Bruce Springsteen - In Concert - MTV Plugged (1993)
Bruce Springsteen - In Concert - MTV Plugged Film (1992)

In Concert – MTV Plugged Film

The video release of Springsteen’s appearance with his ‘92-era band in this MTV series preceded the audio release by six months and includes three songs not aired on the broadcast or included on the audio release: “Living Proof,” “If I Should Fall Behind,” and “Roll of the Dice.”

  • Released:
  • Label: Columbia Records
  • Producers: Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau
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  • 1 Red Headed Woman

    Lyrics

    Well brunettes are fine man
    And blondes are fun
    But when it comes to getting the dirty job done

    I'll take a red headed woman
    A red headed woman
    It takes a red headed woman
    To get a dirty job done

    Well listen up stud
    Your life's been wasted
    Til you've got down on your knees and tasted

    A red headed woman
    A red headed woman
    It takes a red headed woman
    To get a dirty job done

    Tight skirt, strawberry hair
    Tell me what you've got baby, waiting under there
    Big green eyes that look like, son
    They can see every cheap thing that you ever done

    Well I don't care how many girls you've dated, man
    But you ain't lived till you've had your tires rotated

    By a red headed woman
    A red headed woman
    It takes a red headed woman
    To get a dirty job done

    Also Appears On

  • 2 Better Days

    Lyrics

    Well my soul checked out missing as I sat listening
    To the hours and minutes tickin' away
    Yeah, just sittin' around waitin' for my life to begin
    While it was all just slippin' away.
    I'm tired of waitin' for tomorrow to come
    Or that train to come roarin' 'round the bend
    I got a new suit of clothes a pretty red rose
    And a woman I can call my friend

    These are better days baby
    Yeah there's better days shining through
    These are better days baby
    Better days with a girl like you

    Well I took a piss at fortune's sweet kiss
    It's like eatin' caviar and dirt
    It's a sad funny ending to find yourself pretending
    A rich man in a poor man's shirt
    Now my ass was draggin' when from a passin' gypsy wagon
    Your heart like a diamond shone
    Tonight I'm layin' in your arms carvin' lucky charms
    Out of these heard luck bones

    These are better days baby
    These are better days it's true
    These are better days
    There's better days shining through

    Now a life of leisure and a pirate's treasure
    Don't make much for tragedy
    But it's a sad man my friend who's livin' in his own skin
    And can't stand the company
    Every fool's got a reason to feelin' sorry for himself
    And turn his heart to stone
    Tonight this fool's halfway to heaven and just a mile outta hell
    And I feel like I'm comin' home

    These are better days baby
    There's better days shining through
    These are better days
    Better days with a girl like you

    These are better days baby
    These are better days it's true
    These are better days
    Better days are shining through

    Also Appears On

  • 3 Local Hero

    Lyrics

    I was driving through my hometown
    I was just kinda killin' time
    When I seen a face staring out of a black velvet painting
    From the window of the five and dime
    I couldn't quite recall the name
    But the pose looked familiar to me
    So I asked the salesgirl "Who was that man
    Between the doberman and Bruce Lee?"
    She said "Just a local hero"
    "Local hero" she said with a smile
    "Yeah a local hero he used to live here for a while"

    I met a stranger dressed in black
    At the train station
    He said "Son your soul can be saved"
    There's beautiful women nights of low livin'
    And some dangerous money to be made
    There's a big town 'cross the whiskey line
    And if we turn the right cards up
    They make us boss the devil pays off
    And them folks that are real hard up
    They get their local hero
    Somebody with the right style
    They get their local hero
    Somebody with just the right smile

    Well I learned my job I learned it well
    Fit myself with religion and a story to tell
    First they made me the king then they made me pope
    Then they brought the rope

