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Highway PatrolmanBruce Springsteen

Released: September 30, 1982

Songwriter: Bruce Springsteen

Producer: Bruce Springsteen

[Verse 1]
My name is Joe Roberts, I work for the state
I'm a sergeant out of Perrineville Barracks Number 8
I always done an honest job—as honest as I could
I got a brother named Frankie, and Frankie ain't no good

[Verse 2]
Now, ever since we was young kids, it's been the same comedown
I get a call on the shortwave: Frankie's in trouble downtown
Well, if it was any other man, I'd put him straight away
But when it's your brother, sometimes, you look the other way

[Chorus 1]
Me and Frankie laughing and drinking
Nothing feels better than blood on blood
Taking turns dancing with Maria
As the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's straying
Like any brother would
A man turns his back on his family
Well, he just ain't no good

[Verse 3]
Well, Frankie went in the army back in 1965
I got a farm deferment, settled down, took Maria for my wife
But them wheat prices kept on dropping till it was like we were getting robbed
Frankie came home in '68, and me, I took this job

[Chorus 2]
Yeah, we're laughing and drinking
Nothing feels better than blood on blood
Taking turns dancing with Maria
As the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's straying
Teach him how to walk that line
A man turns his back on his family
He ain't no friend of mine

[Verse 4]
Well, the night was like any other, I got a call 'bout quarter to nine
There was trouble in a roadhouse out on the Michigan line
There was a kid lying on the floor, looking bad, bleeding hard from his head
There was a girl crying at a table, and it was Frank, they said

[Verse 5]
Well, I went out and I jumped in my car, and I hit the lights
Well, I must've done a hundred and ten through Michigan County that night
It was out at the crossroads, down round Willow Bank
Seen a Buick with Ohio plates, behind the wheel was Frank

[Verse 6]
Well, I chased him through them county roads
Till a sign said "Canadian border, five miles from here"
I pulled over on the side of the highway
And watched his taillights disappear

[Chorus 1]
Me and Frankie laughing and drinking
Nothing feels better than blood on blood
Taking turns dancing with Maria
As the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's straying
Like any brother would
A man turns his back on his family
Well, he just ain't no good

Bruce Springsteen

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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