The river. Bruce Springsteen.




1. The ties that bind.

You been hurt and you're all cried out, you say, you walk down the street pushing people outta your way, you packed your bags and all alone you wanna ride, you don't want nothing, don't need no one by your side, you're walking tough, baby, but you're walking blind, the ties that bind, now you can't break the ties that bind.

Cheap romance, it's all just a crutch, you don't want nothing that anybody can touch, you're so afraid of being somebody's fool, not walking tough baby, not walking cool, you walk cool, but darling, can you walk the line, and face the ties that bind, the ties that bind, now you can't break the ties that bind. I would rather feel the hurt inside, yes I would darling, than know the emptiness your heart must hide, yes I would darling, yes I would darling, yes I would baby.

You sit and wonder just who's gonna stop the rain, who'll ease the sadness, who's gonna quiet the pain, it's a long dark highway and a thin white line, connecting, baby, your heart to mine, we're running now but darling we will stand in time to face the ties that bind, the ties that bind, now you can't break the ties that bind, you can't forsake the ties that bind.


2. Sherry darling.

Your mamma's yapping in the back seat, tell her to push over and move them big feet, every Monday morning I gotta drive her down to the unemployment agency, well this morning I ain’t fighting, tell her I give up, tell her she wins if she'll just shut up, but it's the last time that she's gonna be riding with me.

You can tell her there's a hot sun beating on the blacktop, she keeps talking, she'll be walking that last block, she can take a subway back to the ghetto tonight, well I got some beer and the highway's free, and I got you, and baby you've got me, hey, hey, hey what you say, Sherry, darling.

Now there's girls melting on the beach and they're so fine but so far out of reach, ‘cause I'm stuck in traffic down here on 53rd street, now Sherry my love for you is real but I didn't count on this package deal, and baby this car just ain’t big enough for her and me.

You can tell her there's a hot sun beating on the blacktop, she keeps talking, she'll be walking that last block, she can take a subway back to the ghetto tonight, well I got some beer and the highway's free, and I got you, and baby you've got me, hey, hey, hey what you say, Sherry, darling.

Well let there be sunlight, let there be rain, let the brokenheart love again, Sherry we can run with our arms open before the tide, to all the girls down at Sacred Heart and all you operators back in the park say hey, hey, hey what you say, Sherry, darling, hey, hey, hey, what you say, Sherry, darling.


3. Jackson Cage.

Driving home, she grabs something to eat, turns a corner and drives down her street, into a row of houses she just melts away like the scenery in another man's play, into a house where the blinds are closed to keep from seeing things she don't wanna know, she pulls the blinds and looks out on the street, the cool of the night takes the edge off the heat. In the Jackson Cage, down in Jackson Cage, you can try with all your might but you're reminded every night that you been judged and handed life, down in Jackson Cage.

Every day ends in wasted motion, just crossed swords on the killing floor, to settle back is to settle without knowing the hard edge that you're settling for, because there's always just one more day and it's always gonna be that way, little girl you've been down here so long, I can tell by the way that you move you belong to the Jackson Cage, down in Jackson Cage. And it don't matter just what you say, are you tough enough to play the game they play or will you just do your time and fade away, down into the Jackson Cage.

Baby there's nights when I dream of a better world but I wake up so downhearted, girl, I see you feeling so tired and confused, I wonder what it's worth to me or you, just waiting to see some sun, never knowing if that day will ever come, left alone standing out on the street till you become the hand that turns the key down in Jackson Cage, down in Jackson Cage. Well darling can you understand the way that they will turn a man into a stranger to waste away, down in the Jackson Cage.


4. Two hearts.

I went out walking the other day, seen a little girl crying along the way, she'd been hurt so bad, said she'd never love again, someday your crying, girl, will end, and you'll find once again two hearts are better than one, two hearts, girl, get the job done, two hearts are better than one.

