Live 26 Nov 1996 version
[Spoken intro:] Yeah, let's all do this one. Come on, Steven! Bring 'em out. (chuckles) Red, hey! Come on, Red! Sooz! Well, this has been a hell of a three days, we had so much fun. Uh, uh, we had so much fun, it was really, uh, great to have a chance, it's great that this theatre is here now in town, it's lovely to be able to come back into the town and play. Uh, um, I always say that Asbury was, uh, when I first came here, I was 18, it was a little more open than the towns surrounding it, you know, people sort of left you alone a little bit more and, uh, we were here, all here making our music and we were pretty invisible, which suited us, suited us fine. Uh, you know, it was really uh, a little bit of the taste, a taste of the city actually, there were so many musicians here. Uh, it was a place where you could, you could have time to find yourself and the kind of music you wanted to play, I met so many good people here. Mad Dog Vini Lopez, Big Danny Gallagher, Garry Tallent, Southside, they're all people I met here in Asbury. Uh, you know, I wrote a lot of my early work here on the beach or on Big Danny's living room floor over on Cookman and Main, and, uh, we put, really was the seeds of the band that really, that took us all, took us all around the world, and, and friendships that have really lasted, lasted me a lifetime, it's pretty amazing. Uh, as I said, I saw, I got a chance the other night to just watch my kids running around the theatre bringing the whole thing sort of full circle. Uh, guess all I'm really say-, saying is I'm a pretty lucky guy, and, uh, I'm just glad to be here in town tonight and be able to play for you. And, uh, uh, this song was written, uh, as a goodbye song, I wrote it at a time when my life was changing and I didn't know what was gonna, what was up ahead or what to expect, uh, but it was a little more than a goodbye song, it was a, it was a love note too, so, uh, there's one's for Asbury, wishing that, wishing that the best may be yet to come.
Sandy, fireworks are hailin' over Little Eden tonight
Forcin' a light in all them stoned-out faces left stranded on the fourth of July
Down in town the Circuit's full with switchblade lovers, so fast, so shiny, and sharp
And the wizards play down on Pinball Way on the boardwalk way past dark
And the boys from the casino dance with their shirts open like Latin lovers along the shore
Chasin' all them silly New York girls
Oh, Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us
The pier lights our carnival life forever
Love me tonight, for I, I may never see you again
Hey, Sandy, girl
Well, now the greasers, they tramp the streets or get busted for trying to sleep on the beach all night
And them boys in their spiked high heels, ah, Sandy, their skins are so white
Well, and me, I just got tired of hangin' in them dusty arcades, bangin' them pleasure machines
Chasin' the factory girls underneath the boardwalk, where they all promise to unsnap their jeans
And you know that tilt-a-whirl way down on the south beach drag
I got on it last night and my shirt got caught
And that Joey kept me spinnin'
I didn't think I'd ever get off
Oh, Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us
The pier lights our carnival life on the water (forever)
Yeah, running down the beach, yeah, with my old boss's daughter
Hey, Sandy, girl
Now, Sandy, the angels have lost their desire for us
Well, I spoke to 'em last night, they said they won't set themselves on fire for us anymore
Every summer when the weather gets hot, they ride that road down from heaven, on their Harleys they come and go
You see 'em dressed like stars in all those cheap little seashore bars
Parked, makin' love with their babies, out on the Kokomo
Well, the cops finally busted Madame Marie for tellin' fortunes better than they do
This boardwalk life for me is through
You know, you ought to quit this scene too
Oh, Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us
The pier lights our carnival life forever
Well, love me tonight and I promise I'll love you forever
Hey, Sandy, girl
Hey, Sandy, girl
Yeah, Sandy, girl
[Spoken outro:] Thank you, we love you! Come on up, Dan! Thank you, Asbury Park! Dan Federici! Richard Blackwell! Stevie Van Zandt, Big Danny Gallagher, Mad Dog Vincent Lopez! Patti Scialfa, Soozie Tyrell, Soozie! Thank you Asbury Park, we'll see you again! Shoot away! Thanks, we love you.
The above lyrics are for the live 26 Nov 1996 performance of 4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) at Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, NJ, during The Ghost Of Tom Joad Solo Acoustic Tour. The song was played in an acoustic full-band arrangement with Springsteen on guitar, plus guests Danny Federici on accordion, Soozie Tyrell on violin and backup vocals, Patti Scialfa on backup vocals, Steve Van Zandt on guitar, Richard Blackwell on congas, Danny Gallagher on guitar, and Vini Lopez on backup vocals.
This was the last of a three-night stand at Paramount Theatre.
Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.
List of available versions of 4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) on this website:
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Album version]