Track 5 of Darkness On The Edge Of Town, 1978. See also: "Racing In The Street ('78)".
- Credits
- Performances
- Released on Album
- Released as Live Download
- On The Tracks
- Lyrics
- Media
- Gallery
- Links
- Darkness On The Edge Of Town (1978)
- Bruce Springsteen: vocals, guitar
- Roy Bittan: piano, backing vocals
- Clarence Clemons: percussion, backing vocals
- Danny Federici: organ, glockenspiel
- Garry Tallent: bass
- Steven Van Zandt: guitar, backing vocals
- Max Weinberg: drums
Released on Darkness On The Edge Of Town (1978).
A live version is released on Live/1975–85 (1986) (recorded July 6, 1981).
Live versions are available on the following 50 official live downloads:
- 2024-11-13 Canada Life Centre, Winnipeg, MB
- 2024-10-31 Bell Centre, Montreal, QC
- 2024-09-15 Beach, Surf Stage, Asbury Park, NJ
- 2024-09-13 Oriole Park At Camden Yards, Baltimore, MD
- 2024-09-07 Nationals Park, Washington, DC
- 2024-08-21 Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA
- 2024-08-15 PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, PA
- 2024-07-25 Wembley Stadium, London, England
- 2024-07-18 Strawberry Arena, Solna, Sweden
- 2024-06-22 Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, Barcelona, Spain
- 2024-06-14 Cívitas Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain
- 2024-05-22 Stadium Of Light, Sunderland, England
- 2024-05-12 Nowlan Park, Kilkenny, Ireland
- 2024-04-21 Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH
- 2024-04-15 MVP Arena, Albany, NY
- 2024-03-28 Chase Center, San Francisco, CA
- 2024-03-22 T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV
- 2023-06-26 Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden
- 2017-01-30 Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
- 2016-09-09 Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA
- 2016-08-28 United Center, Chicago, IL
- 2016-07-26 Granåsen Arena, Trondheim, Norway
- 2016-07-05 Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan, Italy
- 2016-06-27 Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden
- 2016-06-14 Malieveld, The Hague, The Netherlands
- 2014-04-19 Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte, NC
- 2014-02-19 AllPhones Arena, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- 2012-07-05 Palais Omnisports De Paris-Bercy, Paris, France
- 2009-10-14 Wachovia Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA
- 2008-04-22 St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, FL
- 2005-08-03 Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, MI
- 2000-05-22 Arrowhead Pond Of Anaheim, Anaheim, CA
- 1996-11-26 Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park, NJ
- 1996-11-24 Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park, NJ
- 1996-11-08 St. Rose Of Lima School, Gymnasium, Freehold, NJ
- 1984-08-19 Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ
- 1984-08-06 Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ
- 1981-07-09 Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ
- 1981-06-04 Wembley Arena, London, England
- 1980-12-31 Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY
- 1980-11-05 ASU Activity Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
- 1978-12-16 Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, CA
- 1978-12-15 Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, CA
- 1978-12-08 Summit (The), Houston, TX
- 1978-09-30 Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA
- 1978-09-21 Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ
- 1978-09-19 Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ
- 1978-08-09 Agora (The), Cleveland, OH
- 1978-07-07 Roxy Theatre (The), West Hollywood, CA
- 1978-07-01 Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley, CA
One of these recordings is also available on the playlists The Live Series Collection: Songs Of The Road (2018), The Live Series: Songs Of Summer (2020), and The Darkness Tour '78 (2023).
RACING IN THE STREET - V1 | 5:48 | DO-3 / LM-3 / UP / AM |
RACING IN THE STREET - V2a | 6:42 | LM-3 / UP |
RACING IN THE STREET - V2b | 6:44 | ODM / HOD / UP / AM |
RACING IN THE STREET - V2c | 6:51 | DARKNESS / PROMISE: DELUXE |
RACING IN THE STREET ('78) - V3a | 6:22 | LM-2 / DDO / DO-2 / DDOC / O711S |
RACING IN THE STREET ('78) - V3b | 6:47 | PROMISE |
Note: Composition of "Racing In The Street" possibly began as early as 1976, with working titles including "'32 Ford" (found in a document titled "New Songs" that was reproduced in The Promise facsimile book) and "Dying In The Street", according to author Clinton Heylin. The latter phrase appears twice in the earliest known circulating recording (V1), a slow solo piano arrangement from July 2, 1977 at Atlantic Studios, verified in Sony's studio logs. This take uses an incomplete version of the alternate "Got a '32 Ford, she's a 318…" lyrics, and is also missing verse three, perhaps not yet written, alongside the Darkness On The Edge Of Town album melody. Note that the Lost Masters source fades out early, and the alternative source found on Scorpio's Darkness Outtakes Vol. 3 is of lower quality. At least two takes (one with no guitars) were recorded on July 29, and dubbed to a single reel. Efforts resumed on August 1, with four consecutive days working on the song. Which arrangements were worked in this period is unclear. V2a was likely from one of these sessions, as indicated in the 'Lost Masters III' liner notes, and this take would eventually be utilized for Darkness On The Edge Of Town (V2c), with a vocal overdub in the second verse. Heylin recounts its "transfer to a 'comp.' reel at August's end," which, according to studio logs, was August 30, 1977.
