ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT)

Live 03 Sep 2001 version



[Spoken intro (Brian Kirk):] I don't need to tell you, I don't need to tell you, I don't need to tell you how honored I am that this is about to happen. 'Cause I think you know that I know about every one of this gentleman's songs, I play them all a ton — of course, rather in a mediocre fashion. (Springsteen takes Kirk's guitar). He's gonna play my guitar! See what kind of show it is! All right, I'll surprise you with what we're about to do, but I need the horn section. Guys, I need you, I need you. Guitar. Jimmy, come on up here.

[Spoken (someone offstage):] Check, one, two.

[Spoken (Bruce Springsteen):] Oh, thank you! Oh, yeah!

Bruce Springsteen:Spread out now, Rosie, doctor come cut loose mama's reins
You know playing blind man's bluff is a little baby's game
You pick up Little Dynamite, I'm gonna pick up Little Gun
Together we're gonna go out tonight and make that highway run
Nick DiAco: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!

Bruce Springsteen:Dynamite's in the belfry, baby, playin' with the bats
Little Gun's downtown in front of Woolworth's, checkin' out his attitude on all the cats
Papa's on the corner, waiting for the bus
Mama's home in the window, sittin' up there for us
Nick DiAco:She'll be there in that armchair, wrestling upstairs, 'cause she knows we ain't gonna come
And I ain't here on business, baby, I'm only here for fun
Come in, Rosie, you're the one!

Springsteen, DiAco, and background vocalists:Rosalita, jump a little lighter
Senorita, come sit by my fire
I just want to be your lover, ain't no liar
Rosie, you're my stone desire

Bruce Springsteen:Jack the Rabbit and Weak Knees Willie
Crowd:Don't you know they're gonna be there
Bruce Springsteen:Sloppy Sue, Big Bones Billy
Crowd:They'll be comin' up for air
Bruce Springsteen:We're gonna play some pool, act real cool
Stay out all night, it's gonna feel all right
Rosie, come out tonight, come out tonight
Nick DiAco:Windows are for cheaters, chimneys for the poor
Closets are for hangers, winners use the door
So use it, Rosie!
Bruce Springsteen:That's what it's there for!

Springsteen, DiAco, and background vocalists:Rosalita, jump a little lighter
Senorita, come sit by my fire
I just want to be your lover, ain't no liar
Rosie, you're my stone desire
Patti Scialfa:Oh, say yeah!

Brian Kirk:I know your mama, she don't like me 'cause I play with Bruce Springsteen
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 coming to lend a hand
I'm coming to liberate you, confiscate you, I want to be your man
Some day we'll look back on this and it will all seem funny
Bruce Springsteen:But now you're sad
Brian Kirk:Your mama's mad
Springsteen and Kirk:And your papa says he knows that I don't have any money
Papa says he knows that I don't have any money
Papa says he knows that I don't have any money

Bruce Springsteen:This is his last chance to get his daughter in a fine romance
The record company, Rosie, gave me a big advance
My tires were slashed and I almost crashed, the Lord had mercy
My machine, she's a dud, oh, sittin' in the mud somewhere in the swamps of Jersey
Hold on tight, stay up all night, Rosie, I'm comin' on strong
By the time we meet the morning light I will hold you in my arms
I know a little café in Southern California down San Diego way
Oh, yeah
You can hear 'em in the back room strummin'
Hold tight, baby, don't you know I'm coming
Everybody say!
All:Ohhh!

All:Rosalita, jump a little lighter
Senorita, come sit by my fire
I just want to be your lover, ain't no liar
Rosalita, you're my stone desire

All, plus crowd:Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!

[Spoken outro (Bruce Springsteen):] Brian Kirk! Nobody knows the words to that!


Info

The above lyrics are for the live 03 Sep 2001 performance of ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) at Donovan's Reef in Sea Bright, NJ, with Brian Kirk & The Jirks, which included a three-piece horn section, plus Nick DiAco. The song was played in a full-band arrangement. Bruce Springsteen played Brian Kirk's acoustic guitar and Patti Scialfa played tambourine and provided background vocals.

Bruce Springsteen performing ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) on 03 Sep 2001 at Donovan's Reef, Sea Bright, NJ (taken from amateur video footage)
Bruce Springsteen performing ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) on 03 Sep 2001 at Donovan's Reef, Sea Bright, NJ (taken from amateur video footage)

Brian Kirk & The Jirks are a local Jersey Shore cover band who were the house band at Donovan's Reef at the time. Bruce Springsteen, Patti Scialfa, and family friend Anthony DiAco came to the bar in a golf cart along the beach at 6 p.m. to see Anthony DiAco's son, Nick DiAco, who frequently played with Brian Kirk & The Jirks. At the request of Brian Kirk, Springsteen and Patti Scialfa joined the band onstage for a four-song set following Nick's guest appearance. Kirk, a lifelong Springsteen fan, told Backstreets magazine: "Easily the most exciting, intense, fantabulous moment I have ever felt while being on stage in my lifetime... I'm going to find myself a new dream. [Bruce] makes me proud that I, too, come from the Jersey Shore. I can't express what a feeling it was to stand a foot-and-a-half from him as he played my guitar and sang ['Rosalita'] into my mic, one of the greatest songs ever written."

Credits / References

Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake). Much of the above info is taken from the Fall 2001 issue (#72) of Backstreets magazine.

Available Versions

List of available versions of ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) on this website:

ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Album version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 14 Feb 1973 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 06 Jun 1973 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 06 Jan 1974 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 03 Mar 1974 (late show) version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 09 Apr 1974 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 05 Feb 1975 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 02 Oct 1975 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 18 Nov 1975 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 04 Apr 1976 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 22 Aug 1976 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 30 Oct 1976 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 03 Nov 1976 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 04 Nov 1976 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 13 Feb 1977 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 06 Mar 1977 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 19 Mar 1977 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 25 Mar 1977 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 03 Jun 1978 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 07 Jul 1978 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 08 Jul 1978 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 09 Aug 1978 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 21 Aug 1978 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 08 Dec 1978 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 21 Sep 1979 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 22 Sep 1979 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 05 Oct 1979 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 01 Nov 1980 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 09 Nov 1980 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 31 Dec 1980 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 20 Aug 1981 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 21 Jun 1984 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 12 Jul 1984 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 10 May 1988 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 10 Aug 1992 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 24 Nov 1996 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 25 Nov 1996 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 26 Nov 1996 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 12 Aug 1999 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 18 Dec 2000 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 03 Sep 2001 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 08 Dec 2001 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 29 Apr 2003 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 06 Aug 2003 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 09 Aug 2003 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 25 Sep 2003 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 03 Oct 2003 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 05 Apr 2007 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 22 Apr 2008 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 07 May 2008 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 21 Aug 2008 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 18 May 2009 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 28 Jun 2009 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 25 Aug 2009 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 20 Oct 2009 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 07 Nov 2009 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 13 Nov 2009 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 25 Feb 2012 version]
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 01 Mar 2014 version]

Page last updated: 25 Dec 2017