My renewed interest in Bruce Springsteen dates back to that trip to the Spec’s used bins that I wrote about a couple of weeks ago. The fourth album I bought (for less than $5) was Springsteen’s sophomore release, The Wild, The Innocent and The E-Street Shuffle. I’ve been addicted to it ever since.
The album was released in 1973 just eight months after Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ. Imagine hearing those two bursts of creative genius from a new artist in the same year. Makes me wish I hadn’t been less than a year old at the time.
Called “one of the greatest albums in the history of rock & roll” by AllMusic.com, The Wild, The Innocent and The E-Street Shuffle is a collection of seven epic songs that simultaneously feel meticulously crafted and improvised in some shadowy New York alley.
Springsteen spins yarns about characters with such vivid names as Wild Billy, Spanish Johnny, Big Pretty, Jack Knife, Puerto Rican Jane, Catlong, Power Thirteen and Little Angel. He places them on boardwalks, city streets and in a traveling circus show. This album is cinematic in scope, packed with surprise twists and detours — the music box melody that finishes off ‘Incident on 57th Street,’ the classical piano flourishes of ‘New York City Serenade,’ the jazz breaks that pop up throughout.
I’m just beginning to delve into Springsteen’s back catalog but I find it hard to imagine that anything he’s done can top the fierce romantic energy of this album.
You know playin’ blindman’s bluff is a little baby’s game
You pick up Little Dynamite, I’m gonna pick up Little Gun
And together we’re gonna go out tonight and make that highway run
You don’t have to call me lieutenant Rosie and I don’t want to be your son
The only lover I’m ever gonna need’s your soft sweet little girl’s tongue Rosie you’re the one
Dynamite’s in the belfry playin’ with the bats
Little Gun’s downtown in front of Woolworth’s tryin’ out his attitude on all the cats
Papa’s on the corner waitin’ for the bus
Mama she’s home in the window waitin’ up for us
She’ll be there in that chair when they wrestle her upstairs
‘Cause you know we ain’t gonna come
I ain’t here for business
I’m only here for fun
And Rosie you’re the one
(CHORUS)
Rosalita jump a little lighter
Señorita come sit by my fire
I just want to be your love, ain’t no lie
Rosalita you’re my stone desire
Jack the Rabbit and Weak Knees Willie, you know they’re gonna be there
Ah, sloppy Sue and Big Bones Billie, they’ll be comin’ up for air
We’re gonna play some pool, skip some school, act real cool
Stay out all night, it’s gonna feel all right
So Rosie come out tonight, baby come out tonight
Windows are for cheaters, chimneys for the poor
Closets are for hangers, winners use the door
So use it Rosie, that’s what it’s there for
(CHORUS)
Now I know your mama she don’t like me ’cause I play in a rock and roll band
And I know your daddy he don’t dig me but he never did understand
Papa lowered the boom, he locked you in your room
I’m comin’ to lend a hand
I’m comin’ to liberate you, confiscate you, I want to be your man
Someday we’ll look back on this and it will all seem funny
But now you’re sad, your mama’s mad
And your papa says he knows that I don’t have any money
Tell him this is last chance to get his daughter in a fine romance
Because a record company, Rosie, just gave me a big advance
My tires were slashed and I almost crashed but the Lord had mercy
My machine she’s a dud, I’m stuck in the mud somewhere in the swamps of Jersey
Hold on tight, stay up all night ’cause Rosie I’m comin’ on strong
By the time we meet the morning light I will hold you in my arms
I know a pretty little place in Southern California down San Diego way
There’s a little café where they play guitars all night and day
You can hear them in the back room strummin’
So hold tight baby ’cause don’t you know daddy’s comin’
(CHORUS)
Meet Me In Montauk 
My first exposure to this song was through a video playing in the early days of MTV. It was a concert performance. I was hooked immediately, not just to the song, but the passion and energy Bruce delivered live. I had always heard how incredible Bruce was in concert, and this video made me a believer. I would later have the pleasure of seeing Bruce on the Born in the USA tour and the show was, indeed, great. I do wish, however, I could have seen Bruce in the 70’s in a smaller venue (the USA show was at the Orange Bowl).
I’m not sure if this is the same video they played on MTV, but it will give you some sense of how Bruce performed this song live: