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Glory Days Lyrics

Artist: Bruce Springsteen

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

Chorus:
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

Chorus

My old man worked 20 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 9 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

Chorus (repeat twice)

Comments/Interpretations

by mike on 5/18/2008 1:03pm
brilliant
by Bob on 6/3/2008 8:47pm
That section that starts with "my old man...". I've never seen that before. Is that on the original recording that wasn't released.
by Ed on 6/15/2008 6:33pm
I was thinking the same thing!!
by Elaine on 6/25/2008 3:51am
Yeah, just sitting back trying to recapture a little "Gloria". I thought that was the word, "not glory of".
by Emma on 7/4/2008 6:30am
Yeah, me too. I have heard this song a million times (my mum is a big fan) and I have never heard "My old man...".
by Glen on 7/6/2008 11:21am
If that verse actually was recorded somewhere, I can see why it was left out of the "Born in the USA" version... it really doesn't fit the rest of the storyline. Even the chorus changes into something which appears clumsy when set alongside the rest of the tune. It also changes the narrative from a "participant" (i.e. where the narrator is just as involved, if not moreso through his acquaintances' experiences and reminisces) to a "narrator" whose sole personal reference is set more as a timeframe, not an actual act of interrelation (much as one could say, "I was 13 when JFK died"). Did this song appear on the "Tracks" box set? I could see Bruce taking that whole verse out and making another song out of it instead. But here, it's just clumsy.
by withheld on 7/30/2008 9:15am
Dam! THis ounds like ME!
:)
by mira matouch on 9/9/2008 2:56am
I have even the original album on vinyl and there is insertion with every lyrics and there's no verse with My old man...
by David the grady grady on 10/24/2008 6:05pm
I love it all its perfect it hits the happy spot
by nikki on 11/1/2008 8:20pm
this song is the best ever!ive been to about 170 concerts in my life!BEAT THAT!!!
by Blue Balls on 11/6/2008 4:55am
Nostalgic anyone?
by Anthony Stoner on 11/23/2008 7:31pm
Okay...the line when she thinks about crying...

always thought it said

"and when she thinks about Clarence"
by ME on 11/26/2008 12:15pm
Brilliant song! And emma my mother is huge fan too
by queen patty on 12/16/2008 7:11am
great message, of course--it's bruce, but could the radio stations have not overplayed to the point of nauseum!!? I do like the additional verse by the dad getting laid off at the ford plant. but come on, let's be real this song isn't by a long shot one of bruce's best. really. . . .
by bruce fan on 1/12/2009 11:45am
hi ppl, omg ive just herd the song on tv, and it is AMAZING!!!!!!! love it loads and love bruce's voice- so distinctive :)
by DC on 1/19/2009 12:19pm
this song is just amazeeeeeee lol, meanin amazing but wat eva :P, but this is such a gurrrrrrd song, he has such a distinctive voice which is brilliant :D
BRUCE ALL THE WAY!!!!
:)
by fgahfggsdfg on 2/3/2009 3:45pm
nice rerang in superbowl
by tommy on 2/3/2009 6:49pm
ive never heard that my fater part either! Im gonna start lookin for it.
by hi132123132 on 2/13/2009 6:01pm
what does the song mean?
by henry on 2/19/2009 7:48pm
you wont really know what it means till u reach 40
by Casey on 2/25/2009 8:56am
The extra verse is part of a recording on the immense Bruce bootleg collection called "The Lost Masters Collection." A very large portion of these songs can be found on youtube if you're interested.
by Dave on 3/28/2009 11:43pm
I get the impression that this songs shows that Bruce is a drunk. He drinks with everyone and makes them talk about old times. The song is good
by Neil on 4/13/2009 5:13pm
New Jersey!
by Bond on 5/9/2009 11:29am
Great Song. It makes more sense now as I am 39
by Jarle on 5/11/2009 2:17am
Kej fortne mestaro de parnetu si rama!
by Adir Benyamini on 5/13/2009 7:54am
It's a great song!
Indeed, everybody has his Glory Days or even Glory years!
by Mel on 6/7/2009 8:13am
Pretty obvious what the song is about... we bump into people we knew in school and remember the good old times. Our stories don't do justice to our feelings of nostalgia for those days, because it wasn't really the events that happened that are really of interest, but that we miss being young. It is really a lament for happier days and our youth, hence all the references to the ex-baseballer stuck in the past, the broken marriage and the singer trying to fill the emptiness with drink. It is a song about our mortality. The tone of the melody is very happy, but the lyrics are melancholic really... that's why it has a bitter/sweet feel to it, as a song about nostalgia, it is in my humble opinion, brilliant.
by Shelby on 6/8/2009 3:07pm
I am going to see him at Bonnaroo in 6 days!!! :]
by HELEN on 6/11/2009 9:49pm
would anyone happen to know why Bruce doesn't seem to play JERSEY GIRL much at all any more. That song got me hooked on him. Thanks
by Patrick on 6/14/2009 10:29pm
Glory Days with Phish...appropriate, haha
Can I live while I'm young?
by Gavin on 6/23/2009 6:16am
What a brilliant, and so often misinterpreted song. The whole born in the USA album is actually sad and take this song 'Boring stories of glory days'. Born in the USA was actually meant to be a second 'The River' album but coz its so catchy it ended up different. The song is no doubt immense as well as the album and all of Bruce!
by nick on 7/2/2009 1:20am
baseball player part sounds like my dad
by Matt on 9/23/2009 1:55pm
I always thought it part of "make him look like a fool boy" was "making love like a pool boy"
by daniel on 10/29/2009 5:03pm
i have never heard the section 'my old man' before and my mum is a huge fan and she's never heard it either.
by Luka D. on 12/6/2009 8:32pm
In The Song I thought the line...