Once I spent my time playing tough guy scenes, but I was living in a world of childish dreams, someday these childish dreams must end to become a man and grow up to dream again, now I believe in the end, two hearts are better than one, two hearts, girl, get the job done, two hearts are better than one.

Sometimes it might seem like it was planned for you to roam empty hearted through this land, though the world turns you hard and cold, there's one thing, mister, that I know, that's if you think your heart is stone and that you're rough enough to whip this world alone, alone, buddy, there ain't no peace of mind, that's why I'll keep searching till I find my special one.

Two hearts are better than one, two hearts, girl, get the job done, two hearts are better than one, again two hearts are better than one, two hearts, girl, get the job done, two hearts are better than one.


5. Independence day.

Well papa, go to bed now, it's getting late, nothing we can say is gonna change anything now, I'll be leaving in the morning from St. Mary's Gate, we wouldn't change this thing even if we could somehow, `cause the darkness of this house has got the best of us, there's a darkness in this town that's got us too, but they can't touch me now and you can't touch me now, they ain't gonna do to me what I watched them do to you. So say goodbye, it's Independence day, it's Independence day all down the line, just say goodbye, it's Independence day, it's Independence day this time.

Now I don't know what it always was with us, we chose the words and, yeah, we drew the lines, there was just no way this house could hold the two of us, I guess that we were just too much of the same kind, well say goodbye, it's Independence day, all boys must run away, come Independence day, so say goodbye, it's Independence day, all men must make their way, come Independence day.

Now the rooms are all empty down at Frankie's joint and the highway, she's deserted down to Breaker's Point, there's a lot of people leaving town now, leaving their friends their homes, at night they walk that dark and dusty highway all alone, well papa, go to bed now, it's getting late, nothing we can say can change anything now because there's just different people coming down here now, and they see things in different ways, and soon everything we've known will just be swept away. So say goodbye, it's Independence day, papa now I know the things you wanted that you could not say, but won't you just say goodbye, it's Independence day, I swear I never meant to take those things away.


6. Hungry heart.

Got a wife and kids in Baltimore Jack, I went out for a ride and I never went back, like a river that don't know where it's flowing I took a wrong turn and I just kept going. Everybody's got a hungry heart, everybody's got a hungry heart, lay down your money and you play your part, everybody's got a hungry heart.

I met her in a Kingstown bar, we fell in love, I knew it had to end, we took what we had and we ripped it apart, now here I am down in Kingstown again. Everybody's got a hungry heart, everybody's got a hungry heart, lay down your money and you play your part, everybody's got a hungry heart.

Everybody needs a place to rest, everybody wants to have a home, don't make no difference what nobody says, ain't nobody like to be alone, everybody's got a hungry heart, everybody's got a hungry heart, lay down your money and you play your part, everybody's got a hungry heart.


7. Out in the street.

Put on your best dress baby and darling, fix your hair up right ‘cause there's a party, honey, way down beneath the neon lights, all day you've been working that hard line, now tonight you're gonna have a good time.

I work five days a week, girl, loading crates down on the dock, I take my hard earned money and meet my girl down on the block, and Monday when the foreman calls time I've already got Friday on my mind, when that whistle blows, girl, I'm down the street, I'm home, I'm out of my work clothes. When I'm out in the street I walk the way I wanna walk, when I'm out in the street I talk the way I wanna talk, when I'm out in the street, when I'm out in the street.

When I'm out in the street, girl, well, I never feel alone, when I'm out in the street, girl, in the crowd I feel at home, the black and whites they cruise by and they watch us from the corner of their eye, but there ain't no doubt girl, down here, we ain't gonna take what they're handing out. When I'm out in the street I walk the way I wanna walk, when I'm out in the street I talk the way I wanna talk, baby, out in the street I don't feel sad or blue, baby, out in the street I'll be waiting for you.

When the whistle blows, girl, I'm down the street, I'm home, I'm out of my work clothes. When I'm out in the street I walk the way I wanna walk, when I'm out in the street I talk the way I wanna talk, when I'm out in the street pretty girls, they're all passing by, when I'm out in the street from the corner, we give them the eye, baby, out in the street I just feel all right. Meet me out in the street, little girl, tonight, meet me out in the street, meet me out in the street…


8. Crush on you.

My feet were flying down the street just the other night when a Hong Kong special pulled up at the light, what was inside, man, was just c'est magnifique, I wanted to hold the bumper and let her drag me down the street. Oh, oh, I gotta crush on you, oh, oh, I gotta crush on you, oh, oh, I gotta crush on you tonight.

Sometimes I spot a little stranger standing 'cross the room, my brain takes a vacation just to give my heart more room, for one kiss, darling, I swear everything I would give, ‘cause you're a walking, talking reason to live. Oh, oh, I gotta crush on you, oh, oh, I gotta crush on you, oh, oh, I gotta crush on you tonight.

Well now she might be the talk of high society, she's probably got a lousy personality, she might be a heiress to Rockefeller, she might be a waitress or a bank teller, she makes the Venus de Milo look like she's got no style, she make Sheena of the Jungle look meek and mild, I need a quick shot, Doc, knock me off my feet, 'cause I'll be minding my own business walking down the street, watchout. Oh, oh, I gotta crush on you, oh, oh, I gotta crush on you, oh, oh, I gotta crush on you tonight…


9. You can look (but you better not touch).

Yesterday I went shopping, buddy, down to the mall, looking for something pretty I could hang on my wall, I knocked over a lamp, before it hit the floor I caught it, a salesman turned around said, boy, you break that thing, you bought it. You can look but you better not touch boy, you can look but you better not touch, mess around and you'll end up in dutch boy, you can look but you better not, no you better not, no you better not touch.

Well I came home from work and I switched on channel five, there was a pretty little girly looking straight into my eyes, well I watched as she wiggled back and forth across the screen, she didn't get me excited, she just made me feel mean. You can look but you better not touch boy, you can look but you better not touch, mess around and you'll end up in dutch boy, you can look but you better not, no you better not, no you better not touch.

Well I called up Dirty Annie on the telephone, I took her out to the drive-in just to get her alone, I found a lover's rendezvous the music low set to park, I heard a tapping on the window and a voice in the dark. You can look but you better not touch boy, you can look but you better not touch, mess around and you'll end up in dutch boy, you can look but you better not, no you better not, no you better not touch.

You can look but you better not touch boy, you can look but you better not touch, mess around and you'll end up in dutch boy, you can look but you better not, no you better not…


10. I wanna marry you.

I see you walking, baby, down the street pushing that baby carriage at your feet, I see the lonely ribbon in your hair, tell me I am the man for whom you put it there, you never smile girl, you never speak, you just walk on by, darling week after week, raising two kids alone in this mixed up world, must be a lonely life for a working girl. Little girl, I wanna marry you, oh yeah, little girl, I wanna marry you, yes I do, little girl, I wanna marry you.

Now honey, I don't wanna clip your wings but a time comes when two people should think of these things, having a home and a family, facing up to their responsibilities. They say in the end true love prevails but in the end true love can't be no fairytale, to say I'll make your dreams come true would be wrong but maybe, darling, I could help them along. Little girl, I wanna marry you, oh yeah, little girl, I wanna marry you, yes I do, little girl, I wanna marry you.

My daddy said right before he died, that true, true love was just a lie, he went to his grave a broken heart, an unfulfilled life, girl, makes a man hard. Oh, darling, there's something happy and there's something sad 'bout wanting somebody, oh so bad, I wear my love darling, without shame, I'd be proud if you would wear my name.


11. The river.

I come from down in the valley where, mister, when you're young they bring you up to do like your daddy done, me and Mary, we met in high school when she was just seventeen, we'd ride out of this valley down to where the fields were green. We'd go down to the river and into the river we'd dive, oh, down to the river we'd ride.

