Greatest Hits
Bruce Springsteen - Greatest Hits (2009)

Greatest Hits (2009)

The only compilation album crediting the E Street Band, Greatest Hits was an exclusive Wal-Mart release. Dropping material recorded between between Born in the U.S.A. and the E Street reunion, it adds songs from The Rising and Magic and, unlike 1995′s Greatest Hits, offers a pre-Born to Run favorite, “Rosalita.” A European version with an alternative tracklist was later released.

  • Released:
  • Label: Columbia Records
  • Producers: Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin, Steve Van Zandt, Jim Cretecos, Mike Appel, Brendan O'Brien
  • 1 Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)

    Lyrics

    Spread out now Rosie, doctor come cut loose her mama's reins
    You know playin' blindman's bluff is a little baby's game
    You pick up Little Dynamite, I'm gonna pick up Little Gun
    And together we're gonna go out tonight and make that highway run
    You don't have to call me lieutenant Rosie and I don't want to be your son
    The only lover I'm ever gonna need's your soft sweet little girl's tongue
    Rosie you're the one
    Dynamite's in the belfry playin' with the bats
    Little Gun's downtown in front of Woolworth's tryin' out his attitude on all the cats
    Papa's on the corner waitin' for the bus
    Mama she's home in the window waitin' up for us
    She'll be there in that chair when they wrestle her upstairs
    'Cause you know we ain't gonna come
    I ain't here for business
    I'm only here for fun
    And Rosie you're the one

    Rosalita jump a little lighter
    Senorita come sit by my fire
    I just want to be your love, ain't no lie
    Rosalita you're my stone desire

    Jack the Rabbit and Weak Knees Willie, you know they're gonna be there
    Ah, sloppy Sue and Big Bones Billie, they'll be comin' up for air
    We're gonna play some pool, skip some school, act real cool
    Stay out all night, it's gonna feel all right
    So Rosie come out tonight, baby come out tonight
    Windows are for cheaters, chimneys for the poor
    Closets are for hangers, winners use the door
    So use it Rosie, that's what it's there for

    Rosalita jump a little lighter
    Senorita come sit by my fire
    I just want to be your love, ain't no lie
    Rosalita you're my stone desire

    Now I know your mama she don't like me 'cause I play in a rock and roll band
    And I know your daddy he don't dig me but he never did understand
    Papa lowered the boom, he locked you in your room
    I'm comin' to lend a hand
    I'm comin' to liberate you, confiscate you, I want to be your man
    Someday we'll look back on this and it will all seem funny
    But now you're sad, your mama's mad
    And your papa says he knows that I don't have any money
    Tell him this is his last chance to get his daughter in a fine romance
    Because the record company, Rosie, just gave me a big advance
    My tires were slashed and I almost crashed but the Lord had mercy
    My machine she's a dud, I'm stuck in the mud somewhere in the swamps of Jersey
    Hold on tight, stay up all night 'cause Rosie I'm comin' on strong
    By the time we meet the morning light I will hold you in my arms
    I know a pretty little place in Southern California down San Diego way
    There's a little cafe where they play guitars all night and day
    You can hear them in the back room strummin'
    So hold tight baby 'cause don't you know daddy's comin'

    Also Appears On

  • 2 Born to Run

    Lyrics

    In the day we sweat it out on the streets of a runaway American dream
    At night we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines
    Sprung from cages on Highway 9
    Chrome-wheeled, fuel-injected
    And steppin' out over the line
    Baby this town rips the bones from your back
    It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap
    We gotta get out while we're young
    'Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run

    Wendy let me in, I wanna be your friend
    I want to guard your dreams and visions
    Just wrap your legs 'round these velvet rims
    and strap your hands across my engines
    Together we could break this trap
    We'll run till we drop, baby we'll never go back
    Will you walk with me out on the wire
    'Cause baby I'm just a scared and lonely rider
    But I gotta find out how it feels
    I want to know if love is wild
    girl I want to know if love is real

    Beyond the Palace hemi powered drones scream down the boulevard
    The girls comb their hair in rearview mirrors
    And the boys try to look so hard
    The amusement park rises bold and stark
    Kids are huddled on the beach in a mist
    I wanna die with you out on the streets tonight
    In an everlasting kiss

    The highway's jammed with broken heroes
    On a last chance power drive
    Everybody's out on the run tonight
    but there's no place left to hide
    Together, Wendy, we can live with the sadness
    I'll love you with all the madness in my soul
    Someday girl, I don't know when,
    we're gonna get to that place
    Where we really want to go
    and we'll walk in the sun
    But till then tramps like us
    baby we were born to run

    Also Appears On

  • 3 Thunder Road

    Lyrics

    The screen door slams
    Mary's dress waves
    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 all right
    Oh and that's all right 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 savior 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
    These 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 come take my hand
    We're riding out tonight to case the promised land
    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 ain't free
    And I know you're lonely
    For 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.

