
16.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ´´Open All Night´´
´´Alright...this is....here´s a song dedicated....to that
golden roadway of the East, the New Jersey Turnpike....now...I used to ride
home all the time....from New York City, taking south ....I didn´t run
into too much trouble....but there´s this one stretch of road, if you
get off Exit 8, which takes you down into Freehold....through Heightstown....now,
out in Heightstown.... them cops ain´t got nothing to do out there but
to sit and wait for you all night long....so I´d got off Exit 8....and
I´d always be extra careful not to go too fast ´cause I´d
got caught a couple of times....so that night I must´ve been going suspiciously
slow....´cause I got pulled over....´License, registration´....´Uh,
Sir, I don´t have my license or my registration´....that didn´t
go over too good....goes back to the car, calls me back....I give him my name....he
says ´Son, are you that....that rock and roll singer?´....I said....´Yeah,
that´s me,´ you know.... he says ´Did you, did you write that,
uh, that, that ´Born to Run´-song?´....I said ´Yeah,´
you know, ´I wrote that one,´ he says ´Well, Son, you´re
in a lot of trouble´....so I got my ticket but then....insult to injury,
I had to go to traffic court, now, if you go to traffic court....usually there´s
three kinds of pleas, either you plead innocent, which almost nobody pleads....or
you plead guilty, which you are, but nobody pleads any way, or you plead that
famous plea, guilty with an explanation....now....if you sit in traffic court
all night, you find out that the whole world is guilty with an explanation....so....I´m
sitting there and, God, some guy recognises me and he comes over and he says,
you know, ´Are you Bruce?´ I say ´Yeah´....I knew that
I was Bruce and he was definitely drunk, there was no doubt about it, he was
like ....did you ever get one of them people that sit so close to you that you
gotta lean away like this?...(?) anyway, he got called before me, and he was
caught doing 60 on a residential street, on a side-street....and he gets up
and his explanation, he says ´Judge, I was drunk and I thought I was on
Route 35´....that´s the kind of explanation people have....so, anyway,
I get up there and I don´t have no explanation so I´m thinking real
hard....and I say ´Well, Judge, now, this is gonna sound kind of wild
but....But I had the carburetor, baby, cleamed and checked....
(....) Now...they found me guilty....I paid my fine....and then I went out....and
ran her open all night....´´
16.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ´´Nebraska´´
´´Oh, thanks, this is, uh....this is a song about....I guess, what
happens when you end up living inside your head too much.....´´
16.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ´´Glory Days´´
´´(singalong)....This is where we start to get the groove going....you
see....I always love to do this song....´cause this is a song about all
of them people....that come up to you ten years later and try to tell you about
what a great time you had in high school....I always go out into a bar, always
somebody comes up to me, sits down on a stool next to me....says ´I remember
you when´....that means they remember me when they wouldn´t speak
to me....and then they always tell me about what a great time we had in high
school....´I remember the night we went out and you were with that girl
you really liked and a guy come over and he spilled a beer on your head and,
oh, man, that was fun´....well, right now....personally....I had a lousy
time in high school....I hated high school....I hated studying....I hated gym....I
hated all them coaches making me do all them stupid exercises....when fall comes
around, I´m still glad I don´t have to go to high school....I had
a terrible time there....but I´m making up for it now ....boys, ready?....you
guys in the backseat ready now? (cheers) backseat drivers....´´
16.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ´´Johnny Bye Bye´´
´´This is, uh....it´s around this time of year I always....think
about how long it´s been since somebody called me up and told me that
Elvis had died....I remember it was real hard, I couldn´t understand it
at the time....I guess sometimes a dream coming true is a dangerous thing....´´
16.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ´´The River´´
´´This is ´cause you gotta have someplace to go when you can´t
go home....´´
16.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, ´´Thunder Road´´
´´(crowd sings) That´s better than me....Don´t run back
inside....´´
16.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, middle of ´´Cadillac Ranch´´
´´That´s the Hoboken cowboy!....´´
16.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ´´No Surrender´´
´´Yeah, alright (chuckles)....this is, uh....this is a song about
trying to find something that you can hold on to....everything changes so quick
these days....I always figured I was real lucky, when I was, when I was real
young, I found something that I really loved to do and, uh...in the end, I guess,
it´s your, it´s friends and your family....and whatever dream you´ve
got to hold on to that counts....so this is for Little Steven wherever he is
tonight....he´s got a, he´s got a new record out called Voice of
America, it´s a really, really great record....if you get a chance, you
ought to listen to it....´´
16.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ´´Pink Cadillac´´
´´Take it easy now, boys....now...they say that back in the beginning....there
was a place called the Garden of Eden....now....I´ve been studying up
on this and they originally believed that the Garden of Eden was in the Middle
East somewhere....but according to the latest theological studies....by their
best calculations, they found out that the Garden of Eden was about ten miles
outside of Passaic....now....initially in the Garden of Eden there was....no
sin, there was no TV, there was no sex (crowd boos) there was (chuckles) what
the hell were they doing all the time? (chuckles)....playing with the animals?
you can do that at the zoo!
