Oh when the night grew fear
And the jungle grew near
It was so dark I couldn't talk at all
I was a hunter in the midst of civilization
In some bombed out music hall
There was some... funky junk on the juke box
But I didn't know how to turn it on
There were some dudes at the door givin' trouble
There was a lady at the bar giving hope
The above lyrics are copied from Peter Knobler's profile on Bruce Springsteen that appeared in the March 1973 issue of Crawdaddy!. Knobler interviewed Springsteen on 08 Dec 1972 at the latter's newly rented apartment in Bradley Beach, NJ. He noted that Springsteen's "vocal style changes from acoustic to electric sets." Springsteen acknowledged, "It's is a different style of singing than with the band," and went on to sing the above song.
The song is untitled, so this website uses the first line from the song ("Oh when the night grew fear") as the title.
Peter Knobler was the editor-in-chief of Crawdaddy! magazine from 1972 to 1979. After seeing Bruce Springsteen perform on 07 Dec 1972 at Ossining Correctional Facility in Ossining, NY, and later that same day at Kenny's Castaways in New York City, he wrote the first interview and profile of Springsteen. "I went home and wrote 5,000 words (with special assistance from Greg Mitchell) about this guy nobody had heard of," Knobler recalled in 2008. "Crawdaddy didn't care that the story wasn't going to sell issues; we had someone our readers needed to know about." Knobler profiled Springsteen three times in Crawdaddy!: in 1973, 1975, and 1978.
The lines "Well there's some dudes at the door givin' talk / There's a lady at the bar, that's right" from the unreleased Born To Run outtake LONELY NIGHT IN THE PARK originate from this untitled song (last two lines).
Thanks Paul (Promise61 from Greasy Lake) and Dan French (wildandinn from Greasy Lake), and Peter Knobler for the help on this page.
If you have additional information about this song, please contact me via the below form or by email: .
List of available versions of OH WHEN THE NIGHT GREW FEAR... on this website:
OH WHEN THE NIGHT GREW FEAR...