The River (1980)




Il primo album doppio. Contiene venti tracce.


Disk 1

  1. The Ties That Bind
  2. Sherry Darling
  3. Jackson Cage
  4. Two Hearts
  5. Independence Day
  6. Hungry Heart
  7. Out in the Steet
  8. Crush on You
  9. You Can Look (But You Better not Touch)
  10. I Wanna Marry You
  11. The River

Disk 2

  1. Point Blank
  2. Cadillac Ranch
  3. I'm a Rocker
  4. Fade Away
  5. Stolen Car
  6. Ramrod
  7. The Price You Pay
  8. Drive All Night
  9. Wreck on the Highway
NOTES


Disk 1

The Ties That Bind

You been hurt and you're all cried out you say You walk down the street pushin' people outta your way You packed your bags and all alone you wanna ride, You don't want nothin', don't need no one by your side You're walkin' tough baby, but you're walking blind, To the ties that bind (Chorus) The ties that bind Now you can't break the ties that bind Cheap romance, it's all just a crutch You don't want nothing that anybody can touch You're so afraid of being somebody's fool Not walkin' tough baby, not walkin' cool You walk cool, but darlin', can you walk the line And face the ties that bind I would rather feel the hurt inside, yes I would darling, Than know the emptiness your heart must hide, Yes I would darling, yes I would darling, Yes I would baby You sit and wonder just who's gonna stop the rain Who'll ease the sadness, who's gonna quiet the pain It's a long dark highway and a thin white line Connecting baby, your heart to mine We're runnin' now but darlin' we will stand in time To face the ties that bind The ties that bind Now you can't break the ties that bind You can't forsake the ties that bind

Sherry Darling

Your Mama's yapping in the backseat Tell her to push over and move them big feet Every Monday morning I gotta drive her down to the unemployment agency Well this morning I ain't fighting tell her I give up Tell her she wins if she'll just shut up But it's the last time that she's gonna be riding with me (Chorus) You can tell her there's a hot sun beating on the black top She keeps talking she'll be walkin' that last block She can take a subway back to the ghetto tonight Well I got some beer and the highway's free And I got you, and baby you've got me. Hey, hey, hey, what you say Sherry Darlin' Now there's girls melting on the beach And they're so fine but so out of reach Cause I'm stuck in traffic down here on 53rd Street Now Sherry my love for you is real But I didn't count on this package deal And baby this car just ain't big enough for her and me (Chorus) So you can tell her there's a hot sun beating on the black top She keeps talking she'll be walkin' that last block She can take a subway back to the ghetto tonight Well I got some beer and the highway's free And I got you, and baby you've got me Hey, hey, hey, what you say Sherry Darlin' Well let there be sunlight, let there be rain, Let the brokenhearted love again Sherry we could run with our arms open wide before the tide To all the girls down at Sacred Heart And all you operators back in the park Say hey, hey, hey, what you say Sherry Darlin' Hey hey hey, what you say Sherry Darlin'

Jackson Cage

Driving home she grabs something to eat Turns a corner and drives down her street Into a row of houses she just melts away Like a scenery in another man's play Into a house where the blinds are closed To keep from seeing things she don't wanna know She pulls the blinds and looks out on the street The cool of the night takes the edge off the heat In the Jackson Cage Down in the Jackson Cage You can try with all your might But you're reminded every night That you've been judged and handed life Down in the Jackson Cage Every day ends in wasted motion Just crossed swords on the killing floor To settle back is to settle without knowing The hard edge that you're settling for Because there's always just one more day And it's always gonna be that way Little girl you've been down here so long I can tell by the way that you move you belong to The Jackson Cage Down in Jackson Cage And it don't matter just what you say Are you tough enough to play the game they play Or will you just do your time and fade away Down into the Jackson Cage Baby there's nights when I dream of a better world But I wake so downhearted girl I see you feeling so tired and confused I wonder what it's worth to me or you Just waiting to see some sun Never knowing if that day will ever come Left alone standing out on the street Till you become the hand that turns the key down in Jackson Cage Down in Jackson Cage Well darling can you understand The way that they will turn a man Into a stranger to waste away Down in the Jackson Cage

Two Hearts

I went out walking the other day Seen a little girl crying along the way She'd been hurt so bad said she'd never love again Someday your crying girl will end And you'll find once again (Chorus) Two hearts are better than one Two hearts girl get the job done Two hearts are better than one Once I spent my time playing tough guy scenes But I was living in a world of childish dreams Someday these childish dreams must end To become a man and grow up to dream again Now I believe in the end (Chorus) Sometimes it might seem like it was planned For you to roam empty hearted through this land Though the world turns you hard and cold There's one thing mister, that I know That's if you think your heart is stone And that you're rough enough to whip this world alone Alone buddy there ain't no peace of mind That's way I'll keep searching till I find my special one (Chorus)

Independance Day

Well papa go to bed now it's getting late Nothing we can say is gonna change anything now I'll be leaving in the morning from St. Mary's Gate We wouldn't change this thing even if we could somehow Cause the darkness of this house has got the best of us There's a darkness in this town that's got us too But they can't touch me now And you can't touch me now They ain't gonna do to me What I watched them do to you So say goodbye it's Independance Day It's Independance Day All down the line Just say goodbye it's Independance Day It's Independance Day this time Now I don't know what it always was with us We chose the words, and yeah, we drew the lines There was just no way this house could hold the two of us I guess that we were just too much of the same kind Well say goodbye it's Independance Day It's Independance Day all boys must run away So say goodbye it's Independance Day All men must make their way come Independance Day Now the rooms are all empty down at Frankie's joint And the highway she's deserted clear down to Breaker's Point There's a lot of people leaving town now leaving their friends, their homes At night they walk that dark and dusty highway all alone Well papa go to bed now, it's getting late Nothing we can say can change anything now Because there's just different people coming down here now and they see things in different ways And soon everything we've known will just be swept away So say goodbye it's Independance Day Papa now I know the things you wanted that you could not say But won't you just say goodbye it's Independance Day I swear I never meant to take those things away

Hungry Heart

Got a wife and kids in Baltimore Jack I went out for a ride and I never went back Like a river that don't know where it's flowing I took a wrong turn and I just kept going (Chorus) Everybody's got a hungry heart Everybody's got a hungry heart Lay down your money and you play your part Everybody's got a hungry heart I met her in a Kingstown bar We fell in love I knew it had to end We took what we had and we ripped it apart Now here I am down in Kingstown again (Chorus) Everybody needs a place to rest Everybody wants to have a home Don't make no difference what nobody says Ain't nobody like to be alone (Chorus)

Out In The Street

Put on your best dress baby And darling, fix your hair up right Cause there's a party, honey Way down beneath the neon lights All day you've been working that hard line Now tonight you're gonna have a good time I work five days a week girl Loading crates down on the dock I take my hard earned money And meet my girl down on the block And Monday when the foreman calls time I've already got Friday on my mind When that whistle blows Girl, I'm down the street I'm home, I'm out of my work clothes When I'm out in the street I walk the way I wanna walk When I'm out in the street I talk the way I wanna talk When I'm out in the street When I'm out in the street When I'm out in the street, girl Well, I never feel alone When I'm out in the street, girl In the crowd I feel at home The black and whites they cruise by And they watch us from the corner of their eyes But there ain't no doubt girl, down here We ain't gonna take what they're handing out When I'm out in the street I walk the way I wanna walk When I'm out in the street I talk the way I wanna talk Baby, out in the street I don't feel sad or blue Baby, out in the street I'll be waiting for you When the whistle blows Girl, I'm down the street I'm home, I'm out of my work clothes When I'm out in the street I walk the way I wanna walk When I'm out in the street I talk the way I wanna talk When I'm out in the street Pretty girls, they're all passing by When I'm out in the street From the corner, we give them the eye Baby, out in the street I just feel all right Meet me out in the street, little girl, tonight Meet me out in the street Meet me out in the street

