Springsteen, Bruce - The Hitter Lyrics






Come to the door, Ma, and unlock the chain
I was just passin' through and got caught in the rain
There's nothin' I want, nothin' that you need say
Just let me lie down for a while and then I'll be on my way

I was no more than a kid when you put me on the Southern Queen
With the police on my back I fled to New Orleans
I fought in the dockyards and with the money that I made
And the fight was my home and any blood was my trade

Baton Rouge, Ponchatoula, and La Fayette town
Well they paid me the moon, Ma, to knock the men down
I did what I did, when it come easily
Restraint and mercy were always strangers to me

I fought champion Jack Thompson in a field full of mud
Rain poured through the tent to the canvas and mixed with our blood
In the twelfth, I slipped my tongue over my broken jaw
And I stood over him, pounded his blooded body into the floor

Well the bell rang and rang, still I kept on
'Til I felt my glove leather slip 'tween his skin and bone
And the women and the money came fast, in the days I lost track
The women red, the money green, but the numbers were black
I fought for the men in their silk suits to lay down their bets
Well I took my good share, Ma, and I had no regret

I took the fixed staid hombre with Big Diamond Don*
From high in the rafters I watched myself fall
So he raised his arms, my stomach twisted, and the sky it went black**
I stuffed my bag with their good money, and I never looked back
Understand me, and Ma, every man plays a game
If you know anyone different, then speak out his name

Well Ma, if my voice, now you don't recognize
And just open the door and look into your dark eyes
I ask of you nothin', not a kiss, not a smile
Just open the door and let me lie down for a while

Now the grey rain is fallin' and my ring fighting's done
So in the work fields and alleys, I take them who'll come
If you're a better man than me then just step to the line
And show me your money and speak out your crime
There's nothin' I want, Ma, nothin' that you need say
Just let me lie down for a while and then I'll be on my way

Well tonight in the shipyard, a man draws a circle in the dirt
Like I always do, I move to the centre and I take off my shirt
I study him for the cuts, the scars, the pain man no time can erase
I move hard to the left and I strike to the face





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Springsteen, Bruce The Hitter Comments
  1. L.... D....

    Very pleasant song. Bruce relied on a combination of imagination, common sense and some kind of basic experience to communicate the story of a man who probably never existed.

    L.... D....

    You obviously need to read more about Springsteen, how and why he wrote this song and who also contributed some of the story. You simply do not write songs or poetry with this depth of detail and emotion, and sing it in this way, if you don't have more than "basic experience, common sense and imagination." People who have experienced such know the difference.

    L.... D....

    I appreciate your sympathy for Bruce's writing method. I am not fooled though by his slavish adherence to common sense. Anybody could write this. 2pac has more 'experience'.

    L.... D....

    There were probably hundreds, maybe thousands of men like this who existed.

  2. J.... F....

    Jack Fullerton Ring Killer

  3. m.... b....

    "I ask of you nothin', not a kiss, not a smile,
    just open the door and let me lie down for a while"

  4. J.... S....

    Eres y sigues siendo el jefe🇱🇷💪

  5. R.... T....

    Excelente.

  6. 1.... ....

    someone disliked this song???? Amazing storytelling.

  7. l.... c....

    grande bruce.......

  8. l.... j....

    this song is all about my son 💓

  9. P.... S....

    My best mate at School introduced me to Bruce back in 1984. What a ride we have had. But all the songs mean something, just listen. Happy Life Folk's

  10. r.... ....

    Heard Woody Guthrie wrote a good part of this song but never finished it. Bruce discovered it and put the final touches on it. He does credit Woody when talking about the song in a Dave Marsh interview.

    r.... ....

    +roger1744 I'm not doubting what you say but surely if Woody Guthrie had written a good bit of the song then he would have been given a joint songwriting credit on the album ? It says on the CD cover that all songs on the record were written by Bruce Springsteen

  11. b.... k....

    danke Ruby!!!!

  12. N.... C....

    Great song as usual...

  13. M.... ....

    Makes me appreciate what I have in life. Thank you God, thank you Bruce.

  14. k.... ....

    My brother k t f , Pete . Pals always

  15. n.... ....

    Goosebumps,what a heartbreaking song.

  16. b.... d....

    makes me love my mom

  17. M.... P....

    Storyteller

  18. A.... W....

    and he pounded my bloody body into the floor

  19. j.... h....

    doesnt get any better!

  20. j.... ....

    Incredible storytelling from the master storyteller

    j.... ....

    When he didn't get the Grammy that year, I was floored. I really thought this was the best album released that year.