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Bruce Springsteen - Jungleland

Bruce Springsteen - Jungleland Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Born To Run
Released: 1975

Jungleland Lyrics

The Rangers had a homecoming
In Harlem late last night
And the Magic Rat drove his sleek machine
Over the Jersey state line
Barefoot girl sitting on the hood of a Dodge
Drinking warm beer in the soft summer rain
The Rat pulls into town, rolls up his pants
Together they take a stab at romance
And disappear down Flamingo Lane

Well, the Maximum Lawmen run down Flamingo
Chasing the Rat and the barefoot girl
And the kids 'round there live just like shadows
Always quiet, holding hands
From the churches to the jails
Tonight all is silence in the world
As we take our stand
Down in Jungleland

The midnight gang's assembled
And picked a rendezvous for the night
They'll meet 'neath that giant Exxon sign
That brings this fair city light
Man, there's an opera out on the Turnpike
There's a ballet being fought out in the alley
Until the local cops, Cherry-Tops, rips this holy night
The street's alive as secret debts are paid
Contacts made, they flash unseen
Kids flash guitars just like switchblades
Hustling for the record machine
The hungry and the hunted
Explode into rock 'n' roll bands
That face off against each other out in the street
Down in Jungleland

In the parking lot the visionaries dress in the latest rage
Inside the backstreet girls are dancing
To the records that the DJ plays
Lonely-hearted lovers struggle in dark corners
Desperate as the night moves on
Just one look and a whisper, and they're gone

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
In the tunnels uptown, the Rat's own dream guns him down
As shots echo down them hallways in the night
No one watches when the ambulance pulls away
Or as the girl shuts out the bedroom light

Outside the street's on fire in a real death waltz
Between what's flesh and what's fantasy
And the poets down here don't write nothing at all
They just stand back and let it all be
And in the quick of a knife, they reach for their moment
And try to make an honest stand
But they wind up wounded, not even dead
Tonight in Jungleland

Writer/s: Bruce Springsteen
Publisher: DOWNTOWN DLJ SONGS
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Jungleland Song Chart

This is a poetic tale of life on the streets of New Jersey. Beginning with a simple piano intro, Springsteen goes through a series of abstract images and introduces a series of characters in the song, including Magic Rat and Barefoot Girl. It's a song that led to comparisons with Bob Dylan, notably Dylan's "Desolation Row."

Born To Run came with lyrics to the songs, so listeners could follow along. Reflecting on the album years later, Springsteen singled out the last verse of "Jungleland" as an example of his work that had "a lot of overblown romance, but still contained the seeds of realism."

Springsteen and the E Street Band performed this live for over a year before they recorded it. It developed into a longer song with a grand sax solo when it was finally released.

This features the piano of Roy Bittan. He joined The E Street Band for Born To Run after playing in orchestra pits on Broadway.

This was a highlight of Springsteen's 1999 reunion tour with The E Street Band. The tour went very well, and the band continued to play and record together.

Suki Lahav played the violin. She was the first female to play in Springsteen's band, and was with him from September 1974 - March 1975.

This is the last song on Born To Run, the breakthrough album for Springsteen. He tested the patience of Columbia Records by taking over a year to record it, refusing to release it until it was just right.

Clarence Clemons played a long sax solo on this. With his bright suits and large stature, he was the most notable and popular member of The E Street Band, and when it came to this song, he wasn't demure. "That’s one of the classic saxophone solos in the history of the world, if I may say so myself," he said. Clemons was disappointed when the song was not included on the 1995 Greatest Hits album.

As seen in the documentary Wings For Wheels on the 30th anniversary package of the album, one take of the song had a dramatic flamenco-style intro. (thanks, Marshall - Sacramento, CA)

Melissa Etheridge said in Rolling Stone magazines 100 Greatest Singers Of All Time issue: "When Bruce Springsteen does those wordless wails, like at the end of 'Jungleland,' that's the definition of rock & roll to me. He uses his whole body when he sings, and he puts out this enormous amount of force and emotion and passion." (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)

Bruce Springsteen - Backstreets

Bruce Springsteen - Backstreets Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Born To Run
Released: 1975

Backstreets Lyrics

One soft infested summer, me and Terry became friends
Trying in vain to breathe the fire we was born in
Catching rides to the outskirts, tying faith between our teeth
Sleeping in that old abandoned beach house, getting wasted in the heat
And hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets
With a love so hard and filled with defeat
Running for our lives at night on them backstreets

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 deep heart of the night they set us loose of everything
To go running on the backstreets
Running on the backstreets
Terry, you swore we'd live forever
Taking it on them Backstreets together

Endless juke joints and Valentino drag
Where famous dancers scraped the tears up off the street, dressed down in rags
Running into the darkness, some hurt bad, some really dying
At night sometimes it seemed you could hear the whole damn city crying
Blame it on the lies that killed us, blame it on the truth that ran us down
You can blame it all on me, Terry, it don't matter to me now
When the breakdown hit at midnight, there was nothing to say
But I hated him, and I hated you when you went away

Laying here in the dark, you're like an angel on my chest
Just another tramp of hearts crying tears of faithlessness
Remember all the movies, Terry, we'd go see
Trying to learn to walk like the heroes we thought we had to be
And after all this time, to find we're just like all the rest
Stranded in the park and forced to confess
To hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets
Where we swore forever friends
On the backstreets until the end

Hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets
Was all right, we're all
Hiding on the backstreets tonight
Hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets

Writer/s: Bruce Springsteen
Publisher: DOWNTOWN DLJ SONGS
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Backstreets Song Chart

This is an intense story about a broken relationship; a tale of losing a lover where the narrator seems more concerned about losing her as a friend. The girl in the song, Terry, is a character Springsteen created based on girls he knew.

