The E Street Shuffle

Album: The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle (1973)
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  • Sparks fly on E street when the boy prophets walk in handsome and hot
    All the little girls' souls grow weak
    When the man-child gives them a double shot
    Them schoolboy pops pull out all the stops on a Friday night
    The teenage tramps in skin-tight pants
    Do the E Street dance and everything's alright
    Little kids down there either dancing or hooked up in a scuffle
    Dressed in snakeskin suits packed with Detroit muscle
    They're doing the E Street Shuffle

    Now those E street brats in twilight
    Dual flashlight phantoms in full star stream
    Down fire trails on silver nights with blonde girls pledged sweet 16
    The newsboys say the heat's been bad
    Since Power 13 gave a trooper all he had in a summer scuffle
    And Power's girl, Little Angel, been on the corner
    Keeping those crazy boys out of trouble
    Little Angel steps the shuffle like she ain't got no brains
    She's deaf in combat down on Lover's Lane
    She drives all them local boys insane
    Yes, she does

    Little Angel says, "Oh, everybody form a line
    Oh-oh, oh, everybody form a line"

    Well, the sparks fly on E Street
    When the boy prophets walk in, handsome and hot
    All the little girls' souls grow weak
    When the man-child gives them a double shot
    Oh, Little Angel hangs out at Easy Joe's
    It's a club where all the riot squad goes
    When they're cashin' in for a cheap hustle
    But them boys are still on the corner
    Loose and doin' that lazy E Street Shuffle
    And as them sweet summer nights turn into summer dreams
    Little Angel picks up Power and he slips on his jeans
    And they move on out down to the scene
    All the kids are dancin' (higher) Writer/s: Bruce Springsteen
    Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 7

  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn September 19th 1974, Bruce and the band appeared in concert at The Main Point in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania...
    The band opened the concert with "The E-Street Shuffle" and this was the first public performances with new E-Streeters Roy Bittan and Max Weinberg.
  • Wesley from Albany, NyAmy, according to the official Bruce Springsteen website it is in fact "death in combat". It is on "The Wild, The Innocent, and The E Street Shuffle" page of Brucespringsteen.net
  • Guy from London, United StatesI was staying in Belmar during the Breeders Cup, and went to E Street. I asked a guy on the street about the exact house and he turned out to be the next door neighbour ho vowed to me that he used to hear the band play next door.
  • Amy from Pittsburgh, PaOn this site the lyrics are "deaf in combat down on lover's lane". On a lot of sites the lyrics are "death in combat...". I'm almost sure that the real lyrics are "deft in combat...". It does sound like Springsteen is saying "deaf" but "deft" makes infinitely more sense. Does anyone know for sure?
  • Barry from New York, NcAlthough this is an uptempo number on the record, and it debuted as one in concert (1973 to early 1974), Bruce played this in a slowed-down version from 1974-75. In it, he'd give the audience a fictionalized account of how he and Miami Steve met the Big Man Clarence Clemmons.
  • Laura Schneider from Eatontown, NjMaybe there is an E Street in Freehold, but the one the SONG is about is in Belmar. That's a widely-known fact.
  • Evan from Freehold, NjE Street is actually in freehold NJ
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