Bruce Springsteen

Released: June 2, 1978

Songwriter: Bruce Springsteen

Producer: Bruce Springsteen Jon Landau

[Verse 1]
I got a sixty-nine Chevy with a three-niner-six
Fuelie heads and a Hurst on the floor
She’s waiting tonight down in the parking lot
Outside the Seven-Eleven store
Me and my partner Sonny built her straight out of scratch
And he rides with me from town to town
We only run for the money, got no strings attached
We shut ’em up and then we shut ’em down

[Chorus]
Tonight, tonight the strip’s just right
I wanna blow 'em off in my first heat
Summer’s here and the time is right
For racin’ in the street

[Verse 2]
We take all the action we can meet
And we cover all the northeast states
When the strip shuts down, we run ’em in the street
From the fire roads to the interstate
Now, some guys, they just give up living
And start dying little by little, piece by piece
Some guys come home from work and wash up
Then go racin’ in the street

[Chorus]
Tonight, tonight the strip’s just right
I wanna blow ’em all out of their seats
We're calling out around the world
We’re going racin’ in the street

[Verse 3]
I met her on the strip three years ago
In a Camaro with this dude from L.A
I blew that Camaro off my back and drove that little girl away
But now there’s wrinkles around my baby’s eyes
And she cries herself to sleep at night
When I come home, the house is dark
She sighs, “Baby, did you make it all right?”
She sits on the porch of her daddy’s house
But all her pretty dreams are torn
She stares off alone into the night
With the eyes of one who hates for just being born

For all the shut-down strangers and hot rod angels
Rumbling through this promised land
Tonight my baby and me we’re gonna ride to the sea
And wash these sins off our hands

[Chorus]
Tonight tonight the highway’s bright
Out of our way, mister, you best keep
'Cause summer’s here and the time is right
For racin’ in the street

Bruce Springsteen is a rock ‘n’ roll icon from the great state of New Jersey. Nicknamed “The Boss,” he’s known for spirited sax-powered anthems about working-class people making their way in the world. Backed by the trusty E Street Band, he’s sold more than 120 million records, won numerous awards (including 20 Grammys and an Oscar), sold out stadiums around the globe, and earned a place alongside his teenage heroes in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Although he’s a living legend who ranks among the most important artists in rock history, Springsteen wasn’t an overnight success. Around the time of his first album, 1973’s Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., he was dismissed as just another “new Dylan"—some scruffy folk singer with a decent vocabulary looking to follow in Bob’s footsteps. In the decade that followed, Springsteen proved himself to be much more.

His breakthrough came with his third album, 1975’s Born to Run. The record hit No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and landed the singer-songwriter on the cover of both Time and Newsweek. Bruce nabbed his first chart-topping album five years later with The River, and in 1984, he went global with Born in the U.S.A., a critical and commercial smash that produced seven Top 10 singles.

more tracks from the album

Darkness on the Edge of Town

From the album

Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978)

Bruce Springsteen popular songs

Racing in the StreetBruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen

Darkness on the Edge of Town