Live 24 Apr 1973 (early show) version
[Spoken intro:] This is a song — I lived 18 years of my life next door to a gas station in a small town in New Jersey and it was Ducky Slattery's Sinclair Station. That was the cat's name, Ducky Slattery, he was an older cat, older guy and I lived next door. And you know how in a small town, uh, the place that the people gather is these days is down at the gas station. Everybody comes in and sits around, a guy comes in, somebody goes out, pumps the gas, come back in. And this Ducky Slattery and this cat Bill who was kind of the alcoholic, kind of, you know... had a — this guy had a pink Cadillac. I was a, it was a sight, you know, it was a pink Cadillac, he got drunk and smashed it up. Uh─ there was these, who else? Oh yeah, there was this cat Danny. Danny was the weird cat in town. There was two of 'em, but... (chuckles). Right, one of 'em with us and the other one was Danny. Danny was the guy that was... you know, kind of, he was homosexual. You can say that these days, right? Jesus! You know, Danny's making a lot of bread right now somewhere (chuckles). But... (chuckles) but uh... he was, he was ahead of his time, let's leave it at that. But again... (chuckles). Uh... he was a... And this other cat Crazy George who was just crazy. Nothing else but that, you know... (chuckles). Rode a bicycle, older cat, older cat, rode a bicycle, still rides one, still rides one. Saved up money for it, uh... True story, true story. Oh yeah, Ducky Slattery had this one line he ripped off the Marx Brothers, any— anytime anybody'd come into the gas station, he'd always say, "You wanna buy a duck?" That was his big line, you know. Not too original but it worked, you know, he'd go, "You wanna buy a duck?" What're you gonna do with a duck? What's anybody gonna do with a duck? Right. I had a duck, my father killed a duck for Thanksgiving once... helped me get out of the draft, went down to the Army, told 'em ever since I seen my father kill that duck, I go crazy every time I see a duck. If I was out there on the battlefield in Vietnam and a duck came walking by, I might go nutty, I might shoot generals or something, I don't know... (chuckles) I could do anything, I don't know what I'd do when I see a duck. Anyway, I was sitting outside one night, and...
The moon hung like a shadow on a rung over Shanghai
Them soldier boys were returning home screaming "Banzai"
And the kids are still playing their games
Getting hustled and rustled out in the rain
As I sat inside listening to the broadcast
Oh, save my soul, sweet rock and roll, 'cause I'm sinkin' fast
And then the band played
Out of nowhere!
It was alright!
Go Danny!
Well, now the legendary chaplain of the fighting 51st was getting ready to go
I said, "Padre, do you know a cheap virgin who likes to tango?"
He said, "You can try Linda Lee"
Around the corner and across the sea
Oh, word is out, word is out she's fast"
Whoa, blow me down now, Linda, 'cause I'm sinkin' fast
Little Dane!
Yes, and them cats are sure getting fat down in the train yard
And the sandman brings them dreams to ship out in the boxcars
The union says, "hold
Break out the dice, break out the gold"
It's lunchtime at last
And old big Mama said, "George Raft's tonight on the late show"
She sits straddling a kitchen chair, really gung-ho
She shivers with chills
Wet with slot card thrills
Hypnotically lost in the glass
And we all sigh with the sunrise
As we watch the credits pass
And the little blue ???
And then the morning cloak fell down like a hoax over Sleepy Town
And garbage truck vigilantes out making the last rounds
The inheritor he sipped his beer
And he poked cute fun of the queer
And threatened to kick his ass
And the bell rings, the horn blows
And he's outside pumping gas
But things were moving so slow tonight
So the kid goes back inside the station and turns on his radio to his local AM station
And one, two, three, aha!
And the band played out on the radio
It was alright
It's on the radio
And he listened to the bass line
Ah...
And the boys in the band sang
(Whoa whoa whoa wo-whoa)
That's right
(Whoa whoa whoa wo-whoa)
I'm so excited
(Whoa whoa whoa wo-whoa)
Everybody
(Whoa whoa whoa wo-whoa)
And the band played
(Whoa whoa whoa wo-whoa)
Everybody
(Whoa whoa whoa wo-whoa)
And the band played
(Whoa whoa whoa wo-whoa)
Everybody
(Whoa whoa whoa wo-whoa)
The man on the saxophone
(Whoa whoa whoa wo-whoa)
(Whoa whoa whoa wo-whoa)
(Whoa whoa whoa wo-whoa)
(Whoa whoa whoa wo-whoa)
Go ahead!
[Spoken outro:] Alright, thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much.
The above lyrics are for the live 24 Apr 1973 early show performance of TOKYO at The Main Point in Bryn Mawr, PA, during what is considered the Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. Tour. The song was performed in a full-band arrangement.
In April 1973, Bruce Springsteen performed a two-night stand at The Main Point in Bryn Mawr, PA (24 and 25 Apr 1973). He played two shows each night, an early one at 08:00 PM and a late one at 10:00 PM. These were double-bill shows, with Springsteen headlining and folk duo Aztec Two-Step opening. The complete early show from the first night was broadcast live on Philadelphia's WMMR-FM. That was Bruce Springsteen's first real time concert venue simulcast. Since then, the audio has widely circulated in excellent quality among collectors.
The 24 Apr 1973 WBCN-FM radio broadcast 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.
List of available versions of TOKYO on this website:
TOKYO [Studio version]
