Live 07 Aug 1976 version
Well I'm riding down Kingsley figuring I'll get a drink
I turn the radio way up loud so I don't have to think
Then I ease down on the gas searching for a moment when the world it seems right
And I go tearing into the heart of something in the night
And I picked up this chick and she, she just hung her head out the window and she screams
Said she was looking for some place to go, to die or be redeemed
She said you can ride this road 'til dawn without another human being in sight
'Cause babe everybody's gone, looking for something in the night
Some times you think you gotta stop running and you gotta stop fooling around
Do you know I got stuff running around my head, I can't live with all this doubt
And she wants me to push that Chevy until the whole world disappears, we can leave it behind, I said
Together we could surrender to the justice of something in the night
Oh and tonight no sins are forgotten, nothing is forgiven
And as we look out on the street we can't tell the oh oh
Now it looks, it looks like winners and losers just mumbling about some vague, wrong, and right
Oh and kids like us rumbling, girl, over something in the night
And now you people out on the island drinking tequilas, you lock your doors and take your children by the hand
You put on your black dress, baby, because tonight the devil will walk these streets like a man
I don't know about you but I'm gonna bring along my switchblade in case that fool wants to fight
If he wants me tell him I'll be running down the highway, chasing something in the night
Woahhh that something in the night
Woahhh that something in the night
The above lyrics are for the live 07 Aug 1976 performance of SOMETHING IN THE NIGHT at Monmouth Arts Center in Red Bank, NJ, during what is known as The Lawsuit Tour.
Some or all of this show was filmed in color, possibly by Barry Rebo. Video footage for SOMETHING IN THE NIGHT was included in The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story box set in 2010 (see details below). The song is edited on the release, missing the complete last verse (parts above in red). The video was also posted on Bruce Springsteen's YouTube channel on 21 Dec 2018.
This version's lyrics are very different from those of the album version. They were used between 01 Aug 1976 and 25 Oct 1976, notably on 01 Aug 1976 in Red Bank, NJ, 21 Aug 1976 in Waterbury, CT, 22 Aug 1976 in Springfield, MA (see the live 22 Aug 1976 version which varies a little bit), 10 Oct 1976 in Oxford, OH, 12 Oct 1976 in New Brunswick, NJ, and except on 09 Oct 1976 in South Bend, IN (see the live 09 Oct 1976 version).
The lyrics "I don't know about you but I'm gonna bring along my switchblade in case that fool wants to fight" were also used in TAKE 'EM AS THEY COME.
This concert was the last night of a six-night run (01, 02, 03, 05, 06, and 07 Aug 1976) at Monmouth Arts Center in Red Bank, NJ.
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).
The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story is a Bruce Springsteen box set released in 2010 on Columbia Records. It was originally expected to be released for the Darkness On The Edge Of Town album's 30th anniversary in 2008, but that didn't happen, possibly due to Springsteen's touring schedule. The box set was officially announced on 26 Aug 2010 and released to retail on 16 Nov 2010.
The 8.5"x11" box set contains three CDs, three Blu-Ray discs or three DVDs, and an 80-page spiral-bound notebook containing facsimiles from Springsteen's original notebooks from the recording sessions, which include alternate lyrics, song ideas, recording details, and personal notes, in addition to a new essay by Springsteen on the album and never-before-seen photographs. The box set won the 2012 Grammy Award for Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package.
Disc 1 consists of a digitally remastered version of the Darkness On The Edge Of Town album. Disc 2 and 3 consist of The Promise, a collection of unreleased songs from the Darkness On The Edge Of Town recording sessions.
Disc 4 is The Promise: The Making Of Darkness On The Edge Of Town, a documentary that was produced for the box set. It was directed by Grammy- and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Thom Zimny. The ninety-minute film combines never-before-seen footage of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band shot between 1976 and 1978, including home rehearsals and studio sessions, with new interviews with Springsteen, E Street Band members, manager Jon Landau, former manager Mike Appel, and others closely involved in the making of the record.
The documentary premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 14 Sep 2010 and also aired on HBO on 07 Oct 2010. It was first exclusively available as part of The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story box set, but was then released separately on 03 May 2011, in both DVD and Blu-Ray formats, with some bonus features.
Disc 5 consists of two parts: Darkness On The Edge Of Town, Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park 2009 and Thrill Hill Vault 1976 - 1978. The former is a Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band's live performance of the Darkness On The Edge Of Town album in its entirety, shot in HD on 13 Dec 2009 at Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, NJ, without an audience.
Thrill Hill Vault 1976-1978 is a collection of archival footage from Springsteen's personal vault It consists of an about-an-hour's worth (it clocks at about 56 minutes) of home rehearsals footage from 1976, studio sessions footage from 1978, and live in concert footage from 1978. It was produced and edited by Emmy- and Grammy-winner Thom Zimny and the audio for the live 1978 footage and some of the 1978 studio footage was mixed by Bob Ludwig. Zimny re-edited the 1978 concert footage making use of previously unseen camera angles. The home rehearsals and studio session footage was originally produced and directed by Barry Rebo, while the live in concert footage was originally directed by Arnold Levine.
Disc 6 is Houston '78 Bootleg: House Cut, a video of the complete 08 Dec 1978 concert at The Summit in Houston, TX. The footage was taken from the in-house video screen at The Summit, which was one of the first arenas in the United States to have this system at the time. This gave the release its title "Houston '78 Bootleg: House Cut". Considering that it was taken from the mono soundboard, the sound is only available in PCM stereo and not in 5.1 surround. The video was produced by Emmy- and Grammy-winner Thom Zimny and the audio was mastered by Bob Ludwig. It clocks at around 176 minutes.
Thanks Mark Stricherz for the lyrics help.
Some of the above lyrics may be incorrect. If you have any corrections, please contact me via the below form or by email: .
List of available versions of SOMETHING IN THE NIGHT on this website:
SOMETHING IN THE NIGHT [Album version]
