16.07.78 New Orleans, LA, intro to ´Prove It All Night´
´´When I was…..when I was a little boy, my mother used to tell me that if I said my prayers when I went to bed each night, I´d be alright…..but she didn´t tell me….that for the rest of your life, you´re gonna have to prove it all night long….”
16.07.78 New Orleans, LA, intro to ´Racing in the Street´
´´I got a….I got a little 16-year-old sister in California…..and uh, she just got her license and she thinks she´s hot stuff, you know, I go home…..and she takes me out, she says ´Come on, I´ll take you out cruising El Camino´ and….we get out there and she smashed up my mother´s Toyota so she´d have to get her something a little more special and she got an old late 60´s Couver with a 302 and we get out there and she says, she says to me ´How many tickets you´ve got ?´….I say ´Well, I got, you know, I got some parking tickets, you know´ ´No, no´ she says ´How many speeding tickets ?´….so I say ´Well, I got a few´, you know, she says ´Well, I got two and I´ve only been driving two months´ ….so, this is for her, she thinks she´s hot stuff, she ain´t been driving long enough, this is for all the guys who´ve been driving out there too long, this is ´Racing in the Street´….”
16.07.78 New Orleans, LA, intro to ´Thunder Road´
´´We were driving….last summer (?)….we flew out to Salt Lake City and bought this old car and drove it down from Salt Lake City to Reno….we were out on the highway somewhere across the desert and….we came upon this, uh….there was this house that his indian had sculpted out of stuff that he, that he´d scavanged off the desert….and out in front there was this sign that said….it said ´This is the land of peace, love, justice and no mercy´ and it pointed down this road that said ´Thunder Road´….”
16.07.78 New Orleans, LA, intro to ´The Fever´
´´How are you guys doing in the, uh, in the suicide seats over there ?….they gotta walk you guys out of here after the show (chuckles) sitting in front of the big speakers….this is uh….(?) this is a song that was never released and somehow snuck out (?)…(?) we have never played it….we´re gonna play it tonight….(?)….”
16.07.78 New Orleans, LA, intro to ´Growin´Up´
´´Here´s for…here´s for everybody that´s still growing up….(?) you guys are stuck over there, that´s uh (chuckles)….(?) if you can get down so that people behind you there can see, ok ? (?)….sit on somebody´s head there or something (chuckles)….people come up to me on the street - don´t they, Big Man ?- all the time….they go ´Al Pacino !´ (chuckles) ….that happens to me all the time, that´s no joke….(?) they come up to me and they say ´Bruce….how did a fellow like you get this way ?´….and I always, I always have to pause and think for a minute (chuckles)….and so….long time ago….I remember I was 13, was the full moon ….and one night….
(….) It´s getting dangerous up here….I remember….when I was….growing up, there was…. two things in my house that my father hated….one was me….and the other one was the guitar ….he used to hate that guitar, man, with a vengeance….I remember he´d sit in the kitchen and drink six-packs of beer till his nose got red…..you got a red nose too over there….and he came up, and he´d come upstairs, right, ´Stop playing that goddamn guitar !´…I said ´Pop, this is a Fender guitar, this is not a goddamn guitar´ …. but he never used to listen, he used to think that everything in my room was the same make made by the same company : I had a goddamn guitar to go with my goddamn stereo that went with my goddamn radio and all my goddamn records….my father used to think that the only feature was they were real loud, all of them….so hey, you know, what are you gonna do ? Well, one day I come in….I come in from, uh…. from school and (?) my mother and my father sitting real serious at the kitchen table and they said ´Come here, sit down, Son´ and I sit down….and they say ´Alright, enough of this fooling around, it´s time you got serious with your life, guitar´s ok for a hobby, what you think you´re gonna do with that ? You´re never gonna get anyplace….you gotta, you gotta´….my father says ´You gotta be lawyer because´….he was almost right…. ´You gotta be a lawyer because lawyers, they own the world, you´ll be a lawyer and you´ll be in good shape´…my mother said ´Oh no, he should be, he should be an author, he should write books and stuff´….so….they said ´Listen, this is a big decision you gotta make, why don´t you go over and talk to the priest ?´, my mother was very Italian and my father was very Irish….and I was stuck in the middle….and so very religious, so they used to, they sent me over to the rectory, they said ´Now, when you go over there, you tell him about being a lawyer, you tell him about being an author but don´t you tell him nothing about that goddamn guitar !