Glory Days (song)
Encyclopedia
"Glory Days" is a 1984 song, written and performed by American
rock singer Bruce Springsteen
. In 1985, it became the fifth single released from his massively successful album Born in the U.S.A.
called "rinky-dink organ, honky-tonk piano, and garage-band guitar kicked along by an explosive tom-tom pattern." It also features a mandolin
solo from Steven Van Zandt
, one of the sideman's most noticeable instrumental contributions to the Springsteen studio canon.
An alternate mix of "Glory Days" has circulated, which includes a deleted third verse between the second and the last. The missing verse refers to the singer's father sitting on a bar stool at the legion, bitter over his lack of any "glory days."
The single peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100
pop singles charts in the summer of 1985. It was the fifth of a record-tying seven Top 10 hit singles to be released from Born in the U.S.A. Marsh named the second volume in his biography after the song.
A demo of the song features a missing verse about his father:
"My old man worked twenty years on the line, and they let him go.
Now everywhere he goes out looking for work, they just tell him that he's too old.
I was nine years old and he was working at the Metuchen Ford plant assembly line,
Now he just sits down on a stool down at the Legion Hall,
But I can tell what's on his mind.
Glory Days,
Yeah go on back,
Glory days,
Ah he ain't never had
Glory days."
for the song was shot in late May 1985 in various locations in New Jersey
, and was directed by filmmaker John Sayles
, the third video he had done for the album. It featured a narrative story of Springsteen, playing the protagonist in the song, talking to his young son and pitching
to a wooden backstop against an imaginary lineup (he eventually lost the game to Graig Nettles
). Intercut with these were scenes of Springsteen and the E Street Band
lip-synching the song in a bar. Although he had left the band more than two years earlier, Steven Van Zandt was invited back to perform in this video, but the two new members of the band, Nils Lofgren
and Patti Scialfa
, who had not been on the record at all, were also featured. Springsteen's then-wife Julianne Phillips
made a cameo appearance at the baseball field at the end.
The video began airing on MTV
in mid-June 1985 and went into heavy rotation.
The B-side of the single, "Stand On It", was a rocker that would later occasionally be brought out in encores of concerts. "Stand On It" would become a late 1980s hit for country singer Mel McDaniel
. Stand On It was also featured in the movie Ruthless People
and was also on its accompanying soundtrack album.
(prefaced by remarks in which Springsteen declared, "I hated high school!"), then went into the encores for the 1988 Tunnel of Love Express and 1992-1993 "Other Band" Tour, in the latter case serving as the "band introductions" song. It was given a rest for the 1999-2000 Reunion Tour
, but then came back to appear in about half the shows on the 2002-2003 Rising Tour
. Furthermore Springsteen often plays it in informal bar appearances, since it is one of his simpler songs for other musicians to pick up and play to.
In almost all instances, performances of "Glory Days" are accompanied by considerable Springsteen/E Street Band stage shtick, vamping on the outro, continuing the song on with false endings, everyone but the drummer and keyboard players coming out to stage front in a line, and so forth. A good example of the elongated concert "Glory Days" was on a highly-promoted July 30, 2002 appearance on The Today Show broadcasting from Asbury Park, New Jersey
. Later in The Rising Tour, the song would become further extended by incorporating a long boogie-woogie organ solo from Danny Federici
. Steven Van Zandt
makes his vocals shine on this song, most recently on the Springsteen's Magic Tour
.
Springsteen made a surprise appearance on Late Night With David Letterman on June 25, 1993 and played "Glory Days". This was Letterman's last appearance on NBC.
Glory Days was played during Michael J. Fox
's farewell scene during the season finale of the fourth season of Spin City
.
Glory Days was performed at the 2009 Super Bowl
half-time show with minor lyric changes appropriate to the occasion (football player instead of baseball player, "Hail Mary" instead of "speedball".) During the song, Springsteen told Steve Van Zandt that they were going over their allotted 12 minutes, and Van Zandt responded that they should keep playing anyway.
Glory days was performed on June 14, 2009 at the Bonnaroo Music Festival with Phish.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rock singer Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
. In 1985, it became the fifth single released from his massively successful album Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A. is the seventh studio album by American rock singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released on June 4, 1984. A critical and commercial triumph, it found Springsteen marking a departure in his sound...
