Unofficial studio version 1
One, two, three, four
I got a '32 Ford, she's a 318, Fuelie heads and a Hurst on the floor
And she'll be sitting tonight down in the parking lot and at the Seven-Eleven store
Me and my partner Sonny built her straight out of scratch and he rides with me from town to town
We only run for the money ain't no strings attached, we shut 'em up and we shut 'em down
And tonight, tonight the strip's just right, I wanna blow 'em all out of their seats
So come on out around the world, we're going racing in the street
Well we take all the action we can meet and we cover all the northeast states
When the strip shuts down we run 'em in the street from the back roads to the turnpike gates
Now some guys they do it for the money, other guys do it 'cause they don't know what else they can do
And me I just stand there with nothing left at home, I got tired of waking up in a world somebody else owns
And so tonight, tonight the strip's just right, I wanna blow 'em off in my first heat
Summer's here and the time is right for going racing in the street
Well I met her on the strip three years ago, she was in a Camaro with this dude from L.A.
And I blew that Camaro off my back and I stole that little girl away
But now there's wrinkles 'round my baby's eyes and she cries herself to sleep at night
When I come home the house is dark, she whispers, "Hey baby did you make it all right?"
Hey tonight, tonight the strips just right, baby you blew 'em all out of their seats
And so come on out now everyone and we'll go racing in the street
Yes come on out now little one and we'll go dying in the street
Yes come on out now everyone and we'll go dying in the street
Look at me, it's true
Baby what else can we do
Racing in the street, racing in the street
Racing in the street, racing in the street
Racing in the street, racing in the street
The above lyrics are for an early studio take of RACING IN THE STREET recorded in a slow solo piano arrangement and featuring some lyrics differences from later versions.
According to The Lost Masters Vol. 3 bootleg liner notes, this take was cut sometime between June and August 1977 at Atlantic Studios in New York City, NY. According to Sony's logs of Bruce Springsteen's studio sessions, RACING IN THE STREET was first recorded on 02 Jul 1977 at Atlantic Studios. This leads to the conclusion that this take was most likely cut during the 02 Jul 1977 session at Atlantic Studios. See the album version for more details about the song's studio sessions timeline.
This unofficial studio version of RACING IN THE STREET can be found on the Darkness Outtakes 1978 Vol. 3: The Promise (Scorpio) [track 07] and The Lost Masters Vol. 3 (Labour Of Love) [track 07] bootlegs. On the latter, the recording fades out prematurely ─ after "...with this dude from L.A." in the third verse. However, the audio quality is much better and it includes the count-in which is missing on Darkness Outtakes 1978 Vol. 3: The Promise.
List of available versions of RACING IN THE STREET on this website:
RACING IN THE STREET [Album version]
