Bruce Springsteen

Released: November 10, 1998

Songwriter: Bruce Springsteen

Producer: Bruce Springsteen Jon Landau Little Steven

[Verse]
We left the toys out in the yard
I took my wife and kids and I left my home unguarded
We packed what we could into the car
No one here knows how it started
Suddenly everything was just so out of control
Now I want some answers, mister, I need to know
I hear all the talk, but I don't know what you're sayin'
I think I got a good idea of the game that you're playin'

[Chorus]
Roulette, that's the name
Roulette, that's the game now
Roulette, I don't believe what they're sayin'
Roulette, everybody's playin'

[Verse]
I grew up here on this street
Where nothin' moves, just a strange breeze
In a town full of worthless memories
There's a shadow in my backyard
I've got a house full of things that I can't touch
Well all those things that won't do me much good now
I was a fireman out at Riker's, I did my job
Mister, I've been cheated, I feel like I've been robbed
I'm the big expendable, my life's just canceled, null and void
Well what you gonna do about your new boy?

[Chorus]
Roulette, you're playin' with my life
Roulette, with my kids and my wife
Roulette, every day the stakes get bigger
Roulette, a different finger on the trigger

[Verse]
Down by the river that talk
The night speaks in searchlights
And shortwave radios squawk
The police patrol the streets
But I've left behind the man I used to be
Everything he believed and all that belonged to me
I tried to find my way out to somewhere where I thought I'd be safe
They stopped me at the roadblock they put up on the interstate
They put me in detention, but I broke loose and then I ran
They said they want to ask me a few questions, but I think they had other plans
Now I don't know who to trust and I don't know what I can believe
They say they want to help me but with the stuff they keep on sayin'
I think those guys just wanna keep on playin'

[Chorus]
Roulette, with my life
Roulette, with my kids and my wife
Roulette, the bullet's in the chamber
Roulette, who's the unlucky stranger?
Roulette, surprise, you're dead
Roulette, the gun's to your head
Roulette, the bullet's spinning in the chamber
Roulette, pull the trigger, feel the click
No further danger

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 Ties That Bind: The River Collection

From the albums

Tracks (1998)
The Ties That Bind: The River Collection (2015)

Bruce Springsteen popular songs

RouletteBruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen

The Ties That Bind: The River Collection