28.08.81 Los Angeles, CA, intro to “Independence Day”
“Thanks…this is for…this is for my dad…(intro music starts)…I remember when I was living at home…I always…used to get…used to get so angry at my folks because it seemed…seemed like the things that I thought were important, sometimes they didn’t think were so important…and I was so desperate about…growing up…I was so sure I was right about everything…and I was so hungry for them to listen to me, listen to the things that I had to say…that I never thought about, much about what, what they wanted for themselves and what they hoped for, for their own lives…you know and…they were both hard working people and…I remember…like, my dad used to sit in the kitchen by himself and he sat there every night for, I guess, almost 18 years…and I never, I never once asked him what he was thinking about or what was on his mind…I always felt like he was cutting me short and I guess in a lot of ways, I was, I was cutting him, him short back then…’cause I thought that he, that he didn’t…I thought that he didn’t dream no more…and I was real wrong about him when I was growing up… and…but…usually if you think, if you think your folks…are all wrong…they’re probably…they’re probably only half wrong (crowd cheers)…”
28.08.81 Los Angeles, CA, intro to “Deportees”
“Thanks…there’s a book out now by a guy named Joe Klein and it’s called Woody Guthrie – A Life (crowd cheers) and, uh…it’s just a, it’s just a real good book and it tells you about, about him, who was about the best, best songwriter that we ever had (crowd cheers) and a lot about the country that you live in…this is a, this is a Woody Guthrie song (crowd cheers)…”
28.08.81 Los Angeles, CA, intro to “The Promised Land”
“This is for the Vietnam veterans that are here with us tonight (crowd cheers)…”
28.08.81 Los Angeles, CA, intro to “This Land Is Your Land”
“This, uh…this next song, this is a song about…I guess, taking responsibility…not just for yourself and the things that you do…or the people that are around you…uh…I remember when I was in school…I, I always, I look back, you know…and I feel I missed out on a lot of things that, that were important for me to know, I don’t know if it was they just didn’t know how to, how to get it through to me or teach it to me so that it got me in the heart or something instead of a bunch of facts in your head or I don’t know what it was but I went back and I read, I read this history book The History of the United States (crowd cheers) and…if you been in the school for a while or if you’re still in school I don’t know how much, how much of it you remember, I know I didn’t remember, I didn’t remember much at all and I grew up…and I grew up not knowing not knowing a lot about it or, or understanding it at all and I always, I never had any explanation for the things that were, that were happening around me, you know, how come…that my dad worked in the factory and how come his dad did and…how come it’s hard to get out of that…and if you haven’t read it, it’s, it’s, I think it’s an important thing for everybody, everybody to, everybody to know because I, I read it, there’s a lot of things in it…I said last night that there’s a lot of things in it that, that you’re proud of and then there’s a lot of things in it that, that you’re ashamed of and that burden…that burden of shame, that burden of shame falls down, falls down on everybody…so…no matter what you thought or where you are, who you are…you gotta know who’s messing with your life and how’s it at (crowd cheers)…”
28.08.81 Los Angeles, CA, after “Thunder Road”
“We’re gonna take a little break and then we’re gonna be back for another round so (?)(crowd cheers)…”
28.08.81 Los Angeles, CA, intro to “Backstreets”
“Here’s a…song about…uh…the kind of friends that…there’s been guys, guys that have worked with me in the band that for one reason or another went their, went their own ways, who I don’t see as much as I used to…and…but it’s like, when I see ‘em, it’s like they never went away…it’s like they’re always there some place inside me…and…there’s this Fats Domino song called “Blueberry Hill” where in the last verse he sings, he sings, this is one of my favorite lines, when he says “Though, though we’re apart, you’re a part of me still”…and so…”
28.08.81 Los Angeles, CA, middle of “Rosalita”
“Ladies and gentlemen…right now we’re coming up on…the most important part of the show (crowd cheers) I’m talking about the band introductions (crowd cheers) I’d like to begin…with a gentleman…at the far left of the stage…a man…who has in the past…not only does he have his high school diploma (crowd cheers) making him the most educated member of the band…but he has been a source of inspiration to me…like, like I can’t tell you…and of course…all you folks by now know…about my famous poem that I wrote for him here (crowd cheers) I hear they’re gonna, I hear they might print this in the paper one of these days so…I’m now gonna give you a little preview…you ain’t heard it before…R is for Roy ‘cause that’s his name (crowd cheers) O is for piano ‘cause that’s his game…Y (crowd: “Because he likes it”) that’s right, Professor Roy Bittan on the piano there (crowd cheers) and then we got a gentleman here who brought you many great hits like “I don’t wanna go home”…“Sweeter than honey”…“This time it’s for real”…“Some things just don’t change”…“Daddy’s come home”… “Trapped again”…and “I played the fool”, I’m talking about the one, the only Miami Steve Van Zandt (crowd cheers) back here on the bass guitar we got a gentleman all the way from Neptune, New Jersey…handsome…who’s from Neptune tonight? (some cheers) alright, take the bus out here? no, took the plane, I’m talking about the one, the only Mr. Garry W.Tallent (crowd cheers) he’s a little shy…next, back on the drums, we got…the Mighty One, the King of the Big Beat, the man with the moving feet, I’m talking about… from South Orange, New Jersey, Mighty Max Weinberg (crowd cheers) oh yeah, yeah…now we got a gentleman over here on the organ all the way from Flemington, New Jersey, two-time winner of the Ted Mack Amateur Hour (?) flew him all the way to Sweden to play accordion on the radio, that’s a true story…I’m talking about the one, the only, the only redheaded member of the band… Phantom Dan Federici on the organ (crowd cheers) and now last but not least…a guy, around the neighbourhood we like to refer to him as the greatest living human being (crowd cheers) now…I think, I think tonight…being that it’s our last night here in Los Angeles (crowd cheers) bring it down a little, boys…I may never get a chance to do this again so I’m gonna recite for you in complete verse my poem for Clarence (crowd cheers) C is for cool …which only a foolish man would dispute…L is for lean and mean and (?) baby (crowd cheers) A is for the ace of the saxophone…R is for he’s a regular guy even though he’s world renown…E is for his everlasting love which I hold so dear…N is for nasty, mess with him and your face he will smear…C is for that C-note he’s owed me since last year…and E is for everything else I forgot…I’m talking about, you put that all together and what’s it spell? (crowd: “Clarence”) what’s it spell? (crowd: “Clarence”) what’s that spell? (crowd: “Clarence”) Spotlight on the Big Man!…”
28.08.81 Los Angeles, CA, intro to “Jungleland”
“Thanks…oh…I wanna…take a second and thank all you guys for coming to these shows we did here in Los Angeles (crowd cheers) this is, this is the very end of our tour and we have about seven more shows left in all and I just wanna say I’m glad we got a chance to come and back see you again so (crowd cheers) thank you (crowd cheers) I know a lot of you guys have been here more than one night and stuff and waited a long time for your tickets so I just wanna let you know that we, we appreciate it, thank you (crowd cheers)…”
28.08.81 Los Angeles, CA, middle of “Detroit Medley”
“I hear a train (crowd: “Woo-woo”) I hear a train (crowd: “Woo-woo”) I hear a train (crowd: “Woo-woo”) I hear a train (crowd: “Woo-woo”) all aboard…(…) New York City…all aboard…Philadelphia…all aboard…Asbury Park, New Jersey…baby, all aboard…Washington D.C…Houston City…Denver, Colorado…said it’s all aboard…Los Angeles, California…Los Angeles, California…Los Angeles, California…Los Angeles, California…”
Compiled by Johanna Pirttijärvi