Song title: The angel
The angel
The angel rides with hunch-backed children,
Poison oozing from his engine
Wieldin’ love as a lethal weapon,
On his way to hubcap heaven
Baseball cards poked in his spokes,
His boots in oil he’s patiently soaked
The roadside attendant nervously jokes
As the angel’s tires strokes his precious pavement
The interstate’s choked with nomadic hordes
In Volkswagen vans with full running boards dragging great anchors
Followin’ dead-end signs into the sores
The angel rides by humpin’ his hunk metal whore
Madison Avenue’s claim to fame in a trainer bra with eyes like rain
She rubs against the weather-beaten frame and asks the angel for his name
Off in the distance the marble dome
Reflects across the flatlands with a naked feel
Off into parts unknown
The woman strokes his polished chrome
And lies beside the angel’s bones Notes:
Appear on Greetings. Bruce said he would never have played it live, but....
Published on the following official releases:
- GREETINGS FROM ASBURY PARK, N.J. (Album,1973)
- BLINDED BY THE LIGHT / THE ANGEL (7 in.,1973)
- BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (LP,1986)
- THE BEST OF BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (LP,1986)
Very few performances of this songs are known (to me, at least!):
- 22/04/1996 Royal Albert Hall, London ,GB during the The Ghost of Tom Joad
- 22/11/2009 HSBC Arena, Buffalo,NY ,USA during the Working on a dream tour
Data from the www.brucespringsteen.it database
First known live performance: 22/04/1996 Royal Albert Hall, London ,GB
Last known live performance: 22/11/2009 HSBC Arena, Buffalo,NY ,USA
Song 'history':
Recorded for the historical 'Hammond demos' in May 1972 and also for the Laurel Canyon / London Publishing demos, then recorded again during the Greetings / Wild sessions in 1972-73 (and released on GREETINGS....)
Bruce gave this song one only shot through the Ghost of Tom Joad tour (22/04/1996 Royal Albert Hall, London ,GB)
One only rendering for this song in the Working on a Dream tour (22/11/2009 HSBC Arena, Buffalo,NY ,USA)
Data from the www.brucespringsteen.it database