    Also Appears On

  • 4 Darkness on the Edge of Town

    Lyrics

    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

    Also Appears On

  • 5 Badlands

    Lyrics

    Lights out tonight
    trouble in the heartland
    Got a head-on collision
    smashin' in my guts, man
    I'm caught in a crossfire
    that I don't understand
    But there's one thing I know for sure, girl
    I don't give a damn
    For the same old played out scenes
    I don't give a damn
    For just the in-betweens
    Honey, I want the heart, I want the soul
    I want control right now
    You better listen to me baby
    Talk about a dream
    Try to make it real
    you wake up in the night
    With a fear so real
    Spend your life waiting
    for a moment that just won't come
    Well don't waste your time waiting

    CHORUS
    Badlands, you gotta live it everyday
    Let the broken hearts stand
    As the price you've gotta pay
    We'll keep pushin' till it's understood
    and these badlands start treating us good

    Workin' in the fields
    Till you get your back burned
    Workin' 'neath the wheel
    Till you get your facts learned
    Baby, I got my facts
    Learned real good right now,
    You better get it straight, darling,
    Poor man wanna be rich
    Rich man wanna be king
    And a king ain't satisfied
    Till he rules everything
    I wanna go out tonight,
    I wanna find out what I got

    I believe in the love that you gave me
    I believe in the faith that can save me
    I believe in the hope and I pray
    That some day it may raise me
    Above these badlands

    (CHORUS)

    For the ones who had a notion
    A notion deep inside
    That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
    I wanna find one face that ain't looking through me
    I wanna find one place
    I wanna spit in the face of these badlands

    (CHORUS)

    Also Appears On

  • 6 Hungry Heart

    Lyrics

    Got a wife and kids in Baltimore Jack
    I went out for a ride and I never went back
    Like a river that don't know where it's flowing
    I took a wrong turn and I just kept going

    CHORUS
    Everybody's got a hungry heart
    Everybody's got a hungry heart
    Lay down your money and you play your part
    Everybody's got a hungry heart

    I met her in a Kingstown bar
    We fell in love I knew it had to end
    We took what we had and we ripped it apart
    Now here I am down in Kingstown again

    (CHORUS)

    Everybody needs a place to rest
    Everybody wants to have a home
    Don't make no difference what nobody says
    Ain't nobody like to be alone

    (CHORUS)

    Also Appears On

  • 7 Glory Days

    Lyrics

    I had a friend was a big baseball player
    back in high school
    He could throw that speedball by you
    Make you look like a fool boy
    Saw him the other night at this roadside bar
    I was walking in, he was walking out
    We went back inside sat down had a few drinks
    but all he kept talking about was

    Chorus:
    Glory days well they'll pass you by
    Glory days in the wink of a young girl's eye
    Glory days, glory days

    Well there's a girl that lives up the block
    back in school she could turn all the boy's heads
    Sometimes on a Friday I'll stop by
    and have a few drinks after she put her kids to bed
    Her and her husband Bobby well they split up
    I guess it's two years gone by now
    We just sit around talking about the old times,
    she says when she feels like crying
    she starts laughing thinking about

    Chorus

    Now I think I'm going down to the well tonight
    and I'm going to drink till I get my fill
    And I hope when I get old I don't sit around thinking about it
    but I probably will
    Yeah, just sitting back trying to recapture
    a little of the glory of, well time slips away
    and leaves you with nothing mister but
    boring stories of glory days

    Chorus (repeat twice)

    Also Appears On

  • 8 Dancing in the Dark

    Lyrics

    I get up in the evening
    and I ain't got nothing to say
    I come home in the morning
    I go to bed feeling the same way
    I ain't nothing but tired
    Man I'm just tired and bored with myself
    Hey there baby, I could use just a little help

    You can't start a fire
    You can't start a fire without a spark
    This gun's for hire
    even if we're just dancing in the dark

    Message keeps getting clearer
    radio's on and I'm moving 'round the place
    I check my look in the mirror
    I wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face
    Man I ain't getting nowhere
    I'm just living in a dump like this
    There's something happening somewhere
    baby I just know that there is

    You can't start a fire
    you can't start a fire without a spark
    This gun's for hire
    even if we're just dancing in the dark

    You sit around getting older
    there's a joke here somewhere and it's on me
    I'll shake this world off my shoulders
    come on baby this laugh's on me

    Stay on the streets of this town
    and they'll be carving you up alright
    They say you gotta stay hungry
    hey baby I'm just about starving tonight
    I'm dying for some action
    I'm sick of sitting 'round here trying to write this book
    I need a love reaction
    come on now baby gimme just one look

    You can't start a fire sitting 'round crying over a broken heart
    This gun's for hire
    Even if we're just dancing in the dark
    You can't start a fire worrying about your little world falling apart
    This gun's for hire
    Even if we're just dancing in the dark
    Even if we're just dancing in the dark
    Even if we're just dancing in the dark
    Even if we're just dancing in the dark
    Hey baby

    Also Appears On

  • 9 Born in the U.S.A.

    Lyrics

    Born down in a dead man's town
    The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
    You end up like a dog that's been beat too much
    Till you spend half your life just covering up

    Born in the U.S.A.
    I was born in the U.S.A.
    I was born in the U.S.A.
    Born in the U.S.A.

