
05.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ´Highway Patrolman´
´´This is a....this is a song about family (?)...it´s hard
to know what the right thing to do sometimes is....when it comes to the people
that you love....´´
05.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ´Glory Days´
´´This is a song....about....(?)....before....before I wanted to
play the guitar, there was only one other thing I wanted to do....a lover, no
(chuckles).....no, I wanted to be a baseball player....and.....in my younger
years I concentrated very hard on this, even when I was about seven years old,
I joined the Freehold New Jersey Colonial League.....(?)....and then I joined
the Little League.....and then I got around high school age I joined the Babe
Ruth League....I was doing better, I only had one problem....I couldn't hit,
I couldn't throw, I couldn't catch but I wasn't gonna let those details stop
me.....till around 15, I got interested in a couple of other things....one of
´em was the guitar....it was about that time when I was starting to do,
like on Friday and Saturday night I´d be at a gig with my band and the
baseball games were during the week so they didn´t get in each other´s
way too much but this one, this one week we had a rained-out game and they rescheduled
it for 8.30 Saturday morning.....that´s early for me.....so the night
before I did a show, came home, I got in bed at about 4 a.m, then around 7.30
I heard them knock on my door....there´s some guys from my team....I told
my mother, I said ´Look, Mom, go down there and tell ´em that I´m
sick and I can´t make it´.... so she went down and she told me ´Oh,
he´s too sick, he can´t come´ and they went away..... then
about 20 minutes later they came back.....and I heard ´em saying ´Oh,
Mrs.Springsteen, (?) we only got eight guys, if Bruce don´t come, we´re
gonna forfeit the game, it´s gonna be the end of the season´ (?)....so
I´m laying in bed, I´m dying, like, I hear ´em coming up the
stairs, I´m laying in my bed, now....I always sleep with my guitar....it
bothers my girlfriends a little bit but they get used to it (chuckles) so now
I gotta make believe like I really am sick so (coughs) I´m making all
these sick noises and they come up and they´re begging me and stuff so
finally I´m one of those people that can´t say ´no´....if
you bother me enough, I say ´yes´ to anything (chuckles)....and
so I get on my suit and I go down and I get out in rightfield, my head hurts
and it´s early....I´m standing out there and I´m praying that
nothing comes my way ....and eight innings go by, I´m doing fine and right
there on the bottom of the eighth, with the score tied....all of a sudden, gssshh
!.....´I got it, I got it !´....(?)....anyway, that was when I hung
up my baseball cleats and decided to dedicate my life to rock and roll.....the
other night I was out in this bar....and I met this guy....he started telling
me all about glory days.... in the end they don´t last.....´´
05.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ´Used Cars´
´´(?)....well, we finally made it back.....(?)....well, I got, got
my Mom and Dad out there tonight....but....but like I tease ´em now because
this is about me and my sister, she´s out there too....and when we were
kids, we were quite young, my Dad would try to....he´d come in the house
and say ´Well, it´s time we´re gonna go get, get a new car´....now,
what he meant by a new car was anything under 500 dollars (chuckles) and so
we´d come down to the used car lot, it was the only time that me and my
sister used to get together ´cause we used to always be, be competative,
she was a year younger than me and she used to do everything first (chuckles)
she was always tougher (chuckles) but we´d get together on this one thing,
we´d start bothering my old man to get us a convertible....´cause
in the summer I used to, I used to sit out on my frontporch, we used to live
on this street called South Street ....I´d sit out there at night, I´d
count the convertibles when they went by, so come around this time, we´d
always start bothering my Dad, he always, I could tell that inside he, he always
wanted one but he still does, but he still don´t have one so if you see
him, he´s a big round guy (chuckles) you see him, tell him it´s
time he got one (chuckles) but we used to be able to get him back ´cause
me and, me and my sister, we found the exact spot in the backseat where when
he was driving, no matter what we did, he couldn´t reach us (chuckles)
(?) till we got home (chuckles) ´Wait till you´ll get home, wait
till we´ll get home´, that´s all he´d say (chuckles)
anyway, this is for them.....´´
05.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ´My Hometown´ (following ´Used
Cars´)
´´Yeah....that´s for them.....I remember when I was.....when
I was 16, I used to, I couldn´t wait on the weekends I´d get on
a Lincoln Transit, go up to, go up to New York City....but my town, it seemed,
it seemed like it was so small, it was so narrowminded....at the time that ....that
it was, it was hard staying around in, later on I used to think, I got to where
I felt that I really, I really hated where I came from and I hated who I was
at that time and I tried, I guess I tried to, uh....I felt that if I got far
away and if I could....that who I was, where I came from might disappear just
completely from me.....but I found out that no matter where you go, that´s
always with you and that´s ok because it just means that, means that you´re
a part of something....so....so enough of that (chuckles)....´´
05.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, middle of ´Sherry Darling´
´´I´m stuck here in traffic on the goddamn New Jersey Turnpike....´´
05.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ´No Surrender´
´´Oh, thanks....this is, uh....this is a song I wanna do for....this
is for Tex and Marion.....who were two.....when I was just starting a band,
when I was about 15 maybe....they really opened up their house to....to me and
all the guys....they let us rehearse there....and....when I needed an amplifier,
Tex, he signed the loan so (chuckles) so I wanna say ´thanks´....but
uh ....this is also for Little Steven, wherever he may be....”