History
"Glory Days" was recorded in April or May 1982 (sources differ) during the first wave of Born in the U.S.A. sessions. Even though the album went through several different phases of what would be on it, "Glory Days" was always seen as one of the cornerstones. The song is a seriocomic tale of a man who now ruefully looks back on his so-called glory days and those of people he knew during high school. The lyrics to the first verse are autobiographical, being a recount of an encounter Springsteen had with former Little League baseball teammate Joe DePugh in the summer of 1973. The music is jocular, consisting of what Springsteen biographer Dave MarshDave Marsh
Dave Marsh is an American music critic, author, editor and radio talk show host. He was a formative editor of Creem magazine, has written for various publications such as Newsday, The Village Voice, and Rolling Stone, and has published numerous books about music and musicians, mostly focused on...
called "rinky-dink organ, honky-tonk piano, and garage-band guitar kicked along by an explosive tom-tom pattern." It also features a mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
solo from Steven Van Zandt
Steven Van Zandt
Steven Van Zandt is an Italian-American musician, songwriter, arranger, record producer, actor, and radio disc jockey, who frequently goes by the stage names Little Steven or Miami Steve...
, one of the sideman's most noticeable instrumental contributions to the Springsteen studio canon.
An alternate mix of "Glory Days" has circulated, which includes a deleted third verse between the second and the last. The missing verse refers to the singer's father sitting on a bar stool at the legion, bitter over his lack of any "glory days."
The single peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
pop singles charts in the summer of 1985. It was the fifth of a record-tying seven Top 10 hit singles to be released from Born in the U.S.A. Marsh named the second volume in his biography after the song.
A demo of the song features a missing verse about his father:
"My old man worked twenty years on the line, and they let him go.
Now everywhere he goes out looking for work, they just tell him that he's too old.
I was nine years old and he was working at the Metuchen Ford plant assembly line,
Now he just sits down on a stool down at the Legion Hall,
But I can tell what's on his mind.
Glory Days,
Yeah go on back,
Glory days,
Ah he ain't never had
Glory days."
Music video
The music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for the song was shot in late May 1985 in various locations in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, and was directed by filmmaker John Sayles
John Sayles
John Thomas Sayles is an American independent film director, screenwriter and author.-Early life:Sayles was born in Schenectady, New York, the son of Mary , a teacher, and Donald John Sayles, a school administrator. He was raised Catholic and took to labeling himself "a Catholic atheist"...
, the third video he had done for the album. It featured a narrative story of Springsteen, playing the protagonist in the song, talking to his young son and pitching
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
to a wooden backstop against an imaginary lineup (he eventually lost the game to Graig Nettles
Graig Nettles
Graig Nettles , nicknamed "Puff", is a former Major League Baseball third baseman. During a 22-year baseball career, he played for the Minnesota Twins , Cleveland Indians , New York Yankees , San Diego Padres , Atlanta Braves and Montreal Expos .Nettles was one of the best...
). Intercut with these were scenes of Springsteen and the E Street Band
E Street Band
The E Street Band has been rock musician Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band since 1972.The band has also recorded with a wide range of other artists including Bob Dylan, Meat Loaf, Bonnie Tyler, Air Supply, Dire Straits, David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Stevie Nicks, Tom Morello, Sting, Ian...
lip-synching the song in a bar. Although he had left the band more than two years earlier, Steven Van Zandt was invited back to perform in this video, but the two new members of the band, Nils Lofgren
Nils Lofgren
Nils Hilmer Lofgren is an American rock music recording artist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist...
and Patti Scialfa
Patti Scialfa
Vivienne Patricia "Patti" Scialfa is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She is married to Bruce Springsteen and they have three children.- Early life :...
, who had not been on the record at all, were also featured. Springsteen's then-wife Julianne Phillips
Julianne Phillips
Julianne Phillips is an American model and actress. She is the ex-wife of Bruce Springsteen.-Biography:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Phillips was raised in the Portland suburb of Lake Oswego, Oregon, the daughter of insurance broker, William Phillips, and wife, Ann Phillips. She was the youngest of...
made a cameo appearance at the baseball field at the end.
The video began airing on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
in mid-June 1985 and went into heavy rotation.
Track listing
- Glory Days - 4:15
- Stand On It - 2:30
The B-side of the single, "Stand On It", was a rocker that would later occasionally be brought out in encores of concerts. "Stand On It" would become a late 1980s hit for country singer Mel McDaniel
Mel McDaniel
Mel McDaniel was an American country music artist. His chart making years were mainly the 1980s and his hits from that era include "Louisiana Saturday Night", "Big Ole Brew", "Stand Up", the Number One "Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On", "I Call It Love", "Stand on It", and a remake of Chuck Berry's...
. Stand On It was also featured in the movie Ruthless People
Ruthless People
Ruthless People is a 1986 black comedy written by Dale Launer, starring Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Judge Reinhold and Helen Slater. It also features Bill Pullman as a supporting role in his film debut....
and was also on its accompanying soundtrack album.
Live performance history
"Glory Days" became a mainstay of the first set on the 1984-1985 Born in the U.S.A. TourBorn in the U.S.A. Tour
The Born in the U.S.A. Tour was the supporting concert tour of Bruce Springsteen's massively popular Born in the U.S.A. album. It was his longest and most successful tour to date. It featured a physically transformed Springsteen. After two years of bodybuilding, Springsteen had bulked up...
(prefaced by remarks in which Springsteen declared, "I hated high school!"), then went into the encores for the 1988 Tunnel of Love Express and 1992-1993 "Other Band" Tour, in the latter case serving as the "band introductions" song. It was given a rest for the 1999-2000 Reunion Tour
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Reunion Tour
The Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Reunion Tour was a lengthy, top-grossing concert tour featuring Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band that took place over 1999 and 2000....
, but then came back to appear in about half the shows on the 2002-2003 Rising Tour
The Rising Tour
The Rising Tour was a lengthy, worldwide, top-grossing concert tour featuring Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band that took place in arenas and stadiums over 2002 and 2003...
. Furthermore Springsteen often plays it in informal bar appearances, since it is one of his simpler songs for other musicians to pick up and play to.
In almost all instances, performances of "Glory Days" are accompanied by considerable Springsteen/E Street Band stage shtick, vamping on the outro, continuing the song on with false endings, everyone but the drummer and keyboard players coming out to stage front in a line, and so forth. A good example of the elongated concert "Glory Days" was on a highly-promoted July 30, 2002 appearance on The Today Show broadcasting from Asbury Park, New Jersey
Asbury Park, New Jersey
Asbury Park is a city in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, located on the Jersey Shore and part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 16,116. The city is known for its rich musical history, including its association with...
. Later in The Rising Tour, the song would become further extended by incorporating a long boogie-woogie organ solo from Danny Federici
Danny Federici
Daniel Paul "Danny" Federici was an American musician, best known as the longtime organ, glockenspiel, and accordion player for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band.- Career :...
. Steven Van Zandt
Steven Van Zandt
Steven Van Zandt is an Italian-American musician, songwriter, arranger, record producer, actor, and radio disc jockey, who frequently goes by the stage names Little Steven or Miami Steve...
makes his vocals shine on this song, most recently on the Springsteen's Magic Tour
Magic Tour (Bruce Springsteen)
The Magic Tour was Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's 2007–2008 concert tour of North America and Western Europe.The tour began October 2, 2007, in Hartford, Connecticut, and concluded August 30, 2008 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin...
.
Springsteen made a surprise appearance on Late Night With David Letterman on June 25, 1993 and played "Glory Days". This was Letterman's last appearance on NBC.
Glory Days was played during Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox, OC is a Canadian American actor, author, producer, activist and voice-over artist. With a film and television career spanning from the late 1970s, Fox's roles have included Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy ; Alex P...
's farewell scene during the season finale of the fourth season of Spin City
Spin City
Spin City is an American sitcom television series that aired from September 17, 1996 until April 30, 2002 on the ABC network. Created by Gary David Goldberg and Bill Lawrence, the show was based on a fictional local government running New York City, and originally starred Michael J. Fox as Mike...
.
Glory Days was performed at the 2009 Super Bowl
Super Bowl XLIII
Super Bowl XLIII was an American football game pitting the American Football Conference champion Pittsburgh Steelers against the National Football Conference champion Arizona Cardinals to decide the National Football League champion for the 2008 season. The game was played on February 1, 2009,...
half-time show with minor lyric changes appropriate to the occasion (football player instead of baseball player, "Hail Mary" instead of "speedball".) During the song, Springsteen told Steve Van Zandt that they were going over their allotted 12 minutes, and Van Zandt responded that they should keep playing anyway.
Glory days was performed on June 14, 2009 at the Bonnaroo Music Festival with Phish.
External links
- Video on VH1 ClassicVH1 ClassicVH1 Classic is a television network, launched on May 8, 2000. It is operated as part of MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom and primarily features music videos and concert footage from the 1970s through the mid-1990s, though it formerly included a wider range of genres and time periods...