2005-11-17 Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, NJ

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

Info & Setlist | Venue

This show is dedicated to John & Maria who got a few songs played just for them ("Drive All Night" was requested by John for his fiancee Maria). Tour premieres for "Meeting Across The River" and the only tour performance of "Born To Run". Final tour performances for "Used Cars", "Frankie", "Maria's Bed", and "Cautious Man", while Patti Scialfa joins for the tour's final "Brilliant Disguise". Lots of dedications tonight - including "Born To Run" for Don Ienner and Columbia Records, "Two For The Road" for Sirius Radio's Scott Greenstein, "Used Cars" for Bruce's dad, and "Frankie" for a father and son from Holland. Piano songs are "Frankie", "Meeting Across The River", "Drive All Night", "Jesus Was An Only Son", and "Thundercrack". "Born In The U.S.A." and "Johnny 99" are with the bullet mic. "Dream Baby Dream" is on pump organ. "Two For The Road" is on electric piano. "I Wanna Marry You" is on ukulele. "The New Timer" is on autoharp.

Bruce Springsteen

Patti Scialfa (Guest)

Intro to “Long Time Comin´”
´´Thanks a lot and good evening…..welcome, welcome, welcome….had a great night last night….we´ll do it again….only, uh, only thing I can use is as much quiet as I can get during the songs so I can give you my best….alright….this is for the moms and the pops….´´

Intro to “Used Cars”
´´I´ll play this song tonight and, uh, send it out to my dad, I, I, I slammed the old bastard so much in so many songs that I (chuckles) I, I made such a fortune on him, I gotta say some good things about him once in a while but uh (chuckles) I say ´What would I have written about if things, if all things had gone well?´ I, I, I don´t know, I just don´t know (chuckles) but, uh, this one takes, you know, the poor guy, I, I always remember, uh, you know, when I was growing up, he had every kind of, of, of used car possible, you know, he had the used car without the heat, he had the used car without the muffler, he had the used car, you know, with the bad brakes, he had the used car that doesn´t go in reverse, you know, uh….then, then of course the, let´s not forget the used car that just won´t start, you know (chuckles) so, uh, I have a lot of memories of….of, uh (?)….uh, and the worst part my, my room was out over the backyard and I´d hear him in the morning out on that ice cold ground in the middle of winter trying to get the thing started….and then he would take us on a forced march on Sunday (chuckles) was our family day and uh (chuckles) and we would go for a ride and uh, it was brutal, you know, and uh, uh, and, uh, when we passed, the used car without the muffler, when we passed a police, police car, we used to have to turn the thing off and coax by….I always remember, like, and we´d spot ´em, ´Dad, Dad, we´re going´ - tsss - off it goes and he coaxed by, you know, and of course the used car that didn´t go in reverse, well, that was, you know, me and him pushing it, you know, backwards out of the parking, parking lots and, uh….yeah, I´m gonna tune this up (tunes his guitar) I can do it (keeps tuning) job security slipping out….anyway (chuckles) here´s to the Old Man….´´

Intro to “Frankie”
´´Uh, thanks a lot, uh, I don´t think I need this thing….uh, uh….(?) I don´t think I need this little, this piano…let´s get rid, let´s get, let´s get rid of that, alright….(whistles)(crowd laughs) ….yeah ´cause I´m not gonna play it….now, now there´s massive mobilisation all of a sudden (chuckles) ah, it´s getting towards the end of the tour, I guess (chuckles) but, uh….I´m gonna do this tonight for Gustaf and his son from, uh, Holland, I believe (some man yells ´That´s me!´) yeah, it´s you? ok (chuckles) and, uh, alright, I´ll do this for you and your boy, if I can get everything here…..´´

Intro to “Meeting Across the River”
´´Yes, my friend….thank you….alright, I´m gonna try this one….I don´t think I ever played this one but, uh….this is, uh, let me get my finger right here, oh yeah, alright, this is a little happy anniversary there….´´

Intro to “Ain´t Got You”
´´When I´m approached on the street….I´m always asked the same questions….´Bruce….are we really born to run?´….´Bruce…..will you please sign my girlfriend´s left tit?´….I must comply, I´m a public servant….but the question I´m asked mostly is ´What is it like to be the Boss?´ (some people cheer) yes, everybody´s been wondering (chuckles) well, I have a, a line, a humble line of bullshit that I´ve been…..answering over all these years, it´s worked pretty well so I think I may stick with that, it goes something like, uh, ´It´s no big deal…. Anybody can do it, practise, practise, practise….Uh, like anything else´….lies….I did write about it once….´´

