Bruce Springsteen

Released: October 17, 1980

Songwriter: Bruce Springsteen

Producer: Little Steven Bruce Springsteen Jon Landau

[Verse 1]
Yesterday, I went shopping, buddy, down to the mall
Looking for something pretty I could hang on my wall
I knocked over a lamp, before it hit the floor, I caught it
A salesman turned around said, "boy, you break that thing, you bought it"

[Chorus]
You can look but you better not touch, boy
You can look but you better not touch
Mess around and you'll end up in dutch, boy
You can look but you better not
No you better not, no you better not touch

[Verse 2]
Well I came home from work and I switched on Channel 5
There was a pretty little girly looking straight into my eyes
Well I watched as she wiggled back and forth across the screen
She didn't get me excited, she just made me feel mean

[Chorus]
You can look but you better not touch, boy
You can look but you better not touch
Mess around and you'll end up in dutch, boy
You can look but you better not
No you better not, no you better not touch

[Verse 3]
Well I called up Dirty Annie on the telephone
I took her out to the drive-in just to get her alone
I found a lover's rendezvous, the music low, set to park
I heard a tapping on the window and a voice in the dark

[Chorus]
You can look but you better not touch, boy
You can look but you better not touch
Mess around and you'll end up in dutch, boy
You can look but you better not
No you better not, no you better not touch

[Chorus]
You can look but you better not touch, boy
You can look but you better not touch
Mess around and you'll end up in dutch, boy
You can look but you better not
No you better not, no you better not touch

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

You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen

The River