    I woke to a gypsy girl sayin' "Drink this"
    Well my hands had lost all sensation
    These days I'm feeling all right
    'Cept I can't tell my courage from my desperation
    From the tainted chalice
    Well I drunk some heady wine
    Tonight I'm layin' here
    But there's something in my ear
    Sayin' there's a little town just beneath the floodline
    Needs a local hero
    Somebody with the right style
    Lookin' for a local hero
    Someone with the right smile
    Local hero local hero she said with a smile
    Local hero he used to live here for a while

    Also Appears On

  • 4 Atlantic City

    Lyrics

    Well they blew up the chicken man in Philly last night now they blew up his house too
    Down on the boardwalk they're gettin' ready for a fight gonna see what them racket boys can do

    Now there's trouble busin' in from outta state and the D.A. can't get no relief
    Gonna be a rumble out on the promenade and the gamblin' commission's hangin' on by the skin of its teeth

    CHORUS
    Well now everything dies baby that's a fact
    But maybe everything that dies someday comes back
    Put your makeup on fix your hair up pretty
    And meet me tonight in Atlantic City

    Well I got a job and tried to put my money away
    But I got debts that no honest man can pay
    So I drew what I had from the Central Trust
    And I bought us two tickets on that Coast City bus

    CHORUS

    Now our luck may have died and our love may be cold but with you forever I'll stay
    We're goin' out where the sand's turnin' to gold so put on your stockin's baby 'cause the night's getting cold
    And everything dies baby that's a fact
    But maybe everything that dies someday comes back

    Now I been lookin' for a job but it's hard to find
    Down here it's just winners and losers and don't get caught on the wrong side of that line
    Well I'm tired of comin' out on the losin' end
    So honey last night I met this guy and I'm gonna do a little favor for him
    Well I guess everything dies baby that's a fact
    But maybe everything that dies someday comes back
    Put your hair up nice and set up pretty
    and meet me tonight in Atlantic City
    Meet me tonight in Atlantic City
    Meet me tonight in Atlantic City

    Also Appears On

  • 5 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

  • 6 Man's Job

    Lyrics

    Well you can go out with him
    Play with all of his toys
    But takin' care of you darlin'
    Ain't for one of the boys
    Oh there's somethin' in your soul
    That he's gonna rob
    And lovin' you baby lovin' you darlin'
    Lovin' you woman is a man's man's job
    Lovin' you's a man's job baby
    Lovin' you's a man's job
    Lovin' you's a man's job baby
    Lovin' you's a man's job

    Well now his kisses may thrill
    Those other girls that he likes
    But when it comes to treatin'
    A real woman right
    Well of all of his tricks
    No they won't be enough
    'Cause lovin' you baby lovin' you woman
    Lovin' you darlin' is a man's man's job
    Lovin' you's a man's job baby
    Lovin' you's a man's job
    Lovin' you's a man's job baby
    Lovin' you's a man's job

    You're dancin' with him he's holding you tight
    I'm standing here waitin' to catch your eye
    Your hand's on his neck as the music sways
    All my illusions slip away

    Now if you're lookin' for a hero
    Someone to save the day
    Well darlin' my feet
    They're made of clay
    But I've got something in my soul
    And I wanna give it up
    But gettin' up the nerve
    Gettin' up the nerve
    Gettin' up the nerve is a man's man's job
    Lovin' you's a man's job baby
    Lovin' you's a man's job
    Lovin' you's a man's job woman
    Lovin' you's a man's job

    Also Appears On

  • 7 Growin' Up

    Lyrics

    I stood stone-like at midnight suspended in my masquerade
    I combed my hair till it was just right and commanded the night brigade
    I was open to pain and crossed by the rain and I walked on a crooked crutch
    I strolled all alone through a fallout zone and came out with my soul untouched
    I hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd but when they said "Sit down" I stood up.
    Ooh-ooh growin' up

    The flag of piracy flew from my mast, my sails were set wing to wing
    I had a jukebox graduate for first mate, she couldn't sail but she sure could sing,
    I pushed B-52 and bombed 'em with the blues with my gear set stubborn on standing
    I broke all the rules, strafed my old high school, never once gave thought to landing,
    I hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd but when they said "Come down" I threw up
    Ooh-ooh growin' up

