Racing in the Street
Encyclopedia
"Racing in the Street" is a song by Bruce Springsteen
from his 1978 album Darkness on the Edge of Town
. In the original vinyl format, it was the last song of side one of the album. The song has been called Springsteen's best song by several commentators, including the authors of The New Rolling Stone Album Guide.
-like ballad that begins with a slow, graceful and elegant introduction by pianist Roy Bittan
.
The narrator has a dead end job
, but his pride and joy is his '69 Chevy
that he and his partner built, and race across the northeast United States to win money gambling against similar racers. The first verse is accompanied only by piano and opens with the narrator singing that:
Max Weinberg
's drum rim taps signal a somewhat faster pace for the second verse. Midway through, Danny Federici
's organ later joins in, combining to form what writer Robert Santelli termed "one beautiful, seamless sound". The organ entrance signals one of the lyric's main points, that the narrator divides the world into two types of people: those who "give up living / And start dying little by little, piece by piece," and those like himself who find something to live for, which in his case is going racing in the streets.
However, after an instrumental break the third verse unexpectedly takes place with again only piano behind it. The girlfriend the protagonist apparently won from a competitor in one of his races does not share his dream of going racing in the streets. Instead, she "stares into the night with the eyes of one who hates for just being born." But the story ends on a possibly hopeful note, as the narrator attempts to find salvation in the closing lines:
Other views of the closing have been grimmer. In any case, the song concludes with a moving fugue
-like instrumental coda
with Bittan's piano, Federici's organ and Max Weinberg
's drums intertwining.
The chord progression
in the choruses and coda is I–IV–VI–IV in the key of F. Springsteen uses the technique of withholding the V chord, which is only heard during the piano introduction and during a later transition; by reducing the chord's influence, the sense of longing or desperation in the song is heightened.
"Racing in the Street" contains two clear homages: the title and chorus refer to Martha and the Vandellas
' 1964 hit "Dancing in the Street
", while the instrumental break after the second verse and chorus is an allusion to The Beach Boys
' 1964 song "Don't Worry Baby
", itself about the emotional aspects of drag racing. The song also inhabits the space established by other early 1960s works, such as Jan and Dean
's "Dead Man's Curve
" and various other Beach Boys works. Indeed, writer Jim Cullen sees as one of Springsteen's goals with the song to comment upon and reconnect certain elements of rock history. Structurally, the song is also influenced by Van Morrison
's "Tupelo Honey
".
outside his home base of Asbury Park, New Jersey
. But the song is one of a number of Springsteen songs from the 1970s, such as "Born to Run
" and "Thunder Road
", that celebrate American men's desire for freedom from responsibility, as symbolized by the ability to drive to freedom in a fast car. The protagonist of "Racing in the Street" can be contrasted with the protagonist of Tracy Chapman
's "Fast Car
". The protagonist of "Racing in the Street" using his fast car as a means to escape the city and responsibility, while the protagonist of "Fast Car" is using her fast car to approach the city and responsibility.
In any case, the song plays off the American love of muscle car
s during the late 1960s and into the 1970s. Indeed, automotive enthusiasts have debated whether 1969 Chevrolet
models could be ordered, customized, or built to the exact specifications given in the song of a 396-cubic-inch Chevrolet big-block engine with fuel injection
and Hurst Performance
transmission.
Another interpretation of the song is that it is a possible realization of the potential inherent in "Thunder Road
". "Thunder Road" is a declaration of what the protagonist and his girlfriend are going to do. "Racing in the Street" is the reality of how they might end up. Most importantly, "Racing in the Street" is the first song in which Springsteen introduces the suffering woman. Rock has always had songs where women are won and lost as trophies in contests, but Springsteen treats that theme with much more compassion than usual in the genre. This perspective is amplified by writer Jeffrey B. Symynkywicz, who sees the romantic attachment formed in the story removing the protagonist from his perfectly constructed world of cars built to personal specification and no external commitments. Springsteen paints "a harrowing portrait of the toll depression takes" on the woman, but the protagonist is at least mature enough to realize he has to augment the challenges he takes on the street with the role of not letting the woman face her demons alone. While romanticization of the ordinary, anonymous Americans found in "Racing in the Street" is common in rock, Springsteen's detailed depiction of them in this song shows real understanding and compassion, perhaps due to his having lived among them.
