Released: November 21, 1995
Songwriter: Bruce Springsteen
Producer: Chuck Plotkin Bruce Springsteen
[Verse 1]
He lay his blanket underneath the freeway
As the evening sky grew dark
Took a sniff of toncho from his coke can
And headed through Balboa Park
[Verse 2]
Where the men in their Mercedes
Come nightly to employ
In the cool San Diego evening
The services of the border boys
[Verse 3]
He grew up near the Zona Norte
With the hustlers and smugglers he hung out with
He swallowed their balloons of cocaine
Brought them across to the Twelfth Street strip
[Verse 4]
Sleeping in a shelter
If the night got too cold
Running from the migra
Of the border patrol
[Verse 5]
Past the salvage yard across the train tracks
And in through the storm drain
They stretched their blankets out beneath the freeway
And each one took a name
[Verse 6]
There was X-man and Cochise
Little Spider, his sneakers covered in river mud
They come north to California
End up with the poison in their blood
[Verse 7]
He did what he had to for the money
Sometimes he sent home what he could spare
The rest went to high-top sneakers and toncho
And jeans like the gavachos wear
[Verse 8]
One night the border patrol swept Twelfth Street
A big car come fast down the boulevard
Spider stood caught in its headlights
Got hit and went down hard
[Verse 9]
As the car sped away, Spider held his stomach
Limped to his blanket beneath the underpass
Lie there tasting his own blood on his tongue
Closed his eyes and listened to the cars rushing by so fast
He lay his blanket underneath the freeway
As the evening sky grew dark
Took a sniff of toncho from his coke can
And headed through Balboa Park
[Verse 2]
Where the men in their Mercedes
Come nightly to employ
In the cool San Diego evening
The services of the border boys
[Verse 3]
He grew up near the Zona Norte
With the hustlers and smugglers he hung out with
He swallowed their balloons of cocaine
Brought them across to the Twelfth Street strip
[Verse 4]
Sleeping in a shelter
If the night got too cold
Running from the migra
Of the border patrol
[Verse 5]
Past the salvage yard across the train tracks
And in through the storm drain
They stretched their blankets out beneath the freeway
And each one took a name
[Verse 6]
There was X-man and Cochise
Little Spider, his sneakers covered in river mud
They come north to California
End up with the poison in their blood
[Verse 7]
He did what he had to for the money
Sometimes he sent home what he could spare
The rest went to high-top sneakers and toncho
And jeans like the gavachos wear
[Verse 8]
One night the border patrol swept Twelfth Street
A big car come fast down the boulevard
Spider stood caught in its headlights
Got hit and went down hard
[Verse 9]
As the car sped away, Spider held his stomach
Limped to his blanket beneath the underpass
Lie there tasting his own blood on his tongue
Closed his eyes and listened to the cars rushing by so fast
more tracks from the album
From the album
- The Ghost of Tom Joad (1995)
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