Friday the 13th: “a day so infamous”

Fun Facts/Legends About Friday the 13th

There are several theories about why Friday the 13th has its reputation:

• The number 13 suffers from its position after 12, according to numerologists who consider the latter to be a complete number — 12 months in a year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 apostles of Jesus, 12 days of Christmas and 12 eggs in a dozen.
• It may date back to Biblical times. Some say Friday’s bad reputation goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. It was on a Friday, supposedly, that Eve tempted Adam with the forbidden fruit. Adam bit of the fruit and they were both ejected from Paradise.
• Tradition also holds that the Great Flood began on a Friday; God tongue-tied the builders of the Tower of Babel on a Friday; the Temple of Solomon was destroyed on a Friday; the 13th guest at the Last Supper betrayed Jesus

• To the ancient Egyptians, life was a quest for spiritual ascension which unfolded in stages — twelve in this life and a thirteenth beyond, thought to be the eternal afterlife. The number 13 therefore symbolized death, not in terms of dust and decay but as a glorious and desirable transformation. Though Egyptian civilization perished, the symbolism conferred on the number 13 by its priesthood survived, we may speculate, only to be corrupted by subsequent cultures who came to associate 13 with a fear of death instead of a reverence for the afterlife.
• 

  Pythagoras

  “You can trace it all the way from the followers of Pythagoras, whose maxim to describe the universe was ‘all is number,'” says Mario Livio, an astrophysicist and author of “The Equation That Couldn’t Be Solved” (Simon & Schuster, 2005). Thinkers who studied under the famous Greek mathematician combined numbers in different ways to explain everything around them, Livio said.

• The Crucifixion of Jesus is said to have place on a Friday
• The number 13 may have been purposely vilified by the founders of patriarchal religions in the early days of western civilization because it represented femininity. Thirteen had been revered in prehistoric  goddess-worshiping cultures, we are told, because it corresponded to the number of lunar (menstrual) cycles in a year (13 x 28 = 364 days). The “Earth Mother of Laussel,” for example — a 27,000-year-old carving found near the Lascaux caves in France often cited as an icon of matriarchal spirituality — depicts a female figure holding a crescent-shaped horn bearing 13 notches. As the solar calendar triumphed over the lunar with the rise of male-dominated civilization, it is surmised, so did the “perfect” number 12 over the “imperfect” number 13, thereafter considered anathema.
• In pagan Rome, Friday was execution day (later Hangman’s Day in Britain), but in other pre-Christian cultures it was the sabbath, a day of worship, so those who indulged in secular or self-interested activities on that day could not expect to receive blessings from the gods — which may explain the lingering taboo on embarking on journeys or starting important projects on Fridays.
• 

  Loki, Norse god of evil and trickery

  An old Norse tale tells of twelve gods invited to a banquet at Valhalla. Loki, the Evil One, god of mischief, had been left off the guest list but crashed the party, bringing the total number of attendees to 13. True to character, Loki raised hell by inciting Hod, the blind god of winter, to attack Balder the Good, who was a favorite of the gods. Hod took a spear of mistletoe offered by Loki and obediently hurled it at Balder, killing him instantly. All Valhalla grieved. And although one might take the moral of this story to be “Beware of uninvited guests bearing mistletoe,” the Norse themselves apparently concluded that 13 people at a dinner party is just plain bad luck.

• By the Middle Ages, both Friday and 13 were considered bearers of bad fortune.
• Katharine Kurtz in Tales of the Knights Templar (Warner Books, 1995) wrote:

Knights Templar

On October 13, 1307, a day so infamous that Friday the 13th would become a synonym for ill fortune, officers of King Philip IV of France carried out mass arrests in a well-coordinated dawn raid that left several thousand Templars — knights, sergeants, priests, and serving brethren — in chains, charged with heresy, blasphemy, various obscenities, and homosexual practices. None of these charges was ever proven, even in France — and the Order was found innocent elsewhere — but in the seven years following the arrests, hundreds of Templars suffered excruciating tortures intended to force “confessions,” and more than a hundred died under torture or were executed by burning at the stake.

• In 13: The Story of the World’s Most Popular Superstition (Avalon, 2004), author Nathaniel Lachenmeyer argues that the commingling of “unlucky Friday” and “unlucky 13” took place in the pages of a specific literary work, a novel published in 1907 titled — what else? — Friday, the Thirteenth. The book, all but forgotten now, concerned dirty dealings in the stock market and sold quite well in its day. Both the titular phrase and the phobic premise behind it — namely that superstitious people regard Friday the 13th as a supremely unlucky day — were instantly adopted and popularized by the press.

Some other items to ponder…

• A study conducted in the UK regarding Friday the 13th and health yielded some interesting results. Incredibly, they found that in the region sampled, while consistently fewer people chose to drive their cars on Friday the 13th, the number of hospital admissions due to vehicular accidents was significantly higher than on “normal” Fridays. Their conclusion:

“Friday 13th is unlucky for some. The risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52 percent. Staying at home is recommended.”

• The British Navy is said to have built a ship named Friday the 13th, or the HMS Friday, which on its maiden voyage left dock on a Friday the 13th, and was never heard from again.
• The HMS Friday story seems to be a legend, however. The Royal Navy Museum states on its web site that this story, which has been told before, is a hoax. “There has never been a Royal Navy ship named HMS Friday – or after any other day of the week for that matter,” the museum states.
• 

  Apollo 13 crew

  The ill-fated Apollo 13 launched at 13:13 CST on Apr. 11, 1970. The sum of the date’s digits (4-11-70) is 13 (as in 4+1+1+7+0 = 13). And the explosion that crippled the spacecraft occurred on April 13 (not a Friday). The crew did make it back to Earth safely, however.

• Many hospitals have no room 13, while some tall buildings skip the 13th floor.
• Fear of Friday the 13th — one of the most popular myths in science — is called paraskavedekatriaphobia as well as friggatriskaidekaphobia. Triskaidekaphobia is fear of the number 13.
• Quarterback Dan Marino wore No. 13 throughout his career with the Miami Dolphins. Despite being a superb quarterback (some call him one of the best ever), he got to the Super Bowl just once, in 1985, and was trounced 38-16 by the San Francisco 49ers and Joe Montana (who wore No. 16 and won all four Super Bowls he played in).
• 

  Butch Cassidy

  Butch Cassidy, notorious American train and bank robber, was born on Friday, April 13, 1866.

• Fidel Castro was born on Friday, Aug. 13, 1926.
• President Franklin D. Roosevelt would not travel on the 13th day of any month and would never host 13 guests at a meal. Napoleon and Herbert Hoover were also triskaidekaphobic, with an abnormal fear of the number 13.
• Superstitious diners in Paris can hire a quatorzieme, or professional 14th guest.
• Mark Twain once was the 13th guest at a dinner party. A friend warned him not to go. “It was bad luck,” Twain later told the friend. “They only had food for 12.”
• Woodrow Wilson considered 13 his lucky number, though his experience didn’t support such faith. He arrived in Normandy, France on Friday, Dec. 13, 1918, for peace talks, only to return with a treaty he couldn’t get Congress to sign. (The ship’s crew wanted to dock the next day due to superstitions.) He toured the United States to rally support for the treaty, and while traveling, suffered a near-fatal stroke.
• 

  Eagle seal on the back of a dollar bill

  The seals on the back of a dollar bill include 13 steps on the pyramid, 13 stars above the eagle’s head, 13 war arrows in the eagle’s claw and 13 leaves on the olive branch. So far there’s been no evidence tying these long-ago design decisions to the present economic situation.

 

Special thanks to livescience.com and urbanlegends.about.com

New Year’s: One Country’s Times Square is Another’s Burnt Straw Dummy Outside Your Home

New Year's Eve in Times Square, New York City

Fun Facts About New Year’s Traditions Around the World

Many New Year’s traditions are similar, but some are different. Here are some interesting customs, past and present, around the world.

New Year's in Sydney, Australia

Australia: New Year’s is celebrated on January 1. This is a public holiday and many people spend it having picnics and camping on the beach. Their parties start on December 31. At midnight they start to make noise with whistles, rattles, car horns, and church bells to ring in the New Year.

Austria: New Year’s Eve is called Sylverterabend, which is the Eve of Saint Sylvester. they make a spiced punch in honor of the saint. Decorations and champagne are part of the celebration. Evil spirits of the old year are chased away by the firing of moroars, called boller. Midnight mass is attended and trumpets are blown from church towers at midnight, when people kiss each other.

Belgium: New Year’s Eve is called Sint Sylvester Vooranvond, or Saint Sylvester Eve. People throw parties and at midnight everyone kisses and exchanges good luck greetings. New Year’s Day is call Nieuwjaarrsdag – children write letters on decorated paper to their parents and god parents, and read the letter to them.

Traditional First Footing offerings

Great Britain: the custom of first footing is practiced. the first male visitor to the house, after midnight, is supposed to bring good luck. The man brings a gift like money, bread, or coal, to ensure the family will have plenty of these in the year to come. The first person must not be blond, red-haired, or a woman, as these are supposed to be bad luck. In London, crowds gather in Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly circus to hear the chimes of London’s Big Ben as it announces the arrival of the New Year.

France: The French New Year is Jour des Etrennes, or Day of New Year’s Presents. Dinner parties are thrown for the entire family, where presents are exchanged.

Germany: People drop molten lead into cold water to tell the future from the shape it makes. A bit of food eaten on New Year’s Eve is left on their plate until after Midnight, as a way on ensuring a well stocked larder in the coming year.

Greece: January 1 is an important date in Greece because it is St. Basil’s Day, as well as the first day of the year. St. Basil was known for his kindness to children. Stories tell how he would come in the night and leave gifts for children in their shoes. People gather, have special meals and exchange gifts.

A Jack Straw scarecrow in Hungary

Hungary: In Hungary the people burn effigies, or a scapegoat known as “Jack Straw”. The scapegoat represents the evils and misfortunes of the past year. Burning the effigy is supposed to get rid of the bad luck.

India: The Indian New Year’s is started with a festival of lights called Diwali. Cards and gifts are exchanged and people finish off any uncompleted work.

Japan: Oshogatsu in an important time for foamy celebrations when all business are closed. To keep out evil spirits they hang a rope of straw across the front of their houses. The rope stands for happiness and good luck. When the New Year begins, the Japanese people begin to laugh, which is supposed to bring them good luck in the New Year.

Netherlands: People burn Christmas Trees in street bonfires and let fireworks ring in the New Year.

Pope Sylvester I

Poland: Known as St. Sylvester’s Eve., in honor of Pope Sylvester I. Legend is that Pope Sylvester foiled the plans of a dragon to devour the world in the year 1000.

Portugal: The Portuguese pick and eat twelve grapes from a bunch as the clock strikes twelve on New Year;s Eve. The twelve grapes ensure twelve happy months in the coming year.

Colorblind Santa? Nyet...it's Russia's Grandfather Frost

Russia: Grandfather Frost, who wears a blue suit instead of Santa’s red, arrives on New year’s Eve with his bag of toys for the children.

Scotland: Night of the Candle. People prepare for New Year by cleaning their home and purifying it with a ritual or burning juniper branches carried through the home. The First Footer says that whoever the first person to set foot into your home on New Year’s Day decides the luck of the family for the coming year.

South Africa: The New Year is rung in with church bells ringing and gunshots being fired. On New year’s Day there is a carnival atmosphere.

South America: A dummy or straw person is ofter placed outside the home and burned at midnight…

Eating twelve grapes in Spain, Portugal and Greece is said to ensure good luck for the coming year

Spain: Everything, including theater productions and movies, is stopped at Midnight on New Year’s. The clock strikes midnight and everyone eats twelve grapes. They eat one grape for each toll to bring good luck for the next twelve months of the New Year. Sometimes the grapes are washed down with wine.

United States: The New Year is often rung in with festive dancing parties and meals. People kiss each other at midnight and wish each other a “Happy New Year”.

Wales: At around 3:00 to 4:00 am on New Year’s morning, the boys of the village go from house to house with an evergreen twig to sprinkle on the people and then each room of their house, to bring good luck. On New Year’s Day the children travel the neighborhood singing songs are are rewarded with coins and sweets.

Special thanks to AssociatedContent.com

Bruce Springsteen’s Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ: The Launchpad of a Lyrical Legacy and a Band Unlike Any Other

Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ, released January 5, 1973

Fun Facts About Bruce Springsteen’s Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ

General Info

Bruce and the E Street Band (L to R): Danny Frederici, Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez, Gary W. Tallent, Bruce Springsteen, David Sancious, Clarence Clemons

Springsteen and his first manager Mike Appel decided to record the album at the low-priced, out-of-the-way 914 Sound Studios to save as much as possible of the Columbia Records advance and cut the record in a single week. Both “Blinded by the Light” and “Spirit in the Night” were released as singles by Columbia, but neither made a dent in the US charts. Ken Emerson wrote in Rolling Stone magazine, “Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ . . . was like “Subterranean Homesick Blues” played at 78 RPM, a typical five-minute track busting with more words than this review. . .” In 2003, the album was ranked number 379 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. On November 22nd, 2009, Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ was played in its entirety for the first time by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York, to celebrate the last show of the Working on a Dream tour. This marked the E Street Band’s first-ever performance of “The Angel”. Professional wrestler Bam Bam Bigelow used a finisher called Greetings from Asbury Park during his spell in Extreme Championship Wrestling.

