FRANKIE

Live 07 Apr 1976 version

Dark weekends in the sun, out on Chelsea Road
Descending the stairs, Frankie my love
Check your make-up in the mirror, come on, baby, let's go
We'll dance 'round this dirty town, 'till the night is all gone
Let all the finer things sleep alone tonight
Let all the minor kings lose their thrones tonight
Don't worry about me baby, I'll be alright

There's machines and there's fire on the outside of town*
Young boys for hire waiting to blow us all down
There are strange flashes in the sky up above
I'll spend the night at the movies with my secret love
At dusk the stars all appear on the screen
Just like they do each night in my dreams
But tonight's no dream, Frankie, I can feel myself too
Living and dying like I was born to do

Yeah!
Walk softly tonight little angel
I wanna be alone with you
Talk softly to me tonight angel
Make all my dream worlds come true

I remember standing in the freezing rain
Reading them "Want" ads out on Chelsea Row
Winging down the street in search of new games
Hustling through the night packs where the actors go
Frankie they're real crazy, let's run and hide
In the darkness there'll be hidden worlds that shine**
When all of the fury in this desperate land
Will rise like raindrops in the palm of my hand

Rises like the rain, whoaaa
Whoaaa, whoaaa, whoaaa
Frankie let your sadness rise
Baby let your sadness rise
Baby let your sadness rise, little girl
Little girl, little girl
Little girl, little girl
Little girl
Walk softly tonight little angel
Into the shadows where the lovers go
Talk softly to me tonight angel
Whisper your secrets so soft and low
Walk softly tonight little angel
Into the shadows where the lovers go
Talk softly to me tonight angel
Whisper your secrets so soft and low
Walk softly tonight little angel
Into the shadows where the lovers go
Talk softly to me tonight angel
Whisper your secrets so soft and low
Walk softly tonight little angel
Into the shadows where the lovers go
Talk softly to me tonight angel
Whisper your secrets so soft and low
Walk softly tonight little angel
Into the shadows where the lovers go
Talk softly to me tonight angel
Whisper your secrets so soft and low
Walk softly tonight little angel
Into the shadows where the lovers go
Talk softly to me tonight angel
Whisper your secrets so soft and low
Walk softly tonight little angel
Walk softly tonight little angel

These lyrics refer to the 07 Apr 1976 live performance at the Allen Theater, Cleveland, OH. That was the 2nd known performance of the song.

Check also the Tracks version and the studio Jun 1977 version.

* This line also appears in DRIVE ALL NIGHT
** This line also appears in CANDY'S ROOM

Liner notes on The Genuine Tracks bootleg booklet:

As has been amply reported, 1976 was a pivotal year in Bruce Springsteen's career. Born To Run landed him on the cover of Time and Newsweek and atop critics polls for 1975's best album, but his frustration over the one-sided contract he'd signed with Mike Appel at the beginning of his career was boiling over. Finally, he took legal action, and pending the lawsuit's outcome, he was forbidden from recording with Jon Landau, who had taken Appel's place as his principal advisor. As a result, almost three years elapsed between the release of Born To Run and its follow-up, Darkness On The Edge Of Town, which Springsteen recorded after the suit ended.

During that hiatus from the studio, he did play live, again unveiling several new songs. Of these, FRANKIE is probably the clearest bridge between the fanciful urban lyricism of Born To Run and the edgy Americana of Darkness On The Edge Of Town. Included here is a version recorded at Cleveland's Allen Theater on Apr 7, 1976, FRANKIE has far more immediacy then the Born In The USA-era version included on Tracks. It also features Springsteen's original lyrics, complete with the "hidden worlds that shine" that later turned up in CANDY'S ROOM and the "machines and fire on the outside of town" that ended up in DRIVE ALL NIGHT.