
05.07.81 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ‘Independence Day’:
”How you doing ? (cheers)....you had a good Fourth of July ? (cheers).....(?)
(chuckles) ....I’d like to, I’d like to just make one announcement
that’s.....if by any chance you brought any, any fireworks with you....please
don’t set ‘em off in the hall, alright....keep ‘em in your
pocket or throw ‘em away but don’t set ‘em off in the house....if
you see somebody setting ‘em off.....tell the usher or tell a security
guard because I want ‘em thrown out, ok (cheers) ....’cause....you’re
gonna hurt yourself or hurt somebody that’s around you....that’s
not what Independence Day is about anyway (chuckles)(cheers).....I remember
when I was a little kid.....every....every Fourth of July, my mother and father
used to take.....me out to the racetrack.....in Freehold (cheers)....they used
to, I guess they don’t have, they don’t have fireworks no more down
there but they used to have ‘em every Fourth of July....and there used
to be this cemetary....that was right on the outside of the track and there
was this hill called Cemetary Hill ....and everybody used to go up there and
park and sit up on the hill and watch....watch the skyrockets’display.....when
I was little , I didn’t know what it was all about, I just knew that on
Fourth of July we’d go there and there were all these fireworks and stuff....and....we
just spent a couple of months over....in Europe (cheers)....and I found myself,
I was thinking of home a lot more....than usual, from being away....I’d
never been away from the States....for so long....and I started to read this
book, this book called History of the United States (cheers).....and in it....I
found a lot of things that....that, that were important to know....because they
helped me understand.....the way that....that my life was and the way that my
life developed....they helped me understand how.....when I was a kid all I remember
was my father worked in a factory, his father worked in a factory..... and ....and
the main reason was because they didn’t.....they didn’t know enough.....they
didn’t know enough about themselves....and they didn’t know enough
about the forces.... that....that, that controlled their lives and (cheers)....and
I started to read this book.....and the thing that was....that most impressed
me.......was, was the idealism....it was like when you were a kid and you leave
home, you leave home because you believe in yourself or you think you’re
gonna do something and because you wanna be different , you wanna be different
than your old man was (?)(cheers)....and that’s what happened here....and....
and the idea was....that there’d be a place....for everybody , no matter,
no matter where you come from or what religion you were or what color you were.....you
could, you could make a life that had some decency and some dignity to it (cheers)...but
like.... all, all ideals....that, that idea got real corrupted....and....as
I read through the book and I got up into the 60’s and the 70’s....and
I remember (?) in the 70’s , I was in my twenties and I was in my teens
in the 60’s but I felt like I’d been sleeping all the time through
all those years ‘cause I didn’t know what was going on.....I didn’t
know what....what the government that I lived under....was doing....it’s
important to know about yourself, that’s all and know about the things
around you so (cheers)...you get a chance, read that book, History of the United
States, it’s good !.....”
05.07.81 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ‘This Land Is Your Land’:
”If you got one of those green things.....give ‘em to somebody so
they can throw ‘em in the trash (chuckles)....I hate those things....please
don’t throw stuff around, you’re gonna hit somebody in the head.....alright....I
need a little....I need a little quiet for this song, thank you.....”
05.07.81 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ‘Jersey Girl’:
”This is for....this is for Dave, if you’re out there, Dave.....”
05.07.81 Meadowlands, NJ, after ‘Jersey Girl’:
”That’s.....that was a song by Tom Waits....it’s on his ‘Heartattack
and Vine’....”
05.07.81 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ‘Ramrod’:
”When I was over in Europe, one of the things that....that I hadn’t
thought about that much before that I started to think about was....the importance
of the audience.....at the show and (cheers)....and....I just want to say....that...that
I’m proud that everybody’s come down to see us (cheers)....and....and
whoever it is and there’s only one or two out of , I guess, twenty thousand
people here tonight....that’s...that has to set off their firework in
the middle of a song ....uh.....the only thing I can...I can say is.....you
can do me a favor and never come back to one of my shows ever again (cheers)....because
.....if you don’t , if you don’t have the respect for yourself,
whoever you (?), you should at least have the respect for the people that are
around you....and if you don’t have that, you should at least have the
guts to come up here and do it where I can see you or somebody can see you.....”
Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi