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
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
Glory days, well, they'll pass you by
Glory days, in the wink of a young girl's eye
Glory days, glory days
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 on a stool down at the Legion hall
But I can tell what's on his mind
Glory days yeah goin back
Glory days aw he ain't never had
Glory days, glory days
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
Glory days, well, they'll pass you by
Glory days, in the wink of a young girl's eye
Glory days, glory days
Glory days, well, they'll pass you by
Glory days, in the wink of a young girl's eye
Glory days, glory days
Songwriters: Bruce Springsteen
Glory Days lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
| "Glory Days" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Bruce Springsteen | ||||
| from the album Born in the U.S.A. | ||||
| B-side | "Stand on It" | |||
| Released | May 31, 1985 | |||
| Format | 7" single | |||
| Recorded | April 3, 1982 | |||
| Genre | Rock, rock and roll | |||
| Length | 4:15 (album version) 5:31 (alternate mix) 3:49 single version | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Bruce Springsteen | |||
| Producer(s) | Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt | |||
| Bruce Springsteen singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Born in the U.S.A. track listing | ||||
show
12 tracks
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| Music video | ||||
| "Glory Days" on YouTube | ||||
"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 album Born in the U.S.A.
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 Marsh called "rinky-dink organ, honky-tonk piano, and garage-band guitar kicked along by an explosive tom-tom pattern."
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.
Missing verse
An alternate mix of the song includes an extra verse about the narrator's father, who worked at the Ford auto plant in Metuchen, New Jersey, for twenty years and who now spends most of his time at the American Legion Hall, thinking about how he "ain't never had glory days." However, after Springsteen realized that this verse did not fit with the song's storyline, it was cut out.
An alternate mix of the song includes an extra verse about the narrator's father, who worked at the Ford auto plant in Metuchen, New Jersey, for twenty years and who now spends most of his time at the American Legion Hall, thinking about how he "ain't never had glory days." However, after Springsteen realized that this verse did not fit with the song's storyline, it was cut out.
Music video
The music video 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). The baseball field scene was shot at Miller Park Stadium in West New York, NJ. The field is inside a city block surrounded mostly by homes. Intercut with these were scenes of Springsteen and the E Street Band lip-synching the song in a bar. The bar performance scenes were filmed at Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ.
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 music video received two MTV Video Music Awards nominations, Best Male Videoand Best Overall Performance at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards.
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.
The music video 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). The baseball field scene was shot at Miller Park Stadium in West New York, NJ. The field is inside a city block surrounded mostly by homes. Intercut with these were scenes of Springsteen and the E Street Band lip-synching the song in a bar. The bar performance scenes were filmed at Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ.
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 music video received two MTV Video Music Awards nominations, Best Male Videoand Best Overall Performance at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards.
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.
Live performance history
"Glory Days" became a mainstay of the first set on the 1984–1985 Born in the U.S.A. Tour (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. An 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 was 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 Springsteen's Magic Tour.
Springsteen made a surprise appearance on Late Night with David Letterman on June 25, 1993, and played "Glory Days". Springsteen was the final guest on Letterman's last "Late Night" show on NBC. In his introduction to Springsteen's appearance, Letterman noted how Springsteen was the one performer he wished he had booked as a guest during his "Late Night" run, and that he was thankful that he was able to finally have Springsteen perform on that final show.
"Glory Days" was performed at the Super Bowl XLIII 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 Steven Van Zandt that they were going over their allowed 12 minutes, and Van Zandt responded that they should keep playing anyway.
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