Then I got Mary pregnant and, man, that was all she wrote, and for my nineteen birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat, we went down to the courthouse and the judge put it all to rest, no wedding day smiles, no walk down the aisle, no flowers, no wedding dress. That night we went down to the river and into the river we'd dive, oh, down to the river we did ride.

I got a job working construction for the Johnstown Company but lately there ain't been much work on account of the economy, now all the things that seemed so important, well ,mister, they vanished right into the air, now I just act like I don't remember, Mary acts like she don't care.

But I remember us riding in my brother's car, her body tan and wet down at the reservoir, at night on them banks I'd lie awake and pull her close just to feel each breath she'd take, now those memories come back to haunt me, they haunt me like a curse, is a dream, a lie, if it don't come true, or is it something worse. That sends me down to the river though I know the river is dry, down to the river tonight, down to the river, my baby and I, oh, down to the river we ride .


12. Point blank.

Do you still say your prayers, little darling, do you go to bed at night, praying that tommorow everything will be alright, but tommorow's fall in number, in number one by one, you wake up and you're dying, you don't even know what from, well they shot you, point blank, you been shot in the back, baby, point blank, you been fooled this time, little girl that's a fact, right between the eyes baby, point blank, right between the pretty lies that they tell, little girl you fell.

You grew up where young girls they grow up fast, you took what you were handed and left behind what was asked, but what they asked baby wasn't right, you didn't have to live that life, I was gonna be your Romeo you were gonna be my Juliet, these days you don't wait on Romeo's, you wait on that welfare check, and on all the pretty things that you can't ever have, and on all the promises that always end up, point blank, shot between the eyes, point blank, like little white lies you tell to ease the pain, you're walking in the sights, girl of point blank, and it's one false move and baby the lights go out.

Once I dreamed we were together again, baby you and me, back home in those old clubs the way we used to be, we were standing at the bar, it was hard to hear, the band was playing loud and you were shouting something in my ear, you pulled my jacket off and as the drummer counted four, you grabbed my hand and pulled me out on the floor. You just stood there and held me, then you started dancing slow and as I pulled you tighter I swore I'd never let you go, well I saw you last night down on the avenue, your face was in the shadows but I knew that it was you, you were standing in the doorway out of the rain, you didn't answer when I called out your name, you just turned, and then you looked away, like just another stranger waiting to get blown away.

Point blank, right between the eyes, point blank, right between the pretty lies you fell, point blank, shot right through the heart, yeah, point blank, you've been twisted up, till you've become just another part of it, point blank, you're walking in the sights, point blank, living one false move, just one false move away, point blank, they caught you in their sights, point blank, did you forget how to love, girl, did you forget how to fight, point blank, they must have shot you in the head, ‘cause, point blank, bang, bang, baby you're dead.


13. Cadillac ranch.

Well there she sits, buddy, just a-gleaming in the sun, there to greet a working man when his day is done, I'm gonna pack my pa and I'm gonna pack my aunt, I'm gonna take them down to the Cadillac ranch, Eldorado fins, baby, whitewalls and skirts, rides just like a little bit of heaven here on earth, well buddy when I die throw my body in the back and drive me to the junkyard in my Cadillac. Cadillac, Cadillac, long and dark, shiny and black, open up your engines, let them roar, tearing up the highway like a big old dinosaur.

James Dean in that Mercury forty nine, Junior Johnson running through the woods of Caroline, even Burt Reynolds in that black Trans Am, all gonna meet down at the Cadillac ranch. Cadillac, Cadillac, long and dark, shiny and black, open up your engines, let them roar, tearing up the highway like a big old dinosaur.

Hey little girlie in the blue jeans so tight, driving alone through the Wisconsin night, you're my last love, you're my last chance, don't let `em take me to the Cadillac ranch. Cadillac, Cadillac, long and dark, shiny and black, open up your engines, let them roar, tearing up the highway like a big old dinosaur.