Crush On You

My feets were flying down the street just the other night When a Hong Kong special pulled up at the light What was inside, man, was just c'est magnifique I wanted to hold the bumper and let her drag me down the street. (Chorus) Ooh, ooh I gotta crush on you Ooh, ooh I gotta crush on you Ooh, ooh I gotta crush on you tonight Sometimes I spot a little stranger standing 'cross the room My brain takes a vacation just to give my heart more room For one kiss, darling I swear everything I would give Cause you're a walking, talking reason to live (Chorus) Well now she might be the talk of high society She's probably got a lousy personality She might be a heiress to Rockefeller She might be a waitress or a bank teller She makes the Venus de Milo look like she's got no style She make Sheena of the Jungle look meek and mild I need a quick shot, Doc, knock me off my feet Cause I'll be minding my own business walking down the street... watchout! (Chorus)

You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)

Yesterday I went shopping buddy down to the mall Looking for something pretty I could hang on my wall I knocked over a lamp before it hit the floor I caught it A salesman turned around said, "boy, you break that thing you bought it." (Chorus) You can look but you better not touch boy You can look but you better not touch boy Mess around and you'll end up in dutch boy You can look but you better not, no you better not, no you better not touch Well I came home from work and I switched on Channel 5 There was a pretty little girly lookin' straight into my eyes Well I watched as she wiggled back and forth across the screen She didn't get me excited she just made me feel mean (Chorus) Well I called up Dirty Annie on the telephone I took her out to the drive-in just to get her alone I found a lover's rendezvous, the music low, set to park I heard a tapping on the window and a voice in the dark (Chorus)

I Wanna Marry You

I see you walking, baby, down the street Pushing that baby carriage at your feet I see that lonely ribbon in your hair Tell me I am the man for whom you put it there You never smile girl, you never speak You just walk on by, darling week after week Raising two kids alone in this mixed up world Must be a lonely life for a working girl (Chorus) Little girl, I wanna marry you Oh yeah, little girl, I wanna marry you Yes I do Little girl, I wanna marry you Now, honey, I don't wanna 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 that in the end true love prevails But in the end true love can't be no fairytale To say I'll make your dreams come true would be wrong But maybe, darling, I could help them along (Chorus) My daddy said right before he died That true, true love was just a lie He went to his grave a broken heart An unfulfilled live, makes a man hard Oh, darlin' There's something happy and there's something sad 'Bout wanting somebody, oh so bad, I wear my love darling, without shame I'd be proud if you would wear my name

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 were 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 things 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

Disk 2

Point Blank

Do you still say your prayers little darlin' do you go to bed at night Praying that tomorrow, everything will be allright But tomorrow's fall in number in number one by one You wake up and you're dying you don't even know what from Well they shot you point blank you been shot in the back Baby point blank you been fooled this time little girl that's a fact Right between the eyes baby, point blank right between the pretty lies that they tell Little girl you fell You grew up where young girls they grow up fast You took what you were handed and left behind what was asked But what they asked baby wasn't right You didn't have to live that life, I was gonna be your Romeo you were gonna be my Juliet These days you don't wait for Romeo's you wait on that welfare check And on all the pretty things that you can't ever have and on all the promises That always end up point blank, shot between the eyes Point blank like little white lies you tell to ease the pain You're walking in the sights, girl of point blank And it's one false move and baby the lights go out Once I dreamed we were together again baby you and me Back home in those old clubs the way we used to be We were standin' at the bar it was hard to hear The band was playin' loud and you were shoutin' somethin' in my ear You pulled my jacket off and as the drummer counted four You grabbed my hand and pulled me out on the floor You just stood there and held me, then you started dancing slow And as I pulled you tighter I swore I'd never let you go Well I saw you last night down on the avenue Your face was in the shadows but I knew that it was you You were standin' in the doorway out of the rain You didn't answer when I called out your name You just turned, and then you looked away like just another stranger waiting to get blown away Point blank, right between the eyes Point blank, right between the pretty lies you fell Point blank, shot straight through the heart Yea point blank, you've been twisted up till you've become just another part of it Point blank, you're walking in the sights, Point blank, living one false move just one false move away Point blank, they caught you in their sights Point blank, did you forget how to love, girl, did you forget how to fight, Point blank they must have shot you in the head Cause point blank, bang bang baby you're dead.