Intro to “Brilliant Disguise”
´´(chuckles) I think I blew up the guitar (chuckles) it quit, it said ´I don´t want no more´ (chuckles) alright, I have a fabulous guest star tonight, ladies and gentlemen, come on out, Patti (Patti Scialfa arrives onstage)….wooo!….just, uh, just, uh, just joking about the tit-signing stuff, that´s (Patti: ´I didn´t hear it´) it´s just part of a schtick, schtick, schtick (chuckles)….sing with me, baby….´´

Intro to “Cautious Man”
´´This is one of my favorite songs from the ´Tunnel of Love´-record so I´m gonna sing it…. then we´ll do this, alright….I got it (chuckles)….´´

Intro to “Two for the Road”
´´Thanks, ok, where is that little piano? yeah (chuckles) there it comes….it´s here now…. alright, I´m gonna do this for, uh, Scott Greenstein and all the guys at Sirius Radio (people applaud) yeah….yes, I have my own radio channel, it´s, uh…..every artist´s dream: you turn on the radio and there´s nothing but you on it, you know, but uh (chuckles) so it´s one of those things, it´s a little unsettling because as I´ve listened, I´ve said ´Gee, there are so many things that I, I have no idea that I ever did, you know´ (chuckles) and it´s one, there´s a lot of people over there that now know more about me than I know about myself, you know, from now on if I have any questions about myself, I, I know who to call, I know where to go (chuckles) so, uh, (?) Scott, thanks a lot, it´s, uh, it´s a lot of fun and I´m gonna do this for you guys over there and uh….´´

Intro to “Drive All Night”
´´Alright, that´s right, love songs, can´t, can´t lose with a love song, uh, I was trying to, I grew up in, uh, I didn´t write many, lot of love songs but, but my mother had the radio on in the morning all the time and, uh, it was a time that, late 50s and early 60s, when there was a whole generation of young men trying to sound like beautiful women when they, when they sang, everybody was singing like way up here (sings in falsetto) and I always thought that was pretty smart because that was like a guy saying, like, you know, you´re trying to be seductive so you´re saying ´Honey, I´m gonna come up, I´m gonna sing in your language, I´m gonna come up where you are, I am gonna be talking directly to you, I, I´m a sensitive guy and, and will you pull your pants down?´….so because that is the, the subtext of all great rock songs is of course ´Will you pull your pants down?´ I mean, that´s, I believe a lot of classical music also was, uh, written with that motivation….so, uh, and if you write a good rock song usually it works as the last line in any good rock song, say, like, you know, ´A town full of losers and we´re pulling out of here to win so will you pull your pants down?´…. or it even works, uh, in the protest music, ´There´s a hard rain a-gonna fall so you might as well pull your pants down´….and, uh, that´s just, uh, it works, it´s just one of those things, it´s just, that´s, that´s what behind the whole damn thing no matter what anybody tells you ….and, uh, then my, my dad was, he was the opposite, he was, he thought all love songs were government propaganda, uh, made to obviously get your pants down and, and then get married and pay taxes and, and get your nose to the grindstone, so he, he kind of lived in a post-pants down-world a lot of his life and uh….which we were all currently living in now, of course, you know, so, but anyway, that´s, that´s how the whole thing, uh, sorts out, so I´m gonna do this tonight, this is a love song, a man got engaged in a parking lot so I assume…. that sounds like pre-pants down but I´m not sure (chuckles) but, but I don´t think any more, but, anyway, this was, this is to Maria from John and, uh (someone yells) that´s right, there´s my friend there and, uh, alright, so let´s bring a little love into the room here and see where you stand on the whole thing….´´

