Released: November 10, 1998

Songwriter: Bruce Springsteen

Producer: Bruce Springsteen Jon Landau Chuck Plotkin Roy Bittan

Well, he'd been hearing too many voices and feelin' a little off-track
Like there was something big pressing down on his back
And so he called up his friends and they said, 'come on out west
It's a place where a man can really feel his success'

So he pulled his heart and soul down off the shelf
And packed them next to the faith that he'd lost in himself
Said his good-byes and when the dirty work was done
He turned his wheels into the fading sun

For seven days and nights like a black-top bird he sped
Maintained radio silence 'cept for in his head
And just like his folks did back in '69
He crossed the border at Needles and heard the promised land on the line

Now where the Transcontinental dumps into the sea
There's a bar made up to look like 1963
Girl in the corner eyed him like a hungry dog a bone
As he brushed the desert dust off that Mercedes chrome
Bartender said, "Hey, how's it hangin', tiger?"
He had a shot of tequila, smiled, and whispered "lighter"

He went down to the desert city where the rattlesnakes play
And left his dead skin by the roadside in the noon of day
Sun got so hot, it almost felt like a friend
It could burn out every trace of where you been

There was a woman he'd met in a desert song
And a little while later a son come along
Looked at that boy's smile and called it home
And that night, as he lay in bed, the only voice he heard was his own

Goin' Cali
Goin' Cali
Goin' Cali

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.

From the album