24.08.81 Los Angeles, CA, intro to‘Independence Day’:
”This is for you, Pops.....”
24.08.81 Los Angeles, CA, intro to ‘Jackson Cage’:
”This is uh....this song, I guess it’s about....I been....I been
real lucky....and I’ve had about as much.....as much freedom as.....as
money can buy you in this country....but.... I guess you’re never....it’s
like you’re never really free until....until everybody else is....”
24.08.81 Los Angeles, CA, middle of ‘Growin’Up’:
”There we were (cheers).....it was Christmas Eve.....and me and Clarence
and Steve.... we were.....we were driving home in Clarence’s old car....and
we didn’t have no instruments, couldn’t get no jobs anymore....we
were down on our luck.....we decided we wasn’t even gonna give each other
presents....somebody’d stolen all our guitars.... we were ‘bout
to just....give up show business....and then......we got a flat tire....I hate....flat
tires.....we were on this dark road....was no moon out or nothing....was as
dark you could get, we were surrounded by woods and all we heard was this howling
sound coming out of the trees (cheers)....so....we were trying to decide....who
was gonna get out and hitchhike to the gas-station.....now....I knew that I
didn’t have to get out....because I’m the Boss, baby ! (cheers)....(chuckles)(chers).....now
we knew..... we knew Clarence.....he certainly didn’t have to go...he’s
bigger than Steve....so just.... as we were pushing Steve through that little
side vent window......all of a sudden .... just like in that movie ‘Close
Encounters of the Third Kind’, we seen a big flashing light come over
our car (cheers) (spooky sound).....I stuck my head out , I looked up.... I
seen this cherry red flying saucer (cheers) (chuckles) .....(?) on the side
, it said..... ‘Moony’s Hamburgers’.....one giant step for
mankind, two cheeseburgers to go, baby (cheers)....this little guy stuck his
head out....said ‘Man, I’m late for delivery.....can you tell me
how to get to the New Jersey Turnpike ?’ (cheers)... now...you know we
ain’t as dumb as we look, we (?) we just don’t tell anybody how
to get to the New Jersey Turnpike (cheers).....so we made a deal....we said
if we each, give us one wish....and we give him directions how to get back on
track....said ‘Ok’.....told him how to get to the Turnpike....and
then right as we stood there.....and on Christmas Eve....this dirty rat....this
nasty cat.....took off in a trail of light.....disappeared off into the edge
of the sky.....without so much.....as a goodbye...we felt kinda bad.....we felt
kinda disillusioned....we almost didn’t believe in Santa Claus no more
(cheers) (chuckles).....but just as that guy was disappearing away....we seen
something slip out of the back of his spaceship.....and land.....about a hundred
yards down the road.... and as we looked....it looked like something that we’d
be wishing....and it was at that moment.....that we decided....to continue in
our careers....in rock and roll.....”
24.08.81 Los Angeles, CA, intro to ‘Johnny Bye Bye’:
”This is uh.....Tom, I wanna do this for you, you know, if you’re
out there....this is a song that, uh.....I wrote uh.....for Elvis Presley....you
know it’s uh.....I remember he was kinda....I mean when I was nine years
old and my mom had on the Ed Sullivan Show.....and I first seen him come on,
you know....and...I made my mother go out and....and rent me this guitar so
I could try and learn how to play....but I only played for about six months
and then I gave up.....till I was about.....13 but.....after uh..... to me,
he was like, he was like the father of my country, you know, he.....he showed
me a lot (cheers)...and...uh.....after he died, I thought a lot about what had
happened to him and how....how you can.....how somebody who had so much could
end up....could end up that way because, uh.....he deserved a lot better than
he got.....”
24.08.81 Los Angeles, CA, middle of ‘Rosalita’:
”Ladies and gentlemen.....to the far left of the stage.....I’m talking
about over that way.....see that guy back there ?...on the piano, let’s
hear it....for Professor Roy Bittan (cheers).....on the guitar....let’s
hear it for......Miami Steve Van Zandt (cheers)..... on the bass....Mr Garry
W.Tallent (cheers)....on the drums.....The Mighty Max Weinberg (cheers)....on
the organ....Phantom Dan Federici (cheers)....and now....I don’t blame
you....for being excited.....because I’m gonna introduce to you a man
right now....
everybody knows he’s called the king of the world.....the master of the
universe....the emperor of all things....he’s faster than a speeding (?)....he’s
more powerful than a rolling locomotive.....he’s able to leap tall women,
I mean tall buildings in a single bound....now I ain’t talking about a
bird.....I ain’t talking about a plane.....I ain’t talking about
a bus either, baby.....I’m talking about, gimme a C....L...A....R...E...N....
C....E.....what’s that spell ?....’
24.08.81 Los Angeles, CA, intro to ‘Jersey Girl’:
”Thanks uh.....there’s a guy that’s written a lot of great
songs like ‘Ol’55’.....’Heart of Saturday Night’.....and....this
song that....and when I heard it, I remember it was one of those songs I said
‘Well, I wish, I wish I’d wrote that’, it’s a song called
‘Jersey Girl’ and Tom Waits gonna sing it with us.....”
Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi