03.07.85 London, England, intro to ´Seeds´
´´Here´s a song….we were traveling down through Texas….(?) a lot of people came down from up north….looking for work in the oil fields and the refineries….then when the price of oil went bad….they were shutting down the refineries, people coming down looking for a job and they just….telling ´em to move on…they ended up sleeping in tents pitched out on the highway or in their cars….this is called ´Seeds´…”
03.07.85 London, England, intro to ´Atlantic City´
´´This is a song about….the gang wars of Southern New Jersey….and the gamblers….”
03.07.85 London, England, intro to ´The River´
´´So, how you been since we seen you last ? (cheers)….oh, this, uh….my old man was always one of those guys that was mad all the time, you know….I could never quite figure out what it was about….he´d always be sitting around thinking of ways to catch you….I remember he used to….he used to sit in the kitchen every night but he´d lock up the frontdoor…so that me and my sister used to have to come in ´round the kitchen and he´d know when you came in ….and like I´d come in….kind of late, I remember I´d stand in the driveway…and like I had a long hair and I used to have to tuck it down in my collar so he couldn´t see it and stuff (chuckles)….´cause he hated it (chuckles)….he didn´t like it, no….I´d tuck it in and then I´d (?)….and he´d always let me get through the kitchen….and he´d always let me get through the livingroom and just as I was about to put my foot on the bottom step to go upstairs, I´d hear ´Bruce´….he´d always, you know, I had to go back and he´d sit in the kitchen and I had to sit down and….he´d always start with the same question….´What do you think you´re doing ?´ (chuckles)….you know….I didn´t know (chuckles)….but, uh, sometimes if I was gonna come in too late….I used to just stay out….and I bought this old sleeping bag, I used to stash it out in the woods, I´d sleep on people´s porches or I´d sleep in a friend of mine´s car sometime…. you know, it was easier sometimes….and uh, in the morning he´d always have a chance to sleep and he´d be feeling better…but uh….anyway, this is a song, I guess this is, uh, everybody needs some place to go on those nights when they can´t go home….”
03.07.85 London, England, intro to ´Glory Days´
´´Oh yeah, that´s good….English people can sing, man !…this is a song about getting old…. now, I´m getting old, I gotta sit down and rest a minute, man, oh yeah, I gotta….I can´t run around like that all the time any more….but, now, now, Roy just had his birthday yesterday ….he´s 36…that´s old, man, that´s over the hill….I´m 35, I still got a chance to live yet ….I still got some time….Roy was 34 when we started the tour….time flies when you´re having fun….but, now, the Big Man, oh, oh….he´s old, man, he´s older than me….he´s 40, uh, what are you ? 40, uh, 40, uh, I can´t say, he´s older than me but somehow he always maintains his youthful beauty….he stays handsome all the time….you know, I don´t know how he does it…. he´s got a little Big Man now, him and his wife just had a little Big Man….and he´s handsome too….yeah….but I gotta slow down now, like I´m married and everything, you know, I gotta…(?)…anyway it ain´t nothing but glory days…”
03.07.85 London, England, intro to ´My Hometown´
´´Thanks…this, uh….I remember I was 16….I was living at home….grew up in a real small town, real kind of…narrowminded, small-minded place….and I used to get on the bus and go up to New York City every chance I used to get on the weekend….and uh….I think one of the reasons I always felt like I wanted to travel was because I never felt like I belonged in any one place, you know….and so when I was 19, I got a chance and I got out on the road and….I was really lucky, I guess, I got to see….see more than most people….that came from my town….and I was sure that when I got out there that I wasn´t ever gonna miss going back and I wouldn´t miss my folks or my friends, wouldn´t care what was going on back there…. for a long time I got out there and I didn´t, didn´t miss much at all….and as I got older, I´d come home and I´d get in my car and I´d start driving past the houses that I grew up in….and I´d always wonder who was living in there now and what their lives were like, if they had any kids….and I realised that no matter where you go or whatever you become….the place where you were born and raised always stays in your blood….and uh….I guess when I was young I was afraid of belonging to some place ´cause if you admit to belonging somewhere that means you´ve got some responsobility to that place that you live….and I guess I´m….I guess I´m proud of some of the things and ashamed of some of the things that happen in my hometown….but….anyway….this is a song, I guess, about responsobility in some ways and uh, this is from my hometown to your hometown, wishing all the best…..”