    I took month-long vacations in the stratosphere and you know it's really hard to hold your breath.
    I swear I lost everything I ever loved or feared, I was the cosmic kid in full costume dress
    Well, my feet they finally took root in the earth but I got me a nice little place in the stars
    And I swear I found the key to the universe in the engine of an old parked car
    I hid in the mother breast of the crowd but when they said "Pull down" I pulled up
    Ooh-ooh growin' up. Ooh-ooh growin' up

    Also Appears On

  • 8 Human Touch

    Lyrics

    You and me we were the pretenders
    We let it all slip away
    In the end what you don't surrender
    Well the world just strips away

    Girl, ain't no kindness in the face of strangers
    Ain't gonna find no miracles here
    Well you can wait on your blesses my darlin'
    But I got a deal for you right here

    I ain't lookin' for praise or pity
    I ain't comin' 'round searchin' for a crutch
    I just want someone to talk to
    And a little of that Human Touch
    Just a little of that Human Touch

    Ain't no mercy on the streets of this town
    Ain't no bread from heavenly skies
    Ain't nobody drawin' wine from this blood
    It's just you and me tonight

    Tell me, in a world without pity
    Do you think what I'm askin's too much
    I just want something to hold on to
    And a little of that Human Touch
    Just a little of that Human Touch

    Oh girl that feeling of safety you prize
    Well it comes at a hard hard price
    You can't shut off the risk and the pain
    Without losin' the love that remains
    We're all riders on this train

    So you've been broken and you've been hurt
    Show me somebody who ain't
    Yeah, I know I ain't nobody's bargain
    But, hell, a little touchup
    and a little paint...

    You might need somethin' to hold on to
    When all the answers, they don't amount to much
    Somebody that you could just to talk to
    And a little of that Human Touch

    Baby, in a world without pity
    Do you think what I'm askin's too much
    I just want to feel you in my arms
    Share a little of that Human Touch
    Feel a little of that Human Touch
    Give me a little of that Human Touch

    Also Appears On

  • 9 Lucky Town

    Lyrics

    House got too crowded clothes got too tight
    And I don't know just where I'm going tonight
    Out where the sky's been cleared by a good hard rain
    There's somebody callin' my secret name

    I'm going down to Lucky Town
    Going down to Lucky Town
    I wanna lose these blues I've found
    Down in Lucky Town
    Down in Lucky Town

    Had a coat of fine leather and snakeskin boots
    But that coat always had a tread hangin' loose
    Well I pulled it one night and to my surprise
    It led me right past your house and on over the rise

    I'm going down to Lucky Town
    Down to Lucky Town
    I'm gonna lose these blues I've found
    Down in Lucky Town
    Down in Lucky Town

    I had some victory that was just failure in deceit
    Now the joke's comin' up through the soles of my feet
    I been a long time walking on fortune's cane
    Tonight I'm steppin' lightly and feelin' no pain

    Well here's to your good looks baby now here's to my health
    Here's to the loaded places that we take ourselves
    When it comes to luck you make your own
    Tonight I got dirt on my hands but I'm building me a new home

    Down in Lucky Town
    Down in Lucky Town
    I'm gonna lose these blues I've found
    Down in Lucky Town

    Also Appears On

  • 10 I Wish I Were Blind

    Lyrics

    I love to see the cottonwood blossom
    In the early spring
    I love to see the message of love
    That the bluebird brings
    But when I see you walkin' with him
    Down along the strand
    I wish I were blind
    When I see you with your man

    I love to see your hair shining
    In the long summer's light
    I love to watch the stars fill the sky
    On a summer night
    The music plays you take his hand
    I watch how you touch him as you start to dance
    And I wish I were blind
    When I see you with your man

    We struggle here but all our love's in vain
    And these eyes that once filled me with your beauty
    Now fill me with pain
    And the light that once entered here
    Is banished from me
    And this darkness is all baby that my heart sees

