Bruce Springsteen
THE ALBUM COLLECTION VOLUME 2

(1987 - 1996)

ALBUM 1 - ALBUM 2 - ALBUM 3 - ALBUM 4 - ALBUM 5 - ALBUM 6 - ALBUM 7

  RED HEADED WOMAN
Well, brunnetes are fine man
And blondes are fun
But when it comes to getting a dirty job done
Itl takes a red headed woman
A red headed woman
To get a dirty job done 
Well listen up stud
Your life's been wasted
Till you got down on your knees and tasted
A red headed woman
A red headed woman
It takes a red headed woman to get a dirty job done

Tight skirt, strawberry hair
Tell me what you got, baby, waiting under there
Big green eyes that look like, son,
They can see every cheap thing that you ever done

Well I don't know how many girls you've dated, man
But you ain't lived till you had your tires rotated
By a red headed woman
A red headed woman

It takes a red headed woman
To get a dirty job done

  BETTER DAYS
Well my soul checked out missing as I sat listening
To the hours and minutes tickin’ away
Yeah just sittin’ around waitin’ for my life to begin
While it was all just slippin’ away
I’m tired of waitin’ for tomorrow to come
Or that train to come roarin’ ’round the bend
I got a new suit of clothes a pretty red rose
And a woman I can call my friend 
These are better days baby
Yeah there’s better days shining through
These are better days baby
Better days with a girl like you

Well I took a piss at fortune’s sweet kiss
It’s like eatin’ caviar and dirt
It’s sad funny ending to find yourself pretending
A rich man in a poor man’s shirt
Now my ass was draggin’ when from a passin’ gypsy wagon
Your heart like a diamond shone
Tonight I’m layin’ in your arms carvin’ lucky charms
Out of these hard luck bones

These are better days baby
These are better days it’s true
These are better days
There’s better days shining through

Now a life of leisure and a pirate’s treasure
Don’t make much for tragedy
But it’s a sad man my friend who’s livin’ in his own skin
And can’t stand the company
Every fool’s got a reason for feelin’ sorry for himself
And turning his heart to stone
Tonight this fool’s halfway to heaven and just a mile outta hell
And I feel like I’m comin’ home

These are better days baby
There’s better days shining through
These are better days
Better days with a girl like you

These are better days baby
These are better days it’s true
These are better days
Better days are shining through

  ATLANTIC CITY
Well, they blew up the chicken man in Philly last night
Now, they blew up his house, too
Down on the boardwalk they're gettin' ready for a fight
Gonna see what them racket boys can do 
Now, there's trouble bustin' in from outta state
And the D.A. can't get no relief
Gonna be a rumble out on the promenade
And the gamblin' commission's hangin' on by the skin of his teeth

(chorus)
Well now, ev'rything dies, baby, that's a fact
But maybe ev'rything that dies someday comes back
Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty
And meet me tonight in Atlantic City

Well, I got a job and tried to put my money away
But I got debts that no honest man can pay 
So I drew what I had from the Central Trust
And I bought us two tickets on that Coast City bus

(chorus)

Now our luck may have died and our love may be cold
But with you forever I'll stay
We're goin' out where the sand's turnin' to gold
Put on your stockin's baby, `cause the night's getting cold
And maybe ev'rything dies, baby, that's a fact
But maybe ev'rything that dies someday comes back

Now, I been lookin' for a job, but it's hard to find
Down here it's just winners and losers and don't
get caught on the wrong side of that line
Well, I'm tired of comin' out on the losin' end
So, honey, last night I met this guy and I'm gonna 
do a little favor for him

(chorus)

  DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN
They're still racing out at the Trestles
But that blood it never burned in her veins
Now I hear she's got a house up in Fairview
And a style she's trying to maintain
Well if she wants to see me
You can tell her that I'm easily found
Tell her there's a spot out `neath Abram's Bridge
And tell her there's a darkness on the edge of town
Everybody's got a secret Sonny
Something that they just can't face
Some folks spend their whole lives trying to keep it
They carry it with them every step that they take
Till some day they just cut it loose
Cut it loose or let it drag `em down
Where no one asks any questions
Or looks too long in your face
In the darkness on the edge of town

Some folks are born into a good life
Other folks get it anyway anyhow
I lost my money and I lost my wife
Them things don't seem to matter much to me now
Tonight I'll be on that hill `cause I can't stop
I'll be on that hill with everything I got
Lives on the line where dreams are found and lost
I'll be there on time and I'll pay the cost
For wanting things that can only be found
In the darkness on the edge of town

  MAN'S JOB
Well you can go out with him 
Play with all of his toys 
But takin’ care of you darlin’ 
Ain’t for one of the boys 
Oh there’s somethin’ in your soul 
That he’s gonna rob 
And lovin’ you baby lovin’ you darlin’ 
Lovin’ you woman is a man’s man’s job 
Lovin’ you’s a man’s job baby 
Lovin’ you’s a man’s job 
Lovin’ you’s a man’s job baby 
Lovin’ you’s a man’s job 

