Radio Paradise (mobile)

The rangers had a homecoming
In Harlem late last night
And the Magic Rat drove his sleek machine
Over the Jersey state line
Barefoot girl sitting on the hood of a Dodge
Drinking warm beer in the soft summer rain
The Rat pulls into town, rolls up his pants
Together they take a stab at romance and disappear down Flamingo Lane
Well, the Maximum Lawman run down Flamingo
Chasing the Rat and the barefoot girl
And the kids around here look just like shadows
Always quiet, holding hands
From the churches to the jails
Tonight all is silence in the world
As we take our stand
Down in Jungleland
The midnight gangs assembled
And picked a rendezvous for the night
They'll meet 'neath that giant Exxon sign
That brings this fair city light
Man, there's an opera out on the Turnpike
There's a ballet being fought out in the alley
Until the local cop's cherry top
Rips this holy night
The street's alive as secret debts are paid
Contacts made, they vanished unseen
Kids flash guitars just like switchblades
Hustling for the record machine
The hungry and the hunted
Explode into rock 'n' roll bands
That faced off against each other out in the street
Down in Jungleland
In the parking lot
The visionaries dress in the latest rage
Inside, the backstreet girls
Are dancing to the records that the DJ plays
Lonely hearted lovers struggle in dark corners
Desperate as the night moves on
With just one look and a whisper
They're gone
Beneath the city, two hearts beat
Soul engines running through a night so tender
In a bedroom locked, in whispers of soft
Refusal, and then surrender
In the tunnels uptown,
The Rat's own dream guns him down
The shots echo down them hallways in the night
No one watches when the ambulance pulls away
Or as the girl shuts out the bedroom light
Outside the street's on fire in a real death waltz
Between what's flesh and what's fantasy
And the poets down here don't write nothing at all
They just stand back and let it all be
And in the quick of the night, they reach for their moment
And try to make an honest stand
But they wind up wounded, not even dead
Tonight in Jungleland

Imkirok May 14, 2013 - 10:06	Nobody could convey teen angst like the Boss in his early years. The insecurities, the fears, the hopes, the dreams, the longing for something bigger and better in life, all viewed through the lens of a high school kid trying to impress a high school girl. Brilliant, sometimes sad, sometimes energizing, sometimes hopeful, but still poignant and relevant to this day. [ Reply ]
LowPhreak May 14, 2013 - 10:02	Never liked this one from Bruce. :P [ Reply ]
RabbitEars May 14, 2013 - 10:01	fantastic. those first three albums were so good... nothing later can touch them. [ Reply ]
h8rhater May 14, 2013 - 09:55	rotten wrote: Bad High School music Bad high school experience?? [ Reply ]
treatment_bound Mar 12, 2013 - 16:55	rotten wrote: Bad High School music Nope—Here's some mid-70's bad high school music. Unfortunately, I'd seen Bruce on the cover of Time & Newsweek, but never actually heard the Born To Run album until I got to college 2 years after it was released, as radio fed us a steady diet of Styx/Boston/Kansas out in "fly-over country". [ Reply ]
rotten Mar 12, 2013 - 16:41	Bad High School music [ Reply ]
kaybee Feb 09, 2013 - 08:04	Love the primal wailing at the end of this piece! [ Reply ]
Lazarus Feb 09, 2013 - 08:04	Cynaera wrote: "Jungleland" was one of the first songs I'd ever heard by Springsteen. Those lyrics painted such a clear, dark picture in my mind, and it stayed true and became a muse for me whenever I needed to call upon stark desperation and objectivity to make a point in my writing. I couldn't separate the song from the inspiration, so I have Springsteen on my shoulder all the time, metaphorically. Which might explain, to some small degree, why I'm such a bitch most of the time. Dang it, I miss you, you marvelous woman... well said... love this song... [ Reply ]
jhorton Dec 08, 2012 - 15:05	Just masterful. Artist at his zenith. Guernica. Henry V. The Fifth Symphony. [ Reply ]
gjeeg Dec 08, 2012 - 15:02	Earlier Bruce; so ambitious, a touch melodramatic, over wrought, even as we LOVE HIM SO !! [ Reply ]
msymmes Dec 08, 2012 - 14:53	Wonderful. Bill, you have impeccable taste is music. This has solicited a ton of comments and ratings over the years on RP. That says something. Not sure what. [ Reply ]
SpamNRice Nov 07, 2012 - 06:25	Tonight in j u n g l e llllaaannnddd......! P.S. Dear Mr Rove, newsflash from Fux News - you lost! Now... crawl back into your hole! Sorry, off point, just read the article about the shallow minded turd and couldn't resist. [ Reply ]
heathenchild Nov 07, 2012 - 06:25	Amazing song from an awesome album!! [ Reply ]
captaincosmic Nov 07, 2012 - 06:23	Bleughhh hairy chest ,smell of B/O .....yawn [ Reply ]
boober Nov 07, 2012 - 06:20	xtalman wrote: Love hate relationship with this. I like the song, great musicianship....WAAAYYYY overplayed when I was in college all those years ago. Which is why I didn't see him back then [ Reply ]
boober Nov 07, 2012 - 06:19	I've lived in NJ for over half my life.....right next to Freehold(Bruce's hometown)and have never seen him live.Now 40 plus years later I'll see him in KC.....looking forward to it! [ Reply ]
gutthawk Nov 07, 2012 - 06:14	I love Bruce's early stuff!! Love it!! [ Reply ]
GawgaBoy Oct 06, 2012 - 21:11	The more I hear Bruce here, the more I remember why I don't care that much for the Bombastic Bruce. 7 > 5. [ Reply ]
cc_rider Sep 05, 2012 - 07:55	h8rhater wrote: ...and may your posts live on FOREVER. Thank you. [ Reply ]
JckTorance Sep 05, 2012 - 07:52	Yep. oldslabsides wrote: Best sax solo ever. ever. [ Reply ]