This is one of Springsteen's favorites. He almost always plays it at the impromptu bar gigs he is famous for on the Jersey Shore.
In concert, Springsteen often extends this to over 10 minutes. Perhaps the most compact version he ever played was at halftime of the 2009 Super Bowl, when he squeezed 4 songs into a 12 minute set.
Springsteen: "The first verse actually happened, the second verse mostly happened, the third verse, of course, is happening now."
Originally, this contained a 4th verse which mentioned Springsteen's father working on the Ford assembly line.
Springsteen performed this June 25, 1993 on the last David Letterman Show on NBC. Letterman is a huge fan but had never had Springsteen on. Bruce did go on the show a few more times after it moved to CBS.
This was one of 7 US top 10 hits on Born In The U.S.A. The band first recorded it in 1982, but it was not released until the album came out.
The video was directed by John Sayles, who also did Springsteen's promos for "Born In The U.S.A." and "I'm On Fire." In the video, Springsteen plays a cross between the character telling the story and the guy he's singing about. Julianne Phillips, who was Springsteen's wife at the time, appears in the video, as does Patti Scialfa, who later became the next Mrs. Springsteen.
On the day Springsteen released his album The Rising, he played a concert on The Today Show. This was the only song he played that was not on the new album.
Post a Comment