1984-09-21 Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, PA

Scheduled: 19:30 Local Start Time ??:?? / End Time ??:??

Info & Setlist | Venue

Two days before this show, in Hammonton, New Jersey, Ronald Reagan spoke before an enthusiastic crowd. "America's future," Reagan said, "rests in the message of hope in songs of a man so many young Americans admire, New Jersey's Bruce Springsteen." Speaking before "Johnny 99", Bruce responded to Reagan. "Well, the President was mentioning my name in his speech the other day," he said, "and I kind of got to wondering what his favorite album of mine must've been…I don't think it was the Nebraska album, I don't think he's been listening to this one." "Glory Days" includes a couple bars of "Out Of Limits" in the introduction and "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" includes a bar of "Hail To The Chief" in the midsection. "Detroit Medley" includes "Travelin' Band".

21.09.84 Pittsburgh, PA, intro to ´Johnny 99´
´´Well, the President was, uh, mentioning my name in his speech the other day….and, uh….I kind of got to wondering what, you know, what his favorite album of mine must´ve been, you know…I don´t think it was the Nebraska-album, I don´t think he´s been listening to this one….”

21.09.84 Pittsburgh, PA, intro to ´Mansion on the Hill´
´´Thank you, thanks….this is uh….when I was a kid, my dad used to….at night he´d take me outside of town….and there was this doctor´s house and….it was just this big white house on a hill….he always wanted me to be a doctor or a lawyer, he´d say ´There it is, there it is´….and now sometimes I see myself outside that house…..and sometimes I see myself inside it….”

21.09.84 Pittsburgh, PA, intro to ´I´m Goin´Down´
´´Yeah, gimme some lights up here, Jim….this is a song about the rise and fall of relationships, about….kind of, kind of how when you first meet somebody and you first go out, everything´s so wonderful, you know, everything they say is brilliant and everything they wear they look beautiful in and you´re kissing ´em all the time and holding hands every place you go….you can´t keep your hands off ´em, you know, ´Oh honey, not again´ ….´I just can´t help it, baby, you excite me so much´….you know, if you´re gonna go out to the movies, ´What movie you wanna see ?´ ´ Oh, honey, I don´t care, anything you wanna see´….´You wanna go out or stay home ?´ ´Oh, honey, I don´t care just as long as I´m with you´…you know….and then you come back about four or five months later and it´s like ´How did I ever end up with you ?´….´That´s the stupidest thing I ever heard´…. ´Are you gonna make love to me tonight or are we gonna wait for the full moon again ?´ ….”

21.09.84 Pittsburgh, PA, intro to ´Glory Days´
´´This is a song….it´s a song about old times….now, the older you get, the more old times you got….I´m just about to have another year´s worth myself….but that´s ok because the Big Man, he´s had quite a few more than me….but he wears his so well…..old times are funny because, like, I go home after the show, it´s always late at night and usually when I get home, there´s nothing on but like ´Twilight Zone´-reruns or something like that, I was watching the other night and it was about this actor who, he was an old man and he hated, he hated being old and he was thinking like ´Oh boy, when I was young, boy that was great, times were great then, I wish I could go back´ and then all of a sudden (?)(plays a bit of ´Outer Limits´)….he gets into the Twilight Zone and he goes back….now, when he gets back there, he finds out, you know, everybody was treating him like a dog and everybody he thought was nice, they weren´t nice at all and he was having a terrible time and so he wanted to come back into his own time….that, like, what happens to me is I go out to a bar or something and, and people come up to me and they´re always saying ´Man, hey Bruce, remember that high school ? that was fun, high school, what, we had great times in high school, remember all that great stuff we used to do ?´….now, I hated high school….I couldn´t stand high school….I didn´t like no high school….now when this time of year comes around, I´m still glad that I don´t have to go back….I´ve been out for 15 years, I´m still glad….but anyway, in high school I was only interested in two things, one was the guitar….then the other one….now, the guitar´s the one that I got good at…..the other one, I´m still looking for some volunteers who wanna practise, practise, practise (cheers) I´m so alone (chuckles) anyway, this song is about how all things must pass….. and how it ain´t nothing but, but glory days….are you ready, boys ?….let me tell my story …. ”

21.09.84 Pittsburgh, PA, intro to ´The Promised Land´
´´You gotta do what you gotta do (chuckles)….I don´t know, thank you, thanks for the cake (chuckles)….here we go…..”

