Bruce Springsteen

Released: October 17, 1980

Songwriter: Bruce Springsteen

Producer: Little Steven Bruce Springsteen Jon Landau

[Verse 1]
Driving home, she grabs something to eat
Turns a corner and drives down her street
Into a row of houses, she just melts away
Like the scenery in another man's play
Into a house where the blinds are closed
To keep from seeing things she don't wanna know
She pulls the blinds and looks out on the street
The cool of the night takes the edge off the heat

[Chorus]
In the Jackson Cage
Down in the Jackson Cage
You can try with all your might
But you're reminded every night
That you've been judged and handed life
Down in the Jackson Cage

[Verse 2]
Every day ends in wasted motion
Just crossed swords on the killing floor
To settle back is to settle without knowing
The hard edge that you're settling for
Because there's always just one more day
And it's always gonna be that way
Little girl, you've been down here so long
I can tell by the way that you move, you belong to

[Chorus]
The Jackson Cage
Down in Jackson Cage
And it don't matter just what you say
Are you tough enough to play the game they play?
Or will you just do your time and fade away?
Down into the Jackson Cage

[Verse 3]
Baby, there's nights when I dream of a better world
But I wake up so downhearted, girl
I see you feeling so tired and confused
I wonder what it's worth to me or you
Just waiting to see some sun
Never knowing if that day will ever come
Left alone standing out on the street
Till you become the hand that turns the key down in

[Chorus]
Jackson Cage
Down in Jackson Cage
Well darling, can you understand
The way that they will turn a man
Into a stranger to waste away
Down in the Jackson Cage

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

The River

From the album

The River (1980)

Bruce Springsteen popular songs

Jackson CageBruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen

The River