And just what may those "pleasure machines" happen to be, Bruce? Hmmmm........

A neighborhood in Los Angeles.

Atlantic City, New Jersey A resort city famed for it's boardwalk and it's casinos.

What a great opening line to the song! Philadelphia, PA

Many people are at first unaware that keyboardist, Manfred Mann nor anyone Mann's Earth Band, DID NOT write the #1 song for them, "Blinded By The Light". It was written by Bruce "The Boss" Springsteen, and The Boss first released on his first nationally released album, the 1973 "Greetings From Asbury Park N.J.". The original version was a minor hit back in 1973, going all the way to #40 on Billboard's HOT 100 charts at that time. But unlike Mann's version, the original was more acoustic and was written and performed (with the backing of The Boss' E Street Band) in a more rambling poetic tone like The Boss used to write in. Much of The Boss early tunes also were about his growing up in and around Asbury Park, N.J. In the 4th and 5th verses I have posted above The Boss gives shoutouts to Harvard -- a world reknowned University in Massachusetts (seems The Boss knew some frat boys from there that must have been hanging out on spring break in Asbury Park, N.J.), Scotland (via the "Scotland Yard" reference) and Zanzibar (which many people assuming The Boss meant the island country in the Indian Ocean, and although the amusement center that used to be in Asbury Park, N.J. was named after that island country he did mean in the lyrics the former amusement center in Asbury Park, "the Zanzibar" {no longer there}).

USA (United States of America)

Baltimore, MD

Kingstown in Jamaica is the most famous Kingstown in the world BUT there are Kingstowns in Maryland and Rhode Island. It's more likely that the Kingstown mentioned is the one in the same state as Baltimore. It's just easier to move 3 hours away than a different country.

The second verse of The Boss' Top 5 hit from 1980, "Hungry Heart", finds his character that he is playing in the song down in Kingstown, a city in Jamaica.

Opening lines of The Boss' Top 5 hit from 1980 from the lp "The River", "Hungry Heart" give a shoutout to Baltimore, MD.

Mahwah, New Jersey. This event really happened in 1981 during the lengthy post-Vietnam War recession. And Bruce hails from New Jersey.

This song is based on a real event in 1981. A Ford Motor Company plant in Mahwah, New Jersey was shut down, due to the severe post-Vietnam War recession and maybe as an early step in economic "globalization" too. When this song was written Bruce's home state of New Jersey was hit hard by the economic malaise of the Nixon-Ford-Carter-Reagan era.

Jersy is actually New Jersy where Bruce Springsteen lived and San Deigo which is in Southern California.

This song is from Tracks, which isn't a very popular album, but has all of the songs Bruce didn't think would work out in an album. He later made 18 Tracks, which were 18 songs from Tracks that he considered the best. Bruce says "beyond a stretch of Maryland pines there's a river without a name". He is probably talking about somewhere near the ocean, since pines are mainly near the shore. This also isn't just a few pines, it's a whole forest of them "filled with rain". This character known as Johnson Lineir is a Vietnam veteran and is not on the edge of town, but really he is within himself. This B-Side was paired up with Bruce's A-Side of Born in the U.S.A, since they are both about Vietnam veterans and their stories. All of Bruce's songs have a story to tell, but Shut Out The Light is one of his true hidden gems.

"Streets Of Philadelphia" was a song that The Boss wrote specifically for the 1994 hit film, "Philadelphia" starring Tom Hanks as an attorney who sues his former law firm for discrimination after he contracts AIDS. The movie itself takes place in Philadelphia (and many scenes were filmed there). "Streets Of Philadelphia" would become a huge hit for The Boss in early 1995, and would earn The Boss his first and so far only Oscar.