21.09.84 Pittsburgh, PA, intro to ´My Hometown´
´´Thanks…this is, uh….this song, uh….when I was a kid, I grew up….little ways away from this park and in the middle of this park, there was a monument….I can remember when my mother used to ask me where I was going, I´d say ´Oh, we´re gonna go play over by the monument´, she always knew where I was….and uh, when I got my first band….I remember we were gonna have our publicity pictures taken….and it was the first time we ever had our pictures taken and we went down to this auction and we got like these, uh….plastic make-believe snakeskin vests….and had Beatle boots….and….I remember, I´ve always had curly hair, I used to try to, I remember we all tried to straighten our hair so we´d look like Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones…and we had these frilly shirts like the Kinks got….and we went down, went down to this monument and we all stood in front of it and we, you know, struck our poses and, and, and I remember we had to look real….any pictures where we were smiling, we threw them out right away, we had to…. had to look real cool and serious and….but I remember I grew up around this monument my whole life and never really knew what it was a monument to (?)….there was this Revolutionary War battle fought outside my…town I grew up in….but, uh, before this tour I went down to, uh….Washington, I was visiting a friend of mine down there and I went to the Lincoln Memorial….and I went to the, uh….Vietnam Veterans Memorial…and I remember the drummer….the drummer in that first band, I remember….remember him enlisting in the Marines and he came along with his uniform on and….said he was going to Vietnam, said he didn´t know where it was but….was kind of joking about it…and his name is on the stone down there….and it´s a…..that´s a long walk and it´s a lot of years in-between that Lincoln Memorial and in-between that Vietnam Veterans Memorial….and it´s a long walk from the government that´s supposed to represent all the people to where we (?)…seems like something´s happening out there where there´s a lot of stuff being taken away from a lot of people that shouldn´t have it taken away from…. sometimes it´s hard to remember that this, that this place belongs to us, that this is our hometown….”

21.09.84 Pittsburgh, PA, intro to ´Pink Cadillac´
´´Now, this is a song….about the conflict….between worldly things and spiritual health…. between desires of the flesh….and spiritual ecstasy….now, where did this conflict begin ? ….well, it began in the beginning….in a place called the Garden of Eden….now, the Garden of Eden was originally thought to have been located in the Middle East….but the latest theological studies have found out that it´s actual location is ten miles south of Jersey City, off the New Jersey Turnpike….now, in the Garden of Eden, there were none of the accoutrements of modern living….there was no TV….there were no beds….there were no houses….there was no, you couldn´t go down and get the original hot dog….you just couldn´t walk out on to the street and get a hamburger or anything like that….there was no sin….there was no sex…..Man lived in, in a state of innocence…..now….as far as the no sex goes, I personally prefer the state of guilt that I constantly live in….but in the Garden of Eden there was a man, there was a woman, there was an apple, there was a snake, there was temptation, there was sin and parked curbside there was their getaway car…the pink Cadillac….”

21.09.84 Pittsburgh, PA, middle of ´Rosalita´
´´Ladies and gentlemen….children of all ages….citizens of Pittsburgh….and whoever the hell else is out there….it is now time….it is now my pleasure….it is now my honor….it is now responsobility to introduce to you the incredible members of the E Street Band…. I´d like to begin by introducing a gentleman to my far left…..he´s the only member of the E Street Band with, not only a grammar school but a full high school diploma….that´s right, he was offered a scholarship to Harvard University….to work on his PHD in unusual sexual practises….but he turned it down to tour this year with the E Street Band…..he told ´em they could kiss his ass, he gave up higher education to rock the nation, let’s hear it for the complicated, the sexually liberated, Professor Roy Bittan….and now, next, on vocals, from Long Branch, New Jersey….an alumni of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes….the lovely, the talented, the beautiful Miss Patti Scialfa on the vocals….next, we´ve got a man that puts the bass in your face, he brings you the thunder from down under, his mother was a talent, his father was a talent, on the bass guitar, from Neptune, New Jersey, Mr.Garry W.Tallent….now, we got a guy that puts the heat in the beat to get you out of the seat and moving your feet, on the drums, author of The Big Beat, the Mighty Max Weinberg on the drums….(?)….and now we got a guy here tonight who´s celebrating his 15th anniversary as a member of the E Street Band….that´s right….and for 15 years of incredible dedication, Danny, to show, to show my appreciation, bring out the gifts….a portable hairdryer….and two tickets to tonight´s show….on the organ, Phantom Dan Federici….now, and now, next, the newest member of the E Street Band….a man that´s sweet as life itself…. on the guitar, Mr.Nils Lofgren….(Nils does his trampoline stunt)….and now….a man…..that don´t need no introduction….he´s a mean, lean love machine….you know him as the king of the world….the emperor of the universe and if there was any justice in this world, the next President of the United States….gimme a C….L…A…R…E…N….C….E….what’s that spell ?….what´s that spell ?….what´s that spell ?….Clarence Big Man Clemons on the saxophone…..”

21.09.84 Pittsburgh, PA, intro to ´Born to Run´
´´Thank you…..this is, I´d like to thank everybody for coming down to the show tonight, thank you very much….I know, uh, sometimes you gotta wait in long lines and stuff for tickets and I want you to know we appreciate it…..I guess when I was a kid….uh, the first thing that seemed to, ever made any impression on me was, uh….when I heard the music of Elvis Presley and uh….it kind of reached down into my house where…..you know, whatever I was learning at school wasn´t able to get through to me and what I was learning at home wasn´t able to get through to me and uh (crowd starts singing ´Happy Birthday´) I´m not over 90 !….”

Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi

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