Bruce Springsteen - Chapter And Verse Album Lyrics

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Baby I

Baby I - don't need you loving no more
Baby I - don't need your kisses no more
Baby I - don't need your tender touch
Baby i

Baby I - don't need your tender kiss
Baby I - you'll never miss
Baby I - don'y want you round me no more
Baby i

'cause I got someone new
Somebody better than you
Somebody who'll be true
Somebody better than you

(repeat all - both verses and chorus- one time)

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You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover

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He's Guilty (The Judge Song)

All rise

Well the judge and the jury came into the court room
At about 9:30, the 23rd of June
Now we're here to try this boy for his crime
To see if we set him free or make him serve his time
Jury all got up in the chairs
He's guilty, he's guilty, send that boy to jail

George been speeding, running down his mother
Oh stabbing his wife and strangling her lover
Well the court is ready to hear your plea
Son, are you guilty or not guilty
Jury all got up to hear his plea
He's guilty, he's guilty, don't let that boy go free

All rise

So the judge and the jury came into the court room
At about 10:30, the 23rd of June
Now we're here to try this boy for his crime
And to see if we set him free or make him serve his time
Jury all got up in the chairs
He's guilty, he's guilty, send that boy to jail
He's guilty, he's guilty, send that boy to jail
He's guilty, he's guilty, send that boy to jail

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Ballad Of Jessie James

Well don't you want to climb a mountain
yeah, don't you want to ride the river
drink from a magic fountain
give your woman all the love that you can give her
well don't you want to be an outlaw
don't you want to ride the range
don't you want to be an outlaw children
just like Jesse, like Jesse James

well now don't you want to swim the ocean
don't you want to climb the highest tree
drink some of momma's lovin' potion
get your woman till she just cant see
don't you want to be an outlaw
just a poor boy out on the skids
don't you want to be an outlaw children
just like Billy, just like Billy the Kid

well now Billy he was a bad boy, he won the wild west
by the year of 21, as many notches on his gun
but someone laid him to an early rest

don't you want to climb a mountain
don't you want to ride the river
drink from a magic fountain
give your woman all the love that you can give her
don't you want to be an outlaw
don't you want to ride the range
don't you want to be an outlaw children
just like Jesse

guitar solo

Jesse he was a bad boy, he won the wild west
as many notches on his gun as the years of 21
but someone laid him to an early rest

don't you want to climb a mountain
don't you want to ride the river
drink from a magic fountain
give your woman all the love that you can give her
don't you want to be an outlaw
don't you want to ride the range
don't you want to be an outlaw children
just like Jesse, like Jesse James
well don't you want to be an outlaw
don't you want to be an outlaw

just like Jesse, just like Jesse, just like Jesse James

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Henry Boy

They broke your toys this morning, henry
Rode your board right into dust
Surrounded you with strangers who you could not trust
And then they had the gall
To write your name up on the girls' room wall
And send you out to maria
Who spoke of babies and all
And wanted to shoot your joy
It's a hard world when you're the new kid in town
Ain't it, henry boy

Well the north side is for diamond-studded woman
Subtly selling their wares
And the west side is for debutantes
And would be millionaires
Oh the east side is for lost boys
Who know their moves too well
The south side is for gamblers, henry boy
The train stops once for hell
It's a hard world when they're forcing you
To live your life out on broadway
But henry I'm sure you're gonna like it well

The constellation she points to gate eleven
That's where you got your connections
Let me take a look inside my magic book
I don't think you're beyond my inventions
Oh these doctor's appendages I'm giving you for wings
I'm sure it'll meet the occasion
I'm gonna mix you some magic, you'll spittin' sparks
And ready for the invasion

Oh and the milky way's a trip for dippers
They saw ya coming a mile away
In the amusement park you'll get clipped by rippers
Hiding behind candy 'cades
In the alleyway you'll get ripped by strippers
All who know your name
In the stalls sit the soldier-boy kisserson leave for just a day
And henry couldn't take it
He's gonna be a submariner
Riding underground for the pope
Gonna stand on the corner of broadway
And scream: "up 'scope"

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Growin' Up

I stood stone-like at midnight suspended in my masquerade
I combed my hair till it was just right and commanded the night brigade
I was open to pain and crossed by the rain and I walked on a crooked crutch
I strolled all alone through a fallout zone and come 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
The flag of piracy flew from my mast, my sails were set wing to wing
I had a jukebox graduate for first mate, she couldn't sail but she sure could sing,
I pushed B-52 and bombed 'em with the blues with my gear set stubborn on standing
I broke all the rules, strafed my old high school, never once gave thought to landing,
I hid in the clouded warmth of the crowd but when they said, "Come down," I threw up,
Ooh... growin' up.