    And though the world is filled
    With the grace and beauty of God's hand
    Oh I wish I were blind
    When I see you with your man

    Also Appears On

  • 11 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

  • 12 Light of Day

    Lyrics

    Well I've been out of the woods for six days and nights now
    Well I'm a little hot wired, but I'm feeling alright
    I got some money in my pocket and a long lean ride
    I got to make it down to Galveston by Saturday night, now

    Well I'm a little down under, but I'm feeling O.K.
    Got a little lost along the way

    I'm just around the corner to the light of day
    Well, I'm just around the corner to the light of day

    Been driving five hundred miles, got five hundred to go, yeah
    I got rock and roll music on the radio
    I got a brother on a rig just off the gulf coast
    He says the girls down there, well they're really the most, man

    Well I'm a little down under, but I'm feeling O.K.
    I got a little lost along the way

    Just around the corner to the light of day
    Just around the corner to the light of day
    I'm just around the corner to the light of day
    I'm just around the corner to the light of day

    Well I got thrown out of work on the Kokomo
    Don't ask me what I'm doing, I don't know
    I hope he wasn't joking when he wrote me that letter
    Things can't get any worse, they got to get better

    Well I'm a little down under, but I'm feeling O.K.
    I got a little lost along the way

    I'm just around the corner to the light of day
    Just around the corner to the light of day
    Just around the corner to the light of day
    Just around the corner to the light of day

    Also Appears On

  • 13 The Big Muddy

    Lyrics

    Billy had a mistress down on 'A' and 12th
    She was that little somethin' that he did for himself
    His own little secret didn't hurt nobody
    Come the afternoon he'd take her wadin'

    Waist deep in the big muddy
    Waist deep in the big muddy
    You start out standing but end up crawlin'

    Got in some trouble and needed a hand from a friend of mine
    This old friend he had a figure in mind
    It was nothing illegal just a little bit funny
    He said "C'mon don't tell me that the rich don't know
    Sooner or later it all comes down to money"

    And you're waist deep in the big muddy
    Waist deep in the big muddy
    You start on higher ground but end up crawlin'

    Well I had a friend said "You watch what you do
    Poison snake bites you and you're poison too"

    How beautiful the river flows and the birds they sing
    But you and I we're messier things
    There ain't no one leavin' this world buddy
    Without their shirttail dirty
    Or their hands bloody

    Waist deep in the big muddy
    Waist deep in the big muddy
    You start on higher ground but end up somehow crawlin'
    Waist deep in the big muddy

    Also Appears On

  • 14 57 Channels (And Nothin' On)

    Lyrics

    I bought a bourgeois house in the Hollywood hills
    With a truckload of hundred thousand dollar bills
    Man came by to hook up my cable TV
    We settled in for the night my baby and me
    We switched 'round and 'round 'til half-past dawn
    There was fifty-seven channels and nothin' on

    Well now home entertainment was my baby's wish
    So I hopped into town for a satellite dish
    I tied it to the top of my Japanese car
    I came home and I pointed it out into the stars
    A message came back from the great beyond
    There's fifty-seven channels and nothin' on

    Well we might'a made some friends with some billionaires
    We might'a got all nice and friendly
    If we'd made it upstairs
    All I got was a note that said "Bye-bye John
    Our love is fifty-seven channels and nothin' on"

    So I bought a .44 magnum it was solid steel cast
    And in the blessed name of Elvis well I just let it blast
    'Til my TV lay in pieces there at my feet
    And they busted me for disturbin' the almighty peace
    Judge said "What you got in your defense son?"
    "Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on"
    I can see by your eyes friend you're just about gone
    Fifty-seven channels and nothin' on...
    Fifty-seven channels and nothin'

    Also Appears On

  • 15 My Beautiful Reward

    Lyrics

    Well I sought gold and diamond rings
    My own drug to ease the pain that living brings
    Walked from the mountain to the valley floor
    Searching for my beautiful reward
    Searching for my beautiful reward

    From a house on a hill a sacred light shines
    I walk through these rooms but none of them are mine
    Down empty hallways I went from door to door
    Searching for my beautiful reward
    Searching for my beautiful reward

    Well your hair shone in the sun
    I was so high I was the lucky one
    Then I came crashing down like a drunk on a barroom floor
    Searching for my beautiful reward
    Searching for my beautiful reward

    Tonight I can feel the cold wind at my back
    I'm flyin' high over gray fields my feathers long and black
    Down along the river's silent edge I soar
    Searching for my beautiful reward
    Searching for my beautiful reward

    Also Appears On

  • 16 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

  • 17 Living Proof

    Lyrics

    Well now on a summer night in a dusky room
    Come a little piece of the Lord's undying light
    Crying like he swallowed the fiery moon
    In his mother's arms it was all the beauty I could take
    Like the missing words to some prayer that I could never make
    In a world so hard and dirty so fouled and confused
    Searching for a little bit of God's mercy
    I found living proof

    I put my heart and soul I put 'em high upon a shelf
    Right next to the faith the faith that I'd lost in myself
    I went down into the desert city
    Just tryin' so hard to shed my skin
    I crawled deep into some kind of darkness
    Lookin' to burn out every trace of who I'd been
    You do some sad sad things baby
    When it's your you 're tryin' to lose
    You do some sad and hurtful things
    I've seen living proof

    You shot through my anger and rage
    To show me my prison was just an open cage
    There were no keys no guards
    Just one frightened man and some old shadows for bars

    Well now all that's sure on the boulevard
    Is that life is just a house of cards
    As fragile as each and every breath
    Of this boy sleepin' in our bed
    Tonight let's lie beneath the eaves
    Just a close band of happy thieves
    And when that train comes we'll get on board
    And steal what we can from the treasures of the Lord
    It's been along long drought baby
    Tonight the rain's pourin' down on our roof
    Looking for a little bit of God's mercy
    I found living proof

    Also Appears On

  • 18 If I Should Fall Behind

    Lyrics

    We said we'd walk together baby come what may
    That come the twilight should we lose our way
    If as we're walkin a hand should slip free
    I'll wait for you
    And should I fall behind
    Wait for me

    We swore we'd travel darlin' side by side
    We'd help each other stay in stride
    But each lover's steps fall so differently
    But I'll wait for you
    And if I should fall behind
    Wait for me

    Now everyone dreams of a love lasting and true
    But you and I know what this world can do
    So let's make our steps clear that the other may see
    And I'll wait for you
    If I should fall behind
    Wait for me

    Now there's a beautiful river in the valley ahead
    There 'neath the oak's bough soon we will be wed
    Should we lose each other in the shadow of the evening trees
    I'll wait for you
    And should I fall behind
    Wait for me
    Darlin' I'll wait for you
    Should I fall behind
    Wait for me

    Also Appears On

  • 19 Roll of the Dice

    Lyrics

    Well I've been a losin' gambler
    Just throwin' snake eyes
    Love ain't got me downhearted
    I know up around the corner lies
    My fool's paradise
    In just another roll of the dice

    All my elevens and sevens been comin' up
    Sixes and nines
    But since I fell for you baby
    Been comin' on changin' times
    They're just waitin' over the rise
    Just another roll of the dice

    I've stumbled and I know I made my mistakes
    But tonight I'm gonna be playin' for all of the stakes

    Well it's never too late so come on girl
    The tables are waiting
    You and me and lady luck well tonight
    We'll be celebrating
    Drinkin' champagne on ice
    In just another roll of the dice

    High-rollers lay down your bets and I'll raise 'em
    Well I know the odds ain't in my favor

    Maybe I'm just a clown throwin' down
    Lookin' to come up busted
    I'm a thief in the house of love
    And I can't be trusted
    Well I'll be making my heist
    In just another roll of the dice
    Move on up
    Come on seven
    Roll me baby
    In this fool's heaven

    Also Appears On