Cadillac Ranch

Well, there she sits buddy justa gleaming in the sun There to greet a working man when his day is done I'm gonna pack my pa and I'm gonna pack my aunt I'm gonna take them down to the Cadillac Ranch Elderado fins, whitewalls and skirts Rides just like a little bit of heaven here on earth Well buddy when I die throw my body in the back And drive me to the junkyard in my Cadillac Cadillac, Cadillac Long and dark, shiny and black Open up your engines let 'em roar Tearing up the highway like a big old dinosaur James Dean in that Mercury '49 Junior Johnson running through the woods of Caroline Even Burt Reynolds in that black Trans- Am All gonna meet down at the Cadillac Ranch Cadillac, Cadillac Long and dark, shiny and black Open up your engines let 'em roar Tearing up the highway just a big old dinosaur Hey, little girlie in the blue jeans so tight Driving alone through the Wisconsin night You're my last love baby you're my last chance Don't let them take me to the Cadillac Ranch Cadillac, Cadillac Long and dark, shiny and black Pulled up to my house today Came and took my little girl away

I'm A Rocker

I got a 007 watch and it's a one and only It's got a I-Spy beeper that tells me when you're lonely I got a Batmobile so I can reach ya' in a fast shake When your world's in crisis of an impendin' heartbreak Now don't you call James Bond or Secret Agent Man Cause they can't do it, like I can I'm a rocker, baby, I'm a rocker - every day I'm a rocker, baby, I'm a rocker If you're hanging from a cliff or you're tied to the tracks, girl Columbo split and you can't find Kojak True love is broken and the tears are fallin' faster You're sufferin' from a pain in your heart or some other natural disaster Now I don't care what kind of shape you're in If they put up a roadblock, I'll parachute in I'm a rocker, baby, I'm a rocker - I'm in love I'm a rocker, baby, I'm a rocker - every day I'm a rocker, baby, I'm a rocker - with you So you fell for some jerk who was tall, dark and handsome Then he kidnapped your heart and now he's holding it for ransom Well, like a mission impossible I'm gonna go and get it back You know I would'a taken better care of it, baby, than that Sometimes I get so hot girl, well, I can't talk But when I'm with you I cool off, and I walk I'm a rocker, baby, I'm a rocker, and I talk I'm a rocker, baby, I'm a rocker, every day I'm a rocker, baby, I'm a rocker, every day

Fade Away

Well now you say you've found another man who does things to you that I can't And that no matter what I do it's all over now between me and you girl But I can't believe what you say No I can't believe what you say 'Cause baby (Chorus) I don't wanna fade away Oh I don't wanna fade away Tell me what can I do what can I say Cause darling I don't wanna fade away Well now you say that you've made up your mind it's been such a long, long time since it's been good with us And that somewhere back along the line you lost your love and I lost your trust Now rooms that once were so bright are filled with the coming night, darlin' (Chorus) You say it's not easy for you And that you've been so lonely While other girls go out doing what they want to do You say that you miss the nights when we'd go out dancing The days when you and I walked as two Well girl I miss them too Oh I swear that I do Oh girl Now baby I don't wanna be just another useless memory holding you tight Or just some other ghost out on the street to whom you stop and politely speak when you pass on by vanishing into the night Left to vanish into the night No baby (Chorus)

Stolen Car

I met a little girl and I settled down In a little house out on the edge of town We got married, and swore we'd never part Then little by little we drifted from each other's heart At first I thought it was just restlessness That would fade as time went by and our love grew deep In the end it was something more I guess That tore us apart and made us weep And I'm driving a stolen car Down on Eldridge Avenue Each night I wait to get caught But I never do She asked if I remembered the letters I wrote When our love was young and bold She said last night she read those letters And they made her feel one hundred years old And I'm driving a stolen car On a pitch black night And I'm telling myself I'm gonna be alright But I ride by night and I travel in fear That in this darkness I will disappear