V3, sometimes known as the 'rock' or 'alternative' version of "Racing In The Street", with wailing harmonica and tremendous vocal, was recorded on August 10, 1977 at Atlantic Studios. Bruce has also referred to this as "the rock version." This arrangement still features the '32 Ford, and perhaps originated before Springsteen refined the lyrics and settled on the Darkness album arrangement by month's end. There was more work undertaken on August 12. The officially released V3b, titled "Racing In The Street ('78)" on The Promise, uses the same 1977 vocal take from V3a, apart from a small overdub, replacing a slurred line in the third verse (that ends "…just to make it alright") with a modern vocal. David Lindley plays violin; there is a reference in Sony's documentation to January 2, 1978 for "Racing In The Street" and "The Factory Song" and is possibly the day Lindley recorded his violin tracks for both songs, but that is not yet confirmed.
There is little doubt that more work was done on this song than any other during the sessions, except perhaps "The Promise". From the evidence we have, it appears that Springsteen was working on both arrangements simultaneously, and therefore it would perhaps be inaccurate to claim that either arrangement preceded the other. Assistant engineer Thom Panunzio kept a detailed record of the tape reels, the various mixes and takes, with alternate lyrics, with or without the band, or certain instruments. Eight days were spent during August, until completed masters were transferred to a reel on August 30. Springsteen returned to "Racing In The Street" several months later; on November 28, 29, 30 and December 6 and 9, 1977. As of December 9, two more completed masters were transferred to a stereo rough mix reel; one is a mix of take 16 of reel 5 that was recorded on November 29, 1977, the other is a mix of take 12 of reel 5 recorded the following day, November 30. It is unknown which arrangements are on this reel. Mixing and overdub sessions were held, with Chuck Plotkin, on March 21–23, 1978, and mix take 46 went on Darkness On The Edge Of Town. Bruce adapted the lines "summer's here and the time is right / for goin' racing in the street" from Martha and the Vandellas' 1964 hit "Dancing In The Street", as well as The Rolling Stones' "Street Fighting Man". He has also acknowledged the Beach Boys' 1964 "Don't Worry Baby", and it has been said the instrumental break is a tribute to that song.
Studio Sessions: Darkness On the Edge of Town
Racing In The Street |
I got a sixty-nine Chevy with a 396, Fuelie heads and a Hurst on the floor
She's waiting tonight down in the parking lot outside the Seven-Eleven store
Me and my partner Sonny built her straight out of scratch and he rides with me from town to town
We only run for the money, got no strings attached, we shut 'em up and then we shut 'em down
Tonight, tonight the strip's just right, I wanna blow 'em off in my first heat
Summer's here and the time is right for racing in the street
We take all the action we can meet and we cover all the northeast state
When the strip shuts down we run 'em in the street from the fire roads to the interstate
Now some guys they just give up living and start dying little by little, piece by piece
Some guys come home from work and wash up and go racing in the street
Tonight, tonight the strip's just right, I wanna blow 'em all out of their seats
We're calling out around the world, we're going racing in the street
I met her on the strip three years ago in a Camaro with this dude from L.A.
I blew that Camaro off my back and drove that little girl away
But now there's wrinkles 'round my baby's eyes and she cries herself to sleep at night
When I come home the house is dark, she sighs "Baby did you make it all right"
She sits on the porch of her daddy's house but all her pretty dreams are torn
She stares off alone into the night with the eyes of one who hates for just being born
For all the shut down strangers and hot rod angels rumbling through this promised land
Tonight my baby and me we're gonna ride to the sea and wash these sins off our hands
Tonight, tonight the highway's bright, out of our way mister you best keep
'Cause summer's here and the time is right for racing in the street
Visit SpringsteenLyrics.com for other versions of this song. |
Disclaimer | © 1996 - 2024 | Brucebase