Writer Greil Marcus
sees "Racing in the Street" as picking up the characters of various Beach Boys songs fifteen years later in their lives, never finding anywhere else the freedom they found in their cars and driving forever towards a dead end that they could see but not wish away or reach. Rolling Stone
' s David Fricke
echoes this view, saying it is "Springsteen's grim Darkness portrait of a generation racing to a dead end." Both the album's title track "Darkness on the Edge of Town" and "Racing in the Street", which is similarly set physically and which close the two album sides, are influenced by film noir
, which further set the mood of the record. Writer Eric Alterman
sees "Racing in the Street" as one of Springsteen's top-flight songs, and one of several on the Darkness album that helped establish its low-on-hype integrity and power, and thus cemented Springsteen's relationship with his fan base.
Springsteen biographer Dave Marsh
has called the song "the line of demarcation separating casual Springsteen fans from the fanatics," with the former considering it yet another sign of Springsteen's car metaphor obsession taken to an extreme, while the latter consider it "maybe the best thing Springsteen has to give." Detractors have also referred to the song as plodding, especially in comparison to the dynamicism of the prior Born to Run
album. In any case, the people in "Racing in the Street" are part of the central thematic development of Springsteen's cast of characters from Born to Run to Nebraska and beyond.
Springsteen has called "Racing in the Street" one of his favorite songs. The song has been highly praised by other artists, including Bob Dylan
. It was disc jockey Richard Neer
's favorite Springsteen song, and when famed New York station WNEW-FM finally gave up on its rock format in 1999, "Racing in the Street" was the last song Neer played.
William Gibson
, "noir prophet" of the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction, mentioned on Twitter that "Racing in the Streets" had everything to do with the hacker Bobby Quine from Burning Chrome
and what he did for a living.
during Springsteen's 1978 Darkness Tour
. This began the practice of the band playing a much longer coda part after the lyrical section concluded. With the music almost gone, Weinberg would start tapping his drumstick, and the band would slowly begin a long instrumental build-up with Bittan's piano leading. Subsequently, guitars enter almost unheard, with soft, high-pitched figures adding overtones against the keyboard parts. Listening to it live and on bootleg recordings of radio broadcasts the following year, writer Greil Marcus
said the performance of "Racing in the Street" following the tour's famed elongated presentation of "Prove It All Night
" had captivated his attention and was "the only music I've felt scared to play, and scared not to." The 1978 performances of the song typically segued into "Thunder Road
".
The song was also a regular during the 1980–1981 River Tour
. Now the song was a standalone piece, typically eight minutes in length, with a coda that neither faded out like the studio recording or segued into another song, but rather built to a series of climaxes. A live version of the song from the tour, recorded in 1981 at Meadowlands Arena in New Jersey, was included on the 1986 box set Live/1975–85. Rolling Stone
noted that in concert the song "draws its power from a deeper well, palpably accelerating with pensive desperation as Danny Federici's sorrowful organ clouds over Roy Bittan's ballerina piano figure."
During the 1984–1985 Born in the U.S.A. Tour
, "Racing in the Street" was first in set list
rotation with "Backstreets
". Then, once "Rosalita
" was dropped as the standard second-half main set closer, "Racing in the Street" often served in its stead for a while, although by the 1985 U.S. stadium leg it was gone. During its time as a set closer, Springsteen began telling a softly spoken story about a summer romance gone bad, set against a wistful synthesizer backdrop by Bittan. Then the song was played, but the coda's ending was routed into Springsteen telling the conclusion of the story, with the couple packing their bags and leaving for an unknown destination, after which Springsteen walked off the stage while the coda resumed for one time around. This version was not included on the Live/1975–85 set because it had not been performed during any of the shows that were professionally recorded.
The song virtually disappeared from Springsteen's concert repertoire in the following years, appearing just a few times on the 1995–1997 solo Ghost of Tom Joad Tour
played on acoustic guitar (and usually accompanied by future E Street Band violinist Soozie Tyrell
).
Beginning in 1999 with the Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Reunion Tour
and the subsequent 2000s tours in the "Reunion Era", "Racing in the Street" appeared intermittently, often rotating with "Backstreets", "Jungleland
", and similarly long, intense songs in a late-in-main-set "epic" slot. These versions were often nine minutes long, with audiences cheering in anticipation of the coda. Tyrell's violin and sometimes Clarence Clemons
' baritone sax were added to the mix, but the lead was still Bittan, playing coda sequences up to several crescendos, before playing a minor-key line that signalled the conclusion.
During the final Vote for Change
concert in 2004, "Racing in the Street" was performed by Springsteen and the band with Jackson Browne
sharing the vocals. Springsteen played it a number of times on solo piano during his 2005 Devils & Dust Tour
.
version by Townes Van Zandt
from his 1993 album Roadsongs. Other artists who have covered the song include Emmylou Harris
on her 1982 live album Last Date and Queen
's Roger Taylor
on his 1984 solo album Strange Frontier
. Serena Ryder
recorded it in 2009 for use on Springsteen's website, and in the same year, Charlie Robison
included the song on his album Beautiful Day and a version by The Wave Pictures
was used as the opening selection on the Springsteen tribute album
Play Some Pool, Skip Some School, Act Real Cool. Justin Townes Earle
also released a cover of the song as the "B-side" to the digital single "Christchurch Woman".
Springsteen released his own alternate version on The Promise
, his 2010 double CD
of outtakes
from Darkness on the Edge of Town
. This version has slightly different lyrics and a more uptempo, anthemic
arrangement than the album version. In the opening verse, the protagonist's car is a 1932 Ford instead of a 1969 Chevy. In the final verse, the woman's "pretty dress" is torn, not her "pretty dreams."
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
from his 1978 album Darkness on the Edge of Town
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Darkness on the Edge of Town is the fourth album by Bruce Springsteen, released in the late spring of 1978. The album marked the end of a three year period of forced hiatus from recording brought on by contractual obligations and legal battling with former manager Mike Appel...
. In the original vinyl format, it was the last song of side one of the album. The song has been called Springsteen's best song by several commentators, including the authors of The New Rolling Stone Album Guide.
Structure
The song is a near-dirgeDirge
A dirge is a somber song expressing mourning or grief, such as would be appropriate for performance at a funeral. A lament. The English word "dirge" is derived from the Latin Dirige, Domine, Deus meus, in conspectu tuo viam meam , the first words of the first antiphon in the Matins of the Office...
-like ballad that begins with a slow, graceful and elegant introduction by pianist Roy Bittan
Roy Bittan
Roy Bittan is an American keyboardist, best known as a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, which he joined on August 23, 1974...
.
The narrator has a dead end job
Dead end job
A dead-end job is a job in which there is little or no chance of progressing and succeeding into a higher paid position. Such work is usually unskilled and the phrase usually applies to those working as shelf stackers, cleaners, or other menial jobs where the pay is low, and the hours are long....
, but his pride and joy is his '69 Chevy
Chevrolet
Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...
that he and his partner built, and race across the northeast United States to win money gambling against similar racers. The first verse is accompanied only by piano and opens with the narrator singing that:
- I got a '69 Chevy with a 396
- Fuelie heads and a Hurst on the floor
Max Weinberg
Max Weinberg
Max Weinberg is an American drummer and television personality, most widely known as the longtime drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and as the bandleader for Conan O'Brien on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.Weinberg grew up in suburban New Jersey...
's drum rim taps signal a somewhat faster pace for the second verse. Midway through, Danny Federici
Danny Federici
Daniel Paul "Danny" Federici was an American musician, best known as the longtime organ, glockenspiel, and accordion player for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band.- Career :...
's organ later joins in, combining to form what writer Robert Santelli termed "one beautiful, seamless sound". The organ entrance signals one of the lyric's main points, that the narrator divides the world into two types of people: those who "give up living / And start dying little by little, piece by piece," and those like himself who find something to live for, which in his case is going racing in the streets.
