ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT)

Live 21 Sep 1979 version

The night was young
The moon was yellow
And the leaves came tumbling down

Spread out now, Rosie, doctor come cut loose her mama's reins
You know playin' 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, we'll make that highway run
You don't have to call me lieutenant, Rosie, I don't want to be your son
The only lover I'm ever gonna need's your soft sweet little girl's tongue
You're the one!

Dynamite's in the belfry, baby, playin' with the bats
Little Gun's downtown in front of Woolworth's, tryin' out his attitude on all the cats
Papa's on the corner, waiting for the bus
Mama's home in the window, waitin' up there for us
She'll be there in that chair 'til they wrestle her upstairs, you know we ain't gonna come
I ain't here on business, I'm only here for fun
You're the one!

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

Jack the Rabbit, Weak Knees Willie, you know they're gonna be there
Gonna be Sloppy Sue and Big Bones Billy, they're comin' up for air
What're we gonna do?
We're gonna
[Crowd:] Play some pool, skip some school, act real cool
[Crowd:] Stay out all night, gonna feel all right
Ooh, yeah, yeah, Rosie, come out tonight, Rosie, come out tonight
Windows are for cheaters, chimneys for the poor
Closets are for hangers, winners use the door
Use it, Rosie!

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

[Spoken:] On the piano, with his doctorate in rock and roll, Professor Roy Bittan! On the guitar, on guitar, writer, producer, man of many talents, writer of such hits as I Don't Want To Go Home, This Time It's For Real, and many others, ladies and gentlemen, Miami Steve Van Zandt! On the bass guitar, fastest man in the world, Mr. Garry W. Tallent! On the drums, The Mighty Max! On the organ, Mr. Dan Federici! And last but not least, King of the Known World, Master of the Universe, and the only man who will successfully challenge Ted Kennedy for the presidential nomination for the Democratic Party — if he wants to — Big Man Clarence Clemons!

Bring it up!

I know your mama, she don't like me 'cause I play in a rock and roll band
I know your pop don't dig me, he never did understand
Papa lowered the boom, locked you in your room
Coming to lend a hand
Riding to liberate you, confiscate you, I want to be your man
Someday we'll look back on this, it will all seem funny, la, la, la
Now you're sad, mama's mad
(Papa says he knows that I don't have any money)
(Your papa says he knows that I don't have any money)
(Your papa says he knows that I don't have any money)

Well, 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, I almost crashed, the Lord had mercy
My machine, she's a dud, out stuck 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 pretty little place in Southern California down San Diego way
A little café, they play guitars all night and day
You hear 'em in the back room strummin'
Hold tight, baby, don't you know I'm coming
Everybody say

(Ohhhh!)
Whoa!
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

(Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!)

Page last updated: 06 Apr 2012

Info

The above lyrics are for the live 21 Sep 1979 performance of ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) at Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY, during the MUSE Concerts For A Non-Nuclear Future. The song was played in a full-band arrangement, featured band introductions, and includes a snipped of the opening lines from the traditional song STAGGER LEE in the introduction.


Ticket stub for the 21 Sep 1979 show at Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
[Taken from Brucebase]

The MUSE Concerts

Shortly after the Three Mile Island nuclear plant meltdown in Pennsylvania in March 1979, a coalition of performers and activists opposed the use of nuclear power and founded Musicians United For Safe Energy (MUSE). The anti-nuclear group was the brainchild of four performers (Jackson Browne, John Hall of the 70's band Orleans, Bonnie Raitt, and Graham Nash) and four antinuclear activists (Sam Lovejoy, Howard Kohn, Tom Campbell, and David Fenton).

The group organized a series of five benefit concerts billed as the "MUSE Concerts For A Non-Nuclear Future", held at Madison Square Garden in New York City, from 19 to 23 Sep 1979. The goal of the concerts (and an accompanying 200,000-person rally staged in Battery Park City in New York City) was to spread awareness about the dangers of radioactive-fueled energy and raise funds for an anti-nuclear / pro-solar campaign.

