Incident on 57th Street

Incident on 57th Street is the fifth song off Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band's second album, The Wild, the Innocent and the E-Street Shuffle. It is about "Spanish Johnny," who is "dressed just like dynamite" though he drives a "beat-up old Buick" and can't find a girlfriend. A desperate Johnny is told he is a cheater and a liar by "the pimps" who "swing their axes." He meets "Puerto Rican Jane" who wants to take him "to the other part of town where paradise ain't so crowded." The new couple find their "soul flame" while "out on the street tonight." In spite of their sudden love, Jane knows "he'd never be true but she didn't really mind." Though Johnny tries not to get involved in the sordid affairs of his neighborhood, preferring to watch "the kids playin' down the street." Jane sleeps with her "sheets damp from sweat" while "Johnny sits up alone and watches her dream on, dream on." When Jane wakes up, she sees "Johnny putting his clothes back on" and all she can say is "those romantic young boys/All they ever want to do is fight." Johnny's friends call in through the window, asking if he wants to make "some easy money" and he leaves, promising to meet Jane "tomorrow night on Lover's Lane."

First Line

"Spanish Johnny drove in from the underworld last night"

External links

• lyrics (http://www.xs4all.nl/~maroen/engels/lyrics/incident.htm)