Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?

"Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street?" is a song by Bruce Springsteen from the album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., released in 1973. The song was part of the demo that Springsteen recorded for John Hammond of CBS Records in advance of getting his first recording contract.[1][2][3] This demo version was released on Tracks in 1998.[4]

"Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street?"
Song by Bruce Springsteen
from the album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.
ReleasedJanuary 5, 1973 (1973-01-05)
RecordedAugust–September 1972
Studio914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, New York
GenreRock
Length2:06
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Bruce Springsteen
Producer(s)
Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. track listing
9 tracks

Side one

  1. "Blinded by the Light"
  2. "Growin' Up"
  3. "Mary Queen of Arkansas"
  4. "Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?"
  5. "Lost in the Flood"

Side two

  1. "The Angel"
  2. "For You"
  3. "Spirit in the Night"
  4. "It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City"

The song is loosely based on a bus ride Springsteen once took to visit a girlfriend in uptown Manhattan.[1] As a result, the song is basically set in Spanish Harlem, although it contains some anomalous references, such as to actress Joan Fontaine.[5] 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.[6][7] Springsteen only rarely plays "Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?" in concert, but when he does it is usually enjoyed by the fans.[6]

Structure and themes

"Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street?" is a beat-style pastiche of a journey through city streets.[8] 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."

Personnel

References
  1. Kirkpatrick, R. (2007). The Words and Music of Bruce Springsteen. pp. 14–16. ISBN 978-0-275-98938-5.
  2. "The Demo Sessions". Retrieved 2009-08-02.
  3. Marsh, D. (1979). Born to Run: The Bruce Springsteen Story. p. 270. ISBN 0-440-10694-X.
  4. "Tracks". allmusic. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
  5. Humphries, P. (1996). Bruce Springsteen. p. 5. ISBN 0-7119-5304-X.
  6. Basham, P. (2005). The Pocket Essential Bruce Springsteen. p. 20. ISBN 1-903047-97-8.
  7. Marsh, D. (1979). Born to Run: The Bruce Springsteen Story. p. 66. ISBN 0-440-10694-X.
  8. Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street?: brucespringsteen.net: Bruce Springsteen Archived June 30, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
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