Intro to “Jesus Was an Only Son”
´´Alright, I, uh, I grew up in a, uh, on a little street and uh….surrounded by relatives, I was surrounded by people, uh, my relatives, somebody brought this to the show the other night, I´ve been using it the last few nights, it, uh, explains my neighbourhood….and uh….basically, uh….this is my house where I lived with my grandparents and my mom and dad and my sister and, uh, then there was a field and there was a Catholic church and a nuns´ convent and a rectory, priest´s rectory, uh, this church, uh, obviously this scale is off here, if you look closely, but this is actually how big it felt emotionally so that´s, it´s correct in that, in that sense, then if you walked up the street past the big car that doesn´t go in reverse, that´s that right there, uh, you came to my, my, one of my aunts´ house where there were, uh, an aunt and several cousins, then you came next to my aunt Jane´s and my uncle Pat´s house, in which I had three, uh, big male cousins, uh, Glen, who is here tonight, so he, he, uh, I wanna tell you guys always scared me when I was little but, uh (chuckles) and, uh, then, uh, there was my great-grandmother´s house, another house up the street from that so we had about, we had four houses on the street and across the street, that was the Irish side of the family and then across the street was, uh, was the Italian side of the family (some cheers) in the lone, yes, it was the lone Italian outpost, ´Fort Zirilli,´ and, uh, for some reason, I don´t remember the, the, these folks coming across the street to these folks or these folks going across the street to those folks ever and uh….it was, it was, I don´t know why, people don´t live like that any more but that was, it was the church in the middle and surrounded by all relatives and I was kind of raised by the Irish side of my family at that time….I was telling the folks last night, they were, uh, strange but, uh, I mean, I mean nice but a little superstitious and, and Glen, I don´t know if you had this experience but aunt Jane, when it´d thunder and lightning we all used to gather in the livingroom, uh, my grandmother would run me up the street and we would all gather, gather, all the old ladies in the livingroom, I was about six years old, and they would pull the shades down assuming that lightning can´t pass through shade-material, of course, and, uh, uh….and then they would tell horror stories, uh, you know, about lightning bolts, you know, jumping out of a closet when you opened it up, uh, uh, or coming in and striking the television set, uh, uh, there was a good one, you know, it struck a tree and went down into the sewer pipes and ran along the sewer system, uh, up through a crack in the concrete and struck Mr.Smith in his ass while he was watching, walking his dog, uh….that was, uh, and then when it really got bad, aunt Jane would bring out a whole bottle of holy water and throw it over, throw it all over all of us to get us through the worst part of the storm….so, uh, at any rate, I thought that was going on all over town and uh….uh, it just has, it´s just completely fucked me up for years, you know….so, uh, uh, however we, we go on, uh, but anyway, I was surrounded, there was this big family and this, the church and my, later on as I began to write, of course my songs were filled with Catholic imagery, which was, uh, uh….filled with a lot of beauty and, and poetry and, and, and darkness and, and, and terror and, so, uh, uh, I was writing a song about parents and children and my mind wandered to wondering what it was like, uh, uh (?) to imagine Jesus just as Mary´s son, once I had my own kids, you realise you´re, you´re tied to their, to their destiny, you know, which is both exhilarating and terrifying and, uh, you´re along for the ride so, uh, this was a song I wrote called ´Jesus Was an Only Son,´ I´ll do this for my, my cousin Glen tonight….
(….) at His mother´s feet….the first thing that strikes you when you have your kids is how you want to….you want to protect them and keep them safe….and the second thing is you realise that you really can´t….
(….) will pierce your dreams this night….now, if you figure that….the choices we make are given their weight by the things that we sacrifice for ´em…..I always figured Jesus had to be thinking about the part of life He was gonna, He was gonna lose….and that it is really beautiful down in Galilee this time of year….and that there was this little bar down there across from the beach that needed a manager….He´d save the preaching for the weekends…. fuck it….could, Mary Magdalene could tend bar, they could have a bunch of kids and….get to see the sun fall on their face and the air fill their lungs….and get to see the next day….and the day after that….and the day after that….and the day after that….´´

Intro to “The New Timer”
´´Thanks, this is a, uh…..this next song, a friend of mine was here last night, a guy named Dale Maharidge and they, uh, along with a fellow named Mike Williamson, they wrote a book called ´Journey to Nowhere´ and uh….(?)….and I´m gonna play this strange instrument ….and uh, I guess I read it in the early 90s and it inspired me to write a couple of songs, one was called ´The New Timer´ and the other one was ´Youngstown,´ they, uh….they chronicled the, uh, collapse of the steel industry and its impact on, on all the folks who work for it in the Monongahela Valley and how it sent them across the country by train and, and, uh, uh….it´s, it´s just a story of, of folks that, that helped build the country and then were marginalised when those mills shut down in the late 80s and, and late 70s, it´s a, uh, these are all things that everybody should know about and not enough people do, it seems these days but….but uh, it´s a part of, uh, on-going part of the secret history of the United States, it doesn´t get a lot of attention, but anyway, this was a song that I was inspired by, by his book, uh, this is called ´The New Timer´….´´

Intro to “Matamoros Banks”
´´Thank you….thanks a lot….I wrote this song (someone yells) oh, fantastico (chuckles) grazie (chuckles) there´s, uh, there are, uh, uh, legitimate Italians here tonight (chuckles) and, uh….I´ll do this for them ´cause they stalk me all around the fucking world (chuckles) God bless ´em (chuckles) this is a, uh….a song I wrote as a sequel to a series of songs that were set in California on the Tom Joad-record and uh….every year there´s hundreds of people that, that die just trying to come across our southern border, uh, it was a particularly hot summer, they die of dehydration in the desert or they die crossing the rivers and, uh, if you eat strawberries or eggplants or lettuce or tomatoes or, uh, these are all things that are too fragile to be harvested by a machine, there´s somebody out there picking those things and when they come into your home and they get to your table, their hands are at your table so, uh….uh, once again, we are in need of a humane immigration policy, I´ve been saying throughout the tour…and uh….this is a song that, uh….that, uh, the story is told backwards and, uh, it starts with the body at the bottom of the river and traces the man´s journey across the desert, this is called ´Matamoros Banks´….´´