05.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ´Pink Cadillac´
´´Well, now, this is a song about the conflict between worldly things
and spiritual health..... between desires of the flesh.....and spiritual ecstasy....between
the mansion on the hill and the mansion in the sky, between the cynics and the
sceptics and the true believers....now, you can´t have both.....now, what
I wanna know is how many of you think that tonight if, and I hope this doesn´t
happen, if you should die during the show due to excitement, how many of you
think that you´re gonna go to heaven ? (cheers) well, now, how many of
you believe that if you should pass away during the final moments due to heart
failure that you just may end up taking the down-elevator ? (cheers) well, now,
personally I know I´m gonna go to heaven ....now, I´m gonna miss
the band but I´m gonna get over it....in the beginning He created the
heavens and the earth and He sat back and said ´This is good´, on
the First Day, He was hot so He created air-conditioning and the Lord sat back
and said ´This is good´, on the Second Day, He grew hungry and He
created cheeseburgers and the Lord sat back and said ´This is good´,
on the Fourth Day, He created tigh blue jeans, He sat back and said ´This
is good´, on the Fifth Day, He created rock and roll and He sat back and
said ´This is good´ and on the Sixth Day, which was the weekend,
He wanted to go for a drive, He created the pink Cadillac and He sat back and
said ´This is wild´....´´
05.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, middle of ´Growin´ Up´
´´Well, there we were....it was a night just like tonight....a long,
long time ago....I´d just met Clarence....he was working in the pizza
parlor, I was working in the Laudromat....we didn´t know what to do with
ourselves....we had no direction, we had no guidance.....we were frustrated.....our
lives were meaningless....and then Clarence decided that what we needed was
a couple of girls....this made a lot of sense.....so we got in his old car....and
we started to drive....he said they lived just a little ways outside of town.....but
we drove and we drove down into the pines....and then....we got a flat.....it
was dark.....it was scary....clouds covered the moon....there was a lot of strange
things going on.....so....we were trying to decide whether to roll up the windows
and lock the doors or go out and see if there was a spare....so being that this
was a democracy we decided we´d (?)....I won but then I went out and looked
and seen if there was a spare.....nothing, the trunk was empty so Clarence decided
that he knew where there was a gas-station just on the other side of the woods....so
into the forest we went.....Big Man, now, there ain´t no like big wild
animals in New Jersey, is there ?.... there ain´t no big wild animals
(?) right ?....you sure ? you positive ?....I think I hear something (?)....you
sure now, you sure ?....Big Man.....whoooa !....then I lost Clarence.... Big
Man, where are you ?....where are you ?....where are you ?....oh, Big Man....Big
Man, don´t do that ! (?) and then....and then out of the sky we seen what
looked like a falling star fall off into the trees....and we went a little further
and the moon shone down on this clearing and there in the clearing we saw the
answer to our quest.....and then.....when we touched..... ´´
05.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, middle of ´Backstreets´
´´I remember....you said....if you made it out first you´d
help me.....and if I made it out first I´d help you.....and we swore on
it....then you said it was nothing but a promise.....you said it wasn´t
anything but a promise.....you said it was nothing but a promise.....´´
05.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, middle of ´Rosalita´
´´Alright....ladies and gentlemen.....children of all ages....it´s
now my pleasure to introduce to you the members of the E Street Band....beginning.....beginning.....beginning
to my far left.... Jim the Dancing Bear !...don´t worry, folks, he´s
completely docile....on the piano....the most intelligent member of the band
- no offense to rest of you guys, a man.....who gave up a scholarship to Harvard
in mental surgery to tour with the E Street Band....well-known for his theory
of promiscuity, for his study of the lost tribes of Hoboke, on the piano, Professor
Roy Bittan....he´s so smart, he´s so smart....on the vocals, an
alumni of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes....from Long Branch, New Jersey,
Miss Patti Scialfa....on the bass, bringing you the thunder from down under,
Mr.Garry W.Tallent....on the drums, drummer, author of The Big Beat, that you
can find in any bookstores at the mall, the Mighty Max Weinberg.... on the organ,
the (?), the inimitable, the immovable, the irreprovable, the immoral, the unfathomable,
the understandable, the incredible Phantom Dan Federici.....and on the guitar,
as sweet as life itself, drumroll please....Mr.Nils Lofgren.....(Nils does his
trampoline stunt) ....that´s incredible....and now, last but not least....do
I have to say his name ?....you know he´s the king of the world....the
emperor of the universe.....the master of all things....but tonight I´d
like to place his name in nomination for to be the next President of the United
States....it´s time there was a Big Man in the White House.....so gimme
a C-LA-R-E-N-C-E, what´s that spell ? (crowd : ´Clarence !´)
what´s that spell ? (crowd : ´Clarence !´) what´s that
spell ? (crowd : ´Clarence !´) the one, the only, for now and forever,
my buddy, Clarence ´Big Man´ Clemons on the saxophone....´´
05.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ´Born to Run´
´´I wanna thank everybody for coming down (?)....all my friends,
my mother and Pop (?).... this is, uh, when I was, when I was a kid, I heard
the music of Elvis, Elvis Presley, it just said to me....I guess the thing it
kind of said to me was just ´Let freedom ring´....so....that´s
what we were here for tonight but you gotta fight for it.....´´
Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi