4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)

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Track 2 of The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle, 1973.

Credits

• The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle (1973)
  • Bruce Springsteen: vocals, guitar, recorder
  • Clarence Clemons: saxophone, backing vocals
  • Danny Federici: accordion, backing vocals
  • Suki Lahav: choir vocals
  • Vini Lopez: drums
  • David Sancious: piano
  • Garry Tallent: bass

Performances

Performed live 280 times (not including snippet performances). 1974-09-21 Hunt Union Ballroom, State University Of New York, Oneonta, NY 1974-09-20 Tower Theater, Upper Darby, Philadelphia, PA 1974-09-19 Main Point (The), Bryn Mawr, PA (Early) 1974-08-14 Monmouth Arts Center, Red Bank, NJ (Late) 1974-07-30 Troubadour (The), West Hollywood, CA 1974-07-13 Bottom Line (The), New York City, NY (Late) 1974-06-21 Garage (Le), Spray Beach, NJ (Early) 1974-06-03 Agora (The), Cleveland, OH 1974-05-09 Harvard Square Theatre, Cambridge, MA (Late) 1974-04-26 Alumnae Hall, Brown University, Providence, RI 1974-04-13 Joint In The Woods (The), Parsippany, NJ 1974-04-09 WBCN Studio, Boston, MA 1974-04-09 Charlie's Place, Cambridge, MA (Early) 1974-04-06 Burlington County College, Pemberton, NJ 1974-04-05 MacMorland Center, Widener College, Chester, PA 1974-03-24 Celebrity Theatre, Phoenix, AZ 1974-03-03 Gaston Hall, Georgetown University, Washington, DC (Late) 1974-03-03 Gaston Hall, Georgetown University, Washington, DC (Early) 1973-12-15 Nassau Community College, Garden City, NY 1973-11-11 Kendall Hall, Trenton State College, Ewing, NJ 1973-11-10 Max's Kansas City, New York City, NY (Early) 1973-10-31 Main Point (The), Bryn Mawr, PA (Late) 1973-10-30 Main Point (The), Bryn Mawr, PA (Late) 1973-10-20 Franklin Pierce College, Rindge, NH 1973-07-31 My Father's Place, Roslyn, NY (Late) 1973-07-27 Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, CA 1973-07-23 Max's Kansas City, New York City, NY (Early) 1973-05-31 Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, VA 1973-04-23 Bushnell Memorial Hall, Hartford, CT 1973-04-01 Ledge (The), Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ page 2 of 2« previous12

Performances broken down by tour (not including rehearsals and snippet performances) Performed at 1 show(s) of 126 on the 2023-25 International Tour. Performed at 0 show(s) of 266 on the Springsteen On Broadway run. Performed at 0 show(s) of 14 on the Summer '17 Tour. Performed at 4 show(s) of 75 on the The River Tour 2016. Performed at 2 show(s) of 33 on the High Hopes Tour. Performed at 2 show(s) of 133 on the Wrecking Ball Tour. Performed at 3 show(s) of 83 on the Working On A Dream Tour. Performed at 11 show(s) of 99 on the Magic Tour. Performed at 0 show(s) of 56 on The Seeger Sessions Tour. Performed at 5 show(s) of 72 on the Devils & Dust Tour. Performed at 0 show(s) of 7 on the Vote For Change Tour. Performed at 3 show(s) of 120 on The Rising Tour. Performed at 2 show(s) of 132 on The Reunion Tour. Performed at 4 show(s) of 128 on The Ghost Of Tom Joad Tour. Performed at 3 show(s) of 102 on the World Tour 1992-93. Performed at 0 show(s) of 20 on the Human Rights Now! Tour. Performed at 0 show(s) of 67 on the Tunnel Of Love Express Tour. Performed at 0 show(s) of 156 on the Born In The U.S.A. Tour. Performed at 37 show(s) of 138 on The River Tour. Performed at 30 show(s) of 111 on the Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour. Performed at 26 show(s) of 54 on The Lawsuit Tour. Performed at 79 show(s) of 116 on the Born To Run Tour. Performed at 46 show(s) of 201 on The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle Tour. Performed at 6 show(s) of 166 on the Greetings From Asbury Park Tour. Performed at 15 known other show(s), plus 1 public tour rehearsal(s).

Released on Album

Released on The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle (1973), 4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) (Single, 1975), The Essential (2003), Chapter And Verse (2016), and Best Of (2024).

Live versions are released on Live/1975–85 (1986) (recorded December 31, 1980), Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 (2006) (recorded November 18, 1975), and Magic Tour Highlights (EP, 2008) (recorded March 20, 2008).

