Bruce Springsteen

Released: August 23, 1988

Songwriter: Woody Guthrie

Producer: Chuck Plotkin Jon Landau Bruce Springsteen

Rainy night down in the engine house
Sleepin' just as still as a mouse
A man came along and chase us out in the rain
Well was that a vigilante man?

Stormy days, we pass the time away
Sleeping in some good warm place
A cop come along we give him a little race
Say was that a vigilante man?

Well tell me why does a vigilante man
Tell me why does a vigilante man
Carry that sawed off shotgun in his hands
To shoot his brothers and sisters down that no good vigilante man

Well I ramble around from town to town
Yeah I ramble around from town to town
Yeah and they run us around like a wild herd of cattle lord
Is that your vigilante man?

Well tell me why does a vigilante man
Tell me why does a vigilante man
Carry that club in his hands
Would he beat an innocent man down that no good vigilante man

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.

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Vigilante ManBruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen

Folkways: A Vision Shared