MUSE's Tom Campbell mentioned the subject to Bruce Springsteen on 03 Jun 1979 when the two met in Los Angeles at the wedding party of Springsteen's lighting director Marc Brinkman. However, it was Jackson Browne who later convinced Springsteen to join the bill for the MUSE concerts. He agreed on the condition that no politicians be given microphone time or money from the event's proceeds. He was the only musician who did not outline his reasons for joining the antinuclear movement in a short statement for publication in the MUSE program book. "Bruce felt that a statement wasn't appropriate - the music was enough," his manager, Jon Landau, explained.

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The list of acts invited to play at the event also included Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Graham Nash (who re-united Crosby, Stills & Nash for this one occasion), John Hall, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, James Taylor and Carly Simon, The Doobie Brothers, Jesse Colin Young, Gil Scott-Heron, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, among others.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band were the highlight of the event, and they performeddon two nights, 21 and 22 Sep 1979. "The concerts Friday and Saturday night [21 and 22 Sep] are different, and the reason is Bruce Springsteen",. "The concerts Friday and Saturday night [21 and 22 Sep] are different, and the reason is Bruce Springsteen", Daisann McLane writes in Rolling Stone. "He has the kind of drawing power in the New York area that will pack a house for two nights in a row". The first of the two Springsteen shows was the only sellout of the five nights. "The crows is younger, and crazier; for the first time, I spot a few bloodied casualties being dragged down the aisles by security people. This is a Springsteen crowd, too, with little patience for preliminaries. On Friday [21 Sep 1979], Jesse Colin Young and Jackson Browne do short sets but fail to capture the allegiance of this revved-up bunch. Saturday [22 Sep 1979], Peter Tosh, who exuberantly performs twenty minutes of reggae, lopes back and forth across the stage in a burnoose and fares better, as does Tom Petty, who rocks hard but seems a little taken aback by the size of the stadium. This is a tough audience to crack. On Friday [21 Sep 1979], Chaka Khan leaves the stage in a huff. Seems she thought the audience was booing her; what she really heard was the sound of thousands of voices chanting Bruuuce! Bruuuce! [...] The crowd is his; fans are on their feet, standing on chairs from the first note, mouthing the words to every song. For the first time all week, it feels like something special is happening at Madison Square Garden. [...] The MUSE principals have been searching all week for the vibe, the feeling. Springsteen doesn't have to search for it; he walks onstage and it's there."

[Click thumbnail to enlarge/reduce scan]

The event produced a 1980 theatrical movie release titled No Nukes, which includes Springsteen's performances of THE RIVER, THUNDER ROAD, and a cover of Gary U.S. Bonds' QUARTER TO THREE, all taken from the 22 Sep 1979 show. No Nukes was later on released on home video and a three-record live album was also created from the event, containing two Springsteen performances from the 21 Sep 1979 show – Springsteen's duet with Jackson Browne on STAY was chosen for inclusion on the album, but since the release was a three-record set, Springsteen was asked for a an additional track. According to Dave Marsh, the rendition of THUNDER ROAD was the one Springsteen, Browne, and Jon Landau wanted, but "playing 'Stay' over and over again, they heard and liked the transition, a particularly seamless one, from 'Stay' into the band's medley of Mitch Ryder hits 'Jenny Take a Ride' and 'Devil With a Blue Dress/Good Golly Miss Molly.' Finally, Landau suggested that the Detroit Medley was probably what should go on the record with 'Say.' The others agreed." DETROIT MEDLEY became the second Springsteen track on the live album.


Description: The film includes live performances by James Taylor & Carly Simon, Bonnie Raitt, John Hall, Graham Nash, Jackson Browne, The Doobie Brothers, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, and others. It also includes backstage footage and covers the behind the scenes work of the musicians to put together this concert.

Documentary Footage directed by: Barbara Kopple, Haskell Wexler
Produced by: Julian Schlossberg, Danny Goldberg
Directed by: Julian Schlossberg, Danny Goldberg, Anthony Potenza
Executive: Producer Sam Lovejoy
Studio: Warner Brothers
Run Time: 103 minutes
Release date: 01 Sep 1980 (USA)

From the concert, record, and film, MUSE raised and donated over $1 Million to anti-nuclear and safe energy groups throughout the United States.

Available Versions

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

Credits

Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake).
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