Live 04 Jul 2008 version
[Spoken intro:] Oh, yes. I see requests, yes! Ah! All right, let me see what we got there. All right, hold on! Be right there. Oh, I got, I practiced this one, uh... Några önskemål? Huh? I mean, any requests, eh? [collects signs] Okay, this is one of our fourth of July specials for you. We always send this one out to Danny, and, uh, just a few days ago, Madame Marie, who's the, uh, gypsy teller in the Asbury Park boardwalk passed away. She was 98 (chuckles), that's a lot of fortune telling! (chuckles) But, uh, I was saying, there's enough mystery lost in the world, we need all the fortune tellers we can get. So tonight we're gonna send this one out to Madame Marie.
Ready?
One, two, one two, three
Oh, Sandy, fireworks are hailing over Little Eden tonight
Yeah, forcing a light into all them stoned-out faces left stranded on this fourth of July
Down in town the Circuit's filled with switchblade lovers, so fast, so shiny, and sharp
As the wizards play down on Pinball Way on the boardwalk way past dark
And the boys from the casino dance with their shirts open, like Latin lovers along the shore
Chasing all them silly New York girls
Well, Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us
The pier lights our carnival life forever
Love me tonight, for I may never see you again
Hey, Sandy, girl
My baby
Sandy, girl
Well now, the greasers, yeah, they tramp the streets or get busted for trying to sleep on the beach all night
Them boys in their spiked high heels, ah, Sandy, their skins are so white
And me, I just got tired of hanging in them dusty arcades and banging them pleasure machines
Chasing the factory girls underneath the boardwalk, where they all promise to unsnap their jeans
You know that tilt-a-whirl way down on the south beach drag?
I got on it last night and my shirt got caught
That Joey kept me spinning
I didn't think I'd ever get off
Well, Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us
The pier lights our carnival life on the water
Yeah, running down the beach with my old boss's daughter
He ain't my boss no more
So, my baby
Oh, Sandy, girl
Now, Sandy, that waitress I was seeing lost her desire for me
I spoke with her just last night, she said she won't set herself on fire for me anymore
She worked that joint under the boardwalk, she was always the girl you'd see bopping down the beach with the radio
She said that last night she was dressed like a star, in one of those cheap little seashore bars
Parked, making love, out on the Kokomo
You know the cops finally busted Madame Marie for telling fortunes better than they do
For me this boardwalk life's through
You know, you ought to quit this scene too
Oh, Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us
The pier lights our carnival life forever
Love me tonight and I promise I'll love you forever
Hey, Sandy, girl
My, my baby
Yeah, Sandy, girl
[Spoken outro:] Happy fourth!
The above lyrics are for the live 04 Jul 2008 performance of 4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) at Ullevi in Gothenburg, Sweden, during the Magic Tour. The song was performed in an album-style full-band arrangement and featured Roy Bittan on accordion and Charles Giordano on keys.
This was the first performance of 4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) after Madame Marie's death, and Springsteen dedicated the song to her. Madame Marie lived to 93, and not 98 as Springsteen said in the spoken introduction. During the song, the backdrop projected images of the Asbury Park boardwalk, a Ferris wheel, and an amusement park.
Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.
List of available versions of 4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) on this website:
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Album version]