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Live 31 May 1978 version
I stood stone-like at midnight suspended in my masquerade
And I combed my hair till it was just right and commanded the night brigade
Well I was open to pain and crossed by the rain, walked on a crooked crutch
I strode all alone into a fallout zone and came out with my soul untouched
I hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd, when they said "sit down" I stood up
Ooh, ooh, growin' up
Well the flag of piracy flew from my mast, my sails were set wing to wing
I had a jukebox graduate for first mate, she wouldn't sail but she sure could sing
I pushed B-52, bombed 'em with the blues with my gear set stubborn on standing
I broke all the rules, strafed my old high school, never once gave thought to landing
Hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd, when they said "come down" I threw up
Ooh, ooh, growin' up
Big Man!
[Spoken:] There we were. It was me and Miami and the Big Man. We took these girls out to dinner and we took 'em out to the movies, and we were trying to get 'em, get 'em to come over to my house, but they kept ditching and stuff, they didn't wanna come. So it was about midnight, 1 AM. I think it was last Jul 25th, was that the date? And we were riding down this dark road, and all of a sudden, we were doing about 85, and something came shooting past us. Remember that thing that came shooting past us, was just...? It was like a red, something all striped with red. And as it passed, the right rear tire blew out and we skidded into the swamps and we all bumped our heads and the girls, they're all full of mud and they were screaming and yelling at us to take 'em home and, as we looked up, we looked over and in the mud about a hundred yards away and we saw this thing just sitting there glowing sitting in the dark. It sort of looked like a chartreuse Big Mac. And street stock racing slicks. And we got out of the car and we were walking across, across the field and we got up to it, it was about, it was pretty big, it was, um... And we knocked on the outside and on the outside it had red and white paint: "Big Daddy Don Garlits - Born To Lose". So we knocked on it, and this guy stuck his head out and he said that he was on his way to the solar system and that if we could, if we could tell him the way to the New Jersey Turnpike he'd gives us each three wishes, you know. One wish a piece. So that sounded like a pretty good deal, and we thought about it for a long time and, Steve, what'd you wish for? Oh, Steve wished for a winner at the track, for just once. Clarence, what'd you wish for, huh? Oh yeah. I can't tell you what Clarence wished for. And me, I said, "I'll tell you what. You think, you think that..." I thought a million dollars? No... "You think that you can make us all movie stars?" And he said, "Uh, no but would you settle for Rock 'N' Roll?"
Well I took month-long vacations in the stratosphere, you know it's really hard to hold your breath
I swear I lost everything I ever loved or feared, I was the cosmic kid
My feet they finally took root in the earth, got me a nice little place in the stars
I swear I found the key to the universe in the engine of an old parked car
I hid in the mother breast of the crowd, when they said "come down" I said
Ooh, ooh, growin' up
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Growin' up
The above lyrics are for the live 31 May 1978 performance of GROWIN' UP at Music Hall in Boston, MA, during the Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour. The song was played in a full-band, album-style arrangement, and featured a story in the break.
Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.
List of available versions of GROWIN' UP on this website:
GROWIN' UP [Album version]