03.07.85 London, England, intro to ´I´m on Fire´
´´I remember….my dad´d always be sitting around thinking about everything we wasn´t…. ever gonna have….until….he´d get me thinking like that….I remember I´d lay up in bed at night….feeling like if something….if something didn´t happen….I felt like I was just gonna….
if something didn´t happen, I felt….I felt like I´d just….someday I´d just….”
03.07.85 London, England, middle of ´Rosalita´
´´Ladies and gentlemen….children of all ages….and all you English people out there….it´s time to introduce the members of the E Street Band….I would like to begin by introducing a young man….that gave up a scholarship to Oxford University…to go on the European tour with the E Street Band….he gave up higher education for some rock´n´roll dedication….on the piano, the smartest man in show business…..´Professor´ Roy Bittan….on the vocals an alumni of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes….Miss Patti Scialfa….on the drums the mighties man in the land, ´Mighty´ Max Weinberg….on the organ, the mystery man, the man of great mystique, ´Phantom´ Dan Federici….on the bass, Mr.Garry W.Tallent….on the guitar, the one, the only, Mr.Nils Lofgren….and last but not least….you know who I´m talking about now….let me put it like this….the king of the world….the master of disaster…. in this corner, weighing in at 265 pounds….standing 6 foot 6 inches off the ground….do I have to say his name ?…do I have to say his name ?….Gimme a C…L…A….R….E….N…C…E
..what´s that spell ?….what´s that spell ?….what´s that spell ?….the heavyweight champion of the world, Mr.Clarence Clemons on the saxophone….”
03.07.85 London, England, intro to ´Can´t Help Falling In Love With You´
´´Thank you, thanks a lot….oh, I´d like to just take a minute and thank everybody for coming down to the show tonight in London, thank you very much…..and uh….I´d also like to thank youse for the support of our band over the past ten years…we´ve only gotten over here occassionally and I want you to know that we appreciate it….it´s always kind of funny for me to come back to London because when I was 25….I had, I think one of the most important experiences of my life over here….and uh, and I lived (chuckles) to tell it….but I´d like to do this song for you, this is, uh….my favorite Elvis song and….when we were on tour in the States….I guess it was 1976….me and….we played a little auditorium down in Memphis and it was in the middle of the night and me and my guitar player Steve….we, uh, we called up a cab driver to get and come over and take us out to Elvis´ house….and he brought us out to Graceland and it was about 3.30 in the morning and we got out and I remember standing in front of the gates, those gates with the guitar players on ´em….and there was a light on in the second window, I said ´Steve, man, I gotta, I gotta try´ and I climbed up over the wall and I started running up the driveway towards the house….and uh, I don´t know what I was planning on saying….and I can´t say that I like it when people come banging at my door at 3.30 in the morning but I was filled with the enthusiasm of youth (chuckles) and up the driveway I went….and I got to the frontdoor….and I was about to knock and a guard came out of the woods and he says ´Can I help you ?´, I said ´Is Elvis home ?´….and he said ´No, no, Elvis isn´t home right now, he´s in Lake Tahoe´…and uh, I said ´Well, I´m a guitar player too and I got a band and we´re playing in, we played in town tonight and you know, Elvis…. was my idol and´….and I said I had, I told him I had my picture on the cover of Time and Newsweek (chuckles)…but, uh, I did too once (chuckles)…but uh, but uh, he didn´t believe me (chuckles), he said ´Oh yeah, sure, sure´, you know (chuckles)…and uh, he took me by the arm and put me back out on to the street….which is where I belonged, I guess….but uh, so I never got to meet Elvis, never got to meet him….but it wasn´t too long after that….that a friend of mine called me up and told me that he´d died….and it was something that was hard to….I remember I couldn´t understand how somebody whose music had come in and taken away so many people´s loneliness and given so many people a reason to live and to look for ….you know….to look for whatever promise there is…..could´ve died as tragically as he did ….anyway, he deserved a lot better and I´d like to do this song for you guys wishing youse all the longest of life with the best of everything you can get your hands on….”
Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi