SOMETHING IN THE NIGHT

Live 30 Oct 1976 version

Well I'm driving 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

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

She said she was born with nothing, said she was better, better off that way
Soon as you got something they send somebody to come and take it away
She wants me to push that old car, together we could make it clean, make it fast, make it out of sight
And surrender to the justice of something in the night

Whoah and now nothing is forgotten or forgiven, when it's your last time around
Stuff running around my head, I can't live with or live down
Inside all the big boys and the players sit around the tables and mumble about some vague wrong and right
And outside kids like us rumble, babe, over something in the night

And when we found all the things we loved and they were crushed and dying in the dirt
And we tried to pick up the pieces and baby get away without getting hurt
And they caught us at the state line, burned our cars in one last fire fight
And sent us running blind into the swamps, chasing something in the night

Info

The above lyrics are for the live 30 Oct 1976 performance of SOMETHING IN THE NIGHT at Palladium in New York City, NY, during what is known as The Lawsuit Tour.

This version of SOMETHING IN THE NIGHT was used between 29 Oct 1976 and 04 Nov 1976, and is very similar to the live 28 Oct 1976 version, but with the last verse rewritten, to appear later on the album version.

Verse 1: later appeared on the albums version.
Verse 2: similar to the one on the live 01 Aug 1976 version.
Verse 3: similar to the one on the live 27 Oct 1976 version.
Verse 4: similar to the one on the live 09 Oct 1976 version.
Verse 5: will later appear on the album version.

Promotional ad for the 1976 six-night stand at Palladium, New York City, NY
(Taken from Brucebase)

Ticket stub for the 30 Oct 1976 show at Palladium, New York City, NY
(Taken from Brucebase)

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).

Credits

Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.

Available Versions

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

Page last updated: 18 Jan 2016