SOMETHING IN THE NIGHT

Live 28 Oct 1976 version

Well I'm driving down Kingsley figuring I'll get a drink
Turn the radio way up loud so I don't have to think
And I take her to the floor looking for a moment when the world seems right
And I go tearing into the guts of something in the night

And I picked this chick up hitch-hiking, she hung her head out the window and she screamed
Said she was looking for someplace to go, to die or be redeemed
You can ride this road to dawn, without any human being in sight
'Cause baby everybody's gone looking for something in the night

Said she was born with nothing, said she was better, better off that way
And soon as you got something somebody comes along and they try to take it away
She wants me to push my old car, together me and her, we could make it clean, make it fast, we could
make it out of sight
And surrender to the justice of something in the night

Woah and now nothing is forgotten or forgiven, when it's your last time around
Times I got stuff running around my head, I can't live with or without
And inside all the big boys and the players sit around them tables and mumble about something wrong
and right
While outside kids like us rumble baby over something in the night

And now all them folks out on the island, they lock their doors and take their children by hand
And put on your red dress behind that seat, tonight the devil will walk these streets like a man
Bring along my switchblade in case that old fool wants to fight
I'll take him, I'm gonna take him, I'm gonna take him out at the parking lot somewhere in the night

Info

The above lyrics are for the live 28 Oct 1976 performance of SOMETHING IN THE NIGHT at Palladium in New York City, NY, during what is known as The Lawsuit Tour.

Verse 1: later appeared on the album version.
Verse 2: similar to the one on the live 01 Aug 1976 version.
Verse 3: similar to the one on the live 27 Oct 1976 version.
Verse 4: similar to the one on the live 09 Oct 1976 version.
Verse 5: rewritten, but has some similarities to the ones used on the live 01 Aug 1976 version and live 09 Oct 1976 version.

Promotional ad for the 1976 six-night stand at Palladium, New York City, NY
(Taken from Brucebase)

Ticket stub for the 28 Oct 1976 show at Palladium, New York City, NY
(Taken from Brucebase)

Despite the marvelous reception received by both Born To Run and the tour which followed, the relationship between Bruce Springsteen and his now former manager and producer Mike Appel was deteriorating. In July 1976 the storm broke; Mike Appel wrote to Springsteen saying that he would not allow Jon Landau (Springsteen's friend and co-producer of Born To Run) to produce the next album, citing a particular paragraph from their original agreement. Springsteen replied on 27 Jul 1976 by firing manager Mike Appel and suing him and his management company Laurel Canyon Ltd. in Federal Court in Manhattan, claiming fraud, breach of trust, and undue influence. Appel counter-sued on 29 Jul 1976 in New York State Supreme Court, asking the court to prohibit Springsteen and Jon Landau from working together in studio. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band were slated to enter the studio that year for the recording of a new album, except that on 15 Sep 1976 the judge in the lawsuits case ruled that Springsteen was enjoined from any further recording with Columbia Records until Appel's suit was resolved. This would drag for about a year. Meanwhile, Springsteen continued gigging, and in the process broke his self-imposed rule of not playing the larger arenas. This was basically because he was not able to put a record out, and it was the only way his fans would be able to hear him at all. The tour became known as "The Lawsuit Tour" (62 know dates, August 1976 to March 1977).

Available Versions

List of available versions of SOMETHING IN THE NIGHT on this website:

Page last updated: 18 Jan 2016