Track by Track

E Street Band pictured on the back cover of the album

Blinded by the Light

Manfred Mann’s Earth Band released a version of “Blinded by the Light” on their album The Roaring Silence. The song reached #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 on 19 February 1977 and #1 on the Canadian RPM chart the same day. The song is notable for lead vocalist Chris Thompson’s garbled enunciation, especially of the phrase “revved up like a deuce” which has led many fans to interpret it as “wrapped up like a douche”. The original Springsteen lyric is neither of the above, instead being “cut loose like a deuce”. Springsteen once attributed the popularity of the Manfred Mann version partially to Thompson’s enunciation. The Manfred Mann’s Earth Band recording of “Blinded by the Light” is Springsteen’s only Number 1 single as a songwriter on the Hot 100. In 2002, Danish act Funkstar Deluxe released its disco version of this song. In 2007, several remixes were released by the German DJ Michael Mind as Michael Mind featuring Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, adding electronic beats to the major hit of 1977and rising to number 12 of the German charts. A ska version can be found on Springsteen’s Live in Dublin album, recorded with the Sessions Band. Lil’ Wayne sampled this song on his song “Blinded” from a mixtape released by The Empire Entitled The Drought Is Over (The Reincarnation).

Growin’ Up

Bruce Springsteen

It is a moderately-paced tune, concerning an adolescence as a rebellious New Jersey teen, with lyrics written in the first-person. The lyrics feature a chorus that is progressively modified as the song continues, with the first chorus being “I hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd but when they said ‘Sit down,’ I stood up,” while the second chorus switches to “clouded warmth…’come down,’ I threw up” and the third finishes the song with “mother breast…’pull down,’ I pulled up.” The track soon became a live favorite for the Springsteen audiences and Springsteen often told a long history of his problems with his father as an intro to the song. A version of this history can be heard on the live album Live/1975-85. The song has been performed live about 270 times. An acoustic version of the song, part of Springsteen’s 1972 audition for CBS Records, appears on Tracks and 18 Tracks. The song was featured in the 1999 film Big Daddy and the 2007 film Gracie. David Bowie recorded a version of this song in the early stages of the Diamond Dogs sessions with Ronnie Wood on lead guitar. In 1990 this was released as a bonus track on the Rykodisc reissue of his Pin Ups album, and in 2004 it appeared on the bonus disc of the 30th anniversary edition of Diamond Dogs. The song has also been covered by Any Trouble, John Hammond, Jr., Portastic and Alvin Stardust

Mary Queen of Arkansas

Springsteen played “Mary Queen of Arkansas” at his audition for John Hammond at CBS Records, who signed him to his first record contract on May 2, 1972, although Hammond was less impressed with this song than with “It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City” or with “Growin’ Up”. The day after signing the contract, Springsteen recorded “Mary Queen of Arkansas” as part of a 12 song demo for Hammond. The demo version of the song was released onTracks in 1998. The song is one of the slower tracks on Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., played on acoustic guitar, and the lyrics of the song may be about a drag queen. The lyrics are dense and pretensious, and appear to be an attempt to imitate Bob Dylan. “Mary Queen Of Arkansas” is a slow, quiet acoustic song with a faint country feel to it. The lyrics contain repeated references to the circus (a theme explored in deeper depth on his The Wild, the Innocent & the E-Street Shuffle) as in “Well I’m just a lonely acrobat, this live wire, she’s my trade” and “The big top is for dreamers, we can take the circus all the way to the border.” It is a love song, devoted to “Mary.” Like most of Springsteen’s songs, particularly the first album, the lyrics are evocative though not detailed. The song appears to be sung in the first person, by a slave in the antebellum American south, to his white mistress, with whom he is having a clandestine affair.

Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?

The earliest known photo of Bruce with the entire Line-up of The E Street Band, snapped in December, 1972, early in the Greetings Tour

The song was part of the demo that Springsteen recorded for John Hammond of CBS Records in advance of getting his first recording contract. This demo version was released on Tracks in 1998. The song is loosely based on a bus ride Springsteen once took to visit a girlfriend in uptown Manhattan. As a result, the song is basically set in Spanish Harlem, although it contains some anomalous references, such as to actress Joan Fontaine. 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. Springsteen only rarely plays “Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?” in concert, but when he does it is usually enjoyed by the fans. “Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street?” is a beat-style pastiche of a journey through city streets. 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.”

