06.05.88 Tacoma, WA, intro to ´All That Heaven Will Allow´
´´How you doing out there tonight ? (cheers)....we got a little sun today, yeah ?....you know, it was nice....it was nice....you get weather like that, when that sun comes through the clouds and the air´s real clear and still real thin....back east we get this humidity that like forget it.... it´s nice when you get a real clear day and the air´s thin and it feels like the beginning of the summertime....everybody starts leaving their jackets home, girls leave their winter clothes home....that´s when I like to get outside and take a walk in the park and see if any of my old friends are still around....hey man!....yeah, how you doing ? (chuckles) what´s happening ? alright, good to see you, good to see you....what´ve you been doing ?....yeah, haven´t seen you in a while lately...been busy ? yeah, yeah, I know....what´ve you got ? oh, you have been busy (chuckles)....we´ve got pictures of the little Big Man here (chuckles)....oh man, he´s three years old....he´s got his own shades....he´s got a little silk suit....he´s got his own car, his own apartment....his own bank account already....he´s got a job too (?)(chuckles) the whole thing....there´s a lot of little babies running around now....in about 15 years there´s gonna be a E Street Band Volume 2....carry on the tradition....he looks good....it was hard to believe, buddy....man, remember, uh....Clarence, man, I remember when he met his wife, you know....Clarence was always knocking on my door like late at night, saying ´Bruce....I fell in love....I met the girl I´m gonna marry´....every like three months....´I fell in love....I met the girl´...and Clarence´s room was like, I´m gonna tell now (chuckles)....Clarence, Clarence would get into his room and ten minutes later if you knocked on his door, you wouldn´t recognise it because he would turn it into the Big Man Love Crib (chuckles)....he had like, like scarves over all the lamps and everything so it was real dim and.....and uh....(?) very romantic, right (chuckles)....so I didn´t believe him, you know....see, we were overseas and he comes knocking on my door: ´Bruce, wake up....I´m in love....I met the girl I´m gonna marry´ ´Yeah, yeah´....and then you did (chuckles) I was your best man (chuckles)...anyway, remember how it felt when she came walking in that room ? when you first see that girl that you´re interested in and you know that you´re gonna have to spend the whole night being a lot nicer than you really are, you know (chuckles) anyway, back home back in Jersey it feels like this, come on Ritchie....ladies and gentlemen, from the swamps of Jersey....oh yeah, that´s nice....you´re still carrying this thing around with you, huh ?...I´m gonna head home, man, can´t stay out late no more, you better going, oh, thanks, thanks, he looks good, almost as handsome as his daddy....”

06.05.88 Tacoma, WA, intro to ´Spare Parts´
´´How you doing out there ? (cheers)....how´re you guys in the backseat ? (cheers)....(some guys climb on stage) yeah...a short public announcement: no-one on stage but the fucking band, please....I hate assholes like that....oh jeez (chuckles)....oh, this song....this song was, uh....there was this fella and there was this girl and they lived....they lived....on the East Coast, little, little town....and they met in a little bar on, you know, weekend, kind of a shot-and-beer bar, old time rock and roll bar....and he was kind of young, he was, uh....he was a house painter and uh, he was looking for fun, you know, wasn´t saving his money, he was just working hard and.....and having a good time.....and uh, and they met, it was on Friday or Saturday night, she really liked him ´cause he was kind of sweet-tempered and....and, and gentle....and she was looking for somebody to love her....and....they moved into a little apartment a couple of blocks in off the beach in the wintertime....and they got along real good....and things were going really nice....and then she got pregnant....and they were happy about it....you know, he saved his money, first time, went down and got her a ring...and she went and picked out a dress and they made plans to be married....and then, uh, something happened, I don´t know, maybe he was a little too young....but he got scared and he, he took off....but she never really let him go, she kept in her mind and she kept him in her heart every day and at night when she went to bed, she thought of him....and the problem was that he wasn´t ever coming back....and so every day the world took his memory....and they broke her heart with it....over and over again....because there comes a time when you gotta take the past, no matter how much you loved it, and you gotta put it away....this is a song about a woman struggling to understand the value of her individual existence.....and the value of the life of her child....trying to put....put those old dreams down and to find some new and beautiful and meaningful things in her life now....”

06.05.88 Tacoma, WA, intro to ´You Can Look´
´´(starts the guitar intro) whoa, that sucker´s out-of-tune !....got another one back there..... (starts the intro again) that´s better....”

