2005-04-22 Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park, NJ

Scheduled: 14:00 Local Start Time ??:?? / End Time ??:??

Info & Setlist | Venue

The return of the much-loved piano "Real World", last performed this way at the Christic Benefit shows in 1990. "Reno" makes its world premiere. Piano songs are "For You", "Real World", "Racing In The Street", and "Jesus Was An Only Son". "Reason To Believe" is played as a boot-stomping, delta-blues number, with Bruce using a distorted bullet-microphone. This bullet mic will be a regular on the tour.

Rehearsal Show

Bruce Springsteen

Intro to “Reason to Believe”
“(?) cellphones – I don’t wanna hear no cellphones…if I have to hear any idiotic rings, I will turn into an axe-murderer so, uh, please make sure they’re off, don’t clap along, my rhythm sense by myself is very tenuous so…(crowd cheers)…”

Intro to “Long Time Comin’”
“Thank you, this is, uh…gonna do quite a few new songs tonight as we roll along (crowd cheers) this is, uh…this is something actually I played on the “Tom Joad”-tour and it finally found a nice home on, uh, on this new record so, uh…uh…a song about, I guess, the second chance that kids give, you know, they, I remember when my first kid, you know, it was like “Baby Jesus has arrived” (laughs from the crowd) “Everybody stop, stop shopping” (laughs from the crowd) “I don’t want no more damn shopping going on for the rest of the day – the baby Jesus has arrived” (laughs from the crowd) and uh (chuckles) I went outside, everything looked different, you know, it was like…you know, the whole, the whole thing and, uh, everything was different but…about fourteen years later the baby Jesus thinks you’re an idiot (laughs from the crowd)(crowd cheers) you have a short period of time where they think you’re perfect – that lasts a little bit – but, uh, now I’m more, I’m more like, I’m a buffoon-like figure to my children (laughs from the crowd) “Oh that Dad, that Dad and his silly songs, he’s a silly man” (laughs from the crowd) and uh, I suppose that’s the way it’s supposed to go (?) it’s hilarious, people go “Oh, your kids, your kids must think you’re so cool” (laughs from the crowd) but they don’t (laughs from the crowd)(crowd applauds) so, uh, rest easy, rest easy, parents out there, there is no protection from that (laughs from the crowd) from that sort of thing…uh, well, this is kind of a song about trying not to make some of the mistakes that your parents made with you and you always think like “Yeah, I’m gonna get it right this time” (laughs from the crowd) and a lot of things you do get right, you do get right and, uh, and, of course, some things slip through and uh… it sort of bad enough when I see my kids acting like the worst of me on occasion but when you see them acting like the worst of your parents, you go “Whoop, that one got by” (chuckles) (laughs from the crowd) “That one got by, let’s sit down” (laughs from the crowd) uh, so, uh this is a song about re-birth and renewal and it’s one of the many songs that I set out in the West on this record and it’s just a great thing that kids, you know, that they can bring to you, they bring you, the world opens up and alright, let’s make it again, we got a chance to make it all over again…so, uh, here’s to you, uh…long-suffering parents and your children (crowd applauds) …”

Intro to “Silver Palomino”
“This is a song, uh…I was reading these books, “Misty,” “Misty,” I don’t know if anybody’s aware of the “Misty”-series of pony books (chuckles) (some cheers) but, uh, but they’re quite, quite entertaining, they’re quite good (laughs from the crowd) I’ve read many of them and so…you know, when I was a kid, of course you always wanted the pony, you know, that was the big thing, you know, there was a guy that came around the neighborhood with a pony and a lee-line and a cowboy suit and he’d take you in the backyard and he had a camera and you could get on the pony and get your picture taken in a cowboy suit on the pony, I remember one summer me and my sister having the two book-ended pictures, we had the same suit on so it was a little big on her but fit me perfectly (chuckles) and uh, uh…horses are funny animals, they have big spirits and they seem to, to get something from working in concert with…with the likes of us and, uh, I’ve seen horses that really take care of people, really, I’ve, I’ve had some that take you, they teach you how to ride, they, they just really take care of you… and uh…this was a song that I wrote a while back, we had a neighbor who passed away at a very young age, a lovely lady, and she left two sons behind and I wanted to write something for them in honor of their mom and uh…I set this song in Texas and, uh, basically it’s about a boy who loses his mom and…in the evening a Palomino comes out of the mountains and he’s imbued this horse with her spirit and uh…this is called “Silver Palomino”…”