Intro to “I Wanna Marry You”
´´There I was….I woke up in the Disneyland hotel….with two hookers, five Mouseketeers and this ukulele in a bed….woo!….I´ll send this one out to Pats….´´

Intro to “Thundercrack”
´´Thanks a lot….I want to, uh, thank everybody for coming out to the show tonight and, uh, you have been a fabulous audience from New Jersey here….yes….wonderful, it´s wonderful not having to curse out your own people, I….I love it when I don´t have to do that so I wanna thank you for being a great audience and for coming out, it´s great to end our tour here in the great state of New Jersey and, uh….this is for all you merry folks, all the folks from overseas also, here we go, alright….´´

Intro to “Born to Run”
´´Once again thanks for coming out, uh….wanna give a shout-out, of course, to the Community Foodbank of New Jersey, they´re here with us tonight….that´s right and, uh, they can especially use your help this time of year, I think you know there´s, there was so much giving during Katrina that the foodbanks are suffering a little bit and they´re, uh, straining to sort of help folks out this Thanksgiving, on your way out, you can see them in the hall, please stop and provide them with some support, this is for my good friend Kathleen there and, uh, the folks at the Community Foodbank of New Jersey, please check them out, they, uh, they need some, they need a hand, also the folks down in Monmouth County….(sings to himself while strumming the guitar) alright, I´m gonna do this tonight for, uh, Donnie and, and Michelle and all the folks at my, uh, longtime home over at Columbia Records and, uh, especially for you guys, a big thanks for taking my music in and making it a part of your lives, I appreciate it a lot, this is for you….´´

Intro to “Dream Baby Dream”
´´Thanks, Jersey!…see you down the road….one more for Jersey….´´

^{Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi.}

DJS.	Bruce was in a very good mood last night - quite loose, his story telling was awesome and he was really funny. What makes him even funnier is how he makes himself crack up. Add this to the song set that included Frankie, Meeting Across the River, Thundercrack and a wicked version of Drive All Night - what an incredible show. Also good to hear BTR during this anniversary release week and the silence during Promised Land was wild. You could litteraly hear a pin drop.
Tom Cantilloon	Well, after an hour of searching for decent tks in the cold, cold, parking lot, finally secured a good pair for $50 in sec 105. Fellow Bruce nut, Kyle, helped in getting the tks after much haggling with people who seemed a bit unreasonable half hour before the show. The show, although not as grand as the previous evening, had some very special moments: Brilliant Disguise with Patty was beautifully done. Atlantic City, Used Cars, Frankie and Meeting Across the River were all performed very well. Two for the Road was a real surprise, and to hear another powerful, heartfelt rendition of Drive all Night was worth the price of admission alone. Record this one Bruce for a future box set — simply amazing everytime!!! Also love the raw, bluesy, harmonica-driven Born in USA—intense. And to cap a great show off, finally, Born to Run! A real surprise and had everyone singing along. Can Jungleland and She's the One be far away? I hope Bruce finishes the tour with playing the rest of Born to Run, or at least, Thunder Road and Backstreets. Solid show… much better than the one in May.
Philly Clete	Night Two at CAA. Bruce still struggling with a cold, but he sure knows how to rise to the occasion. About 5 or six songs into the set Bruce is sitting at the piano and he tells the roadies to remove the electric piano (he did not use it at last night's performance). The roadies seemed surprised, and Bruce says, "I am not going to be using it tonight, so please take it away". Of course, they oblige. Bruce then plays "Frankie" and "Meeting Across The River" back to back at the piano. Fantastic! Patty joins Bruce tonight for "Brilliant Disguise" following by a super "Maria's Bed", and then "Cautious Man". After that, Bruce sits down at the piano area while the roadies carry the electric piano BACK onto the stage. Bruce sheepishly grins and then performs a beautiful "Two for the Road". "Drive All Night" was excellent again, and "Thundercrack" in the encore set was also great. The other major highlight is the acoustic "Born to Run" which Bruce dedicated to all of the fans who have supported him over the years, along with the Columbia records executives. Fabulous! This was a wonderful show with wonderful song choices and wonderful performances.

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