Ramrod

Hey, little dolly with the blue jeans on I wanna ramrod with you honey, till half past dawn Let your hair down sugar and pick up this beat Come on and meet me tonight down on Bluebird Street I've been working all week, I'm up to my neck in hock Come Saturday night I let my ramrod rock She's a hot stepping hemi with a four on the floor She's a roadrunner engine in a '32 Ford Late at night when I'm dead on the line I swear I think of your pretty face when I let her unwind Well look over yonder see them city lights Come on little dolly 'n' go ramroddin' tonight Come on, come on, come on little baby Come on, come on let's shake it tonight Come on, come on, come on little sugar Dance with your daddy and we'll go ramroddin' tonight Hey little dolly won't you say you will Meet me tonight up on the top of the hill Well just a few miles cross the county line There's a cute little chapel nestled down in the pines Say you'll be mine little girl I'll put my foot to the floor Give me the word now sugar, we'll go ramroddin' forever more

The Price You Pay

You make up your mind, you choose the chance you take You ride to where the highway ends and the desert breaks Out on to an open road you ride until the day You learn to sleep at nigth with the price you pay Now with their hands held high, they reached out for the open skies And in one last breath they built the roads they'd ride to their death Driving on through the night, unable to break away From the restless pull of the price you pay (Chorus) Oh, the price you pay, oh, the price you pay Now you can't walk away from the price you pay Now they'd come so far and they'd waited so long Just to end up caught in a dream where everything goes wrong Where the dark of night holds back the light of the day And you've gotta stand and fight for the price you pay (Chorus) Little girl down on the strand With that pretty little baby in your hands Do you remember the story of the promised land How he crossed the desert sands And could not enter the chosen land On the banks of the river he stayed To face the price you pay So let the game start, you better run you 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 man fallen away to the price you pay, and girl before the end of the day, I'm gonna tear it down and throw it away

Drive All Night

When I lost you honey sometimes I think I lost my guts too And I wish God would send me a word send me something I'm afraid to lose Lying in the heat of night like prisoners all our lives I get shivers down my spine and all I wanna do is hold you tight (Chorus) I swear I'll drive all night just to buy you some shoes And to taste your tender charms And I just wanna sleep tonight again in your arms Tonight there's fallen angels and they're waiting for us down in the street Tonight there's calling strangers, hear them crying in defeat. Let them go, let them go, let them go, do their dances of the death (let 'em go right ahead) You just dry your eyes girl, and c'mon c'mon c'mon let's go to bed baby, baby, baby (Chorus) There's machines and there's fire waiting on the edge of town They're out there for hire but baby they can't hurt us now Cause you've got, you've got, you've got, you've got my love, you've got my love Through the wind, through the rain, the snow, the wind, the rain You've got, you've got my, my love heart and soul

Wreck On The Highway

Last night I was out driving Coming home at the end of the working day I was riding alone through the drizzling rain On a deserted stretch of a county two- lane When I came upon a wreck on the highway Now there was blood and glass all over And there was nobody there but me As the rain tumbled down hard and cold I seen a young man lying by the side of the road He cried Mister, won't you help me please An ambulance finally came and took him to Riverside I watched as they drove him away And I thought of a girlfriend or a young wife And a state trooper knocking in the middle of the night To say your baby died in a wreck on the highway Sometimes I sit up in the darkness And I watch my baby as she sleeps Then I climb in bed and I hold her tight I just lay there awake in the middle of the nigth Thinking 'bout the wreck on the highway

NOTES

All songs written by Bruce Springsteen. "Point Biank", "The Price You Pay", "The Ties That Bind", "The River", "Independence Day", "Stolen Car" and "Hungry Heart": © 1979 Bruce Springsteen (ASCAP). All rights reserved. Used by permission. "Out In The Street", "Drive All Night", "l'm A Rocker", "I Wanna Marry You", "Cadillac Ranch", "Ramrod", "Sherry Darling", "You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)", "Crush On You", "Wreck On The Highway", "Fade Away", "Two Hearts" and "Jackson Cage": © 1980 Bruce Springsteen (ASCAP). All rights reserved. Used by permission.

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