SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT

Live 24 Apr 1973 (early show) version



[Spoken intro:] You got the ??? Alright, here we go.

One, two, three, four

Crazy Janey and her mission man were back in the alley trading hands
Along came Wild Billy with his friend G-Man all duded up for Saturday night
Well, Billy slammed on his coaster brakes, said, "Anybody wanna go on up to Greasy Lake?
It's about a mile down on the dark side of route eighty-eight, I got a bottle of rose so let's try it
We'll pick up Hazy Davy and Killer Joe and I'll take you all out to where the gypsy angels go
They're built like light
Ooh, and they dance like spirits in the night" (all night)
In the night (all night)
Oh baby don't know what they do to you
Like a spirit in the night (all night)
In the night (all night)
Stand right up, let it shoot through you
Alright

Now Wild Billy was a crazy cat and he shook some dust out of his coonskin cap
Cried, "Trust some of this, it'll show you where you're at, or at least it'll help you really feel it"
By the time we made it up to Greasy Lake I had my head out the window, Janey's fingers were in the cake
Well, I think I really dug her but I was too loose to fake
I said, "I'm hurt," she said, "Honey, let me heal it"
Whoa, we danced all night to a soul fairy band
She kissed me just right like only a lonely angel can
Felt so nice, just as soft as spirit in the night (all night)
In the night (all night)
Oh baby don't know what she do to you
She's like a spirit in the night (all night)
In the night (all night)
Stand right up, let her shoot through you
Well alright

(Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh)
(Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh)

(Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh)
(Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh)

Now the night grew bright and the stars threw light on Billy and Davy
Dancing in the moonlight
They were down near the water in a stone mud fight
Killer Joe passed out on the lawn

Yes, and Hazy Davy, he got really hurt, he ran into the lake in just his socks and a shirt
Me and Crazy Janey was making love in the dirt, singing our birthday songs
Well and Janey said it was time to go
So we closed our eyes and said goodbye to gypsy angel row, felt so right
Together we moved like spirits in the night (all night)
In the night (all night)
Oh baby don't know what it do to you
Like a spirit in the night (all night)
In the night (all night)
Oh stand right up and let it shoot through you
Like a spirit in the night (all night)
In the night (all night)
In the night (all night)
In the night (all night)
In the night (all night)
In the night (all night)
In the ni-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-ight
Oh, now, baby, that's right
Like a spirit in the night
Like a spirit in the night
Whoa like a spirit in the night
Alright

[Spoken outro:] Thank you. Oh thank you.


Info

The above lyrics are for the live 24 Apr 1973 early show performance of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT at The Main Point in Bryn Mawr, PA, during what is considered the Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. Tour. The song was played in a full-band, album-style arrangement.

The 24 Apr 1973 Early Show

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.

Promotional poster for the 24-25 Apr 1973 show at The Main Point, Bryn Mawr, PA
Promotional poster for the 24-25 Apr 1973 show at The Main Point, Bryn Mawr, PA
(Taken from Lelands)

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.

Bruce Springsteen -- Bound For Glory
Bruce Springsteen -- Bound For Glory

CD - Leftfield Media (LFMCD516) - UK, 2011

This release contains the 09 Jan 1973 WBCN-FM radio broadcast and the 24 Apr 1973 WMMR-FM radio broadcast.
Bruce Springsteen -- Bound For Glory
Bruce Springsteen -- Bound For Glory

2xLP - Let Them Eat Vinyl (LETV039LP) - UK, 2012

This release contains the 09 Jan 1973 WBCN-FM radio broadcast and the 24 Apr 1973 WMMR-FM radio broadcast. It was released under exclusive agreement with Leftfield Media.
Bruce Springsteen -- The Spirit Of The Radio: Legendary Broadcasts From The Early 1970s
Bruce Springsteen -- The Spirit Of The Radio: Legendary Broadcasts From The Early 1970s

3xCD - Parallel Lines (PLCD022) - Europe, 2014

This release contains the 09 Jan 1973 WBCN-FM radio broadcast, the 24 Apr 1973 WMMR-FM radio broadcast, and part of the 05 Feb 1975 broadcast from The Main Point.
Bruce Springsteen -- Live Collection
Bruce Springsteen -- Live Collection

3xCD - Bandana (BAND1011) - UK, 2015

This release contains the 24 Apr 1973 WMMR-FM radio broadcast, part of the 05 Feb 1975 broadcast from The Main Point, and various TV appearances from the nineties.
Bruce Springsteen -- Bound For Glory
Bruce Springsteen -- Bound For Glory

Digital album - Cult Legends (no catalog number) - Europe, 2018

This is a download-only digital album. It contains the 09 Jan 1973 WBCN-FM radio broadcast and the 24 Apr 1973 WMMR-FM radio broadcast.
Bruce Springsteen -- Best Of Bound For Glory
Best Of Bruce Springsteen -- Bound For Glory

CD - Cult Legends (CL76348) - Europe, 2018

This release contains the 09 Jan 1973 WBCN-FM radio broadcast and part of the 24 Apr 1973 WMMR-FM radio broadcast.
Bruce Springsteen -- Best Of Bound For Glory
Best Of Bruce Springsteen -- Bound For Glory

LP - Cult Legends (CL76331) - Europe, 2018

This release contains the 09 Jan 1973 WBCN-FM radio broadcast and part of the 24 Apr 1973 WMMR-FM radio broadcast.
Bruce Springsteen -- The Broadcast Collection 1973-1993
Bruce Springsteen -- The Broadcast Collection 1973-1993

5xCD - Cult Legends (CL78199) - Europe, 2019

This release contains the 09 Jan 1973 WBCN-FM radio broadcast, the 24 Apr 1973 WMMR-FM radio broadcast, part of the 05 Feb 1975 broadcast from The Main Point, the soundtrack of the pro-shot video footage from the 11 Apr 1993 show in Verona, and some various TV appearances.

References

Some of the above information is taken from Brucebase.

Available Versions

List of available versions of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT on this website:

SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Album version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 31 Jan 1973 (early show) version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 02 Mar 1973 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 24 Apr 1973 (early show) version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 01 May 1973 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 06 Jan 1974 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 05 Feb 1975 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 15 Aug 1975 (early show) version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 18 Nov 1975 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 13 May 1976 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 13 Feb 1977 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 07 Jul 1978 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 08 Dec 1978 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 15 Dec 1978 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 31 Dec 1980 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 20 Aug 1984 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 31 Oct 1992 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 06 Nov 1992 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 21 Feb 1995 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 25 Nov 1996 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 26 Nov 1996 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 14 Nov 1999 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 08 Apr 2000 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 08 May 2000 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 16 Oct 2002 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 21 Jul 2003 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 31 Aug 2003 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 19 Dec 2004 (late show) version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 22 Jun 2005 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 12 Dec 2006 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 20 Mar 2008 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 23 Aug 2008 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 16 Oct 2008 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 25 Aug 2009 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 20 Oct 2009 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 22 Nov 2009 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Live 26 Jan 2014 version]
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Manfred Mann's Earth Band's cover version]

Page last updated: 21 Oct 2013