I took month-long vacations in the stratosphere and you know it's really hard to hold your breath.
I swear I lost everything I ever loved or feared, I was the cosmic kid in full costume dress,
Well, my feet they finally took root in the earth but I got me a nice little place in the stars
And I swear I found the key to the universe in the engine of an old parked car
I hid in the mother breast of the crowd but when they said, "Pull down," I pulled up
Ooh... growin' up. Ooh... growin' up

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4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)

Sandy the fireworks are hailin' over Little Eden tonight
Forcin' a light into all those stoned-out faces left stranded on this Fourth of July
Down in town the circuit's full with switchblade lovers so fast so shiny so sharp
As the wizards play down on Pinball Way on the boardwalk way past dark
And the boys from the casino dance with their shirts open like Latin lovers along the shore
Chasin' all them silly New York girls

Sandy the aurora is risin' behind us
The pier lights our carnival life forever
Love me tonight for I may never see you again
Hey Sandy girl

Now the greasers they tramp the streets or get busted for trying to sleep on the beach all night
Them boys in their spiked high heels ah Sandy their skins are so white
And me I just got tired of hangin' in them dusty arcades bangin' them pleasure machines
Chasin' the factory girls underneath the boardwalk where they promise to unsnap their jeans
And you know that tilt-a-whirl down on the south beach drag
I got on it last night and my shirt got caught
And that Joey kept me spinnin' I didn't think I'd ever get off

Oh Sandy the aurora is risin' behind us
The pier lights our carnival life on the water
Runnin' down the beach at night with my boss's daughter
Well he ain't my boss no more Sandy

Sandy the angels have lost their desire for us
I spoke to 'em just last night and they said they won't set themselves on fire for us anymore
Every summer when the weather gets hot they ride that road down from heaven on their Harleys they come and they go
And you can see 'em dressed like stars in all the cheap little seashore bars parked making love with their babies out on the Kokomo
Well the cops finally busted Madame Marie for tellin' fortunes better than they do
This boardwalk life for me is through
You know you ought to quit this scene too

Sandy the aurora's rising behind us
The pier lights our carnival life forever
Oh love me tonight and I promise I'll love you forever

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Born To Run

In the day we sweat it out in the streets of a runaway American dream
At night we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines
Sprung from cages out on HighWay 9
Chrome wheeled, fuel injected
And steppin' out over the line
Baby this town rips the bones from your back
It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap
We gotta get out while we're young
'Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run


Wendy let me in I wanna be your friend
I want to guard your dreams and visions
Just wraps your legs 'round these velvet rims
And strap your hands across my engines
Together we could break this trap
We'll run till we drop, baby we'll never go back
Will you walk with me out on the wire
'Cause baby I'm just a scared and lonely rider
But I gotta know how it feels
I want to know if your love is wild
Girl I want to know if love is real

Beyond the Palace hemi-powered 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 on a mist
I wanna die with you Wendy on the streets tonight
In an everlasting kiss


The highway's jammed with broken heroes
On a last chance power drive
Everybody's out on the run tonight
But there's no place left to hide
Together Wendy we can live with the sadness
I'll love you with all the madness in my soul
Someday girl I don't know when
We're gonna get to that place
Where we really want to go
And we'll walk in the sun
But till then tramps like us
Baby we were born to run

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Badlands

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The River

I come from down in the valley
Where mister, when you're young
They bring you up to do like your daddy done
Me and Mary we met in high school
When she was just seventeen
We'd drive out of this valley down to where the fields where green

We'd go down to the river
And into the river we'd dive
Oh down to the river we'd ride

Then I got Mary pregnant
And, man, that was all she wrote
And for my 19th birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat
We went down to the courthouse
And the judge put it all to rest
No wedding day smiles, no walk down the aisle
No flowers, no wedding dress

That night we went down to the river
And into the river we'd dive
Oh down to the river we did ride

I got a job working construction for the Johnstown Company
But lately there ain't been much work on account of the economy
Now all them thing that seemed so important
Well, mister they vanished right into the air
Now I just act like I don't remember
Mary acts like she don't care

But I remember us riding in my brother's car
Her body tan and wet down at the reservoir
At night on them banks I'd lie awake
And pull her close just to feel each breath she'd take
Now those memories come back to haunt me
They haunt me like a curse
Is a dream a lie if it don't come true
Or is it something worse,
that sends me
Down to the river
though I know the river is dry
That sends me down to the river tonight
Down to the river
My baby and I
Oh down to the river we ride

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My Father's House

Last night I dreamed that I was a child out where the pines grow wild and tall
I was trying to make it home through the forest before the darkness falls

I heard the wind rustling through the trees and ghostly voices rose from the fields
I ran with my heart pounding down that broken path
With the devil snappin' at my heels

I broke through the trees and there in he night
My father's house stood shining hard and bright the branches and brambles tore my clothes and scratched my arms
But I ran till I fell shaking in his arms

I awoke and I imagined the hard things that pulled us apart
Will never again sir tear us from each other's hearts
I got dressed and to that house I did ride from out on the road I could see its windows shining in light

I walked up the steps and stood on the porch a woman I didn't recognize came and spoke to me through a chained door
I told her my story and who I'd come for
She said "I'm sorry son but no one by that name lives here anymore"

My father's house shines hard and bright it stands like a beacon calling me in the night
Calling and calling so cold and alone
Shining cross this dark highway where our sins lie unatoned

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Born In The U.S.A.