However, after an instrumental break the third verse unexpectedly takes place with again only piano behind it. The girlfriend the protagonist apparently won from a competitor in one of his races does not share his dream of going racing in the streets. Instead, she "stares into the night with the eyes of one who hates for just being born." But the story ends on a possibly hopeful note, as the narrator attempts to find salvation in the closing lines:
- Tonight my baby and me are gonna drive to the sea
- And wash these sins off our hands.
Other views of the closing have been grimmer. In any case, the song concludes with a moving fugue
Fugue
In music, a fugue is a compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and recurs frequently in the course of the composition....
-like instrumental coda
Coda (music)
Coda is a term used in music in a number of different senses, primarily to designate a passage that brings a piece to an end. Technically, it is an expanded cadence...
with Bittan's piano, Federici's organ and Max Weinberg
Max Weinberg
Max Weinberg is an American drummer and television personality, most widely known as the longtime drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and as the bandleader for Conan O'Brien on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.Weinberg grew up in suburban New Jersey...
's drums intertwining.
The chord progression
Chord progression
A chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
in the choruses and coda is I–IV–VI–IV in the key of F. Springsteen uses the technique of withholding the V chord, which is only heard during the piano introduction and during a later transition; by reducing the chord's influence, the sense of longing or desperation in the song is heightened.
"Racing in the Street" contains two clear homages: the title and chorus refer to Martha and the Vandellas
Martha and the Vandellas
Martha and the Vandellas were among the most successful groups of the Motown roster during the period 1963–1967...
' 1964 hit "Dancing in the Street
Dancing in the Street
"Dancing in the Street" is a 1964 song first recorded by Martha and the Vandellas. It is one of Motown's signature songs and is the group's premier signature song.-Martha and the Vandellas original:...
", while the instrumental break after the second verse and chorus is an allusion to The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
' 1964 song "Don't Worry Baby
Don't Worry Baby
"Don’t Worry Baby" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Roger Christian, produced by Wilson and first recorded by the Beach Boys. The band's version, a tender ballad with falsetto lead vocal by Brian, was first released on their 1964 album Shut Down Volume 2. It was also released as the B-side of...
", itself about the emotional aspects of drag racing. The song also inhabits the space established by other early 1960s works, such as Jan and Dean
Jan and Dean
Jan and Dean were a rock and roll duo, popular from the late 1950s through the mid 1960s, consisting of William Jan Berry and Dean Ormsby Torrence...
's "Dead Man's Curve
Dead Man's Curve (song)
"Dead Man's Curve" is a 1964 hit song by Jan and Dean detailing a teen street race gone awry. It reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart....
" and various other Beach Boys works. Indeed, writer Jim Cullen sees as one of Springsteen's goals with the song to comment upon and reconnect certain elements of rock history. Structurally, the song is also influenced by Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
's "Tupelo Honey
Tupelo Honey (Van Morrison song)
"Tupelo Honey" is a popular song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and the title song from his 1971 album, Tupelo Honey. The title derives from an expensive, mild-tasting tupelo honey produced in the southeastern United States. Released as a single in 1972, it reached number...
".
Themes and interpretations
Springsteen has said that this song commemorates the racing in the street that occurred on a little fire roadFirebreak
A firebreak is a gap in vegetation or other combustible material that acts as a barrier to slow or stop the progress of a bushfire or wildfire. A firebreak may occur naturally where there is a lack of vegetation or "fuel", such as a river, lake or canyon...
outside his home base of Asbury Park, New Jersey
Asbury Park, New Jersey
Asbury Park is a city in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, located on the Jersey Shore and part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 16,116. The city is known for its rich musical history, including its association with...
. But the song is one of a number of Springsteen songs from the 1970s, such as "Born to Run
Born to Run (song)
"Born to Run" is a song by American singer songwriter Bruce Springsteen, and the title song of his album Born to Run.- Songwriting :Written at in Long Branch, New Jersey in early 1974, the song was Bruce Springsteen's last-ditch effort to make it big. The prior year, Springsteen had released two...
