This is Springsteen's musical autobiography. After touring relentlessly around the Jersey Shore, he finally signed a record deal and got some money. Springsteen called the song, "A kiss-off to everybody who counted you out, put you down, or decided you weren't good enough."
Springsteen considers this the best love song he ever wrote. It's proof that a love song does not have to be slow or sappy.
This is Springsteen's most popular live song. It was the last song before the encore at most of his shows from 1973-1984. In 1999 during his E-street Band reunion tour, Springsteen played 15 sold out shows at the Contential Airlines Arena (later known as the Izod centre), and he used this song to close out the final show of the stand. (thanks, Kyle - Belleville, Canada)
This became very popular in England when British TV aired a clip of Springsteen performing this at a concert in Phoenix in 1978.
The live film clip of this is the closest thing Springsteen had to a music video until he started making them in 1984, starting with "Dancing In The Dark."
The first time Springsteen performed this song was at a concert at Joe's Place in Boston on January 5, 1974.
This was one of the first songs to showcase Clarence Clemons on sax. With his bright suits and imposing size, he quickly became the most popular member of the E Street Band.
After appearing on the covers of Time and Newsweek in October,1975, Springsteen sometimes changed the words to "Tell your papa I ain't no freak, 'cause I got my picture on the cover of Time and Newsweek."
The audience always went crazy when Springsteen sang: "The record company, Rosie, just gave me a big advance." He got a $25,000 advance from Columbia Records when he signed his first record deal, proving to his father and others who doubted him that he did have a real job.
Springsteen never liked his nickname "The Boss," and sometimes sang: "You can call me Lieutenant, Rosie, but don't ever call me Boss."
Springsteen wrote this to be a live show-stopper. He was inspired by the Soul revues in the '60s where the artists would pour all their energy into their final song, and just when it seemed to be over, keep playing. He knew his audience would remember this when he played it.
The name "E Street" was taken from the name of a road in Belmar, New Jersey, where piano player David Sancious' mother lived. The band needed a name, and one day when they were driving there, Springsteen saw the sign for E Street and thought it should be the name of the band, so his backing group became the E Street Band. Sancious left the band after this album to form a jazz group with E Street drummer Earnest "Boom" Carter.
The music was based on "The Monkey Time," a 1963 hit for Chicago soul singer Major Lance.
This was the first track on Springsteen's second album, The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle, which made full use of The E Street Band for the first time. Members of the band played on his first album, but it was mostly Bruce and his guitar.
The characters in the lyrics were based on people Springsteen knew when he was growing up in New Jersey.
Springsteen: "I wanted to invent a dance with no exact steps. It was just the dance you did every day and every night to get by."
