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Live 18 Nov 1975 version
The night was dark
The moon was yellow
And leaves came tumbling down
Crazy Janey and her mission man were back in the alley tradin' hands
'Long came Wild Billy with his friend G-Man, duded up for Saturday night
Well, Billy slammed on his coaster brakes
Said, "Anybody wanna go on up to Greasy Lake?
About a mile down on the dark side of route eighty-eight
Well, I got a bottle of rose, let's try it
We'll pick up Hazy Davy and Killer Joe, and I'll take you all out to where the gypsy angels go
Built like light
Ooh, and they dance like spirits in the night" (all night)
All that night (all night)
Well, baby don't know what they do to you
Like a spirit in the night (all night)
All that night (all night)
Stand up and let it shoot right through you
Well now this Wild Billy was a crazy cat and he shook some dust out of his coonskin cap
Cried, "Trust some of this, it'll show you where you're at, at least it'll help you really feel it"
Show me, band!
By the time we made it up to Greasy Lake I had my head out the window; Janey's fingers are in the cake
I think I really dug her; I was too loose to fake
Said, "I'm hurt," she said, "Honey, let me heal it"
Step it!
We danced all night to a soul fairy band
She kissed me just right like only a lonely angel can
Felt so right, just as soft as a spirit in the night (all night)
All that night (all night)
Well, baby don't know what it do to you
Like a spirit in the night (all night)
All that night (all night)
Stand up and let it shoot right through you
Big Man! Whoa!
The night grew bright, the stars threw light on Billy and Davy
Dancin' in the moonlight
They were down near the water in a stone mud fight
Killer Joe passed out on the lawn
Ah.
Hey, and, and this kid Hazy Davy got really hurt, he crawled into the lake in just his socks and his shirt
Oh, yeah!
Me and Crazy Janey were makin' love in the dirt, singin' our birthday songs
And now Janey said, "Oh, hey little brother, don't you think it's time that we go?"
So we closed our eyes and said goodbye
Where'd my hat go? Is my hat down here?
To gypsy angel row, felt so right
Together we moved like spirits in the night (all night)
All that night (all night)
Well, baby don't know what it do to you
Like a spirit in the night (all night)
All that night (all night)
Stand up and let it shoot right through you
Like a spirit in the night (all night)
All that night (all night)
All that night (all night)
All that night (all night)
All that night (all night)
All that night (all night)
All of that
Baby, that's right
Like a spirit in the night
Oh, like a spirit in the night
Yeah, like a spirit in the night
Oh
Big Man! Play it, Big Man!
Like a spirit
Just like a
Stop it!
Stop it!
Stop it!
The above lyrics are for the live 18 Nov 1975 performance of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT at Hammersmith Odeon in London, England, during the Born To Run Tour. The song was played in its traditional full-band arrangement, and includes the opening lines from the traditional song STAGGER LEE in the introduction. The complete 18 Nov 1975 show was released on Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 album and home video in 2005. This releases incorrectly states that SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT contains a portion of THE MOON WAS YELLOW (AND THE NIGHT WAS YOUNG) written by F. Ahlert and E. Leslie.
Video of this live 18 Nov 1975 version of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT from Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 was posted on Bruce Springsteen's YouTube channel in 1080p on 06 Nov 2019.
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band toured Europe for the first in 1975, during the Born To Run Tour. They performed a series of four concerts in England (18 and 24 Nov 1975), Sweden (21 Nov 1975), and The Netherlands (23 Nov 1975). It would be another six years before they return to Europe.
Springsteen and the band were under a lot of pressure when they first stepped foot in Europe. The 18 Nov 1975 show at Hammersmith Odeon in London, England, was overwhelmingly hyped. "For me, the set went by like a freight train," Springsteen wrote. "Later, all I remembered is an awkward record company party, that 'what just happened?' feeling, and thinking we hadn't played that well. I was wrong."
The complete concert was captured on 16mm film and recorded on 24-track. It is also known that this show was initially going to be broadcast on radio (either live or delayed) but Mike Appel, Springsteen's manager at the time, backed out at the last minute as he felt that Springsteen's mood at the time would not lead to a particularly good show.