Released as Live Download

Live versions are available on the following 25 official live downloads:

• 2024-09-15 Beach, Surf Stage, Asbury Park, NJ
• 2016-09-14 Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA
• 2016-09-09 Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA
• 2016-08-30 MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
• 2016-06-01 Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland
• 2014-02-26 Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
• 2014-02-23 Hope Estate, Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia
• 2012-07-04 Palais Omnisports De Paris-Bercy, Paris, France
• 2009-11-07 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
• 2008-04-22 St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, FL
• 2008-03-20 Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
• 2007-11-19 TD Banknorth Garden, Boston, MA
• 1996-11-26 Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park, NJ
• 1996-11-24 Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park, NJ
• 1980-12-31 Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY
• 1980-12-29 Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY
• 1980-12-28 Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY
• 1978-09-19 Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ
• 1978-08-09 Agora (The), Cleveland, OH
• 1977-02-08 Auditorium Theatre, Rochester, NY
• 1977-02-07 Palace Theatre, Albany, NY
• 1975-12-31 Tower Theater, Upper Darby, Philadelphia, PA
• 1975-12-12 Post Dome, C.W. Post College, Greenvale, NY
• 1975-11-24 Hammersmith Odeon, London, England
• 1975-10-18 Roxy Theatre (The), West Hollywood, CA (Early)

One of these recordings is also available on the playlists The Live Series: Songs Of Love (2019), The Live Series: Songs Of Summer (2020), and The Live Series: Songs Of New Jersey (2023).

On The Tracks

4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) - V1	5:47	US5 / BIS / ROOI / SA914 / ET / ETRJ
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) - V2	5:35	PS / EY / ROOI / SA914
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) - V3	5:31	WIESS / ESSENTIAL / CHAPTER / BESTOF / 1975 single

Note: The only dates recorded in Sony's logs are on August 9 and September 23, 1973 at 914 Sound Studios. V1 is the instrumental backing track, and V2 is the original vocal take, with the final verse beginning "Now, Sandy, them northern angels lost their desire for us…". V1 or V2, or possibly both, may have been recorded at the August 9 session. V3, the album version, uses the original backing track, but with overdubs and mixing probably from September 23, including Bruce adding a new final verse, reimagining the northern angels as a singular waitress. Written in early 1973 at Diane Lozito's (Bruce's girlfriend at time) Bradley Beach house, it was, according to Springsteen, "a good-bye to my adopted hometown and the life I'd lived there before I recorded. Sandy was a composite of some of the girls I'd known along the Shore. I used the boardwalk and the closing down of the town as a metaphor for the end of a summer romance and the changes I was experiencing in my own life." Diane says she was Sandy, along with the "Thundercrack" girl and Rosalita, too. The earliest live performances see Bruce using the original "angels" verse, but he switched to the "waitress" lyrics by late October, 1973 before reverting back to "angels" around April 1974. He continued to use "angels" until 2005, when he returned to "waitress". He interchanged between the two in 2008, but since then "waitress" is ever present.

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^{Studio Sessions: The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle}

Lyrics

4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)

Sandy, the fireworks are hailing over Little Eden tonight
Forcing a light into all those stony faces left stranded on this warm July
Down in the town, the Circuit's full of switchblade lovers, so fast, so shiny, so sharp
As the wizards play down on Pinball Way on the boardwalk way past dark
And the boys from the casino dance with their shirts open like Latin lovers on the shore
Chasing all them silly New York virgins by the score

And Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us
This pier lights our carnival life forever
Oh, love me tonight, for I may never see you again
Hey, Sandy girl
My, my, baby

Now, the greasers, ah, they tramp the streets or get busted for sleeping on the beach all night
Them boys in their high heels, ah, Sandy, their skins are so white
And me, I just got tired of hanging in them dusty arcades, banging them pleasure machines
Chasing the factory girls underneath the boardwalk where they all promise to unsnap their jeans
And you know that tilt-a-whirl down on the south beach drag
I got on it last night and my shirt got caught
And they kept me spinning, babe, didn't think I'd ever get off

Oh, Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us
This pier lights our carnival life on the water
Running, laughing 'neath the boardwalk, ah, with the boss's daughter
I remember, Sandy, girl
Na, na, na, na, na, baby

Sandy, that waitress I was seeing lost her desire for me
I spoke with her last night, she said she won't set herself on fire for me anymore
She worked that joint under the boardwalk, she was always the girl you saw bopping down the beach with the radio
The kids say last night she was dressed like a star in one of them cheap little seaside bars, and I saw her parked with lover boy out on the Kokomo
Did you hear the cops finally busted Madame Marie for telling fortunes better than they do
For me this boardwalk life is through, babe
You ought to quit this scene too

Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us
This pier lights our carnival life forever
Oh, love me tonight and I promise I'll love you forever
Oh, I mean it, Sandy, girl
My, my, my, my, my baby
Yeah, I promise, Sandy, girl
Sha, la, la, la, la, baby

Visit SpringsteenLyrics.com for other versions of this song.

Media

Gallery

^{Graph accurate to the end of the Wrecking Ball Tour, December 2012.}

Links

• MusicBrainz

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