Released: April 26, 2005
Songwriter: Bruce Springsteen
Producer: Brendan O’Brien
[Verse 1]
Rainey William's playground was the Mott Haven streets
Where he ran past melted candles and flower wreaths
Names and photos of the young black faces
Whose death and blood consecrated these places
[Verse 2]
Rainey's mother said, "Rainey, stay at my side
For you are my blessing, you are my pride
It's your love here that keeps my soul alive
I want you to come home from school and stay inside"
[Verse 3]
Rainey'd do his work and put his books away
There was a channel showed a western movie every day
And that brought him home books on the Black cowboys of the Oklahoma range
The Seminole scouts that fought the tribes of the Great Plains
[Verse 4]
Summer come and the days grew long
Rainey always had his mother's smile to depend on
Along the street of stray bullets, he made his way
To the warmth of her arms at the end of each day
[Verse 5]
Come the fall, the rain flooded these homes
Here in Ezekiel's valley of dry bones
It fell hard and dark to the ground
It fell without a sound
[Verse 6]
Lynette took up with a man whose business was the boulevard
Whose smile was fixed in a face that was never off guard
In the pipes 'neath the kitchen sink, his secrets are kept
In the day, behind drawn curtains in the next bedroom, he slept
[Verse 7]
And she got lost in the days
The smile Rainey depended on dusted away
The arms that held him were no more his own
He lay at night his head pressed to her chest listening to the ghost in her bones
[Verse 8]
In the kitchen, Rainey slipped his hand between the pipes
From a brown bag pulled five hundred dollar bills and stuck it in his coat side
Stood in the dark at his mother's bed
Brushed her hair and kissed her eyes
[Verse 9]
In the twilight, Rainey walked to the station on the streets of stone
Through Pennsylvania and Ohio, his train drifted on
Through the small towns of Indiana, the big train crept
As he lay his head back on the seat and slept
[Verse 10]
He woke and the towns gave way to muddy fields of green
Corn and cotton and endless nothing in between
Over the rutted hills of Oklahoma, the red sun slipped and was gone
The moon rose and stripped the earth to its bone
Rainey William's playground was the Mott Haven streets
Where he ran past melted candles and flower wreaths
Names and photos of the young black faces
Whose death and blood consecrated these places
[Verse 2]
Rainey's mother said, "Rainey, stay at my side
For you are my blessing, you are my pride
It's your love here that keeps my soul alive
I want you to come home from school and stay inside"
[Verse 3]
Rainey'd do his work and put his books away
There was a channel showed a western movie every day
And that brought him home books on the Black cowboys of the Oklahoma range
The Seminole scouts that fought the tribes of the Great Plains
[Verse 4]
Summer come and the days grew long
Rainey always had his mother's smile to depend on
Along the street of stray bullets, he made his way
To the warmth of her arms at the end of each day
[Verse 5]
Come the fall, the rain flooded these homes
Here in Ezekiel's valley of dry bones
It fell hard and dark to the ground
It fell without a sound
[Verse 6]
Lynette took up with a man whose business was the boulevard
Whose smile was fixed in a face that was never off guard
In the pipes 'neath the kitchen sink, his secrets are kept
In the day, behind drawn curtains in the next bedroom, he slept
[Verse 7]
And she got lost in the days
The smile Rainey depended on dusted away
The arms that held him were no more his own
He lay at night his head pressed to her chest listening to the ghost in her bones
[Verse 8]
In the kitchen, Rainey slipped his hand between the pipes
From a brown bag pulled five hundred dollar bills and stuck it in his coat side
Stood in the dark at his mother's bed
Brushed her hair and kissed her eyes
[Verse 9]
In the twilight, Rainey walked to the station on the streets of stone
Through Pennsylvania and Ohio, his train drifted on
Through the small towns of Indiana, the big train crept
As he lay his head back on the seat and slept
[Verse 10]
He woke and the towns gave way to muddy fields of green
Corn and cotton and endless nothing in between
Over the rutted hills of Oklahoma, the red sun slipped and was gone
The moon rose and stripped the earth to its bone
more tracks from the album
From the album
- Devils & Dust (2005)
Bruce Springsteen popular songs
- Born in the U.S.A.
- Born to Run
- Dancing in the Dark
- I’m On Fire
- Thunder Road
- Blinded by the Light
- The River
- Atlantic City
- Hungry Heart
- Jungleland
- Glory Days
- Badlands
- My Hometown
- Streets of Philadelphia
- Backstreets
- The Ghost of Tom Joad
- Tenth Avenue Freeze Out
- Secret Garden
- Racing in the Street
- Nebraska
- I’m Goin’ Down
- Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
- Growin’ Up
- The Rising