Well now his kisses may thrill 
Those other girls that he likes 
But when it comes to treatin’ 
A real woman right 
Well all of his tricks 
No they won’t be enough 
’Cause lovin’ you baby lovin’ you woman 
Lovin’ you darlin’ is a man’s man’s job 
Lovin’ you’s a man’s job baby 
Lovin’ you’s a man’s job 
Lovin’ you’s a man’s job baby 
Lovin’ you’s a man’s job 

You’re dancin’ with him he’s holding you tight 
I’m standing here waitin’ to catch your eye 
Your hand’s on his neck as the music sways 
All my illusions slip away 

Now if you’re lookin’ for a hero 
Someone to save the day 
Well darlin’ my feet 
They’re made of clay 
But I’ve got somethin’ in my soul 
And I wanna give it up 
But gettin’ up the nerve 
Gettin’ up the nerve 
Gettin’ up the nerve is a man’s man’s job 
Lovin’ you’s a man’s job baby 
Lovin’ you’s a man’s job 
Lovin’ you’s a man’s job woman 
Lovin’ you’s a man’s job

  HUMAN TOUCH
You and me we were the pretenders 
We let it all slip away 
In the end what don’t surrender 
Well the world just strips away 

Girl ain’t no kindness in the face of strangers 
Ain’t gonna find no miracles here 
Well you can wait on your blessings my darlin’ 
But I got a deal for you right here 

I ain’t lookin’ for prayers or pity 
I ain’t comin’ ’round searchin’ for a crutch 
I just want someone to talk to 
And a little of that human touch 
Just a little of that human touch 

Ain’t no mercy on the streets of this town 
Ain’t no bread from heavenly skies 
Ain’t nobody drawin’ wine from this blood 
It’s just you and me tonight 

Tell me in a world without pity 
Do you think what I’m askin’s too much ? 
I just want something to hold on to 
And a little of that human touch 
Just a little of that human touch 

Oh girl that feeling of safety you prize 
Well it comes with a hard hard price 
You can’t shut off the risk and the pain 
Without losin’ the love that remains 
We’re all riders on this train 

So you been broken and you been hurt 
Show me somebody who ain’t 
Yeah I know I ain’t nobody’s bargain 
But hell a little touchup 
And a litte paint... 

You might need somethin’ to hold on to 
When all the answers they don’t amount to much 
Somebody that you can just talk to 
And a little of that human touch 

Baby in a world without pity 
Do you think what I’m askin’s too much ? 
I just want to feel you in my arms 
And share a little of that human touch...

  LUCKY TOWN
House got too crowded clothes got too tight
And I don’t know just where I’m going tonight
Out where the sky’s been cleared by a good hard rain
There’s somebody callin’ my secret name 
I’m going down to Lucky Town
Going down to Lucky Town
I wanna lose these blues I’ve found
Down in Lucky Town
Down in Lucky Town

Had a coat of fine leather and snakeskin boots
But that coat always had a thread hangin’ to loose
Well I pulled it one night and to my surprise
It led me right past your house and on over the rise

I’m going down to Lucky Town
Down to Lucky Town
I’m gonna lose these blues I’ve found
Down in Lucky Town
Down in Lucky Town

I had some victory that was just failure in deceit
Now the joke’s comin’ up through the soles of my feet
I been a long time walking on fortune’s cane
Tonight I’m sleepin’ lightly and feelin’ no pain

Well here’s to your good looks baby now here’s to my health
Here’s to the loaded places that we take ourselves
When it comes to luck you make your own
Tonight I got to dirt on my hands but I’m building me a new home

Down in Lucky Town
Down in Lucky Town
I’m gonna lose these blues I’ve found
Down in Lucky Town

  I WISH I WERE BLIND
I love to see the cottonwood blossom 
In the early spring 
I love to see the message of love 
That the bluebird brings 
But when I see you walkin’ with him 
Down along the strand 
I wish I were blind 
When I see you with your man 

I love to see your hair shining 
In the long summer’s light 
I love to watch the stars fill the sky 
On a summer night 
The music plays you take his hand 
I watch how you touch him as you start to dance 
And I wish I were blind 
When I see you with your man 

We struggle here but all our love’s in vain 
Oh these eyes that once filled me with your beauty 
Now fill me with pain 
And the light that once entered here 
Is banished from me 
And this darkness is all baby that my heart sees 

And though this world is filled 
With the grace and beauty of God’s hand 
Oh I wish I were blind 
When I see you with your man

  THUNDER ROAD
The screen door slams, Mary's dress sways
Like a vision she dances across the porch. As the radio plays
Roy Orbison singing for the lonely
Hey that's me and I want you only
Don't turn me home again, I just can't face myself alone again
Don't run back inside, darling you know just what I'm here for
So you're scared and you're thinking
That maybe we ain't that young anymore
Show a little faith, there's magic in the night
You ain't a beauty, but hey you're alright
Oh and that's alright with me 
You can hide `neath your covers and study your pain
Make crosses from your lovers, throw roses in the rain
Waste your summer praying in vain
For a saviour to rise from these streets
Well now I'm no hero, that's understood
All the redemption I can offer, girl, is beneath this dirty hood
With a chance to make it good somehow
Hey what else can we do now?
Except roll down the window and let the wind blow back your hair
Well the night's busting open
This two lanes will take us anywhere
We got one last chance to make it real
To trade in these wings on some wheels
Climb in back, Heaven's waiting on down the tracks

