Bruce Springsteen has never reached the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100 as a performer. Although he has topped the album chart multiple times, his singles have never hit No. 1 in America. Of course, judging an artist’s success by No. 1 songs is hardly fair. Springsteen has chalked up many hits through the years. Born In the U.S.A. produced seven Top-10 hits alone.
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Over time, Springsteen’s songs have continued to grow in popularity, and the next generation has embraced some of them. Timeless working-class themes of family, love, and redemption resonate with people of any age. His first album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., contained “Blinded by the Light” and “Spirit in the Night.” Neither song charted, but Manfred Mann’s Earth Band later covered both. Their version of “Blinded by the Light” did reach No. 1 in 1976. Springsteen’s second album, The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle, included “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy),” which also missed the charts.
However, FM disc jockeys were playing an album track the RIAA would certify Gold five decades later due to its digital success. How does a song have such longevity? Let’s take a look at the story behind “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” by Bruce Springsteen.
Spread out now, Rosie, doctor come cut loose her mama’s reins
You know, playin’ blind man’s bluff is a little baby’s game
You pick up little dynamite. I’ll pick up little Gun
And together, we’re gonna go out tonight and make that highway run
You don’t have to call me lieutenant, Rosie, and I don’t want to be your son
The only lover I’m ever gonna need’s your soft, sweet, little girl’s tongue
And Rosie, you’re the one
Forbidden Love
Neither of Springsteen’s first two albums sold well, leading Columbia Records to a point where the singer’s future with the label depended on the performance of his third album. Born to Run was a breakthrough success, leading the public to those earlier albums. “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” was a staple in Springsteen’s concerts. As the singer often says when he introduces the song in concert, a love song doesn’t always have to be slow or sappy. The uptempo “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” is the perfect example. As Springsteen paints a picture of his past with a girl whose parents don’t accept him, he shares a story of forbidden love.
Rosalita, jump a little higher
Senorita, come sit by my fire
I just want to be your lover, ain’t no liar
Rosalita, you’re my stone desire
Who Was Rosie?
Springsteen at the time was seeing a girl named Diane Lozito. Her grandmother’s name was Rose. Rose Lozito morphed into Rosalita. In his 2016 autobiography Born to Run, Springsteen wrote, “‘Rosalita’ was my musical autobiography. It was my ‘getting out of town’ preview for Born to Run, with more humor. As a teenager, I’d had a girlfriend whose mother had threatened to get a court injunction against me to keep me away from her daughter due to my low-rent beginnings and defiant (for my little town) appearance. The daughter was a sweet blonde who I believe was the first gal I had successful intercourse with, one fumbling afternoon at Chez Mama (though, due to the fog of war, I can’t be absolutely sure). I wrote ‘Rosalita’ as a kiss-off to everybody who counted you out, put you down, or decided you weren’t good enough.
“It was a tall tale from my past that also celebrated my present (The record company, Rosie, just gave me a big advance) and took a peek into the future (Someday we’ll look back on this and it will all seem funny). Not that it would all BE funny, but that it would all SEEM funny. Probably one of the most useful lines I’ve ever written.”
Jack the Rabbit and Weak Knee Willie, don’t you know they’re gonna be there
Ah, Sloppy Sue and Big Bone Billy, they’ll be coming up for air
We’re gonna play some pool, skip some school
Act real cool, stay out all night. It’s gonna feel alright
So Rosie, come out tonight, little baby, come out tonight
Windows are for cheaters, chimneys for the poor
Oh, closets are for hangers. Winners use the door
So use it, Rosie, that’s what it’s there for
The Future of Rock ‘n’ Roll
Continued Springsteen, “At the time of The Wild, the Innocent, I had no success, so I had no real concerns about where I was going. I was going up, I hoped, or at least out. With a record contract and a touring band, I felt I was better off than most of my friends, who were locked down in the nine-to-five world of responsibility and bills. I was lucky to be doing what I loved most. With the off-to-the-races opening chords of ‘Rosie,’ I geared up my band and hit the road without dread. That would come later.”
Now, I know your mama, she don’t like me, ’cause I play in a rock and roll band
And I know your daddy, he don’t dig me, but he never did understand
Your papa lowered the boom. He locked you in your room. I’m comin’ to lend a hand
I’m comin’ to liberate you, confiscate you. I want to be your man
Someday, we’ll look back on this, and it will all seem funny
But now you’re sad, your mama’s mad
And your papa says he knows that I don’t have any money
Oh, your papa says he knows that I don’t have any money
Oh, so your daddy says he knows that I don’t have any money
Well, tell him this is his last chance to get his daughter in a fine romance
Because a record company, Rosie, just gave me a big advance
The Boston-area alternative newspaper The Real Paper assigned Jon Landau to cover Springsteen’s May 9, 1974, concert in Boston. In his review, he famously wrote, “I saw rock and roll’s future, and its name is Bruce Springsteen.”
After the success of “Born To Run,” Columbia released “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” as a single in the UK. It still never charted, but the song continued a long run. A 1978 filmed performance was released as a music video in 1984 on MTV, and the song was eventually certified Gold by the RIAA in 2022.
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Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns
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