Live 01 Aug 1976 version
[Spoken intro:] Here's a new song, be on our... new album, I guess, when it comes out...
Well I'm riding down Kingsley figuring I'll get a drink
I turn the radio way up loud so I don't have to think
And I ease down on the gas looking for a moment when the world seems right
And I go tearing into the heart of something in the night
And I picked this chick up hitch-hiking, she just hung her head out the window and she screamed
Said she was looking for someplace to go, to die or be redeemed
So you can ride this road to dawn, without another human being in sight
Cause baby everybody's gone looking for something in the night
And me I gotta stop penance, I gotta stop my fooling around
Well I got this stuff running around my head, I can't live with or live down
She wants me to push this machine until the whole world disappears out of sight
And just me and you baby, surrender to the cannons of something in the night
Well now tonight no sins are forgiven, no sins are forgiven
And when I look out at the street sometimes I can't tell the day from the night
And now it's just winners and losers, mumbling about some vague wrong and right
And kids like us, rumbling over something in the night
And now you people out on the island, you lock your doors and take your children by the hand
Put on your black dress baby, because tonight the devil will walk these streets like a man
I don't know about you, but I'm gonna, I'm gonna bring along my switchblade, in case that fool wants to fight
If he wants me I'll be running down the highway, chasing something in the night
Woahhh there's something in the night
Woahhh there's something in the night
The above lyrics are for the live 01 Aug 1976 performance of SOMETHING IN THE NIGHT at Monmouth Arts Center in Red Bank, NJ, during what is known as The Lawsuit Tour. This was the world premiere of SOMETHING IN THE NIGHT. This version's lyrics are very different from those of the album version. They were used between 01 Aug 1976 and 25 Oct 1976, notably on 01 Aug 1976 in Red Bank, NJ, 21 Aug 1976 in Waterbury, CT, 22 Aug 1976 in Springfield, MA (see the live 22 Aug 1976 version which varies a little bit), 10 Oct 1976 in Oxford, OH, 12 Oct 1976 in New Brunswick, NJ, and except on 09 Oct 1976 in South Bend, IN (see the live 09 Oct 1976 version).
This was the first of a six-night stand at Monmouth Arts Center.
Despite the marvelous reception received by both Born To Run and the tour which followed, the relationship between Bruce Springsteen and his now former manager and producer Mike Appel was deteriorating. In July 1976 the storm broke; Mike Appel wrote to Springsteen saying that he would not allow Jon Landau (Springsteen's friend and co-producer of Born To Run) to produce the next album, citing a particular paragraph from their original agreement. Springsteen replied on 27 Jul 1976 by firing manager Mike Appel and suing him and his management company Laurel Canyon Ltd. in Federal Court in Manhattan, claiming fraud, breach of trust, and undue influence. Appel counter-sued on 29 Jul 1976 in New York State Supreme Court, asking the court to prohibit Springsteen and Jon Landau from working together in studio. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band were slated to enter the studio that year for the recording of a new album, except that on 15 Sep 1976 the judge in the lawsuits case ruled that Springsteen was enjoined from any further recording with Columbia Records until Appel's suit was resolved. This would drag for about a year. Meanwhile, Springsteen continued gigging, and in the process broke his self-imposed rule of not playing the larger arenas. This was basically because he was not able to put a record out, and it was the only way his fans would be able to hear him at all. The tour became known as "The Lawsuit Tour" (62 know dates, August 1976 to March 1977).
Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.
List of available versions of SOMETHING IN THE NIGHT on this website:
SOMETHING IN THE NIGHT [Album version]