SOMETHING IN THE NIGHT

Live 27 Oct 1976 version

Well I'm riding down Kingsley figuring I'll get a drink
I turn the radio way up loud so I don't have to think
And I take her to the floor looking for a moment when the world seems right
And I go tearing into the guts of something in the night

I pick this chick up hitch-hiking, she just hung her head out the window and she screamed
But she was looking for someplace to go, to die or be redeemed
Well you can ride this road to dawn, without another human being in sight
But baby everybody's gone looking for something in the night

Said she was born with nothing, said she would better, better off that way
As soon as you got something, somebody comes along and they try to take it away
She wants me to push my old Chevy, together, we could make it clean, make it fast, we could make it out of sight
We'd surrender to the justice of something in the night

Because tonight nothing is forgotten or forgiven, when it's your last time around
And I got stuff running 'round my head, I can't live with or without
Well, inside all the big boys and the players, they sit around the tables and mumble, about something wrong and right
While outside kids like us rumble, baby, over something in the night

Tonight me and that little girl, we're gonna love each other 'til we got nothing left to show
We gonna drive my old car as hard and fast as she will go
For all the ones caught laughin' in the face of the devil, for waitin' when the moment is right
Somewhere we'll surrender to the beauty of something in the night
Woahhh there's something in the night
Woahhh there's something in the night

Info

The above lyrics are for the live 27 Oct 1976 performance of SOMETHING IN THE NIGHT at Spectrum in Philadelphia, PA, during what is known as The Lawsuit Tour.

Verse 1: later appeared on the album version.
Verse 2: similar to the one on the live 01 Aug 1976 version.
Verse 3: rewritten.
Verse 4: similar to the one on the live 09 Oct 1976 version.
Verse 5: rewritten, never used again.

This show was originally scheduled for 26 Oct 1976, but was rescheduled to the following day. According to press reports, this was due to Clarence Clemons moving to California and being in transit the day of the show. Other reports state this was due to Clarence filming a cameo appearance for the film New York, New York.

Ticket stub for the 27 Oct 1976 show at Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA

Despite the marvelous reception received by both Born To Run and the tour which followed, the relationship between Bruce Springsteen and his now former manager and producer Mike Appel was deteriorating. In July 1976 the storm broke; Mike Appel wrote to Springsteen saying that he would not allow Jon Landau (Springsteen's friend and co-producer of Born To Run) to produce the next album, citing a particular paragraph from their original agreement. Springsteen replied on 27 Jul 1976 by firing manager Mike Appel and suing him and his management company Laurel Canyon Ltd. in Federal Court in Manhattan, claiming fraud, breach of trust, and undue influence. Appel counter-sued on 29 Jul 1976 in New York State Supreme Court, asking the court to prohibit Springsteen and Jon Landau from working together in studio. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band were slated to enter the studio that year for the recording of a new album, except that on 15 Sep 1976 the judge in the lawsuits case ruled that Springsteen was enjoined from any further recording with Columbia Records until Appel's suit was resolved. This would drag for about a year. Meanwhile, Springsteen continued gigging, and in the process broke his self-imposed rule of not playing the larger arenas. This was basically because he was not able to put a record out, and it was the only way his fans would be able to hear him at all. The tour became known as "The Lawsuit Tour" (62 know dates, August 1976 to March 1977).

Available Versions

List of available versions of SOMETHING IN THE NIGHT on this website:

Page last updated: 18 Jan 2016