The Lyrics

Get "Born in the USA" out of your system.  Here's a sample of the shit that hooked us ..

"Sweet Virgin Mary

she runs the Holy Grail Saloon

where for a nickel they'll give you whisky

and a personally blessed balloon

The Holy Ghost

he's the host with the most

he runs the burlesque show

where they let you in for free

but .. oh .. hit you for your soul, when you go

and..

Mary serves Mass on Sunday

and then..  she sells her body on Monday

to the bootmaker who will pay the highest price

He don't know he got stuck with a loser

Mary's a stone junkie

What's more .. she's a boozer

She's only been made once or twice

by some kind of magic"

from "If I Was The Priest", 1972 outtake (never released)

"I stood stonelike at midnight

suspended in my masquerade

I combed my hair till it was just right

and comanded the night brigade

I was open to pain and crossed by the rain

I walked on a crooked crutch

I strolled all alone through a fallout zone

and came out with my soul untouched

I hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd

but .. when they said 'sit down', I stood up

ooh .. growin' up"

from "Growin' Up", 1972

"And from out of the shadows

came a young girl's voice

saying.. 'Johnny, don't cry'

Puerto Rican Jane

oh ..  won't you tell me what's your name

I want to drive you down to the other side of town

where paradise ain't so crowded

there'll be action going down on Shanty Lane tonight

where all them golden-heeled fairies in a real bitch fight

pull .38's .. and kiss ..  the girls ..  goodnight"

from "Incident on 57th Street", 1972

"Fish lady, oh fish lady

she baits them tenement walls

she won't take corner boys

they ain't got no money

and .. they're so easy

I said .. 'Hey, baby

won't you take my hand

and walk with me down Broadway"

I said "Mama, take my arm..

and move with me down Broadway'

I'm a young man, I talk it real loud

yeah .. I walk it real proud for you

so shake away your street life

shake away the city life"

from "New York City Serenade", 1973

"The screen door slams

Mary's dress waves

like a vision she dances across the porch

as the radio plays"

"There were ghosts in the eyes

of all the boys you sent away

they haunt this dusty beach road

in the skeleton frames of burned-out Chevrolets

they scream your name at night in the street

your graduation gown lies in rags at their feet

and ..  in the lonely cool before dawn

you hear their engines roar on

but..  when you get to the porch

they're gone .. on the wind

so.. Mary, climb in

it's a town full of losers

I'm pulling out of here to win"

from "Thunder Road", 1975

"Slow dancing in the dark

on the beach at Stockton's Wing

where desperate lovers park

we sat with the last of the Duke Street Kings

huddled in our cars...

waiting for the bells that ring

in the damp heat of the night

we let loose of everything"

from "Backstreets", 1975

"Beyond the Palace

hemipowered drones scream down the boulevard

the girls comb their hair in rearview mirrors

and the boys try to look so hard

the amusement park rises bold and stark

kids are huddled on the beach in the mist

I want to die with you, Wendy, on the streets tonight

in an everlasting kiss"

from "Born to Run", 1975

"Beneath the city, two hearts beat

soul engines running through a night so tender

in a bedroom locked ..

in whispers of soft ..

refusal, and then ..

surrender"

from "Jungleland", 1975

"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 around my baby's eyes

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

all her pretty dreams are torn

she stares off alone into the night

with the eyes of one who hates for just being born"

from "Racing in the Street", 1978

"I don't want to clip your wings

but .. a time comes when two people

should think of these things

having a home .. and a family

facing up to their responsibilities

they say .. in the end, true loves prevails

but .. in the end, true love can't be a fairytale

to say I'll make your dreams come true would be wrong

but, maybe ..  I could help them along"

from "I Wanna Marry You", 1980

"Let the game start

you better run your little wild heart

you can run through all the nights and all the days

but .. just across the county line

a stranger passing through put up a sign

that counts the men fallen away

to the price you pay

before the end of the day..

I'm going to tear it down and throw it away"

from "The Price You Pay", 1980

"I saw her standing on her front lawn

just twirling her baton

me and her, sir, went for a ride

and .. ten innocent people died

From the town of Lincoln, Nebraska,

with a sawed-off .410 on my lap

through to the badlands of Wyoming

I killed everything in my path

I can't say that I'm sorry

for the things that we've done

at least, for awhile .. sir

me and her .. we had us some fun

The jury brought in a guilty verdict

the judge sentenced me to death

Midnight in a prison storeroom

with leather straps across my chest

Sheriff, when the man pulls that switch

and snaps my poor head back

you make sure my pretty baby

is sitting right there .. on my lap

They declared me unfit to live

said into that great void my soul'd be hurled

they wanted to know why I did what I did

well, sir.. I guess there's just a meanness in this world"

"Nebraska", 1982

"My little sister's in the front seat

with an ice cream cone

my ma's in the backseat sittin' all alone

as my pa steers her slow out of the lot

for a test drive down Michigan Avenue.

My ma .. she fingers her wedding band

and watches the salesman stare at my old man's hands

he's telling us 'bout the break he'd give us if he could, but he just can't

well..  if I could, I swear .. I know just what I'd do

Mister, the day the lottery I win

I ain't ever gonna ride in no used car again

The neighbors come from near and far

as we pull up in our brand-new used car

I wish he'd just hit the gas and let out a cry

and tell 'em all they can kiss our asses goodbye

My Dad ..  he sweats the same job from mornin' to morn

me, I walk home on the same dirty streets where I was born

up the block, I can hear my little sister

in the front seat blowin' that horn

the sounds echo all down Michigan Avenue

Mister, the day my number comes in

I ain't ever gonna ride in no used car again"

from "Used Cars", 1982

"It's like someone took a knife, edgy and dull

and cut a six-inch valley through the middle of my soul ...

at night,  I wake up with my sheets soaking wet

and a freight train running through the middle of my head

only you ... can cool my desire"

from "I'm on Fire", 1984

"I want to sleep beneath peaceful skies

in my lover's bed..

with a wide open country in my eyes

and these romantic dreams in my head"

from "No Surrender", 1984

"I remember how rough your hand felt on mine

on my wedding day

the tears cried on my shoulder

I couldn't turn away

well.. so much has happened to me

that I don't understand

all I can think of is being 5 years old

following behind you at the beach

tracing your footprints in the sand ..

trying to walk like a man"

from "Walk Like a Man", 1987

"Tonight our bed is cold

I'm lost in the darkness of our love

God have mercy on the man

who doubts what he's sure of"

from "Brilliant Disguise", 1987

"There's a girl across the bar

I get the message she's sending

She ain't looking too married

and, me ..  I'm pretending

last night .. I dreamed I held you in my arms

the music was never ending

we danced as the evening sky faded to black"

from "One Step Up", 1987

"I woke up in the darkness

scared and breathing and .. born anew

it wasn't the cold river bottom I felt rushing over me

it wasn't the bitterness of a dream that didn't come true

it wasn't the wind in the gray fields I felt rushing through my arms

no ... no ..

baby ... it was you...

so .. hold me close

say you're forever mine

and .. tell me you'll be my lonley valentine"

from "Valentine's Day", 1987

"There's a beautiful river in the valley ahead

there, beneath the oak's bough ..

soon we'll be wed ..

should we lose each other in the shadow of the evening trees

I'll wait for you

and .. should I fall behind

wait for me"

from "If I Should Fall Behind", 1992

"In the darkness, my fingers slip across your skin

I feel your sweet reply ...

the room fades away and .. suddenly, I'm way up high

just holding you to me

through the window, the moonlight streams

oh.. won't you, baby, be in my book of dreams"

from "Book of Dreams", 1992

"I can feel the cold wind at my back

I'm flying high over gray fields

my feathers long and black

down along the river's silent edge I soar

searching for my beautiful reward"

from "My Beautiful Reward", 1992

"I walked the avenue until my legs felt like stone

I heard the voices of friends, vanished and gone

at night .. I could hear the blood in my veins ...

black and whispering .. as the rain"

from "Streets of Philadelphia", 1993

"Kitchen floor in the evening ...

tossing my little babies high

Mary's smiling, but she's watching me

out of the corner of her eye

seems you can't get any more than half free

I step out onto the front porch

and suck the cold air deep inside of me

I've got a cold mind to go trippin' cross that thin line

I'm sick of doing straight time"

from "Straight Time", 1995

"The road was filled with broken glass and gasoline

she wasn't saying nothin'; it was just a dream

the wind came silent through the windshield

all I could see was snow, sky and pines

I closed my eyes and ..  I was runnin'

I was runnin', then I was flyin'"

from "Highway 29", 1995

"I'd drive down to Alvarado Street

where she'd dance to make ends meet

I'd spend the night over my gin

as she'd talk to her men

well.. the piss yellow sun

comes bringin' up the day

she said .. 'ain't nobody can give nobody

what they really want, anyway'

you get so sick of the fighting

you lose your fear of the end

but .. I can't lose your memory

the sweet smell of your skin

it's just dry lightning

on the horizon line

just dry lightning .. and you on my mind"

from "Dry Lightning", 1995