....anyway....imagine....sometimes I....lay down at night and I think would
I rather be in the Garden of Eden or would I rather be on Earth....and I always
add up that I´d rather be on Earth....on Earth there is....cheeseburgers....on
Earth there is....women....I´ve even worked out something called the Earthwalk....you
see, Michael Jackson, he does the Moonwalk, see, now me, I do the Earthwalk....now....this
can be very tricky at 2am, coming out of a bar in Asbury Park (chuckles) basically
it goes just like this (chuckles)....so....anyway, what they didn´t tell
you was that in the Garden of Eden there was a man, there was a woman, there
was (feedback from the mike) there was no feedback (chuckles) but there was
temptation and there was sin and parked curbside, there must´ve been....a
pink Cadillac....´´
16.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, middle of ´´Backstreets´´
´´I remember that we swore on it....I remember that we swore on
it, we said if....if you got out first, you´d help me....and if I got
out, I´d help you....I remember that we swore on it.... we said it would
last forever....we said it would last forever and forever and forever....and
then you said that it was nothing but a promise....then you said that it was
nothing....it was just a promise....´´
16.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, middle of ´´Rosalita´´
´´Ladies and gentlemen...children of all ages....it is now my pleasure
to introduce to you the members of the E Street Band....I´d like to begin
at my far left....a gentleman....who gave up a scholarship to Harvard in unusual
sexual practises to do the 1984 tour with the E Street Band....a man who (?)
you may have read his study of the lost tribes of Hoboken, you may have read
his theory of promiscuity, ladies and gentlemen, the only member of the E Street
Band with a full high school diploma, the educated, the dedicated Professor
Roy Bittan....and next, an alumni of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes....from
Long Branch, New Jersey, on vocals, Miss Patti Scialfa....and then the gentleman
who brings you the thunder from way down under, his mother was a Tallent, his
father was a Tallent, Mr.Garry W.Tallent on the bass guitar....and next, ladies
and gentlemen, a man who´s been with the E Street Band longer than any
other member, matter of fact I believe it´s been almost 15 years tonight....and
then....to show my appreciation, bring out the gifts, Jim, bring ´em out....we
have for you for 15 years of dedication, that´s right, a portable hairdryer....and
two tickets to tonight´s show ....and next....we have a man who performs
the whole night without a net, ladies and gentlemen, drumroll, please....on
the guitar, Mr.Nils Lofgren (Nils does his trampoline stunt)....and last but
not least....next to last but not least....a man who....he´s an author
of a book called The Big Beat....a drummer....on the drums, the one, the only,
the Mighty Max Weinberg....oh yeah, oh yeah....and now that lean, mean love
machine....ladies and gentlemen, gimme a C-L-A-R-E-N-C-E, what´s that
spell ? (crowd: ´´Clarence´´) what´s that spell
? (crowd: ´Clarence´) what´s that spell ? (crowd: ´Clarence´)
Clarence Big Man Clemons....´´
16.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ´´Twist and Shout´´
´´Do you surrender? (crowd: ´´No´´) have
you had enough yet? (crowd: ´´No´´) now, some of you
guys gotta get up for work tomorrow now (crowd: ´´No´´)
you´re gonna miss them Kojak-reruns on television (cheers) do you surrender?
(crowd: ´´No´´) are you sure? (crowd: ´´Yeah´´)....
(....) Take it easy now, boys....oh yeah....how low can you go, baby? (chuckles)
this is my favorite part of the night....I get to stand here and....groove a
little bit, get to look out and watch all the people dancing....I can see who´s
out there....
(....) Are you ready, Big Man?....now all I wanna know is....is how´s
you guys doing way back there up on the hill? (cheers) you got some high-altitude
twisting going on there....you gotta get your aviator´s license to do
some dancing up there (chuckles) yeah....how are you guys in the back here?
(cheers)(?)....oh, you´re looking good!...now there´s only one thing
I wanna know...before I go....to make my night complete....there´s only
question that I gotta ask....and that´s....that´s....that´s....Do
you love me?....
(....) Ladies and gentlemen, I confess....I´m a sick man, get ready....Shake
it a-baby...´´
Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi