Live 21 Sep 1978 version
[Spoken intro:] I blow my nose on my shirt. Whoa, ??? professor, is that real? This is not real. (laughs) What's that now? That's toilet paper. I know the difference. I know dummy. ??? said he give you the money later, alright? He alrea... he already did. (laughs) ??? what? (crowd: "Fever") (crowd: "Incident") Oh, yeah, think so? Tell you what. We play, play "Fever" or "Incident On 57th Street"? What you want? Ah? (crowd: "Fever") Who wants The "Fever"? (crowd shouts) "Incident On 57th Street"? (crowd shouts) Oh God that's close. Ok, ok, ok. Now we'll start out with... "Fever".
When I get home from my job, I turn on the TV
But I can't keep my mind on the show
When I lay down at night, I don't get no sleep
So I turn on the radio
But the only thing I hear is you whispering in my ear
The words that you used to say
Well my day grows longer, and my love grows stronger
And the fever gets worse every day
I got the fever for a girl
He's got the fever, oh he's got the fever
Well there's nothing that a boy can do
When he's got the fever for a girl
He's got the fever, oh he's got the fever
Left this little boy blue
Well I can remember coming home
I see you standing at the stove
With the dishes on the table
Dinner ready to go
Darling maybe out to a movie show
Something that you like to see
Well now you're my sun in the morning, you're my moon at night
When I think about it, makes me feel alright
The day grows longer, and love grows stronger
The fever gets worse at night
I got the fever for the girl
He's got the fever, oh he's got the fever
There's nothing that a boy can do
When he's got the fever for a girl
He got the fever, oh he got the fever
Left this little boy blue
Alright
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
So I'll be be alright, now
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
I'm gonna be alright, now
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
If I can make it to the morning
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Just make it to the morning, now
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
But every time I close my eyes, all I see is her face
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Every time I close my eyes, all I see is her face
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Every time I close my eyes, all I see is her face
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Every time I shut my eyes
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
But IIIII, I'm gonna be alright, now
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Whoa
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Whoa
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Whoa
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Well I said I will be alright
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
??? alright will be
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Alright
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
ooooh
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Be alright now
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
I'm gonna be alright, now
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
I'm gonna be alright, now
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Whoa whoa alright
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Little girl alright
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
Alright now
Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright
The above lyrics are for the live 21 Sep 1978 performance of THE FEVER at Capitol Theatre in Passaic, NJ, during the Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour. The song was played in a full-band arrangement.
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.
There was no show scheduled on 23 Sep 1978, so fans got to celebrate Springsteen's twenty-ninth birthday two day prior, on the third night at Capitol Theatre. Springsteen was in a celebratory mood. During the show fans sang him Happy Birthday, and at one point he was presented with a giant cake, courtesy of the band and crew, from which a young woman emerged.
List of available versions of THE FEVER on this website:
THE FEVER [Official studio version]