Intro to “For You”
“I didn’t write many love songs when I…when I first started, uh… for a couple of reasons, I guess…I felt like it kind of been done, there was, uh, there was a lot of bad ones and I didn’t have any idea about how to improve on the form at the moment and also my dad kind of spoiled the whole thing and I remember one time we were sitting in the kitchen and, uh, my mother always had the radio on and, uh, she might have mentioned about a particular song she liked and he told me that the love songs were a government conspiracy (laughs from the crowd) all love songs were a government conspiracy to get you married and force you to pay taxes (laughs from the crowd) and, uh…it was one of his finest quotes, I remember that to this day, you know (crowd applauds) I don’t agree but it was memorable and it stuck with me (laughs from the crowd) for about forty years (laughs from the crowd) (chuckles) woh! but anyway, this was an early song, a love song that I wrote and I think it still, it still remains one of my best, I guess…”

Intro to “Real World”
“Thanks…this is a song I’ve, I’ve hardly ever done, I’m gonna do it tonight for, uh (crowd cheers)(?)…was a, uh, a guy yelled out for this one last night so I’m gonna give it a shot (crowd cheers)…”

Intro to “Part Man, Part Monkey”
“It’s getting a little spooky out there (laughs from the crowd)…I don’t mean in here, I mean out there (laughs from the crowd) (crowd applauds)…evolution…President says jury’s still out on that (laughs from the crowd) that’s right…evolution in the White House …they’re not sure about it (crowd applauds) it’s in doubt…it’s very, very iffy (laughs from the crowd)…you can’t count on it…they’re not counting on it at the White House…screw Miss Lucy and all those old bones…that’s what they say…at the White House…if six days ain’t enough time for you – fuck you, Elvis (laughs from the crowd) that’s your problem…
(…) Bubbles, where are you when we need you? (laughs from the crowd)…”

Intro to “Maria’s Bed”
“Alright, yes it is, yes it is, this is a song called “Maria’s Bed” (crowd applauds) and uh…this is a happy love song (?)…my love songs usually (?) where there’s pain first (chuckles) but you know, you can, you can get by it – you can’t get around it but you can get …through it, I guess (chuckles) there was a band on the record on this one, it gets quite exciting, if I do say so myself, (laughs from the crowd) so I’ll do my best…”

Intro to “Reno”
“Thank you, uh…(?) take a drink…here’s a song, uh…on the back of the record I guess it says…”A song contains adult imagery on this one” (laughs from the crowd) so if you have kids, you know…you may wanna take a listen to it first (chuckles)…but it’s a song about a fellow who ends up in Reno where, uh…back in the late ‘70s I flew to Salt Lake City, rented a car and drove from Salt Lake City to Arizona, stopping in the biggest little city in the world, Reno, which does not make this song autobiographical (chuckles)(laughs from the crowd) but uh…it’s a love song, it’s a love song (laughs from the crowd) it’s kind of about not being able to, uh, (laughs from the crowd continue) there are many kinds of love (laughs from the crowd) but it’s actually, it’s about not being able to handle the real thing…so, uh, the middle of the song is set in Mexico where he worked alongside the woman he loved and the beginning and the end of the song were set in Reno where he’s gone out and found a, uh…a proxy (laughs from the crowd)…”

