4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)

Album: The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle (1973)
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  • Sandy the fireworks are hailin' over little Eden tonight
    Forcin' a light into all those stony faces left stranded on this fourth of July
    Down in town the circuit's full of switchblade lovers so fast, so shiny, so sharp
    As the 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 on the shore
    Chasin' all them silly New York virgins by the score

    And Sandy, the aurora is risin' behind us
    This pier lights our carnival life forever
    Oh love me tonight for I may never see you again
    Hey Sandy girl

    My, my baby
    Now the greasers, ah they tramp the streets
    Or get busted for sleeping 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
    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 they kept me spinnin' I didn't think I'd ever get off

    Oh Sandy, the aurora is risin' behind us
    This pier lights our carnival life on the water
    Laughin' 'neath the boardwalk, ah, with the boss's daughter
    I remember Sandy girl, na, na, na, na, na baby

    Sandy that waitress I was seeing lost her desire for me
    I spoke with her last night
    She said she won't set herself on fire for me anymore
    She worked that joint under the boardwalk
    She was always the girl you saw boppin' down the beach with the radio
    The kids say last night she was dressed like a star
    In one of them cheap little seaside bars
    And I saw her parked with lover boy out on the Kokomo
    Did you hear the cops finally busted Madame Marie
    For tellin' fortunes better than they do
    For me this boardwalk life is through, babe
    You ought to quit this scene too

    Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us
    This pier lights our carnival life forever
    Oh, love me tonight and I promise I'll love you forever
    Oh, I mean it, Sandy, girl
    My, my, my, my, my baby
    Yeah, I promise, Sandy, girl
    Sha, la, la, la, la, baby Writer/s: Bruce Springsteen
    Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 11

  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn July 4th 1975, the Hollies performed "Sandy" on the NBC-TV program 'The Midnight Special'...
    Three months earlier on April 6th, 1975 it entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at position #90, the next week it peaked at #85 and the following week it was off the Top 100...
    And on July 20th, 1975 Bruce began his legendary 'Born To Run' tour at the Palace Theater in Providence, RI; "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" was the 12th song in his set that night.
  • Mike from Johnstown, Pa"The narrator of 'Sandy' is an adolescent loser, the kid whose shirt gets stuck in the fun-fair ride, leaving him stranded and looking like a fool. You'd think he was ruining his chances with girl: he can't stop telling her about his humiliations, about the girls who led him on, about the waitress that got tired of him. He can't even hand her a line without blowing it: 'I promise I'll love you-forever?' Springsteen's voice squeaks incredulously. Oh, there'll always be another girl; adolescence is something you grow out of. But that's cold comfort and Springsteen's offering something warmer and more immediate: the moon is rising, the organ notes twinkle like stars, the 'sha la las' are triumphant and irrestible. The chorus promises romance despite the odds."
    -From Ariel Swartley (Stranded: Rock and Roll for a Desert Island)
  • Pollux from Bayonne, But The One In, NjThe Kokomo is a reference to Chuck Berry's song "No Particular Place To Go". Berry truly invented the "Cars & Girls" type of lyrics, and Bruce has been one of his main disciples.
  • Rob from Savannah, GaI believe there is a reference to "Pinball Wizard" by The Who is this song. There is a line that states, "as those wizards play, down on pinball way"
  • Donna from Cedar Grove, NjI've been trying to figure out what Bruce means by Kokomo. He uses it in 2 different songs. If you look it up its a city in Indiana and used to be the name of an island near Jamaica. Anybody out there know what it refers to on the Jersey shore?
  • Barry from Sauquoit, Ny'and I saw her parked with Loverboy out on the Kokomo' What's a kokomo???
  • Tom from Hershey, PaThe summer romance and the images on the boardwalk struck a chord with just about anyone who grew up in New Jersey AS WELL AS ANYONE WHO VACATIONED AT THE SHORE AND BOARDWALK. This certainly is not exclusive to NJ!!
  • Juan from Bilbao, SpainSpringsteen is now playing this during the Magic tour as a tribute to Danny Federici, who died in april 2008. Danny played the accordion on this song and it was also the last song he performed with the band before passing away.
  • Bill from Martinsville, NjMadame Marie (Castello) has passed away. She was 93! Her Temple of Knowledge hut is still a mainstay of the Asbury Park boardwalk and hopefully will never be torn down.
  • Ferris from Ohio, OhSince I have an obsession with abandoned things, I've explored Asbury Park. After it was abandoned. That's why I looked at this page..
  • Scott from St. Louis, MoI love the line "bangin them pleasure machines." Where can I purchase such a pleasure machine at a reasonable price?
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