The film remained largely untouched for nearly 30 years. "Lost in my private Idaho, I'd paid no attention to it. I never looked at it... for thirty years," Springsteen wrote. "At the end of the Rising tour, I became interested in checking out film of the early part of my work." Read complete liner notes below.
Emmy Award Winner Thom Zimny received the 16 mm negatives along with the 24-track recording. His production team painstakingly cleaned the original negatives and digitally restored the footage, ultimately presenting this indispensable concert in vibrant color and detail. Producer Bob Clearmountain remastered and remixed the DVD in both stereo and 5.1 surround sound. Zimny has worked with Springsteen on several projects, including editing the Live In New York City, Live In Barcelona, and VH1 Storytellers films. Clearmountain is the legendary mixer who has often collaborated with Springsteen over the last 25 years, most famously on the Born In The U.S.A. album.
The complete 18 Nov 1975 show was released in November 2005 on the Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 home video, which was issued on DVD as part of the Born To Run - 30th Anniversary Edition box set. Audio for the concert was released on a 2-CD set under the same title in February 2006. It was reissued on vinyl (a 3-disc set) for the first time for Record Store Day on 22 Apr 2017.
Disc 1 (CD format):
Disc 2 (CD format):
DVD:
Liner notes from the Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 DVD and CD:
In 1975, we stepped of the plane into the land of our mythic heroes. A London, that was yet to see it's first McDonalds's, that was still wrasslin' with making good cheeseburger and that seemed very foreign and exotic to a bunch of provincial Jersey Shore beach bums and musicians.
From the "very" anxious heavens of our first trans-Atlantic flight we descended into... well... hell, as I would soon come to know it.
There was a lot of publicity.
Without going into excessive and ancient detail, yeah, there were promo posters, yeah; there was the "London is finally ready for..." marquee; the raves, the pans, the fans, the existential angst... the... the... HYPE!
The whole city, or at least the part that was interested in pop music, seemed primed for... a party? a funeral? a coronation? All of the above? With the shadow of the crown and the noose upon my neck, I stood in the middle of it, this week's Next... Big... Thing. All I remember thinking was, Whoa! This is a little more than I bargained for. Not quite savvy enough to realize that this was exactly what I had bargained for, I arrived at the theater and created pre-show chaos, stomping through the aisles, pulling promo flyers of the seats in a "The Man can't steal my music" frenzy. The record company, of course, was just doing its job, and I was just learning mine... real fast.
Later that evening an E Street Band, with a good deal of the carnival still left in it and armed with a set list I still dare any young band to match, strode onto the stage of the Hammersmith Odeon. The tempos were fast. A Jersey stew of almost punk soul, fueled by the visionary songwriters, 60's records, garage bands, and Rhythm and Blues we loved. For me, the set went by like a freight train. Later, all I remembered is an awkward record company party, that "what just happened?" feeling, and thinking we hadn't played that well. I was wrong. With the keys to the kingdom dangling in front of us and the knife at our neck, we'd gone for broke. Whatever happened, it became one of our "legendary" performances, marked only in memory, bits of bootleg tape, and "I was there when" stories. It was the show that put us on the map in England and began a long and beautiful relationship with our fans overseas.
The evening had been recorded and filmed. Lost in my private Idaho, I'd paid no attention to it. I never looked at it... for thirty years. At the time I was anxious to move away from the commotion and on down the road, as the band and I were "busy bein' born."
At the end of the Rising tour, I became interested in checking out film of the early part of my work. It had remained a blank spot with virtually nothing released. I started with bits and pieces of this show figuring we could cut together a song or two. To our surprise the entire concert emerged from the vault along with the 24-track recording. Restore by Thom Zimny and mixed by Bob Clearmountain, removed from the bluster and noise of the moment, all that's left if the music. So Ladies and Gentelmen... "London is finally ready for Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band." Live! At the Hammersmith Odeon.
- BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, 9/22/05
Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.
List of available versions of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT on this website:
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Album version]
