Bruce Springsteen – Racing in the Street

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I got a sixty-nine Chevy with a 396
Fuelie heads and a Hurst on the floor
She's waiting tonight down in the parking lot
Outside the Seven-Eleven store
Me and my partner Sonny built her straight out of scratch
And he rides with me from town to town
We only run for the money got no strings attached
We shut 'em up and then we shut 'em down

Tonight, tonight the strip's just right
I wanna blow 'em off in my first heat
Summer's here and the time is right
For goin' racin' in the street

We take all the action we can meet
And we cover all the northeast state
When the strip shuts down we run 'em in the street
From the fire roads to the interstate
Some guys they just give up living
And start dying little by little, piece by piece
Some guys come home from work and wash up
And go racin' in the street

Tonight, tonight the strip's just right
I wanna blow 'em all out of their seats
Calling out around the world, we're going racin' in the street

I met her on the strip three years ago
In a Camaro with this dude from L.A.
I blew that Camaro off my back and drove that little girl away
But now there's wrinkles around my baby's eyes
And she cries herself to sleep at night
When I come home the house is dark
She sighs "Baby did you make it all right"
She sits on the porch of her daddy's house
But all her pretty dreams are torn
She stares off alone into the night
With the eyes of one who hates for just being born
For all the shut down strangers and hot rod angels
Rumbling through this promised land
Tonight my baby and me we're gonna ride to the sea
And wash these sins off our hands

Tonight tonight the highway's bright
Out of our way mister you best keep
'Cause summer's here and the time is right
For goin' racin' in the street

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Lyrics submitted by oofus

Track duration: 06:49


Racing in the Street song meanings
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21 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:This song is about abortion. He gets his girlfriend pregnant and they have an abortion. He tries to distract himself by going racing, but it doesn't work. He still has to go home to the girl that he devoted himself to, who is riddled with grief, with the luxury of distraction unavailable to her. It happens all of the time. The guy promises his devotion and affection to the girl in order for her not to "ruin his life." What results is a woman riddled with shame and sadness, and a man bound by selfishness. They both get what they deserve: misery.
    Flag boss628on February 20, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I find the song far darker than most commenters here.

    "She sits on the porch of her daddy's house
    But all her pretty dreams are torn
    She stares off alone into the night
    With the eyes of one who hates for just being born"

    That's pretty heavy stuff. If he wanted to say that she was tired of her lover racing, or something similar, he could have not made such harsh words. "...hates for just being born..." - doesn't get much harsher than that.

    She once enjoyed the racing life but she's moved on/grown up/gotten cynical - as many of the characters in BS's songs. Her lover is going to try to give her hope again by going to the sea - the water being a rebirth for them both.

    The delivery of the song is sparse and downbeat - it's not an ode to racers, it's a testament to the sadness behind the racers.
    Flag CatsNKon August 21, 2012   Link
    • 1 Reply
  • +1
    General Comment:It seems like this great tune has the classic Springsteen themes of the albums of the late 70's to early 80's. Despair and what one feels in terms of emotional pain.
    This guy races in the street, he meets the girl but soon both their lives are shit. Although it seems as though his life was shit before he meets her, seems like he uses racing in the street as a getaway from a bad job, life, etc. Near the end it seems as though he realizes the state his life is in, as he comes home to a girlfriend who cries herself to sleep, a dark house, a strained relationship. They go and "Wash these sins off of our hands" however at the end he says the highway's bright, and Summer's here and its time to go racing in the street. This shows common character confusion we see in other songs like Hungry Heart and Stolen Car.
    Flag ryfall101on August 10, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This is Bruce at the apex of musical storytelling. If you get the chance, you need to hear the different versions he recorded on the journey to the final product. The piano is brilliant in the CD version, but the outtakes....oh my, there is so much emotion in the words when it is stripped down to his voice and a guitar.
    Flag muzeecalon June 27, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:Tonight my baby and me we're gonna ride to the sea
    And wash these sins off our hands

    I think here "baby" is referring to his car and he is leaving his lover because he feels that his presence in her life has only dragged her down.

    In general I think this song is about living with despair and how one tries to find meaning in their life.
    Flag BarefootStreetBoyon April 09, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Simplified in my simple mind: Live life with passion but not at the exclusion of those closest to us.
    Flag Livingquestionson June 12, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think you are right about his realization that his girl is more important than his addiction to (in this case) racing... what I find brilliant, is that as they "head to sea to wash the sins off our hands" he ends the song with the calling of the summer being here and the "time is right for racing in the street.." Even as he makes a concerted effort to escape with his girl, the addiction pulls him back in...
    Flag mike108on April 25, 2011   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:The song's got a decent amount of history behind it.

    First of all it starts at the time he and Sonny built her straight out of scratch. They spend their time on the strip just to race in the street.

    Then he tells us "Some guys they just give up living and start dying little by little, piece by piece..." meaning that people just give up on racing in the streets for a reason or another. Yet Bruce and Sonny are still eager to race. Meaning themselves: "Some guys come home from work and wash up and go racin' in the street".

    Finally he meets his girl and grows up with her. In the end he realises - "now that there's wrinkles around my baby's eyes" - she's more important than racing. So instead of keeping up the habit, they go to the sea and wash the sins out their hands.

    And so he's finally free of racing and ready to commit to his girl.
    Flag zettjhon November 17, 2010   Link
  • +2
    General Comment:this song is about how going to a job that you hate, affects your life. The imagery in this song is unreal. Especially when he talks about his girlfriend. He comes home and his girlfriend is essentially dying inside. She's crying. The house is dark.

    Its almost like these two have given up on life. For Bruce the only salvation is racing in the street. Work is hell, and then the only saving grace is him washing up and racing.

    This song describes something that is familiar to Bruce, as many songs in his catalogue deal with it. People who are desperate to change, to leave, to get out. The feeling you are going to die if you dont.
    Flag radiohead33on June 15, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:For the sake of argument, it seems to me like racing isn't nessessarily a passion that the narrator has, but more a way with coping with his messed up life. Racing is almost an addiction for him to avoid his problems and mistakes. Its an escape. This is mostly apparent in the last verse, where he waits until the last few lines before he is ready to confront his disappointment in life and seek some sort of renewal and, dare i say, redemption. Maybe I'm analyzing too closely, but this seems to be an underlying theme.

    Sometimes, for some reason, when I listen to this song, I think of that last verse like HE was in the Camaro and he saw a CAR that he fell in love with, traded the Camaro for the "Dude from LA"s car, and pretty soon found another car that he loved even more...So the "Dude from LA"s car is wasting away in his garage...its stupid but just thought I'd throw that bit of randomness in
    Flag thebigpillon May 29, 2009   Link

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