Live 18 Aug 2001 version
[Bruce Springsteen (spoken intro):] Please come up, we gotta mic... Any other, any other performers? Come on, we need volunteers! Bring 'em up! (chuckles) Hey, a couple, oh, we got, uh... Yeah! Are those on, is one of those, are any of those on? Just bring it on over. I don't, there, uh, uh, the chorus is, the verse is hard, the chorus is easy. (chuckles)
Alright, uh... Let's see, the key of E!
Alright, the verse is hard, remember it, but the chorus should be easy! And, uh, I wrote this, this was one of the first songs I wrote when I was living on Cookman and Main for my first record and it sort of explains why I never had to do any drugs. (chuckles) I was already there in some fashion. And I'm glad I don't have this lady's job right now, because... (chuckles) I love to, I love being handy, and I love to see! Her interpretation of the song. (chuckles) Just join in when the time comes. The chorus goes, "blinded by the light".
| Bruce Springsteen: | Madman drummers bummers and Indians in the summer with a teenage diplomat |
| In the dumps with the mumps as the adolescent pumps his way into his hat | |
| With a boulder on my shoulder, feelin' kinda older I tripped the merry-go-round | |
| With this very unpleasing sneezing and wheezing the calliope crashed to the ground | |
| Some all-hot half-shot was headin' for the hot spot snappin' his fingers clappin' his hands | |
| Some fleshpot mascot was tied into a lover's knot with a whatnot in her hand | |
| Now young Scott with a slingshot finally found a tender spot and throws his lover in the sand | |
| Some bloodshot forget-me-not whispers, "Daddy's within earshot, save the buckshot, turn up the band" | |
| All: | And we were blinded by the light |
| Cut loose like a deuce another runner in the night | |
| Blinded by the light | |
| She got down but she never got tight, she's gonna make it alright | |
| Bruce Springsteen: | Here we go! |
| Bruce Springsteen: | Some brimstone baritone anti-cyclone rolling stone preacher from the east |
| Said, "Dethrone the dictaphone, hit it in the funny bone, that's where they expect it least" | |
| Bruce Springsteen (spoken): | I can't think of all the words! |
| Bruce Springsteen: | Some new-mown chaperone was standin' in the corner all alone watchin' the young girls dance |
| Some fresh-sown moonstone was messin' with his frozen zone to remind him of the feeling of romance | |
| All: | And she was blinded by the light |
| Cut loose like a deuce another runner in the night | |
| Blinded by the light | |
| She got down but she never got tight, she's gonna make it alright | |
| Bruce Springsteen: | Hey now |
| Some silicone sister with her manager's mister told me I got what it takes | |
| Said, "I'll turn you on sonny, to something strong if you'll play that song with the funky break" | |
| And Go-cart-- | |
| Bruce Springsteen (spoken): | you guys are scaring me! [laughs] |
| Where was I? | |
| Bruce Springsteen: | See if it was safe to go outside |
| And little Early-Pearly came by in her curly-wurly and asked me if I needed a ride | |
| All: | Oh, some hazard from Harvard... |
| Bruce Springsteen (spoken): | Alright, alright! |
| All: | Cut loose like a deuce another runner in the night |
| Blinded by the light | |
| She got down but she never got tight, she's gonna make it alright | |
| Bruce Springsteen (spoken): | Alright, two more verses! |
| Bruce Springsteen: | Oh, some hazard from Harvard was skunnked on beer playin' backyard bombardier |
| And Scotland Yard was trying hard, they sent some dude with a calling card, said, "Do what you like, but don't do it here" | |
| Bruce Springsteen (spoken): | Alright, you take it away! |
| Woman on stage: | Some kidnapped handicap was complainin' that he caught the clap from some mousetrap he bought last night |
| Well I unsnapped his skull cap, between his ears I saw a gap and figured he'd be all right | |
| All: | He was just blinded by the light |
| Cut loose like a deuce another runner in the night | |
| Blinded by the light | |
| Springsteen and Woman: | Mama always told me not to look into the sights of the sun |
| Whoa, but mama that's where the fun is | |
| All: | I was blinded, I was blinded |
| I was blinded, I was blinded | |
| I was blinded, I was blinded | |
| I was blinded, I was blinded |
[Bruce Springsteen (spoken outro):] Let's hear it for them! They were terrible! (laughs) Thank you, thank you, thank you everybody! (laughs) Ah, he got it! Alright, thanks, thanks, oh thanks, thank-thank you! Thank you very much.
[Man on stage:] Wow. Yeah, they were good.
[Bruce Springsteen:]I think she skipped some words in there but... How, how did she do?
[Crowd:] Good!
[Bruce Springsteen:] Really? I, I can't believe it. That's, that's how you get your autographs, man, you've got to be nervy! You've got to be nervy.
The above lyrics are for the live 18 Aug 2001 performance of BLINDED BY THE LIGHT at Asbury Park Waterfront in Asbury Park, NJ, during the 26th annual Clearwater Festival. Springsteen performed an unannounced half-hour acoustic set, giving festival organizers about an hour's notice. That was the first time the festival was held in Asbury Park. BLINDED BY THE LIGHT was performed on acoustic guitar, and Bruce invited onstage an ensemble of the event's musicians to back him up on this one.
Officially named "The Great Hudson River Revival", the festival is America's oldest and largest annual festival of its kind, and all proceeds benefit Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, a nonprofit environmental organization founded by folk singer Pete Seeger with his wife Toshi Seeger in 1966 that seeks to protect the Hudson River and surrounding wetlands and waterways through advocacy and public education.
Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.
List of available versions of BLINDED BY THE LIGHT on this website:
BLINDED BY THE LIGHT [Album version]