06.05.88 Tacoma, WA, intro to ´I´m a Coward´
´´Is there anybody alive out there tonight ? (cheers)....is there anybody with the living, breathing spirit inside tonight ? (cheers)....that´s good....because....because I´m here because I´ve got something to say to you.....what I wanna know is is there any men out there ? is there any rough, tough Seattle, Portland, Tacoma men out there tonight ? (cheers) .....is there any macho men in the audience out there tonight ? (cheers)....because I’ve known men that would swim rivers....that would walk through fire, burning buildings....that would climb mountains....but there was one thing that they was afraid of....and I´m gonna tell you what that one thing was....what scared them was L....U...V....I’m talking about love, am I talking about you ? am I talking about you ?....love scared them to death, when they got close to love, they ran back to their mommies like little babies....now, do we have any brave, courageous, heroic Northwestern women out there tonight ? (cheers)....do we have any sweet, sexy, liberated girls out there tonight ? (cheers)....because, girls, I’m talking to you too....that´s right....I’ve known women that would jump out of an airplane at 30,000 feet but when they got close to love, when love got close to their hearts, they ran home....´cause they were frightened....now, I don´t know want you to think I’m down here pointing a finger.... because I´m here because I´ve got a confession of my own I´ve got to make....and what I want to say is I have sinned !...and I don´t need no Jim Baker, no Pat Robertson, no Jimmy Swaggert to forgive me, those boys can kiss my ass, baby....and that Jerry Falwell can kiss my ass twice....because what I want to say is I´m not afraid of man-made things.... well, I´m down here to confess....that I’m a coward.....when it comes to love......”

06.05.88 Tacoma, WA, intro to ´Part Man Part Monkey´
´´Well, they had this TV-movie on about a month and a half ago....it was about the guy that they put on trial for, uh....teaching, uh.....evolution, it went, it went like this....”

06.05.88 Tacoma, WA, intro to ´Born to Run´
´´Thanks....this, uh....oh (chuckles)....this is, I guess one of the things that I´ve enjoyed over the years is....is coming, coming out on stage and....looking into the crowd and seeing people, I guess 10 or 15 years ago when we started playing, seeing ´em, seeing ´em back with their kids, you know....and then the....you know, the 19-year-old guys that were sitting over here, now they´re, now they´re 30 and they´ve got their kids and their wife with ´em (?) ....and there´s some new young guys over there (chuckles)....that´s good, you know....and I guess this next song, I wrote it about 15 years ago and....I guess I´ve kind of grown up with it....if somebody asked me what was one song, if I had to pick one song....that I guess told the most about who I was and what I dreamed of and what I wanted, this song would be it.... and when I wrote, I guess I thought I was writing about a couple of people who wanted to get in the car and start running and never come back home....sounds good, doesn´t work (chuckles)...put, put all those people in the cars and as I got older I realised I was gonna have to find some place for ´em to go....and I realised that that guy and girl....that I dreamed of when I was 24...I realised that they were, what they were doing is they were out there looking for connection, looking for some place that they could call ´home´, some place to stand....and then as I got a little older, I realised that home really was not over that next hill, but that it was buried deep inside of me someplace....and the questions I asked myself in this song, I´ve been searching for the answers for ever since and I don´t know, maybe you don´t find ´em, maybe you never find ´em but, uh, I know one thing that....it´s nice to have some company to come along for the ride so....I´d like to do this for you tonight wishing you, uh, wishing you home and happiness....”

06.05.88 Tacoma, WA, intro to ´Rosalita´
´´Alright, you asked for it....before we go on, all I wanna know is is everybody insured ? (cheers)....insured against heart attacks ? (cheers)....blowing your lunch out in the lobby or something from over-excitement ? (cheers)....then let´s rock, baby....”

06.05.88 Tacoma, WA, intro to ´Have Love Will Travel´
´´(?)....who´re we trying to fool, right ? go on, man....my conscience.....would not allow me ....to stop the evening´s festivities here....because I came all the way from New Jersey, baby ....just way the hell over on the other side....and I came here one reason....I have a mission to complete....what I wanna know is....is there anybody out there tonight ? is there anybody out there that needs a little love ? do you need a little affection ? do you need a little respect ? do you need, do you need, do you need....´cause I´m here and my motto is....have love, will travel....
(....) That´s a song from the 60´s....written by the Sonics....right from here in Tacoma.....”

Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi