Today is the Fourth of July, Independence Day here in these only somewhat United States, so today’s classic song of the day is the appropriately themed “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” by the great Bruce Springsteen. This song, while never released as a single here in the U.S., was one of the most popular tracks on Bruce’s second album, The Wild, The Innocent & the E Street Shuffle. It’s a love ballad set amongst the characters and the character of the Asbury Park boardwalk.
Springsteen wrote “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” back when his was still in his neo-Dylan phase. As such, the lyrics are cluttered with descriptions of various and sordid characters. There are “switchblade lovers,” the “wizards” on Pinball Way, the “boys from the casino” who “dance with their shirts open like Latin lovers on the shore,” greasers who “tramp the streets or get busted for sleeping on the beach all night,” “boys in their high heels,” and Madame Marie, a real-life fortune teller on the boardwalk. Springsteen talks about his past and failed loves:
Sandy, that waitress I was seeing lost her desire for me
I spoke with her last night, she said she won’t set herself on fire for me anymore
She worked that joint under the boardwalk, she was always the girl you saw bopping down the beach with the radio
The kids say last night she was dressed like a star in one of them cheap little seaside bars, and I saw her parked with lover boy out on the Kokomo
And it’s all wrapped up in a plea to the aforementioned Sandy:
Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us
This pier lights our carnival life forever
Oh, love me tonight, for I may never see you again
Hey, Sandy girl
My, my, baby
Some believe that “Sandy” is actually Diane Lozito, who was Springsteen’s girlfriend at the time. Ms. Lozito also inspired another popular Springsteen song from the same album, “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight).” They broke up (actually, she left him) in early 1975.
The musicians on “Sandy” were the first iteration of the E Street Band, before Mighty Max Weinberg and Roy Bittan joined up. We’re talking the Big Man, Clarence Clemons, on sax, Danny Federici on accordion, David Sancious on electric piano, Garry Tallent on bass, and Vini “Mad Dog” Lopez on drums. Suki Lahav, who was the wife of the band’s sound engineer, provided all the overdubbed background vocals; Bruce played acoustic and electric guitars.
“4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” is a surprisingly sweet song, one that conjures up summer nights on the Asbury Park boardwalk. It also conjures up memories of young love, on the boardwalk or elsewhere. It’s one of Bruce’s best.
And for your daily bonus video of the day, here’s Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performing “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” live at the Hammersmith Odeon in London on November 18, 1975. Have a good 4th of July, everybody!