Born down in a dead man's town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
You end up like a dog that's been beat too much
Till you spend half your life just covering up

Born in the USA
I was born in the USA
I was born in the USA
Born in the USA


Got in a little hometown jam so they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land to go and kill the yellow man

Born in the USA
I was born in the USA
I was born in the USA
I was born in the USA
Born in the USA

Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man says "son if it was up to me"
Went down to see my V.A. man
He said "son don't you understand now"

Had a brother at Khe Sahn fighting off the Viet Cong
They're still there he's all gone
He had a woman he loved in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms now


Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run ain't got nowhere to go

Born in the USA
I was born in the USA
Born in the USA
I'm a long gone Daddy in the USA
Born in the USA
Born in the USA
Born in the USA
I'm a cool rocking Daddy in the USA

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Brilliant Disguise

I hold you in my arms
As the band plays
What are those words whispered baby
Just as you turn away
I saw you last night
Out on the edge of town
I wanna read your mind
To know just what I've got in
This new thing I've found
So tell me what I see
When I look in your eyes
Is that you baby
Or just a brilliant disguise


I heard somebody call your name
From underneath our willow
I saw something tucked in shame
Underneath your pillow
Well I've tried so hard baby
But I just can't see
What a woman like you
Is doing with me
So tell me who I see
When I look in your eyes
Is that you baby
Or just a brilliant disguise

Now look at me baby
Struggling to do everything right
And then it all falls apart
When out go the lights
I'm just a lonely pilgrim
I walk this world in wealth
I wanna if it's you I don't trust
'Cause I damn sure don't trust myself


Now you play the loving woman
I'll play the faithful man
But just don't look too close
Into the palm of my hand
We stood at the altar
The gypsy swore our future was right
But come the wee wee hours
Well maybe baby the gypsy lied
So when you look at me
You better look hard and look twice
Is that me baby
Or just a brilliant duisguise

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

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Living Proof

Well now on a summer night in a dusky room
Come a little piece of the Lord's undying light
Crying like he swallowed the fiery moon
In his mother's arms it was all the beauty I could take
Like the missing words to some prayer that I could never make
In a world so hard and dirty so fouled and confused
Searching for a little bit of God's mercy
I found living proof

I put my heart and soul I put 'em high upon a shelf
Right next to the faith the faith that I'd lost in myself
I went down into the desert city
Just tryin' so hard to shed my skin
I crawled deep into some kind of darkness
Lookin' to burn out every trace of who I'd been
You do some sad sad things baby
When it's you you're tryin' to lose
You do some sad and hurtful things
I've seen living proof

You shot through my anger and rage
To show me my prison was just an open cage
There were no keys no guards
Just one frightened man and some old shadows for bars

Well now all that's sure on the boulevard
Is that life is just a house of cards
As fragile as each and every breath
Of this boy sleepin' in our bed
Tonight let's lie beneath the eaves
Just a close band of happy thieves
And when that train comes we'll get on board
And steal what we can from the treasures treasures of the Lord
It's been a long long drought baby
Tonight the rain's pourin' down on our roof
Looking for a little bit of God's mercy
I found living proof

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The Ghost Of Tom Joad

Men walkin' 'long the railroad tracks
Goin' someplace there's no goin' back
Highway patrol choppers comin' up over the ridge

Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge
Shelter line stretchin' 'round the corner
Welcome to the new world order
Families sleepin' in their cars in the Southwest
No home no job no peace no rest

The highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
Searchin' for the ghost of Tom Joad

He pulls a prayer book out of his sleeping bag
Preacher lights up a butt and takes a drag
Waitin' for when the last shall be first and the first shall be last
In a cardboard box 'neath the underpass
Got a one-way ticket to the promised land
You got a hole in your belly and gun in your hand
Sleeping on a pillow of solid rock
Bathin' in the city aqueduct

The highway is alive tonight
Where it's headed everybody knows
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
Waitin' on the ghost of Tom Joad

Now Tom said "Mom, wherever there's a cop beatin' a guy
Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries
Where there's a fight 'gainst the blood and hatred in the air
Look for me Mom I'll be there
Wherever there's somebody fightin' for a place to stand
Or decent job or a helpin' hand
Wherever somebody's strugglin' to be free
Look in their eyes Mom you'll see me."

