"Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?" is a song by Bruce Springsteen from the album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., released in 1973. The song was part of the demo that Springsteen recorded for John Hammond of CBS Records in advance of getting his first recording contract.[1][2][3] This demo version was released on Tracks in 1998.[4]
| "Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Bruce Springsteen | |
| from the album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. | |
| Released | January 5, 1973 |
| Recorded | August–September 1972 |
| Studio | 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, New York |
| Genre | Rock |
| Length | 2:06 |
| Label | Columbia |
| Songwriter(s) | Bruce Springsteen |
| Producer(s) |
|
| Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. track listing | |
9 tracks Side one
Side two | |
The song is loosely based on a bus ride Springsteen once took to visit a girlfriend in uptown Manhattan.[1] As a result, the song is basically set in Spanish Harlem, although it contains some anomalous references, such as to actress Joan Fontaine.[5] The characters are more thinly sketched than in other songs on Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., but the song does contain the incongruous rhyming of other Springsteen songs of the period and is full of good humor.[6][7] Springsteen only rarely plays "Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?" in concert, but when he does it is usually enjoyed by the fans.[6]
Structure and themes
edit"Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street?" is a beat-style pastiche of a journey through city streets.[8] It is fast-paced and has no chorus. One recognizable theme is a movement towards the sky, as in the lines "drink this and you'll grow wings on your feet", "interstellar mongrel nymphs" and "(Mary Lou) rides to heaven on a gyroscope."
Personnel
editAccording to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon:[9]
- Bruce Springsteen – vocals, acoustic guitars
- Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez – drums
- Gary Tallent – bass
- David Sancious – piano
References
edit- ^ a b Kirkpatrick, R. (2007). The Words and Music of Bruce Springsteen. pp. 14–16. ISBN 978-0-275-98938-5.
- ^ "The Demo Sessions". Retrieved 2009-08-02.
- ^ Marsh, D. (1979). Born to Run: The Bruce Springsteen Story. p. 270. ISBN 0-440-10694-X.
- ^ "Tracks". allmusic. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
- ^ Humphries, P. (1996). Bruce Springsteen. p. 5. ISBN 0-7119-5304-X.
- ^ a b Basham, P. (2005). The Pocket Essential Bruce Springsteen. p. 20. ISBN 1-903047-97-8.
- ^ Marsh, D. (1979). Born to Run: The Bruce Springsteen Story. p. 66. ISBN 0-440-10694-X.
- ^ Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street?: brucespringsteen.net: Bruce Springsteen Archived June 30, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Margotin, Philippe; Guesdon, Jean-Michel (2020). Bruce Springsteen All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. London: Cassell Illustrated. p. 31. ISBN 978-1-78472-649-2.