from their house for a walk around his hometown and he'll back home late because this walk of memories and observation of the actual reality will be so long (here not only literally but also metaphorically, it'll be not only a foot walking but also a mind walking).
Even the relationship with his partner is not working well ("trying to figure out what went wrong") so it's possible that what she slips into his palm is a letter o a short message about splitting or just about the sadness of that moment. Of course it can also be the home keys or something else not so important for the meaning of the song.

However....how great is that song!!!!

I like this.
If it was a ring then he wouldn't be coming home.
If he is comin "home" he doesn't need a key.

It's not a Dear John letter because he is still coming home.

It could be note about problems in the relationship that makes him think about the past, present and future.

Might be a news clipping. The Obituary of the Gypsy Biker.

Taking in good consideration that Bruce's songs are often tied one another in their meaning, it's interesting your remark about Gipsy Biker's death...

I actually remember in Wheels for Wings on the BTR box that Patti said that the songs are "kind of talking" to each other. I think I agree with that.

An italian writer (Leonardo Colombati) has just brought out a book about Bruce's production entitled Like A Killer In The Sun and his main point is that his lyrics are strictly linked one another, as they were the chapters of a novel (he calls it the Great American Novel). The link between GB and LWH is an interesting issue.

Just a curiosity: Bruce met Leonardo Colombati before the show in Paris in last december, then dedicated to Leo Jungleland!!!

Awesome!

Why assume "your doorstep" is "her doorstep" and why further assume that "what went wrong" implies any romantic falling out?Considering the song's meanings, the desolation of American societical values, and the "Long Walk Home" being about the journey back to those values rather than a journey to any physical home, I doubt the doorstep he departs from belongs to a lover.

Hey SoulDriver, I don't want to be disagreable, but I can't help myself.

hey pretty darling (a female he is attracted to)
don't wait up for me (she must be expecting him to come back)
gonna be a long walk home (home)

Wings for Wheels.
You are the west coast Gob.

I always get those mixed up.

All true, lyrically. However, within the lyrical narrative of the song, "your doorstep" is his starting point. From there he begins his long walk through town (America), toward home and his darling, who he encourages not to wait up for him. Heck, the "pretty darlin" of the song may not even be a woman. Youngstown's "Jenny" wasn't a woman, but a blast furnace.


Jeanette, blast furnace, Youngstown, Ohio.

My first mental impression was some kind of note or poem.

Interesting. Can you site anything that confirms this except that they are both in Youngstown.

I believe it was widely discussed back in '96-'97 that Jenny was indeed the furnace, and not a woman. I'm sure Bruce must have been quoted at some point.

I read an interview in 96/97 with Bruce, I can`t remember what magazine or paper it was in, but he mentioned in the interview that Jenny was a closed down furnace. And the furnace Jenny was nick named after the owner-Jennifer something. And that it was one of the last ones to close in Youngstown.

Yeah, Bruce said it in an interview for a Youngstown paper on the Joad tour stop there. I believe he said it in a few other interviews, also, but I'd be damned to name the wheres and whens.
Now, getting back on track, I like to think "your doorstep" in Long Walk Home represents, if not his father's actual door, his father's generation and the something slipped into his hand is the promise of his father's generation being handed down, or just generations changing hands.

Mention of Jenny

Why not just some momento? Maybe he's a soldier going off to serve?

All interesting issues.....but I keep on thinking that it's just about a walk through town starting from his and her partner's house.
A long walk that will end so late because it'll be hard to observe and remember every things that were there and are not there anymore.
I think that he can be a soldier, a veteran coming home from war that wants to go and see his town after all these years.
Agree that this town is a symbol of all the US.

I think it's someone who supported what's going on at 1st (We all did) Now feels ashamed that this place that was once inclusive of culture and had ethics has becomme a fallen empire.

She gave him back the stuff from "Magic"

I got a coin in my palm
I can make it disappear
I got a card up my sleeve
name it and I'll pull it
out your ear
I got a rabbit in my hat
if you want to come and see

Well, maybe not the wabbit.

Since he wrote this immediately after seeing Lucinda Williams, could she have anything (real or imagined) to do with this song?

When I meet an interesting woman I am often obsessed with her for a few days. I'm not just talking about sexy. She could be smart, funny, talented, or just friendly. My mind works overtime to try to fit her into the right place in my mind.

Maybe Lucinda influence put a guitar in his hand and made him write a song.

Why not the wascally wabbit? ...

He stood at her door step.
She gave him back the key she
had to his place. Then she left to go out.
He had a long walk home to his place.

Got it ! it was the thing that was under the pillow !
now what was that?