Lost in the Flood

A sparse, piano-driven song, seemingly about a Vietnam War veteran. This is the first of many epic Springsteen songs that elicit strong emotions, usually of despair, grief, and small glimpse of hope. The treatment of veterans in the United States has always been a sore spot for Springsteen. The lyrics tell a loose story, invoking a series of images that appear to somewhat tell a story or perhaps three different stories for each of the three verses The first verse is about “ragamuffin gunner” and has a recurring theme of religion, including references to the “hit-and-run” pleading for “sanctuary” and hiding beneath a “holy stone,” while “breakin’ beams and crosses with a spastic’s reeling perfection” and “nuns run bald through Vatican halls, pregnant, pleading Immaculate Conception.” Finally, “everybody’s wrecked on Main Street from drinking unholy blood.” The second verse is about a “pure American brother”, “Jimmy the Saint”, perhaps the same person as the “ragamuffin gunner” from the first verse. This is the beginning of Springsteen’s use of automobile themes (along with “The Angel”), as the pure American brother “races Sundays in Jersey in a Chevy stock Super Eight” and “leans on the hood telling racing stories.” Eventually, Jimmy the Saint gets into some sort of accident (described as running “headfirst into a hurricane”) and presumably dies since “there was nothing left but some blood where the body fell.” The third verse concerns a series of people on the streets of a city, presumably New York. They include “Eighth Avenue sailors in satin shirts,” “some storefront incarnation of Maria,” “Bronx’s best apostle,” “the cops,” “the whiz-bang gang” and “some kid” who gets shot in the ensuing gun fight and holds “his leg, screaming something in Spanish.”

The Angel

Bruce and "The Big Man" Clarence Clemons

Released as the B-side to Springsteen’s “Blinded by the Light” single. The song was part of the demo that Springsteen recorded for John Hammond of CBS Records in advance of getting his first recording contract. At the time Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. was released, Springsteen considered it his most sophisticated song. It has had virtually no live performances. The lyrics describe a man referred to as “the angel” and a woman who is “Madison Avenue’s claim to fame in a trainer bra with eyes like rain.” This song has a fully-developed automobile theme, including some lines such as “The interstate’s choked with nomadic hordes/in Volkswagen vans with full running boards dragging great anchors/Followin’ dead-end signs into the sores/The angel rides by humpin’ his hunk metal whore”. Another notable line is the historic “hubcap heaven.” Bruce took one of his early rare photos in front of this site in Monmouth New Jersey. The referenced “Hubcap Heaven” is now known as “The Hubcap Farm” and is still in business. Bruce once said he would never play this song live, and he went 23 years keeping that promise. In London in 1996, on his acoustic Ghost of Tom Joad Tour, Bruce played the song. Until later 2009, that had been its only live performance. However, on November 22, 2009, in Buffalo, New York, which was the final 2009 show of his scheduled Working On A Dream Tour, he and the E Street Band performed the song, along with the rest of the Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. album. It was the first performance of the song with the E Street Band Richard Davis, upright bass player on “The Angel” also played the bass on Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks.

For You

This song was later included on the compilation album The Essential Bruce Springsteen.

Advertisement for Greetings

It has also been covered by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band and Greg Kihn. Like most of the songs on Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., “For You” was recorded at 914 Sound Studios in Blauvelt, New York between July and September, 1972. Musicians participating in these sessions included future E Street Band members David Sancious, Garry Tallent and Vini Lopez. It is a climactic, percussion-driven song. Unlike many other songs on Springsteen’s debut album, it takes the time to pace and build. The lyrics are about a woman who has attempted suicide. She does not need the singer’s “urgency” even though her life is “one long emergency” as Springsteen sings in the chorus (along with “and your cloud line urges me, and my electric surges free”). The singer is committed to doing anything to save her, and admires her ability to hang on. Once again, the lyrics are evocative of images and not details, and little can be said in description. Like “Blinded By The Light” and “Spirit in the Night” (on The Roaring Silence), this song was covered by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band for their album Chance. As with Manfred Mann Earth Band’s previous Springsteen covers, they used a more forceful, rockier sound for “For You” than Springsteen did. The Earth Band version built from a more temperate beginning to an explosion of sound in the bridge, and incorporates five guitars and an impressive keyboard solo by Manfred Mann 3/4 of the way into the song. The song was also included on the compilation albums The Best of Manfred Mann’s Earth Band and Blinded by the Light & Other Hits. However, the single release did not achieve the success of their other Springsteen covers. The song was also covered by Greg Kihn on his 1977 album Greg Kihn Again. Kihn’s cover received favorable comments from Springsteen. It was also included on the compilation album Best of Kihn. This song was also covered by The Format on their “B-Sides and Rarities” album.