Intro to “Racing in the Street”
“Thank you (crowd cheers) when I wrote this song, I had two different endings…I’m gonna dedicate this to you tonight, Obie (crowd applauds) my oldest fan is here tonight and I love her very much…this is, this Obie Dziebic – a round of applause, the woman’s been around since (crowd cheers) there were two people that actually helped me with the writing in the end of this song and Obie was one of them, I had the whole song and I had…two verses, it’s funny ‘cause last night I was watching “Two-Lane Blacktop” – I don’t know if you’ve ever seen “Two-Lane Blacktop,” Monte Hellman directed James Taylor and Dennis Wilson, it is a, it’s actually a masterpiece and, uh, uh, James Taylor’s only acting and Dennis Wilson’s only acting and it’s, it’s kind of, it’s bit of an obscure film but it’s a fabulous picture if you can get into its world, you know, which is quite strange (laughs from the crowd) but uh, I was watching it last night and the funny thing was wow, it’s, what happened in this song actually happened in the film also, it’s sort of, uh, a thing where I had, the two endings I had, I had the two endings where there’s the two guys but I had another ending where a woman enters the picture and I played ‘em both for Obie and Obie said “I like the one with the girl,” you know (laughs from the crowd) I said “Ok, that’s, that’s, that’s” – then I played one for Steve and Steve says “Well…the one with the girl is what really happens, you know, it’s like, you know, you got your pals and got the boys’ club and it lasts for a while and you try to play down all the homoerotic stuff, you know” (laughs from the crowd)(chuckles) “And then when a woman comes along and, and life changes, life changes and, uh, sort of thank God” but this is, I’m gonna do this tonight for Obie, love you and, uh, thanks for the help (crowd cheers)…”

Intro to “Jesus Was an Only Son”
“I wrote a lot of songs on, uh, on this record about mothers and sons and uh, there’s this song, it’s called “Jesus Was an Only Son,” there’s a song called “Black Cowboys,” a song called “The Hitter,” which I’ll play in a little while, and, uh, uh, “Silver Palomino” – all sort of have to deal with mothers…or children losing their moms, being separated…this was a song, I sort of started to write from the point of view of Jesus as, as a son, as Mary’s boy, and, uh…uh… trying to, I guess I was trying to think of the human side of that particular story…and sort of not what He’s…you know, what He’s, all the meanings He’s turned into for so many people…if I worry about being misunderstood for “Born in the U.S.A,” I always think about Him (chuckles)(laughs from the crowd) so (chuckles) but uh…uh… here we go…
(…) As He lay reading the Psalms of David at His mother’s feet… when you’re a parent, you’re always, uh…the first thing that strikes you is you wanna protect your children from all harm…that is probably, it’s a shocking and frightening moment as you know you can’t – they have their own destiny…and we all gotta walk through this world, to some degree, alone from time to time…
(…) That no shadow, no darkness, no tolling bell will pierce your dreams this night…when I think of His story, I gotta figure that last night He had to be thinking…Galilee, that’s, it’s pretty nice down there…I feel good down there, I like the weather, there’s that little bar (laughs from the crowd) I could manage the place (laughs from the crowd) Mary Magdalene could tend bar (laughs from the crowd) we could have some kids…I could handle the preaching on the weekends (laughs from the crowd) wouldn’t have to give it up…had to be thinking that…you would miss your physical life…the way the air smells and the breath in your lungs…”

Intro to “Leah”
“Thank you, this is a, uh…this is a song, I guess we’re all pulled…in our relationships to build and we are driven to destroy…it comes with the package (chuckles)(laughs from the crowd) uh, I suppose that was…but, uh, this is a song about just getting to that place where you’re just being able to figure that out…and come down on the…on the right side of that equation…this is called “Leah”…”

Intro to “The Hitter”
“Thanks…this next, uh…this next song is a song, I like to write about…songs about people whose souls are at risk…for some reason it momentarily puts my own soul at ease (laughs from the crowd) (chuckles) I’m not sure why that is (chuckles)(laughs from the crowd) but, uh, I write about that an awful lot, you know, and…I suppose it goes back to the whole Catholic school thing, I’ve kind of given up on trying to, like, rid myself of that (laughs from the crowd) I realized a little while back: “That’s just not gonna happen” (chuckles)(laughs from the crowd) you know, they got me, they got me till it’s over (chuckles)(laughs from the crowd and applause) (chuckles) but, uh, I’m not like a big churchgoer or anything but I do go back to the convent where the nuns feed me beer (laughs from the crowd) and uh, I find that to be a fabulous twist of events (laughs from the crowd) you know, it’s like, uh, there’s actually some great old gals over there and they have no hesitation to load me up on beer if you come over and visit (laughs from the crowd) I’m not sure that’s for everybody but uh (chuckles)(laughs from the crowd) but uh, they’re all right so, uh, this is a song, this is a song about, uh…a young boy who gets into some trouble, leaves home, has to leave home, travels down south to New Orleans, becomes a fighter and becomes quite a champion…uh…and then at the end of his life comes back and goes to his mother’s house and, uh…the whole song is a conversation that he has with his mother through a chained door so uh…this is called “The Hitter”…”

