SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT

Live 26 Nov 1996 version



[Spoken intro:] All right. Hey, Vini! Mad Dog Vincent Lopez is in the house! Come on out, we got a fellow that, uh, this is a fellow that I slept on his floor when I wrote most of the songs from Greetings From Asbury Park, my old good friend, all the way from Ireland tonight, Big Danny Gallagher!

I don't know, play a little bit, Soozie!

(laughs)

Whoa!


Crazy Janey and her mission man were back in the alley tradin' hands
'Long came Wild Billy with his friend G-Man, duded up for Saturday night
Well, Billy slammed on his coaster brakes
Said, "Anybody wanna go on up to Greasy Lake?
'Bout a mile down on the dark side of route eighty-eight
I got a bottle of rose, let's try it
We'll pick up Hazy Davy and Killer Joe, I'll take you all out to where the gypsy angels go
Built like light
Ooh, and they dance like spirits in the night" (all night)
All night (all night)
Baby don't know what it do to you
Like a spirit in the night (all night)
All night (all night)
Stand right up and let it shoot through you

Well now, Wild Billy was a crazy cat, and he shook some dust out of his coonskin cap
Cried, "Trust some of this, it'll show you where you're at, at least it'll help you really feel it"
Well, by the time we made it up to Greasy Lake, I had my head out the window; Janey's fingers in the cake
I think I really dug her; I was too loose to fake
I said, "I'm hurt," she said, "Honey, let me heal it"
We danced all night to a soul fairy band
She kissed me just right like only a lonely angel can
Felt so right, just as sweet as a spirit in the night (all night)
All night (all night)
Baby don't know what it do to you
Like a spirit in the night (all night)
All night (all night)
Stand right up and let it shoot through you

Yeah, yeah, yeah, all right

(Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh)

(Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh)

The night was bright, and the stars threw light on Billy and Davy
Dancin' in the moonlight
They were down near the water in a stone mud fight
Killer Joe gone passed out on the lawn

Well now, Hazy Davy got really hurt, he ran into the lake in just his socks and a shirt
Me and Crazy Janey were makin' love in the dirt, singin' our birthday songs
Then Janey said, "Baby, it's time to go"
So we closed our eyes and said goodbye
Gypsy angel row, felt just right
Together we moved like spirits in the night (all night)
All night (all night)
Well, baby don't know what it do to you
Like a spirit in the night (all night)
All night (all night)
Well, stand right up and let it shoot through you
Yeah, like a spirit in the night (all night)
All night (all night)
All night (all night)
All night (all night)
All night (all night)
All night (all night)
All night (all night)
(Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh)
That's right

[Spoken outro:] Big Danny Gallagher! (laughs) Who was kind enough to... He lent me his floor. We got dumped, we got evicted from our apartment on Cookman and Main, and I walked past his house and he was sitting out on the porch, and I said, "Man," I said, "I just got thrown out of my place" — "Well, you can sleep here," you know. (chuckles) So it was me and my sleeping bag... Over on Webb there... Good to see the man, he looks good! (chuckles)


Info

The above lyrics are for the live 26 Nov 1996 performance of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT at Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, NJ, during The Ghost Of Tom Joad Solo Acoustic Tour. The song was played in an acoustic "band" version, featuring Steve Van Zandt on guitar and backup vocals, Richard Blackwell on congas, Vini Lopez on drums and backup vocals, Danny Federici on accordion, Soozie Tyrell on violin, Patti Scialfa on backup vocals, and Big Danny Gallagher on guitar. This was the second of the only two outings of the song during The Ghost Of Tom Joad Solo Acoustic Tour.

Ticket stub for the 26 Nov 1996 show at Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park, NJ
Ticket stub for the 26 Nov 1996 show at Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park, NJ
(Taken from Brucebase)

This was the last of a three-night stand at Paramount Theatre.

Credits

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

Available Versions

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

SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Album version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 31 Jan 1973 (early show) version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 02 Mar 1973 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 24 Apr 1973 (early show) version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 01 May 1973 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 06 Jan 1974 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 05 Feb 1975 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 15 Aug 1975 (early show) version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 18 Nov 1975 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 13 May 1976 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 13 Feb 1977 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 07 Jul 1978 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 08 Dec 1978 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 15 Dec 1978 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 31 Dec 1980 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 20 Aug 1984 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 31 Oct 1992 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 06 Nov 1992 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 21 Feb 1995 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 25 Nov 1996 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 26 Nov 1996 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 14 Nov 1999 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 08 Apr 2000 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 08 May 2000 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 16 Oct 2002 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 21 Jul 2003 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 31 Aug 2003 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 19 Dec 2004 (late show) version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 22 Jun 2005 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 12 Dec 2006 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 20 Mar 2008 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 23 Aug 2008 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 16 Oct 2008 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 25 Aug 2009 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 20 Oct 2009 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 22 Nov 2009 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 26 Jan 2014 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Manfred Mann's Earth Band's cover version]

Page last updated: 21 May 2011