Song title: The 'E' street shuffle
The 'E' street shuffle
Sparks fly on E Street when the boy prophets walk it handsome and hot,
All the little girls’ souls grow weak when the manchild gives them a double shot,
The schoolboy pops pull out all the stops on a Friday night,
The teenage tramps in skin-tight pants do the E Street dance and everything’s alright,
Little kids down there either dancin’ or hooked up in a scuffle,
Dressed in snake-skin suits packed with Detroit muscle
They’re doin’ the E Street Shuffle.
Now those E Street brats in twilight duel flashlight phantoms in full star stream,
Down fire trails on silver nights with blonde girls pledged sweet sixteen,
The newsboys say the heat’s been bad since Power Thirteen
gave a trooper all he had in a summer scuffle,
And Power’s girl, Little Angel, been on the corner keepin’ those crazy boys out of trouble,
Little Angel steps the shuffle like she ain’t got no brains,
She’s deaf in combat down on Lover’s Lane
She drives all them local boys insane.
Little Angel says, “Oh, everybody form a line.
Oh, everybody form a line.”
Sparks fly on E Street when the boy-prophets walk it handsome and hot,
All them little girls’ souls grow weak when the manchild gives them a double shot,
Little Angel hangs out at Easy Joe’s. it’s a club where all the riot squad
goes when they’re cashin’ in for a cheap hustle,
But them boys are still on the corner loose and doin’ that lazy E Street Shuffle,
As them sweet summer nights turn into summer dreams Little Angel picks up
Power and he slips on his jeans as they move on out down to the scene
All the kids are dancin’ Notes:
A Bruce's classic until the final (02-Dec-1975 Boston, MA) rendering. But as many other jewels, a surprise returning in the Reunion tour (17-Jun-2000, 01-Jul-2000 MSG, NY).
Published on the following official releases:
- THE WILD, THE INNOCENT & THE E STREET SHUFFLE (Album,1973)
- SANDY (4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK) / THE E STREET …. (7 in.,1975)
- THE BEST OF BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (LP,1986)
- BORN TO RUN 30TH ANNIVERSARY (Album,2005)
First known live performance: 08/09/1973 Schenley Park, Pittsburgh,PA ,USA
Last known live performance: 07/09/2016 Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia,PA ,USA
Song 'history':
Played live 2 time(s) during the so-called 'Greetings Tour'
and 38 time(s) during the gigs preceeding the official Born To Run Tour.
Keep in mind that only a small amount of the setlists of these years has surfaced, so it may have been played a lot more.
Apart from the above live performances, the song was recorded during the Greetings / Wild sessions in 1972-73 (and released on THE WILD....)
41 perfomances were given during the Born to Run tour
Bruce gave this song only two shots through the Reunion tour (17/06/2000 Madison Square Garden, New York,NY ,USA and 01/07/2000 Madison Square Garden, New York,NY ,USA)
Played during the Conventional Hall shows in 2000 and 2001
Not much used during the Magic tour, deserving only 4 renderings
During the Working on a Dream tour, the song was played less than a dozen times
Bruce inserted it 34 times in the setlists of the Wrecking Ball tour
Scarcely used during the High Hopes tour, with 3 inclusions
Bruce gave this song only two shots through the 2016 The River tour (05/09/2016 Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater, Virginia Beach,VA ,USA and 07/09/2016 Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia,PA ,USA)
The song was also played in informal happenings or off-tour appearances
Data from the www.brucespringsteen.it database