Intro to “Matamoros Banks”
“Thank you…(?)…this is a song, on the “Tom Joad”-tour I used to end the night with a song called “Across the Border” and this song - - thank you…(crowd cheers) I’m parched – Kevin Buell, ladies and gentlemen (crowd cheers) mystery tambourine player (laughs from the crowd) uh…so this song sort of served as a sequel to “Across the Border” and uh…it’s about a man who makes the same journey, you know, is fuelled by the same hopes, love for his partner, his family, his children, and he comes across the border looking for something a little better…to be able to send some money home…it’s going on around us right here, every, every single day and uh…but there’s a lot of people that don’t make the trip, they drown in the rivers and they die in the deserts and they freeze in the mountains and that happens…year-round, we are in…in deep need of a humane immigration policy right now (crowd applauds) I wrote this song, uh…I wrote this song backwards, I started in the first verse with the body at the bottom of the river…and the man is speaking from…from the afterworld and he tells you his story…from his floating body to his trip across the desert to the moment he stands at the banks about to jump in, this is called “Matamoros Banks”…”

Intro to “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day”
“Thank you so much (crowd cheers) thank you (crowd cheers)(?) you have been a wonderful audience, we had a fabulous audience last night and you guys were just great (crowd cheers) a show like this really, uh, it’s pretty, uh, it, it, it, it asks for a lot and, uh, uh, you know, you really have to work in concert with the audience so I wanna thank you for doing that with me and uh (crowd cheers) as I said to the crowd last night, may I be blessed with audiences as good from here on out (crowd cheers) we’re here this afternoon – that’s right, it is light outside (chuckles) and we’re supporting a variety of charities here in Asbury Park, we’re fighting the good fight in our community, uh, if you look for people to help out, think of the Inter-Faith Neighbors, the Hope Academy, Charter School, the Salvation Army and of course Family and Children Services, the Mission of the Sisters Academy, the Boys and Girls’ Club of Monmouth County, Epiphany House, the Center, (?) Hispanic Affairs and Resource Center and our friends at Save Tilly, of course, so uh (crowd cheers) I think they saved Tilly – the building went (chuckles) I think Tilly got saved (laughs) but uh…I send my best out to all those folks who are out there in the community on the frontlines doing a good work…and my best to you (crowd cheers) I’m gonna kill you…I want you to wait until I kill you, it’s gonna be great, I’m telling you…it’s raining but there ain’t a cloudy in the sky (crowd cheers)…”

After “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day”
“Thank you…ooh, the self-control, ooh incredible (laughs from the crowd)…”

Intro to “The Promised Land”
“Thank you…I want to, uh…just give a good thanks to everybody else who’s helped to put on this show tonight, we’re gonna, we’re heading out on the road and, uh, you just sent us off really well, I wanna thanks to Fitz, who’s working on the keyboards and phantom, phantom ambiance and uh (laughs from the crowd) uh, this is, uh…(?)…”

^{Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi.}

Bill	Show opened with a reworked version of Reason to Believe, sung into his harmonica mic., giving it a delta blues distortion.
Tom Cantillon	Wow! WHAT A SHOW! Impressed and surprised and satisfied! Bruce's piano renditions of For You, Real World and Racing were outstanding and will hopefully be released on a cd. The Devils and Dust material works well live. There are the usual Springsteen signatures such as: Heartbreak, the pursuit of dreams, relationships, personal triumphs and loss. Jesus was an Only Son is a beautiful piece of work. Maria' Bed and Long Time work well live. I really love the piano work. Real World, For You and Racing, as already mentioned, were personally my favorites of the evening. And the acoustic Promised Land, it resonnates with a quiet determination on a more personal level. Another stellar show by Bruce. Thanks.
Noel	Bruce kept up a lot of his storytellers banter, introducing most of the songs — giving further incite into the songs and the man. Reason to Believe was hardly recognizable on a first listen, reminded me of some Muddy Waters recordings. Audience was very attentive and quite fulfilled.

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