Live 30 Sep 2009 version
Well I stood stone-like at midnight, suspended in my masquerade
I combed my hair till it was just right and commanded the night brigade
I was open to pain and crossed by the rain, walked on a crooked crutch
I strode all alone into a fallout zone, came out with my soul untouched
Hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd, when they said "sit down" I stood up
Ooh, ooh, growin' up
The flag of piracy flew from my mast, my sails were set wing to wing
I had a jukebox graduate for a first mate, she couldn't sail but she sure could sing
I pushed B-52, bombed 'em with the blues, my gear set stubborn on standing
I broke all the rules, strafed my old high school, never once gave thought to landing
Hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd, when they said "come down" I threw up
Ooh, ooh, growin' up
Awhoo!
[Spoken:] Aah. Hey band! Hey C! [Clarence: Yeah?] I had the weirdest dream I ever had a few nights ago. It was one of those dreams that, uh, you wake up and, oh, shuddering, and when you wake up, you go, "Oh fuck! Thank you Jesus, thank you." You start praying to the God who you don't believe in, and, uh, it's funny, 'cause I woke, I woke up saying, "Oh, Jesus Christ." It was a dream... but it was the weirdest dream I think I ever had. It was in my house, and, uh, there was a, a lot of people around. I, I, I don't like, I don't like a lot of people around. And, uh, but there was a shit-load of people at my house. And, uh, it was actually filled with my relatives, every relative since I was like, you know, living in Freehold, old, plain, boring. That's bigger than the population of Freehold, right there. Some of you are lying. But it was filled with like my aunts and uncles, and, uh, I had to entertain, I had to entertain everybody... Oh Jesus, save me... And I was walking through my house like in a trance, and, uh, then came the scariest fucking part. All the fucking lights went out. All the lights. And then all I remember was this cake [chuckles]... This is the part, this is the part you won't believe. There were sixty fucking candles in the cake. Sixty fucking candles! [Clarence: Where were they, Boss?] On the cake! [Clarence: Okay] And I started to like, not be able to breath, you know, and, uh, and... [Crowd: Happy birthday to you] And... [Crowd: Happy birthday to you] And then the worst part... [Crowd: Happy birthday dear Bruce] And then there were... Then there were... [Crowd: Happy birthday to you] Then there were, see, then there were thousands of people reminding me of something I was trying to forget. And then, then I woke up. Then I woke up. I woke up after that. [Clarence: Good, good] Man, was I glad to wake up. [Clarence: Yeah] I woke up and, and when I fell back to sleep I, I...
Took month-long vacations in the stratosphere, you know it's really hard to hold your breath
I swear I lost everything I ever loved or feared, I was the cosmic kid
My feet they finally took root in the earth, I got me a nice little place in the stars
And I swear I found the key to the universe in the engine of an old parked car
I hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd, when they said "sit down" I stood up
Ooh, ooh, growin' up
Yeah, yeah, growin' up
The above lyrics are for the live 30 Sep 2009 performance of GROWIN' UP at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, during the Working On A Dream Tour. The song was played in a full-band, album-style arrangement. This version featured a spoken break in the middle, plus the crowd singing Bruce part of "Happy Birthday".
Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.
List of available versions of GROWIN' UP on this website:
GROWIN' UP [Album version]