14. I'm a rocker.

I got a double-o-seven watch and it's a one and only, it's got a I-Spy beeper that tells me when you're lonely, I got a Batmobile so I can reach you' in a fast shake when your world's in crisis of an impending heartbreak, now don't you call James Bond or secret agent man 'cause they can't do it, like I can. I'm a rocker, baby, I'm a rocker, everyday, I'm a rocker, baby, I'm a rocker.

If you're hanging from a cliff or you're tied to the tracks, girl, I'm a rocker, baby, I'm a rocker, Columbo split and you can't find Kojak, I'm a rocker, baby, I'm a rocker, true love is broken and your tears are falling faster, I'm a rocker, baby, I'm a rocker, you're suffering from a pain in your heart or some other natural disaster, I'm a rocker, baby, I'm a rocker, now I don't care what kind of shape you're in, if they put up a roadblock, I'll parachute in. I'm a rocker, baby, I'm a rocker, everyday, I'm a rocker, baby, I'm a rocker, everyday, I'm a rocker, baby, I'm a rocker, everyday.

So you fell for some jerk who was tall, dark and handsome, I'm a rocker, baby, I'm a rocker, then he kidnapped your heart and now he's holding it for ransom, I'm a rocker, baby, I'm a rocker, well, like a mission impossible I'm gonna go and get it back, I'm a rocker, baby, I'm a rocker, you know I would'a taken better care of it, baby, than that, I'm a rocker, baby, I'm a rocker , sometimes I get so hot girl, well, I can't talk, but when I'm with you I cool off. I'm a rocker, baby, I'm a rocker, and I talk, I'm a rocker, baby, I'm a rocker, every day…


15. Fade away.

Well now you say you've found another man who does things to you that I can't, and that no matter what I do it's all over now between me and you, girl, but I can't believe what you say, no, I can't believe what you say 'cause baby, I don't wanna fade away, oh, I don't wanna fade away, tell me what can I do, what can I say, ‘cause darling I don't wanna fade away.

Well now you say that you've made up your mind it's been such a long, long time since it's been good with us, and that somewhere back along the line you lost your love and I lost your trust, now rooms that once were so bright are filled with the coming night, darling, I don't wanna fade away, tell me what can I do, what can I say, ‘cause darling I don't wanna fade away.

You say it's not easy for you and that you've been so lonely while other girls go out doing what they want to do, you say that you miss the nights when we'd go out dancing, the days when you and I walked as two, well girl, I miss them too, oh, I swear that I do, oh, girl.

Now baby I don't wanna be just another useless memory holding you tight or just some other ghost out on the street to whom you stop and politely speak when you pass on by, vanishing into the night, left to vanish into the night, no, baby, I don't wanna fade away, tell me what can I do, what can I say, ‘cause darling I don't wanna fade away, I don't wanna fade away, tell me what can I do, what can I say, ‘cause darling I don't wanna fade away.

Don't make me, darling, I don't wanna fade away, don't make me, darling, I don't wanna fade away…


16. Stolen car.

I met a little girl and I settled down in a little house out on the edge of town, we got married and swore we'd never part, then little by little we drifted from each other's heart, at first I thought it was just restlessness that would fade as time went by and our love grew deep, in the end it was something more, I guess, that tore us apart and made us weep. And I'm driving a stolen car down on Eldridge Avenue, each night I wait to get caught but I never do

She asked if I remembered the letters I wrote when our love was young and bold, she said last night she read those letters and they made her feel one hundred years old. And I'm driving a stolen car on a pitch black night, and I'm telling myself I'm gonna be alright but I ride by night and I travel in fear that in this darkness I will disappear.


17. Ramrod.

Hey, little dolly with the blue jeans on, I wanna ramrod with you honey till half-past dawn, let your hair down sugar and pick up this beat, come on and meet me tonight down on Bluebird Street, I've been working all week, I'm up to my neck in hock, come Saturday night, I let my ramrod rock.