´….so I said ´Ok, ok, ok´….so over I go to the rectory and I knock on the door (?) and the priest comes to the door, ´Hey Father Ray, how you doing ? This is Mr.Springsteen´s son, he sent me over here to speak to you about my career´….and uh, this little guy comes out, outside and he takes his coat off, puts it over his arm (?)….and walk around, we walked around the rectory and they all do these, they all have like….uh, ´Bells of St.Mary´-illusions, you know (?)…I said ´Listen, my, my, my father wants me to be a lawyer, my mother wants me to be an author but I got this guitar I´d like to play, you know, what do you think ?´ …so he thinks about it for a long time, says ´Well, listen…..this is too big a decision for me, what you gotta do, you gotta go straight….gotta go straight to the Big Man….Number 1….you gotta go, you gotta go talk to….you gotta go talk to God about this…..because I can´t make up your mind for you…..you tell Him about being a lawyer, about lawyer and author but don´t you, but don´t you tell Him nothing about that goddamn guitar´….so like ….you know, a regular guy, he´d be, you know, he´d down in the dumps by now but not me : first thing I do is I go over to Big Man´s house….to find out where I can find….find God, Big Man, he knows everybody….so I go over to the Big Man….(?) went to the priest, he told me I gotta go talk to God about what I wanna be, where can I find Him ?´ ….so Big Man says ´I know just the place, I seen him last week myself ´….we get in the car, over we go….it´s like midnight, he takes me out….next to the cemetary, he says ´You see that hill ?´….I said ´The one with all the graves on it ?´, he says ´Yeah, He´s up there right about now´…I said ´Are you sure ?´, he says he´s sure…so I climb the hill and I hear all these spooky noises coming out of the woods…..I get to the top….I look around….. there was nobody watching us so I get down on my knees….take the sign of the cross, I say ´God´ (someone in the crowd yells : ´What ?´)…´My mother, she wants me…..´ God, they got you in the cheap seats tonight up there….I told ´em to give you a backstage pass ! ….´My mother wants me to be an author, my father wants me to be a lawyer but, but you see, I got this guitar´…..and then all of a sudden, there was this thunder (Max pounds the drums) ….and there was this lightning….this big voice come out of the clouds…..and all it said was three words….´Let it rock !´….”
16.07.78 New Orleans, LA, middle of ´Backstreets´
´´Hey little girl….hello baby….baby, how you been ?….baby, how you been ?…it´s nice to see you back here again….I remember you….can´t you remember….that we were standing on the corner….of Richmond Avenue….and baby, you were looking so fine….baby, you were looking so fine….and now you´re back and you´re….still looking good….and I remember I swore….back then, baby, I swore….that I´d drive all night….I swore I´d drive all night …. baby, I´d drive all night anyplace, anytime, anywhere…..just to buy you some shoes….and to taste, to taste your tender charms….to have you hold me in your arms….to have you hold me in your arms and for just one kiss….one kiss and a look from your sad eyes….a look from your sad eyes….baby, oh, how they cried….darling, oh, how they cried ….how they cried….. and me…..I was your fool….I thought…..that maybe I could stop…. your crying….maybe I could stop….your crying….maybe I could stop….your crying….but I didn´t know….that baby´d been lying….baby´d been lying….little girl, you was lying…. little girl, you´d been lying….little girl, you´d been….telling such pretty….li-li-li-li-li-lies ….telling ´em li-i-i-i-es …. you were telling lies….but now you´re back…..yeah, now you´re back….(?)….I´m back too….. and I´ve been out…..and I´ve seen some things…..I´ve been out and I´ve learned some things ….about me, about you…..and I wanna know why….I wanna know why….I want you to look into my face, look into my face…..I want you to look into my face…..(?)….we´ll go hiding on the backstreets….. ”
16.07.78 New Orleans, LA, intro to ´Rosalita´
´´(?) blew up over here (chuckles) went wild, goddamn ! (?)(chuckles) carry that thing off ….goddamn….like a propeller plane run amok….give me some guitar, give me my guitar ….are you prepared for imminent danger ?….better be….
(….) Ladies and gentlemen….we got a galaxy of inter-galactic stars for you tonight…. beginning to my far left….at the piano….Professor Roy ´The Boy Wonder´ Bittan….on the guitar, composer….poet of the soul, master of rock and roll, Miami Steve Van Zandt….on the bass guitar, the man who I met….I met….ten minutes before we came on tonight, Mr. Garry W.Tallent….he´s doing a great job….on the drums….representing all you natives of New Jersey, the Mighty Max….on the organ…..now you see him, now you don´t….. Phantom Dan Federici….the only red-headed Italian in the band….and last but not least…. king of the world….master of the universe….(?)….his majesty, the Big Man, Clarence Clemons….”
Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi
