4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY)

Live 03 Mar 1974 (late show) version



[Spoken intro:] This is a song from our second album, and, uh, and you, you travel around, I'll be travelin' around, like, Nashville, and Atlanta, and Tennessee, and all sorts of different, a lot of different places. People say, "Hey! What's Asbury Park like?" (chuckles) And, uh... (coughs) We're playing this number, and, uh, this is a song for anybody that's from New Jersey, or actually, you know, anywhere along the coast, this is for you. It's a song called Sandy.

One, two, three, four

Oh, Sandy, the fireworks are hailin' over Little Eden tonight
Forcin' a light into all them stony faces left stranded on this warm July
Down in town the Circuit's full with switchblade lovers, so fast, so shiny, so sharp
And them wizards play down on Pinball Way on the boardwalk way past dark
And the boys from the casino dance with their shirts open like Latin lovers along the shore
Chasin' all them silly New York girls by the score

Oh, Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us, girl
The pier lights our carnival life forever
Love me tonight, for I may never, 'cause I may, I may never see you again
Hey, Sandy!

Well, now the greasers, they tramp the streets or get busted for trying to sleep on the beach all night
Them boys in their high heels, ah, Sandy, their skins are so white
And me, I just got tired of hangin' in them dusty arcades and bangin' them pleasure machines
Chasin' the factory girls underneath the boardwalk, where they all promise to unsnap their jeans
And you know that tilt-a-whirl down on the south beach drag
I got on it last night and my shirt got caught
And that Joey kept me spinnin'
I didn't think I'd ever get off

Oh, Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us, girl
Well, the pier lights our carnival life on the water
Running crazy 'neath the boardwalk with my old boss's daughter
Hey, I remember, Sandy!

Ah, Sandy, that little waitress I was seeing lost her desire for me
I spoke with her last night, she won't set herself on fire for me anymore
She works that joint underneath the boardwalk, she was always the girl you'd see boppin' down the beach with the radio
And the kids say last night she was dressed like a star in some cheap seashore bar, I saw her parked with lover boy on the Kokomo
You know the cops finally busted Madame Marie for tellin' fortunes better than they do
Ah, this boardwalk life for me is through
You know, you ought to quit this scene too

Oh, Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us, girl
The pier lights our carnival life forever
Oh, love me tonight and I promise I'll love you forever
Hey, Sandy, I mean it!
Hey, I swear, Sandy, girl!

[Spoken outro:] Thank you so much.


Info

The above lyrics are for the live 03 Mar 1974 late show performance of 4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, during what is considered The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle Tour. The song was played in a full-band arrangement.

The 03 Mar 1974 Late Show

Bruce Springsteen and the band played two shows at Georgetown University on 03 Mar 1974: an early show at 7:30 p.m. and a late show at 10:30 p.m. Bruce Springsteen was the headliner and Orleans were the opening act. The shows were held at the university's 750-seat Gaston Hall. There is no known audio recording from the early show, but Springsteen's late show (minus the last song) was simulcast on the University's popular radio station WGTB-FM. The broadcast now circulates on several bootlegs in excellent soundboard quality.

Promotional ad for the 03 Mar 1974 shows at Georgetown University, Washington, DC
Promotional ad for the 03 Mar 1974 shows at Georgetown University, Washington, DC
Ticket stub for the 03 Mar 1974 late show at Georgetown University, Washington, DC
Ticket stub for the 03 Mar 1974 late show at Georgetown University, Washington, DC
(Taken from Brucebase)

  1. WILD BILLY'S CIRCUS STORY
  2. NEW YORK CITY SERENADE
  3. SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT
  4. THE E STREET SHUFFLE
  5. WALKING THE DOG
  6. 4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY)
  7. IT'S HARD TO BE A SAINT IN THE CITY
  8. KITTY'S BACK
  9. FOR YOU
  10. ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT)
  11. LET THE FOUR WINDS BLOW

The 03 Mar 1973 late show broadcast from Georgetown University 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.

Springsteen -- Saint In The City - The Complete WGTB Radio Boradcast 1974
Springsteen -- Saint In The City - The Complete WGTB Radio Boradcast 1974

2xCD - Rox Vox (RV2CD1023) - UK, 2015

This release contains the 03 Mar 1974 late show broadcast from Georgetown University.
Bruce Springsteen -- Live 1974 - Washington DC
Bruce Springsteen -- Live 1974 - Washington DC

2xCD - Live Wire (LW2028) - UK, 2016

This release contains the 03 Mar 1974 late show broadcast from Georgetown University.
Bruce Springsteen -- Washington 1974
Bruce Springsteen -- Washington 1974

Digital album - Lilith Records (no catalog number) - UK, 2016

This is a download-only digital album. It contains the 03 Mar 1974 late show broadcast from Georgetown University.
Bruce Springsteen -- The Great American Road Trip
Bruce Springsteen -- The Great American Road Trip

10xCD - Evolution Music (EMG01) - UK, 2020

This release contains the 31 Jul 1973 broadcast from My Father's Place, the 03 Mar 1974 late show broadcast from Georgetown University, the 09 Mar 1974 KLOL-FM radio broadcast, the 05 Feb 1975 broadcast from The Main Point, the 30 Sep 1978 broadcast from Fox Theatre, plus some various TV performances from 1992-1995.
Bruce Springsteen -- Thunder Road - Live
Bruce Springsteen -- Thunder Road - Live

20xCD - KP Music (SPRING01) - Europe, 2020

This release contains the 31 Jul 1973 broadcast from My Father's Place, the 03 Mar 1974 late show broadcast from Georgetown University, the 09 Mar 1974 KLOL-FM radio broadcast, the 05 Feb 1975 broadcast from The Main Point, the 15 Aug 1975 early show broadcast from Bottom Line, the 17 Oct 1975 early show broadcast from The Roxy Theatre, the 09 Aug 1978 broadcast from The Agora, the 30 Sep 1978 broadcast from Fox Theatre, the 05 Jun 1992 broadcast from Hollywood, the 20 Aug 1994 show with Joe Grushecky & The Houserockers at Marz American Style, plus some various TV performances from 1992-1995.

Credits / References

Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.

Some of the above info about Springsteen's shows at Georgetown University is taken from Brucebase.

Available Versions

List of available versions of 4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) on this website:

4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Album version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Original studio version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Early draft]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Live 23 Jul 1973 (early show) version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Live 31 Jul 1973 (late show) version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Live 31 Oct 1973 (late show) version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Live 03 Mar 1974 (late show) version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Live 09 Apr 1974 version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Live 29 Oct 1974 version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Live 05 Feb 1975 version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Live 02 Oct 1975 version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Live 18 Nov 1975 version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Live 31 Dec 1975 version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Live 07 Apr 1976 version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Live 04 Nov 1976 version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Live 09 Aug 1978 version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Live 29 Dec 1980 version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Live 31 Dec 1980 version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Live 30 Jul 1992 version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Live 10 Aug 1992 version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Live 24 Nov 1996 version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Live 26 Nov 1996 version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Live 15 Feb 1997 version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Live 11 Aug 1999 version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Live 12 May 2003 version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Live 18 Jul 2005 version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Live 20 Mar 2008 version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Live 22 Apr 2008 version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Live 04 Jul 2008 version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Live 30 Aug 2008 version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Live 07 Nov 2009 version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Live 23 Feb 2014 version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [The Hollies' cover version]
4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) [Ben E. King's cover version]

Page last updated: 06 Nov 2011