    Got in a little hometown jam
    So they put a rifle in my hand
    Sent me off to a foreign land
    To go and kill the yellow man

    Born in the U.S.A.
    I was born in the U.S.A.
    I was born in the U.S.A.
    I was born in the U.S.A.
    Born in the U.S.A.

    Come back home to the refinery
    Hiring man says "Son if it was up to me"
    Went down to see my V.A. man
    He said "Son, don't you understand"

    I had a brother at Khe Sahn fighting off the Viet Cong
    They're still there, he's all gone

    He had a woman he loved in Saigon
    I got a picture of him in her arms now

    Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
    Out by the gas fires of the refinery
    I'm ten years burning down the road
    Nowhere to run ain't got nowhere to go

    Born in the U.S.A.
    I was born in the U.S.A.
    Born in the U.S.A.
    I'm a long gone Daddy in the U.S.A.
    Born in the U.S.A.
    Born in the U.S.A.
    Born in the U.S.A.
    I'm a cool rocking Daddy in the U.S.A.

    Also Appears On

  • 10 The Rising

    Lyrics

    Can't see nothin' in front of me
    Can't see nothin' coming up behind
    I make my way through this darkness
    I can't feel nothing but this chain that binds me
    Lost track of how far I've gone
    How far I've gone, how high I've climbed
    On my back's a sixty pound stone
    On my shoulder a half mile line

    Come on up for the rising
    Com on up, lay your hands in mine
    Come on up for the rising
    Come on up for the rising tonight

    Left the house this morning
    Bells ringing filled the air
    Wearin' the cross of my calling
    On wheels of fire I come rollin' down here

    Come on up for the rising
    Come on up, lay your hands in mine
    Come on up for the rising
    Come on up for the rising tonight

    Li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li

    Spirits above and behind me
    Faces gone, black eyes burnin' bright
    May their precious blood forever bind me
    Lord as I stand before your fiery light

    Li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li

    I see you Mary in the garden
    In the garden of a thousand sighs
    There's holy pictures of our children
    Dancin' in a sky filled with light
    May I feel your arms around me
    May I feel your blood mix with mine
    A dream of life comes to me
    Like a catfish dancin' on the end of the line

    Sky of blackness and sorrow ( a dream of life)
    Sky of love, sky of tears (a dream of life)
    Sky of glory and sadness ( a dream of life)
    Sky of mercy, sky of fear ( a dream of life)
    Sky of memory and shadow ( a dream of life)
    Your burnin' wind fills my arms tonight
    Sky of longing and emptiness (a dream of life)
    Sky of fullness, sky of blessed life ( a dream of life)

    Come on up for the rising
    Come on up, lay your hands in mine
    Come on up for the rising
    Come on up for the rising tonight

    Li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li

    Also Appears On

  • 11 Lonesome Day

    Lyrics

    Once I thought I knew
    Everything I needed to know about you
    Your sweet whisper, Your tender touch
    But I didn't really know that much
    Joke's on me, It's gonna be okay
    If I can just get through this lonesome day

    Hell's brewin' dark sun's on the rise
    This storm'll blow through by and by
    House is on fire, Viper's in the grass
    A little revenge and this too shall pass
    This too shall pass, I'm gonna pray
    Right now all I got's this lonesome day

    It's alright... It's alright... It's alright

    Better ask questions before you shoot
    Deceit and betrayals bitter fruit
    It's hard to swallow, come time to pay
    That taste on your tongue don't easily slip away

    Let kingdom come I'm gonna find my way
    Through this lonesome day

    Also Appears On

  • 12 Radio Nowhere

    Lyrics

    I was tryin' to find my way home
    But all I heard was a drone
    Bouncing off a satellite
    Crushin' the last lone American night
    This is radio nowhere, is there anybody alive out there?
    This is radio nowhere, is there anybody alive out there?

    I was spinnin' 'round a dead dial
    Just another lost number in a file
    Dancin' down a dark hole
    Just searchin' for a world with some soul

    This is radio nowhere, is there anybody alive out there?
    This is radio nowhere, is there anybody alive out there?
    Is there anybody alive out there?

    I just want to hear some rhythm
    I just want to hear some rhythm
    I just want to hear some rhythm
    I just want to hear some rhythm

    I want a thousand guitars
    I want pounding drums
    I want a million different voices speaking in tongues

    This is radio nowhere, is there anybody alive out there?
    This is radio nowhere, is there anybody alive out there?
    Is there anybody alive out there?

    I was driving through the misty rain
    Searchin' for a mystery train
    Boppin' through the wild blue
    Tryin' to make a connection to you

    This is radio nowhere, is there anybody alive out there?
    This is radio nowhere, is there anybody alive out there?
    Is there anybody alive out there?

    I just want to feel some rhythm
    I just want to feel some rhythm
    I just want to feel your rhythm
    I just want to feel your rhythm
    I just want to feel your rhythm
    I just want to feel your rhythm
    I just want to feel your rhythm
    I just want to feel your rhythm

    Also Appears On