She's a hot stepping hemi with a four on the floor, she's a roadrunner engine in a '32 Ford, late at night when I'm dead on the line I swear I think of your pretty face when I let her unwind, well, look over yonder, see them city lights, come on little dolly 'n' go ramroddin' tonight.

Come on, come on, come on little baby, come on, come on let's shake it tonight, come on, come, come on little sugar, dance with your daddy and we'll go ramroddin' tonight.

Hey, little dolly won't you say you will, meet me tonight up on top of the hill, well just a few miles ‘cross the county line, there's a cute little chapel nestled down in the pines, say you'll be mine little girl, I'll put my foot to the floor, give me the word now sugar, we'll go ramroddin' forever more.


18. The price you pay.

You make up your mind, you choose the chance you take, you ride to where the highway ends and the desert breaks, out on to an open road you ride until the day, you learn to sleep at night with the price you pay.

Now with their hands held high, they reached out for the open skies and in one last breath they built the roads, they'd ride to their death, driving on through the night, unable to break away from the restless pull of the price you pay. Oh, the price you pay, oh, the price you pay, now you can't walk away from the price you pay.

Now they'd come so far and they'd waited so long just to end up caught in a dream where everything goes wrong, where the dark of night holds back the light of the day, and you've gotta stand and fight for the price you pay. Oh, the price you pay, oh, the price you pay, now you can't walk away from the price you pay.

Little girl down on the strand with that pretty little baby in your hands, do you remember the story of the promised land, how he crossed the desert sands and could not enter the chosen land, on the banks of the river he stayed to face the price you pay.

So let the games start, you better run, you little wild heart, you can run through all the nights and all the days but just across the county line, a stranger passing through put up a sign, that counts the men fallen away to the price you pay, and girl before the end of the day I'm gonna tear it down and throw it away.


19. Drive all night.

When I lost you, honey, sometimes I think I lost my guts too, and I wish God would send me a word, send me something I'm afraid to lose, lying in the heat of the night like prisoners all our lives, I get shivers down my spine and all I wanna do is hold you tight. I swear I'll drive all night just to buy you some shoes and to taste your tender charms, and I just wanna sleep tonight again in your arms.

Tonight there's fallen angels and they're waiting for us down in the street, tonight there's calling strangers, hear them crying in defeat, let them go, let them go, let them go, do their dances of the dead, let'em go right ahead, you just dry your eyes girl, and c'mon, c'mon c'mon let's go to bed, baby, baby, baby. I swear I'll drive all night just to buy you some shoes and to taste your tender charms, and I just wanna sleep tonight again in your arms.

There's machines and there's fire, baby, waiting on the edge of town, they're out there for hire but baby they can't hurt us now ‘cause you've got, you've got, you've got, you've got my love, girl, you've got my love, girl, through the wind, through the rain, the snow, the wind, the rain, you've got, you've got my, my love, oh god you’ve got my love… heart and soul… Don't cry now…

Dry your eyes little baby, dry your eyes, baby, I’ll drive all night, I swear I'd drive all night, through the wind, through the rain, through the snow, through the rain, I swear I'd drive all night…


20. Wreck on the highway.

Last night I was out driving, coming home at the end of the working day, I was riding alone through the drizzling rain on a deserted stretch of a county two-lane when I came upon a wreck on the highway. There was blood and glass all over, and there was nobody there but me, as the rain tumbled down hard and cold, I seen a young man lying by the side of the road, he cried, mister, won't you help me please.

An ambulance finally came and took him to Riverside, I watched as they drove him away and I thought of a girlfriend or a young wife, and a state trooper knocking in the middle of the night to say, your baby died in a wreck on the highway.

Sometimes I sit up in the darkness and I watch my baby as she sleeps, then I climb in bed and I hold her tight, I just lay there awake in the middle of the night thinking 'bout the wreck on the highway.


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Año: 1981.
Procedencia de la banda: Long Branch (Nueva Jersey), Estados Unidos.
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