Madam Marie

Following Craig's post of Bruce Springsteen sites, here's my discovery of Madam Marie's little shack on the boardwalk of Asbury Park.

The song, 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy), is one of my favourite Springsteen songs, as it is storytelling Bruce at it's best.

Sandy the fireworks are hailin' over Little Eden tonight
Forcin' a light into all those stoned-out faces left
stranded on this forth of July
Down in town the circuit's full with switchblade lovers
so fast so shiny so sharp
As the wizards play down on Pinball Way
on the boardwalk way past dark
And the boys from the casino dance with their shirts open
like Latin lovers along the shore
Chasin' all them silly girls

Sandy the aurora is risin' behind us
The pier lights our carnival life forever
Love me tonight for I may never see you again
Hey Sandy girl

Now the greasers they tramp the streets or get busted for
trying to sleep on the beach all night
Them boys in their spiked high heels ah Sandy
their skins are so white
And me I just got tired of hangin' in them dusty arcades
bangin' them pleasure machines
Chasin' the factory girls underneath the boardwalk
where they promise to unsnap their jeans
And you know that tilt-a-whirl down on the south beach drag
I got on it last night and my shirt got caught
And that Joey kept me spinnin'
I didn't think I'd ever get off

Oh Sandy the aurora is risin' behind us
The pier lights our carnival life on the water
Runnin' down the beach at night with my boss's daughter
Well he ain't my boss no more Sandy

Sandy the angels have lost their desire for us
I spoke to 'em just last night and they said
they won't set themselves on fire for us anymore
Every summer when the weather gets hot they ride that road
down from heaven on their Harleys they come and they go
And you can see 'em dressed like stars
in all the cheap little seashore bars
making love with their babies out on the Kokomo
Well the cops finally busted Madame Marie
for tellin' fortunes better than they do
This boardwalk life for me is through
You kmow you ought to quit this scene too

Sandy the aurora's rising behind us
The pier lights out carnival life forever
Oh love me tonight and I promise I'll love you forever


And finally some pictures of the place can be found here.

Also try the Ben E. King version of the song, found on the superb Springsteen covers album One step up, two steps back.