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Bruce Springsteen


A little something about Bruce Springsteen
Born in 1949 into New Jersey's working class, Springsteen rose through the musical ranks as a Dylanesque folksinger, in the time of Vietnam, Nixon and the civil rights movement. His early recordings in the 1970s spoke not of the American dream fulfilled, but of the despair and loneliness of American youth coming to grips with reality. Backed by his musical companions the E Street Band, Springsteen had his first commerical successes in 1975 with the album Born to Run. His fame crept slowly until 1984, when he released Born in the USA. Suddenly Bruce Springsteen was a household name, selling records around the world. Videos were shot. Stadium were packed. Parodies were recorded ("Born in East LA"). Conservatives - unable to hear past the "Born in the USA" refrain - embraced the title track, which was actually an indictment of the dismantling of American industry, high unemployment rates, conservative economics and our short-term national memory. Whatever the case, Springsteen became one of the most recognizable popular figures of the 1980s. After Born in the USA he returned to recording more subtle, introspective music, including his 1995 Ghost of Tom Joad album.

Lyrics featured below: "Dancing in the Dark", "Born in the U.S.A", "Glory Days", "Brilliant Disguise"

Dancing in the Dark

I get up in the eveningAnd I ain't got nothing to sayI come home in the morningI go to bed feeling the same wayI ain't nothing but tiredMan, I'm just tired and bored with myselfHey there baby I could use just a little helpCHORUS:You can't start a fireYou can't start a fire without a sparkThis gun's for hireEven if we're just dancing in the darkMessage keeps getting clearerRadio's on and I'm moving 'round the placeI check my looks in the mirrorI wanna change my clothes, my hair, my faceMan, I ain't getting nowhere just living in a dump like thisThere's something happening somewhereBaby I just know that there isCHORUSYou sit around getting olderThere's a joke here somewhere and it's on meI'll shake this world off my shouldersCome on baby the laugh's on meStay on the streets of this townAnd they'll be carving you up all nightThey say you gotta stay hungryHey baby I'm just about starving tonightI'm dying for some actionI'm sick of sitting 'round here trying to write this bookI need a love reactionCome on now baby gimme just one lookCHORUSYou can't start a fire worrying about yourLittle world falling apartThis gun's for hireEven if we're just dancing in the dark


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 U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.

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 U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.

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"

I 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 U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
I'm a long gone Daddy in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
I'm a cool rocking Daddy in the U.S.A.

---------------------------

Glory Days

I had a friend was a big baseball player back in highschool
He could throw that speedball by ya, make you look like a fool
Saw him the other night at this roadside bar I was walking in he was
walking out
We went back inside, sat down, had a few drinks, but all we kept talking
about

Glory Days, yeah they'll pass you by
Glory Days, in the wink of a young girl's eye
Glory Days, glory days

There's this girl that lives up the block, back in school she could turn
all the boys heads
Sometimes on Friday I'll stop by and have a few drinks after she put her
kids to bed
Her and her husband Bobby, well they split up, I guess it's two years gone by
We just sit around talking about the old times, she says when she feels
like crying she starts laughing thinking about

Glory Days...

Think I'm going down to the well tonight and I'm gonna drink till I get`
my fill
I hope when I get older I don't sit around thinking about it, but I probably
will
Yeah just sitting back trying to recapture a little of the glory of
Well the time slips away and leaves you with nothing, mister, but boring
stories of

Glory Days...

All right boys keep it rocking now
We gonna go home now
Let's go!


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 want to know 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 alter 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 disguise 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