BECAUSE THE NIGHT

Live 19 Sep 1978 version

[Piano intro]

Take me now baby here as I am
Hold me close, try and understand
I worked all day out in the hot sun
I broke my back till the evening come

Come on now try and understand
I worked all day pushing for the man
Daylight's gone, take me under your cover
They can't hurt us now
They can't hurt us now
They can't hurt us now

Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers

What I got I have earned
What I'm not baby I have learned
Love is like an angel that comes at dusk
Stay in my bed till the morning comes

Come on now try and understand
I worked all day pushing for the man
Daylight's gone, take me under your cover
They can't hurt us now
They can't hurt me now
They can't hurt you now

Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to love

Our love it seeds with doubt
The vicious circle turns and burns without
You know I cannot live, forgive me now
The time has come to take this moment and
They can't hurt us now
They can't hurt us now

Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers

[Guitar solo]

Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lovers

Info

The above lyrics are for the live 19 Sep 1978 performance of BECAUSE THE NIGHT at Capitol Theatre in Passaic, NJ, during the Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour.

The 19 Sep 1978 Show

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band performed a series of three sold-out concerts at Capitol Theatre in Passaic, NJ, during the Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour, on 19, 20, and 21 Sep 1978. In its 07 Oct 1978 issue, Billboard reported that a total of 10,518 tickets were sold for the three nights, grossing $85,791 (ticket prices ranged between $7.50 and $8.50).

The Capitol Theatre was known for its in-house video system which resulted in a number of good quality, professionally shot black-and-white video bootlegs. So far, video footage has surfaced from the first two nights of Springsteen's residency. Moreover, the three shows were recorded live by the Record Plant's remote truck, both on multi-track and live-to-two-track. Soundboard tapes of all three nights have eventually made their way into the hands of fans.

The Capitol Theatre was a 3,200-seat entertainment venue located at the intersection of Monroe Street and Central Avenue in Passaic, NJ. Built in 1926 as a vaudeville house, it later served as a movie theater and in its later years a porn movie theater. In December 1971 legendary concert promoter John Scher and partner Al Hayward took over the theater. They bought the property and transformed it into a concert venue, which became a tour stop for almost every major artist in the 1970s. Hayward left in 1973 to form his own company and Scher remained and produced concerts of some of the biggest and most important performers in rock history. The theater closed in 1989 and was demolished two years later.

A series of "John Scher Presents" concert programs were created for specific events at Capitol Theatre and some other venues in New Jersey and New York and were distributed to the audience free of charge. Churchmouse/Moyssi produced "John Scher Presents" concert programs in 1975 and from 1977 through 1984. Most of these programs feature an original cover illustration by James D. Moyssiadis (a.k.a. Moyssi), who was also the resident stage lighting director at the Capitol Theatre from 1971-1986, created specifically for each concert. A 12-page program was created for Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band's famous three-night stand at the Capitol in 1978. It features an illustration by Moyssi on page 1 (see scan below left), a biography, ads, and an illustration by Arlen Schumer on page 3 (see scan below center). Schumer's illustration on page 3 was inspired by a marquee he designed for the three-night stand at the request of Scher (see photo below right). Arlen Schumer was the art director of the first Springsteen magazine Thunder Road between 1978 and 1982 and later became a longtime contributor to Backstreets magazine for which he did the cover illustration for issue #47 (Fall 1994). He also guest-DJ'ed on Sirius XM's E Street Radio channel.

Concert program for the 19-21 shows at Capitol Thatre, Passaic, NJ (page 1)

Concert program for the 19-21 shows at Capitol Thatre, Passaic, NJ (page 3)

Marquee for the 19-21 shows at Capitol Thatre, Passaic, NJ

The 19 Sep 1978 concert was broadcast live on ten FM radio stations in the Northeastern United States, including WNEW (now WWFS) in New York City, NY, WBCN in Boston, MA, WCOZ in Boston, MA, WIOQ in Philadelphia, PA, and WIYY in Baltimore, MD. The broadcast became the source for one of the most famous Springsteen bootlegs of all time, the 3-record set Pièce De Résistance, released in 1979.

Ticket stub for the 19 Sep 1978 show at Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ

In September 2019 the complete 19 Sep 1978 concert was officially released on Live.BruceSpringsteen.net (see the "Official Live Downloads" section below for more details). The concert was recorded live by David Hewitt with the Record Plant remote truck, assisted by DB Brown and Phil Gitomer. The original broadcast was mixed by Jimmy Iovine. The multi-track reel-to-reel tapes were transferred and restored by Jamie Howarth at Plangent Processes. The audio was mixed by Jon Altschiller, with additional engineering by Danielle Warman, and mastered to DSD and PCM by Adam Ayan at Gateway Mastering in Portland, ME.

