Bruce Springsteen

Released: January 5, 1973

Songwriter: Bruce Springsteen

Producer: Jim Cretecos Mike Appel

[Verse 1]
Crazy Janey and her mission man were back in the alley tradin' hands
'long came Wild Billy with his friend G-man all duded up for Saturday night
Well Billy slammed on his coaster brakes and said anybody wanna go on up to Greasy Lake
It's about a mile down on the dark side of route eighty-eight
I got a bottle of rose so let's try it
We'll pick up Hazy Davy and Killer Joe and I'll take you all out to where the gypsy angels go
They're built like light

[Chorus]
And they dance like spirits in the night (All night) in the night (All night)
Oh, you don't know what they can do to you
Spirits in the night (All night), in the night (All night)
Stand right up now and let it shoot through you

[Verse 2]
Well now Wild young Billy was a crazy cat and he shook some dust out of his coonskin cap
He said, "Try some of this it'll show you where you're at, or at least it'll help you really feel it"
By the time we made it up to Greasy Lake I had my head out the window and Janey's fingers were in the cake
I think I really dug her cause I was too loose to fake
I said, "I'm hurt," she said, "Honey, let me heal it"
And we danced all night to a soul fairy band
And she kissed me just right like only a lonely angel can

[Chorus]
She felt so nice, just as soft as a spirit in the night (All night)
In the night (All night), Janey don't know what she do to you
Like a spirit in the night (All night), in the night (All night)
Stand right up and let her shoot through me

[Instrumental Break]

[Verse 3]
Now the night was bright and the stars threw light on Billy and Davy
Dancin' in the moonlight
They were down near the water in a stone mud fight
Killer Joe gone passed out on the lawn
Well now Hazy Davy got really hurt, he ran into the lake in just his socks and a shirt
Me and Crazy Janey was makin' love in the dirt singin' our birthday songs
Janey said it was time to go
So we closed our eyes and said goodbye to gypsy angel row, felt so right

[Chorus]
Together we moved like spirits in the night, all night
Baby don't know what they can do to you
Spirits in the night, all night
Stand right up and let it shoot right through you

[Outro]
Like a spirit in the night, all night
All night, all night
All night, all night
All night, all night

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

Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.

From the albums

Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973)
The Essential Bruce Springsteen (2003)

Bruce Springsteen popular songs

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Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.