Oh-oh come take my hand
We're riding out tonight to case the promised land
Oh-oh Thunder Road, oh Thunder Road, oh Thunder Road,
Lying out there like a killer in the sun
Hey I know it's late we can make it if we run
Oh Thunder Road, sit tight take hold, Thunder Road

Well I got this guitar and I learned how to make it talk
And my car's out back if you're ready to take that long walk
From your front porch to my front seat
The door's open but the ride it ain't free
And I know you're lonely and there's words that I ain't spoken
But tonight we'll be free, all the promises'll be broken
There were ghosts in the eyes of all the boys you sent away
They haunt this dusty beach road
In the skeleton frames of burned out Chevrolets
They scream your name at night in the street
Your graduation gown lies in rags at their feet
And in the lonely cool before dawn
you hear their engines roaring on
But when you get to the porch they're gone
On the wind, so Mary climb in
It's a town full of losers and I'm pulling out of here to win.

  LIGHT OF DAY
Well I've been out of the woods for six days and nights now
I'm a little hot wired and I'm feeling alright now
I got some money in my pocket and I won't need a ride now
I got a big cherry car and my baby by my side now
(alt. I gtta make it down to Galveston by Saturday night)

Well I'm a little hot-wired but I'm feeling ok
And I got a little lost along the way
And I'm just around the corner
From the light of day
Just around the corner
From the light of day 

Well driving 500 miles got 100 to go, yeah
I've got rock and roll music on the radio
I've got a brother on the rig who's from the Gulf Coast
He said the girls down there are really the most

Well I got thrown out of work on the Kokomo
Don't ask me what I'm doing cause I don't know
I hope he wasn't joking when he wrote me that letter
Things can't get worse so they got to get better

  IF I SHOULD FALL BEHIND
We said we'd walk together baby come what may
That come the twilight should we lose our way
If as we're walkin a hand should slip free
I'll wait for you
And should I fall behind
Wait for me
We swore we'd travel darlin' side by side
We'd help each other stay in stride
But each lover's steps fall so differently
But I'll wait for you
And if I should fall behind
Wait for me
Now everyone dreams of a love lasting and true
But you and I know what this world can do
So let's make our steps clear that the other may see
And I'll wait for you
If I should fall behind
Wait for me
Now there's a beautiful river in the valley ahead
There 'neath the oak's bough soon we will be wed
Should we lose each other in the shadow of the evening trees

I'll wait for you
And should I fall behind
Wait for me
Darlin' I'll wait for you
Should I fall behind
Wait for me

  LIVING PROOF
Well now on a summer night in a dusky room
Come a little piece of the Lord’s undying light
Crying like he swallowed the fiery moon
In his mother’s arms it was all the beauty I could take
Like the missing words to some prayer that I could never make
In a world so hard and dirty so fouled and confused
Searching for a little bit of God’s mercy
I found living proof 
I put my heart and soul I put ’em high upon a shelf
Right next to the faith the faith that I’d lost in myself
I went down into the desert city
Just tryin’ so hard to shed my skin
I crawled deep into some kind of darkness
Lookin’ to burn out every trace of who I’d been
You do some sad sad things baby
When it’s you you’re tryin’ to lose
You do some sad and hurtful things
I’ve seen living proof

You shot through my anger and rage
To show me my prison was just an open cage
There were no keys no guards
Just one frightened man and some old shadows for bars

Well now all that’s sure on the boulevard
Is that life is just a house of cards
As fragile as each and every breath
Of this boy sleepin’ in our bed
Tonight let’s lie beneath the eaves
Just a close band of happy thieves
And when that train comes we’ll get on board
And steal what we can from the treasures treasures of the Lord
It’s been a long long drought baby
Tonight the rain’s pourin’ down on our roof
Looking for a little bit of God’s mercy
I found living proof

  MY BEAUTIFUL REWARD
Well I sought gold and diamond rings
My own drug to ease the pain that living brings
Walked from the mountain to the valley floor
Searching for my beautiful reward
Searching for my beautiful reward
>From a house on a hill a sacred light shines
I walk through these rooms but none of them are mine
Down empty hallways I went from door to door
Searching for my beautiful reward
Searching for my beautiful reward
Well your hair shone in the sun
I was so high I was the lucky one
Then I came crashing down like a drunk on a barroom floor
Searching for my beautiful reward
Searching for my beautiful reward
Tonight I can feel the cold wind at my back
I'm flyin' high over gray fields my feathers long and black
Down along the river's silent edge I soar
Searching for my beautiful reward
Searching for my beautiful reward