Spirit in the Night

The second single released from the album. A cover version performed by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band was released on the album Nightingales and Bombers and as a Top 40 single.It was one of the last songs to be written and recorded for Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. Springsteen had recorded 10 other tracks for the album, but Clive Davis, president of the record label that was releasing the album, was concerned that the recorded tracks did not have enough commercial appeal. As a result, Springsteen quickly wrote and recorded two additional songs: “Spirit in the Night” and “Blinded by the Light”. Because these songs were added so late in the recording process, several of Springsteen’s band members were unavailable to record these two songs. As a result, the recording lineup for “Spirit in the Night” was limited to Vini Lopez on drums, Clarence Clemons on saxophone, and Springsteen himself playing all other instruments. Although “Spirit in the Night” was one of the last songs written for the album, it did grow out of an earlier version of the song that Springsteen had played live prior to receiving his recording contract. Although most of the songs on Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. were packed with lyrics to the extent that sometimes they overwhelm the musical arrangements, “Spirit in the Night” has been described as the one song on the album on which the music and narrative fit together. Clemons’ sax playing and Lopez’ drumming match the freedom and ebullience described in the lyrics. The lyrics themselves describe a group of teenagers — Wild Billy, Hazy Davy, Crazy Janey, Killer Joe, and G-Man — going to a spot called “Greasy Lake” near “Route 88” for a night of freedom, sex, and drinking. But although their escape to the freedom of Greasy Lake is short lived, the emphasis is on the friends’ togetherness. Although the release of the song as a single was unsuccessful in the U.S., “Spirit in the Night” has remained a live favorite in Springsteen concerts. Live versions of the song have appeared on the live CD Live/1975–85 and on both the CD and video versions of Hammersmith Odeon London ’75. The studio version of the song was released on the compilation album The Essential Bruce Springsteen.

Although Greasy Lake, where the action takes place, is a mythical place, drummer Vini Lopez has stated that it is actually a composite of two locations that band members used to visit. One was Lake Carasaljo, near the intersection of U.S. Route 9 and New Jersey Route 88 in Lakewood, New Jersey. The other was a swampy lake near Garden State Parkway exit 88.

The Greasy Lake in the song inspired a short story named “Greasy Lake” by T.C. Boyle. Like Springsteen’s characters, Boyle’s characters are restless and looking to party, although they have a more dangerous edge than Springsteen’s.

It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City

A live version is included on the DVD of the Hammersmith Odeon concert that is included in the Born to Run (30th Anniversary Edition) and the Hammersmith Odeon London ’75 CD.

The song has also been covered by David Bowie. John Sayles included this song in a high school lunchroom scene of his movie Baby, It’s You This is the song that impressed producer Mike Appel so much that he quit his job to become Springsteen’s manager, even though Springsteen did not have a record contract yet. This was also the first song Springsteen played at his audition for John Hammond at CBS Records, who eventually signed him to a record contract, on May 2, 1972. The following day, Springsteen recorded “It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City” as part of a 12 song demo for Hammond. The demo version of the song was released on Tracks in 1998. The version included on Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. was recorded during the summer of 1972 backed by future E-Street Band members David Sancious on piano, Vini Lopez on drums and Garry Tallent on bass. “It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City” is a fast paced song. It is a solid rock ‘n’ roll song when played in concert. Its tone is cocky and arrogant. The first person lyrics contain religious imagery and brag about the singer’s street credentials, in the tradition of Bo Diddley lyrics. The young singer is growing up on the streets of a city, and who is trying to stay “good” and do what he believes is right. Unfortunately, “those gasoline boys sure talk gritty” and he is inexorably dragged into some very unsaintly activities. One of the more quoted lines is “The devil appeared like Jesus through the steam in the street/Showin’ me a hand I knew even the cops couldn’t beat/I felt his hot breath on my neck as I dove into the heat/It’s so hard to be a saint when you’re just a boy out on the street.” VIDEO:  Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band – “Growin’ Up” VIDEO:  Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band – “Spirits in the Night” Special thanks to Wikipedia.com, About.com and RollingStone.com