" and "Thunder Road
Thunder Road (song)
"Thunder Road" is a song written and performed by Bruce Springsteen, and the opening track on his 1975 breakthrough album Born to Run. It is ranked as one of Springsteen's greatest songs, and often appears on lists of the top rock songs of all time.Rolling Stone magazine placed it as #86 on its...
", that celebrate American men's desire for freedom from responsibility, as symbolized by the ability to drive to freedom in a fast car. The protagonist of "Racing in the Street" can be contrasted with the protagonist of Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her singles "Fast Car", "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution", "Baby Can I Hold You", "Give Me One Reason" and "Telling Stories". She is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award-winning artist.-Biography:Tracy Chapman was born in Cleveland,...
's "Fast Car
Fast Car
"Fast Car" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman. It was released as a single in April 1988 from her self-titled 1988 debut album Tracy Chapman...
". The protagonist of "Racing in the Street" using his fast car as a means to escape the city and responsibility, while the protagonist of "Fast Car" is using her fast car to approach the city and responsibility.
In any case, the song plays off the American love of muscle car
Muscle car
Muscle car is a term used to refer to a variety of high-performance automobiles. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines muscle cars as "any of a group of American-made 2-door sports coupes with powerful engines designed for high-performance driving." Usually, a large V8 engine is fitted in a...
s during the late 1960s and into the 1970s. Indeed, automotive enthusiasts have debated whether 1969 Chevrolet
Chevrolet
Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...
models could be ordered, customized, or built to the exact specifications given in the song of a 396-cubic-inch Chevrolet big-block engine with fuel injection
Fuel injection
Fuel injection is a system for admitting fuel into an internal combustion engine. It has become the primary fuel delivery system used in automotive petrol engines, having almost completely replaced carburetors in the late 1980s....
and Hurst Performance
Hurst Performance
Hurst Performance, Inc. of Warminster Township, Pennsylvania, manufactured and marketed products for enhancing the performance of automobiles, most notably for muscle cars.-Products:...
transmission.
Another interpretation of the song is that it is a possible realization of the potential inherent in "Thunder Road
Thunder Road
Thunder Road is the title of a 1958 drama–crime film about running moonshine in the mountains of Kentucky and Tennessee in the early 1950s. It was directed by Arthur Ripley and starred Robert Mitchum, who also produced the film, co-wrote the screenplay, and is rumored to have directed much of the...
". "Thunder Road" is a declaration of what the protagonist and his girlfriend are going to do. "Racing in the Street" is the reality of how they might end up. Most importantly, "Racing in the Street" is the first song in which Springsteen introduces the suffering woman. Rock has always had songs where women are won and lost as trophies in contests, but Springsteen treats that theme with much more compassion than usual in the genre. This perspective is amplified by writer Jeffrey B. Symynkywicz, who sees the romantic attachment formed in the story removing the protagonist from his perfectly constructed world of cars built to personal specification and no external commitments. Springsteen paints "a harrowing portrait of the toll depression takes" on the woman, but the protagonist is at least mature enough to realize he has to augment the challenges he takes on the street with the role of not letting the woman face her demons alone. While romanticization of the ordinary, anonymous Americans found in "Racing in the Street" is common in rock, Springsteen's detailed depiction of them in this song shows real understanding and compassion, perhaps due to his having lived among them.
Writer Greil Marcus
Greil Marcus
Greil Marcus is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a much broader framework of culture and politics than is customary in pop music journalism.-Life and career:Marcus was born in San Francisco...
sees "Racing in the Street" as picking up the characters of various Beach Boys songs fifteen years later in their lives, never finding anywhere else the freedom they found in their cars and driving forever towards a dead end that they could see but not wish away or reach. Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
David Fricke
David Fricke is a senior editor at Rolling Stone magazine, where he writes predominantly on rock music. In the 1990s, he was managing editor before stepping down.-Background:David Fricke is a graduate of Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania...
echoes this view, saying it is "Springsteen's grim Darkness portrait of a generation racing to a dead end." Both the album's title track "Darkness on the Edge of Town" and "Racing in the Street", which is similarly set physically and which close the two album sides, are influenced by film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
, which further set the mood of the record. Writer Eric Alterman
Eric Alterman
Eric Alterman is an American English teacher, historian, journalist, author, media critic, blogger, and educator. His political weblog named Altercation was hosted by MSNBC.com from 2002 until 2006, moved to Media Matters for America until December 2008, and is now hosted by The...
sees "Racing in the Street" as one of Springsteen's top-flight songs, and one of several on the Darkness album that helped establish its low-on-hype integrity and power, and thus cemented Springsteen's relationship with his fan base.
Springsteen biographer Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh is an American music critic, author, editor and radio talk show host. He was a formative editor of Creem magazine, has written for various publications such as Newsday, The Village Voice, and Rolling Stone, and has published numerous books about music and musicians, mostly focused on...
has called the song "the line of demarcation separating casual Springsteen fans from the fanatics," with the former considering it yet another sign of Springsteen's car metaphor obsession taken to an extreme, while the latter consider it "maybe the best thing Springsteen has to give." Detractors have also referred to the song as plodding, especially in comparison to the dynamicism of the prior Born to Run
Born to Run
The album's release was accompanied by a $250,000 promotional campaign by Columbia directed at both consumers and the music industry, making good use of Landau's "I saw rock 'n' roll's future—and its name is Bruce Springsteen" quote. With much publicity, Born to Run vaulted into the top 10 in its...
album. In any case, the people in "Racing in the Street" are part of the central thematic development of Springsteen's cast of characters from Born to Run to Nebraska and beyond.
Springsteen has called "Racing in the Street" one of his favorite songs. The song has been highly praised by other artists, including Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
. It was disc jockey Richard Neer
Richard Neer
Richard Neer is an American disc jockey and sports radio personality who has been involved in, and has chronicled, key changes in both music and sports radio.- Biography :...
's favorite Springsteen song, and when famed New York station WNEW-FM finally gave up on its rock format in 1999, "Racing in the Street" was the last song Neer played.
William Gibson
William Gibson
William Gibson is an American-Canadian science fiction author.William Gibson may also refer to:-Association football:*Will Gibson , Scottish footballer...
, "noir prophet" of the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction, mentioned on Twitter that "Racing in the Streets" had everything to do with the hacker Bobby Quine from Burning Chrome
Burning Chrome
Burning Chrome is a collection of short stories written by William Gibson. Most of the stories take place in Gibson's Sprawl, an anonymous, shared setting for most of his cyberpunk work...
and what he did for a living.
Live performance history
"Racing in the Street" was a regular feature of the set listSet list
A set list, or setlist, is a document that lists the songs that a band or musical artist intends to play, or has played, during a specific concert performance...
during Springsteen's 1978 Darkness Tour
Darkness Tour
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's Darkness Tour was a concert tour of North America that ran from May 1978 through the rest of the year, in conjunction with the release of Springsteen's album Darkness on the Edge of Town...
. This began the practice of the band playing a much longer coda part after the lyrical section concluded. With the music almost gone, Weinberg would start tapping his drumstick, and the band would slowly begin a long instrumental build-up with Bittan's piano leading. Subsequently, guitars enter almost unheard, with soft, high-pitched figures adding overtones against the keyboard parts. Listening to it live and on bootleg recordings of radio broadcasts the following year, writer Greil Marcus
Greil Marcus
Greil Marcus is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a much broader framework of culture and politics than is customary in pop music journalism.-Life and career:Marcus was born in San Francisco...
said the performance of "Racing in the Street" following the tour's famed elongated presentation of "Prove It All Night
Prove It All Night
"Prove It All Night" is the penultimate song on Bruce Springsteen's fourth studio album Darkness on the Edge of Town, and the first single released from it....
" had captivated his attention and was "the only music I've felt scared to play, and scared not to." The 1978 performances of the song typically segued into "Thunder Road
Thunder Road (song)
"Thunder Road" is a song written and performed by Bruce Springsteen, and the opening track on his 1975 breakthrough album Born to Run. It is ranked as one of Springsteen's greatest songs, and often appears on lists of the top rock songs of all time.Rolling Stone magazine placed it as #86 on its...
".
The song was also a regular during the 1980–1981 River Tour
The River Tour
The River Tour was a concert tour featuring Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band that took place in 1980 and 1981, beginning concurrently with the release of Springsteen's album The River.-Itinerary:...
. Now the song was a standalone piece, typically eight minutes in length, with a coda that neither faded out like the studio recording or segued into another song, but rather built to a series of climaxes. A live version of the song from the tour, recorded in 1981 at Meadowlands Arena in New Jersey, was included on the 1986 box set Live/1975–85. Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
noted that in concert the song "draws its power from a deeper well, palpably accelerating with pensive desperation as Danny Federici's sorrowful organ clouds over Roy Bittan's ballerina piano figure."
During the 1984–1985 Born in the U.S.A. Tour
Born in the U.S.A. Tour
The Born in the U.S.A. Tour was the supporting concert tour of Bruce Springsteen's massively popular Born in the U.S.A. album. It was his longest and most successful tour to date. It featured a physically transformed Springsteen. After two years of bodybuilding, Springsteen had bulked up...
, "Racing in the Street" was first in set list
Set list
A set list, or setlist, is a document that lists the songs that a band or musical artist intends to play, or has played, during a specific concert performance...
rotation with "Backstreets
Backstreets (song)
"Backstreets" is a song by Bruce Springsteen from the album Born to Run, which was released in 1975. In the original vinyl release, it concludes side one of the record.-Structure:...
". Then, once "Rosalita
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
"Rosalita " is a 1973 song by Bruce Springsteen, from his The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle album, and is especially famed as a concert number for Springsteen and The E Street Band...
" was dropped as the standard second-half main set closer, "Racing in the Street" often served in its stead for a while, although by the 1985 U.S. stadium leg it was gone. During its time as a set closer, Springsteen began telling a softly spoken story about a summer romance gone bad, set against a wistful synthesizer backdrop by Bittan. Then the song was played, but the coda's ending was routed into Springsteen telling the conclusion of the story, with the couple packing their bags and leaving for an unknown destination, after which Springsteen walked off the stage while the coda resumed for one time around. This version was not included on the Live/1975–85 set because it had not been performed during any of the shows that were professionally recorded.
The song virtually disappeared from Springsteen's concert repertoire in the following years, appearing just a few times on the 1995–1997 solo Ghost of Tom Joad Tour
Ghost of Tom Joad Tour
The Ghost of Tom Joad Tour was a lengthy, worldwide concert tour featuring Bruce Springsteen performing alone on stage in small halls and theatres, that ran off and on from late 1995 through the middle of 1997. It followed the release of his 1995 album The Ghost of Tom Joad.-Itinerary:The tour...
played on acoustic guitar (and usually accompanied by future E Street Band violinist Soozie Tyrell
Soozie Tyrell
Soozie Tyrell, , formerly known as Soozie Kirschner, is an American violinist and vocalist, most known for her work with Bruce Springsteen in the E Street Band.-Biography:...
).
Beginning in 1999 with the Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Reunion Tour
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Reunion Tour
The Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Reunion Tour was a lengthy, top-grossing concert tour featuring Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band that took place over 1999 and 2000....
and the subsequent 2000s tours in the "Reunion Era", "Racing in the Street" appeared intermittently, often rotating with "Backstreets", "Jungleland
Jungleland
"Jungleland" is an almost ten-minute long closing song on Bruce Springsteen's 1975 album Born to Run, and tells a tale of love amid a backdrop of gang violence. It contains one of E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons' most recognizable solos...
", and similarly long, intense songs in a late-in-main-set "epic" slot. These versions were often nine minutes long, with audiences cheering in anticipation of the coda. Tyrell's violin and sometimes Clarence Clemons
Clarence Clemons
Clarence Anicholas Clemons, Jr. , also known as The Big Man, was an American musician and actor. From 1972 until his death, he was a prominent member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, playing the tenor saxophone. He released several solo albums and in 1985, had a hit single with "You're a...
' baritone sax were added to the mix, but the lead was still Bittan, playing coda sequences up to several crescendos, before playing a minor-key line that signalled the conclusion.
During the final Vote for Change
Vote for Change
The Vote for Change tour was a politically-motivated American popular music concert tour that took place in October 2004. The tour was presented by MoveOn.org to benefit America Coming Together. The tour was held in swing states and was designed to encourage people to register and vote...
concert in 2004, "Racing in the Street" was performed by Springsteen and the band with Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....
sharing the vocals. Springsteen played it a number of times on solo piano during his 2005 Devils & Dust Tour
Devils & Dust Tour
The Devils & Dust Tour was a 2005 concert tour featuring Bruce Springsteen performing alone on stage on a variety of instruments. It followed the release of his 2005 album Devils & Dust.-Approach:...
.
Other versions
In addition to the original, the song has been covered by several artists, including a countrifiedCountry music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
version by Townes Van Zandt
Townes Van Zandt
John Townes Van Zandt , best known as Townes Van Zandt, was an American Texas Country-folk music singer-songwriter, performer, and poet...
from his 1993 album Roadsongs. Other artists who have covered the song include Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris is an American singer-songwriter and musician. In addition to her work as a solo artist and bandleader, both as an interpreter of other composers' works and as a singer-songwriter, she is a sought-after backing vocalist and duet partner, working with numerous other artists including...
on her 1982 live album Last Date and Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
's Roger Taylor
Roger Meddows-Taylor
Roger Meddows Taylor , known as Roger Taylor, is a British musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the drummer, backing vocalist and occasional lead vocalist of British rock band Queen. As a drummer he is known for his "big" unique sound and is considered one of...
on his 1984 solo album Strange Frontier
Strange Frontier
Strange Frontier is the second album by English musician Roger Taylor. This album includes two covers as well as a heavier sound than the previous album...
. Serena Ryder
Serena Ryder
Serena Ryder is a Juno Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter raised in Millbrook, Ontario.Ranging musically between folk, roots, country, and adult contemporary music, Ryder possesses a five-octave range...
recorded it in 2009 for use on Springsteen's website, and in the same year, Charlie Robison
Charlie Robison
Charles Fitzgerald "Charlie" Robison is an Texas Country singer/songwriter, who was raised in Bandera, Texas. His brother is singer/songwriter Bruce Robison...
included the song on his album Beautiful Day and a version by The Wave Pictures
The Wave Pictures
The Wave Pictures are an English folk band consisting of David Tattersall , Franic Rozycki and Jonny Helm .-Background:...
was used as the opening selection on the Springsteen tribute album
Tribute album
A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.There...
Play Some Pool, Skip Some School, Act Real Cool. Justin Townes Earle
Justin Townes Earle
Justin Townes Earle , son of Steve Earle, stepson of Allison Moorer, and named for songwriter Townes Van Zandt is an AMA winning, Americana musician based in Nashville, Tennessee. Earle is signed to Bloodshot Records and has four released albums from 2007–2010...
also released a cover of the song as the "B-side" to the digital single "Christchurch Woman".
Springsteen released his own alternate version on The Promise
The Promise (Bruce Springsteen album)
The Promise is the 17th studio album by American rock singer Bruce Springsteen, released November 16, 2010 on Columbia Records. It is a double CD compilation of previously unreleased songs drawing from the Darkness on the Edge of Town sessions. The album is also available as part of the box set...
, his 2010 double CD
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
of outtakes
Outtake
An outtake is a portion of a work that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and DVD reissues of many albums and films as bonus tracks or features, in film often, but not...
from Darkness on the Edge of Town
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Darkness on the Edge of Town is the fourth album by Bruce Springsteen, released in the late spring of 1978. The album marked the end of a three year period of forced hiatus from recording brought on by contractual obligations and legal battling with former manager Mike Appel...
. This version has slightly different lyrics and a more uptempo, anthemic
Anthem
The term anthem means either a specific form of Anglican church music , or more generally, a song of celebration, usually acting as a symbol for a distinct group of people, as in the term "national anthem" or "sports anthem".-Etymology:The word is derived from the Greek via Old English , a word...
arrangement than the album version. In the opening verse, the protagonist's car is a 1932 Ford instead of a 1969 Chevy. In the final verse, the woman's "pretty dress" is torn, not her "pretty dreams."