This is one of several Springsteen songs featuring the first name of a girl who is not a specific real person. Besides Terry, Springsteen has also sung about Mary, Wendy, Sandy and Rosie.

"Backstreets" became the name of a popular Springsteen fan magazine that continues to publish.

This goes over very well when Springsteen plays it live. The version on the boxed set Live 1975-1985 was taken from a show at The Roxy in 1978.

A string section was brought in, but did not make the final mix.

Bruce Springsteen - Thunder Road

Bruce Springsteen - Thunder Road Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Born To Run
Released: 1975

Thunder Road Lyrics

The screen door slams, Mary's dress waves
Like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays
Roy Orbison singing for the lonely
Hey, that's me and I want you only
Don't turn me home again, I just can't face myself alone again
Don't run back inside, darling, you know just what I'm here for
So you're scared and you're thinking that maybe we ain't that young anymore
Show a little faith, there's magic in the night
You ain't a beauty but, hey, you're alright
Oh, and that's alright with me

You can hide 'neath your covers and study your pain
Make crosses from your lovers, throw roses in the rain
Waste your summer praying in vain
For a savior to rise from these streets
Well now, I ain't no hero, that's understood
All the redemption I can offer, girl, is beneath this dirty hood
With a chance to make it good somehow
Hey, what else can we do now?
Except roll down the window and let the wind blow back your hair
Well, the night's busting open, these two lanes will take us anywhere
We got one last chance to make it real
To trade in these wings on some wheels
Climb in back, heaven's waiting on down the tracks

Oh oh, come take my hand
We're riding out tonight to case the promised land
Oh oh oh oh, Thunder Road
Oh, Thunder Road, oh, Thunder Road
Lying out there like a killer in the sun
Hey, I know it's late, we can make it if we run
Oh oh oh oh, Thunder Road
Sit tight, take hold, Thunder Road

Well, I got this guitar and I learned how to make it talk
And my car's out back if you're ready to take that long walk
From your front porch to my front seat
The door's open but the ride ain't free
And I know you're lonely for words that I ain't spoken
But tonight we'll be free, all the promises'll be broken

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 rolling 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

Writer/s: Bruce Springsteen
Publisher: DOWNTOWN DLJ SONGS
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Thunder Road Song Chart

This was the first track on Born To Run, a crucial album for Springsteen. His first two albums sold poorly, and he was in danger of losing his record deal if he did not produce a hit. With songs like this one about escaping to the open road, he connected with an audience that proved extremely loyal.

He considered this song the "invitation" to the album, with the opening notes being the welcome. "Something is opening up," Springsteen said during his 2005 Storytellers appearance. "What I hoped it would be was the sense of a larger life, greater experience, sense of fun, the sense that your personal exploration and possibilities were all lying somewhere inside of you."

Springsteen took the title from a 1958 Robert Mitchum movie. He did not see the film, but got the idea from a poster for it in a theater lobby.

The vocal sound was inspired by Roy Orbison. Springsteen pays homage to him with the line: "The radio plays Roy Orbison singing for the lonely," a reference to Orbison's 1960 hit, "Only The Lonely."

The name of the girl mentioned at the beginning was changed several times. It had been Angelina and Chrissie before Springsteen settled on "Mary's dress waves."

The original title was "Wings For Wheels." It began as an outtake called "Glory Road."

Cars were very important growing up in New Jersey and show up in many of Springsteen songs. Bruce's first car was a '57 Chevy with orange flames painted on the hood.

This is a concert favorite that Springsteen has performed at many of his shows over the years.

At one point, Born To Run was going to be a concept album spanning the course of a day, with an acoustic version of this starting the album and the full band version closing it.

Springsteen's friend and future manager, Jon Landau, convinced him to record this at The Record Plant in New York instead of the low-budget studio he was using. Springsteen's current manager, Mike Appel, resented Landau's influence and would file a lawsuit that kept Springsteen from recording for 3 years.

Since the band didn't know the song very well, Springsteen used a version with just him at the piano to open a series of shows at The Bottom Line in New York City in 1975. Sponsored by a New York radio station, the disc jockey, Dave Herman, apologized on the air for not playing enough Springsteen the morning after the first show.

On November 3, 1980, Springsteen kicked off his tour to support the album in Ann Arbor, Michigan. For the encore, Bob Seger, who is to Michigan what Springsteen is to New Jersey, joined him onstage to perform this.

Has been performed live many different ways: with the full band, solo with guitar, solo with piano, slowed down, etc. The version on Live 1975-1985 features Springsteen singing over Roy Bittan's piano.

Bruce taped a performance of this that was played at the funeral of James Berger, a worker in the World Trade Center who helped people get out before he was killed when it collapsed. He was a big Springsteen fan and this was his favorite song. Bruce dedicated it to his sons.

This was also the first track on Springsteen's live album Hammersmith Odeon London 1975, which was recorded on November 18, 1975 during Springsteen's first concert in Europe. It was released on DVD in 2005, and on CD the following year. (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)