Well the highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
With the ghost of old Tom Joad

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The Rising

Can't see nothin' in front of me
Can't see nothin' coming up behind
I make my way through this darkness
I can't feel nothing but this chain that binds me
Lost track of how far I've gone
How far I've gone, how high I've climbed
On my back's a sixty pound stone
On my shoulder a half mile line

Come on up for the rising
Com on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight

Left the house this morning
Bells ringing filled the air
Wearin' the cross of my calling
On wheels of fire I come rollin' down here

Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight

Li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li

Spirits above and behind me
Faces gone, black eyes burnin' bright
May their precious blood forever bind me
Lord as I stand before your fiery light

Li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li

I see you Mary in the garden
In the garden of a thousand sighs
There's holy pictures of our children
Dancin' in a sky filled with light
May I feel your arms around me
May I feel your blood mix with mine
A dream of life comes to me
Like a catfish dancin' on the end of the line

Sky of blackness and sorrow ( a dream of life)
Sky of love, sky of tears (a dream of life)
Sky of glory and sadness ( a dream of life)
Sky of mercy, sky of fear ( a dream of life)
Sky of memory and shadow ( a dream of life)
Your burnin' wind fills my arms tonight
Sky of longing and emptiness (a dream of life)
Sky of fullness, sky of blessed life ( a dream of life)

Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight

Li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li

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Long Time Comin'

Out where the creek turn shallow and sandy
And the moon comes skimmin' away the stars
When the mesquite comes rushin' over the hilltops
Straight into my arms
Straight into my arms

I'm ridin' hard carryin' a cache of roses
A fresh map that I made
Now I'm gonna get birth naked and bury my old soul
And dance on it's grave
And dance on it's grave

It's been a long time comin', my dear
It's been a long time comin', but now it's here
And now it's here

Well my daddy he was just a stranger
Lived in a hotel downtown
Well when I was a kid he was just somebody
Somebody I'd see around
Somebody I'd see around

Well now down below and pullin' on my shirt
Yeah I got some kids of my own
Well if I had one wish for you in this god forsaken world, kid
It'd be that your mistakes will be your own
That your sins will be your own

It's been a long time comin', my dear
It's been a long time comin', but now it's here
And now it's here

(Whoaaa)

Out 'neath the arms of Cassiopeia
Where the sword of Orion sweeps
It's me and you, Rosie, cracklin' like crossed wires
And you breathin' in your sleep
And you breathin' in your sleep

Well there's just a spark of a campfire left burnin'
Two kids in a sleeping bag beside
Reach 'neath your shirt, put my hands across your belly and feel
Another one kickin' inside
And I ain't gonna f*ck it up this time

It's been a long time comin', my dear
It's been a long time comin', but now it's here
It's been a long time comin', my dear
It's been a long time comin', but now it's here

(Whoaaa)

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Wrecking Ball

I was raised out of steel here in the swamps of Jersey, some misty years ago
Through the mud and the beer, and the blood and the cheers, I've seen champions come and go
So if you got the guts mister, yeah if you've got the balls
If you think it's your time, then step to the line, and bring on your wrecking ball

Bring on your wrecking ball
Bring on your wrecking ball
Come on and take your best shot, let me see what you've got
Bring on your wrecking ball
Bring on your wrecking ball
Bring on your wrecking ball
Come on and take your best shot, let me see what you've got
Bring on your wrecking ball

Now my home was here in the Meadowlands, where mosquitoes grow big as airplanes
Here where the blood is spilled, the arena's filled, and Giants play the game
So raise up your glasses and let me hear your voices call
Come on!
Because tonight all the dead are here, so bring on your wrecking ball

Bring on your wrecking ball
Bring on your wrecking ball
Take your best shot, let me see what you've got
Bring on your wrecking ball

One, two, one two three four!

Yeah we know that come tomorrow, none of this will be here
So hold tight on your anger
Hold tight on your anger
Hold tight to your anger, and don't fall to your fear

Now when all this steel and these stories, they drift away to rust
And all our youth and beauty, it's been given to the dust
And your game has been decided, and you're burning the clock down
And all our little victories and glories, have turned into parking lots
When your best hopes and desires, are scattered through the wind
And hard times come, hard times go
Hard times come, hard times go
And hard times come, hard times go

Hard times come, hard times go
Hard times come, hard times go
Yeah just to come again

Bring on your wrecking ball
Bring on your wrecking ball
Come on and take your best shot, let me see what you've got
Bring on your wrecking ball
Bring on your wrecking ball (bring on your wrecking ball)
Bring on your wrecking ball (bring on your wrecking ball)
Take your best shot, let me see what you've got, bring on your wrecking ball

One, two, one two three four!

Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho

Bring it on!