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band -- September 19, 1978

The 19 Sep 1978 broadcast from Capitol Theatre was commercially released in Europe. Since 2005 some enterprising record labels in Europe (mostly in the UK) have been releasing Bruce Springsteen radio and TV broadcasts (and some soundboard recordings) from the seventies, eighties, and nineties. Though these releases are not authorized by Bruce Springsteen or his record company, they are lawful due to a legal loophole in Europe.

Bruce Springsteen -- Live At The Capitol Theather, Passiac, NJ September 19th, 1978

3xCD - Klondike (KL3CD5001) - UK, 2014

This release contains the 19 Sep 1978 broadcast from Capitol Theatre.

Bruce Springsteen -- Capitol Theather, Passiac, NJ September 19, 1978

3xCD - Rox Vox (RV3CD1002) - UK, 2015

This release contains the 19 Sep 1978 broadcast from Capitol Theatre.

Bruce Springsteen -- Capitol Theather, Passiac, NJ September 19, 1978

4xLP - Rox Vox (RV4LP1002) - UK, 2015

This release contains the 19 Sep 1978 broadcast from Capitol Theatre.

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band -- Passaic Night 1978

3xCD - Leftfield Media (LFM3CD533) - UK, 2015

This release contains the 19 Sep 1978 broadcast from Capitol Theatre.

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band -- Passaic Night 1978 Volume One

2xLP - Let Them Eat Vinyl (LETV315LP) - UK, 2015

This release contains part 1 of three of the 19 Sep 1978 broadcast from Capitol Theatre.

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band -- Passaic Night 1978 Volume Two

2xLP - Let Them Eat Vinyl (LETV316LP) - UK, 2015

This release contains part 2 of three of the 19 Sep 1978 broadcast from Capitol Theatre.

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band -- Passaic Night 1978 Volume Three

2xLP - Let Them Eat Vinyl (LETV317LP) - UK, 2015

This release contains part 3 of three of the 19 Sep 1978 broadcast from Capitol Theatre.

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band -- The Complete 1978 Radio Broadcasts

15xCD - Sound Stage (SSCDBOX10) - UK, 2015

This release contains the 09 Aug 1978 broadcast from The Agora, the 07 Jul 1978 broadcast from The Roxy Theatre, the 19 Sep 1978 broadcast from Capitol Theatre, the 30 Sep 1978 broadcast from Fox Theatre, and the 15 Dec 1978 broadcast from Winterland Ballroom.

Official Live Downloads

Prior to the High Hopes Tour, Bruce Springsteen's management announced a new service allowing fans to download concert recordings approximately 48 hours after each show. The initial plan required fans to purchase a special USB wristband, which could then be used to download a single High Hopes Tour show of the purchaser's choice and also functions as a regular reusable USB flash drive. The wristband, which could be purchased online or at the concert venue, was priced at $40. Following some negative response from fans over the high cost for the wristband, Springsteen's management subsequently announced a separate cheaper option for purchasing shows directly, without the need for the wristband. The shows were available for purchase and download via Live Nation, Bruce Springsteen's concert promoter, priced at $9.99 for MP3 and $14.99 for FLAC. Audio recordings for 31 of the 34 High Hopes Tour dates (all except 16 Feb 2014, 06 Apr 2014, and 03 May 2014) were released as such and they were available until 30 Jun 2014.

On 17 Nov 2014, Live.BruceSpringsteen.net was launched. It's a new addition to the official website, serving as an online store offering high-quality live concert recordings as well as high-resolution digital releases of Springsteen's album catalog. The download store is powered by Nugs.net in cooperation with Columbia Records. Audio recordings for 30 of the 34 High Hopes Tour dates (all except 16 Feb 2014, 06 Apr 2014, 03 May 2014, and 18 May 2014) were re-released on the new download store in multiple formats, including MP3, lossless CD-quality FLAC or ALAC, and 24-bit HD FLAC or ALAC or MQA, as well as audio CD-R with custom artwork. Nugs.net adopted the MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) format on 24 May 2017. From then on, all Bruce Springsteen live concert recordings, including the previously released ones, became also available in MQA.

Audio recordings for all 75 The River Tour 2016 dates were also released on Live.BruceSpringsteen.net in multiple formats, including MP3, lossless CD-quality FLAC or ALAC, and 24-bit HD FLAC or ALAC or MQA, as well as audio CD-R with custom artwork. Each show was generally released within a month after it took place.

Audio recordings for all 14 Summer '17 Tour dates were also released on Live.BruceSpringsteen.net in multiple formats, including MP3, lossless CD-quality FLAC or ALAC, and 24-bit HD FLAC or ALAC or MQA, as well as audio CD-R with custom artwork. Each show was generally released within a month after it took place.

Archival releases were periodically released on the same site, as part of the Bruce Springsteen Archive Series. These shows were also made available in multiple formats, including MP3, lossless FLAC or ALAC, 24-bit FLAC or ALAC or MQA, DSD, and audio CD-R. So far 90 shows (or sets of shows) were released from the ongoing series.

Available Versions

List of available versions of BECAUSE THE NIGHT on this website:

Page last updated: 08 Feb 2017