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

I thought it was...

I guess it's two years gone by now
We just sit around talking about the old times,
she says when she feels like Clarence
she starts laughing thinking about

It is really funny! Thatnk you who ever posted this video :)

by G J on 1/3/2010 1:18am
I´ve never heard that line starting My old man.... Anyway, great song!!!!
by mario on 2/9/2010 10:35pm
I think that we all agree that that verse is entirley unheard of. Could someone help us out and tell us oficially if it ever existed and proof of it? Thank you.
mario_lopez_frias@yahoo.com
by anthony cordova on 3/12/2010 10:56am
very very boring
by satellite44 on 3/18/2010 1:47pm
i think this song is about ninja turkeys fighting evil.
by not my boss on 8/4/2010 6:57pm
talk about an overrated artist!
by JerseyDiva28 on 8/12/2010 10:46am
That Metuchen Ford plant is now gone and they're building another Jersey strip-mall(like we need another) on the land. What a shame.
by T.C on 8/17/2010 12:25am
"the well" is a bar right?
by Mario Silva on 8/20/2010 4:58pm
How I wish Bruce tour Latin America
by not dumb on 9/22/2010 10:51am
if you like closely like in the last line wheere he says boring glory days he means dont live in those days and life goes on and you cant live in the glory days
by JerseyBoy on 10/6/2010 12:56pm
It's anti-jock and anti-cheerleader and anti-popular kid. The great athlete, the pretty girl...enjoy it while you can. It's over real quick and it sure don't mean a thing when real life starts. Song is quite sad.
by t.i. on 10/24/2010 1:20am
"the well" is american slang for any bar; in reference to it being like a "watering hole" as in a place that sustains you, or just a metaphor for alcohol.
by Bb on 11/11/2010 12:00am
You people are idiots
by Cris on 11/18/2010 7:35pm
This song has been on my mind all day. Didn't hear it on any media. For a 50+ year old woman, it just stirred so many memories, I had to look up the lyrics. I can see/hear my friends and I singing our lil old hearts out when we were maybe 20/25. It is true, you don't "get it" till after you're 40. Great song, Bruce and band. Thanks.
by jim on 11/21/2010 11:01pm
i like it when bruce springsteen yells " we're coming up!!".
by Caz on 1/1/2011 2:36am
Mine is even worse, I always thought the line was "After she purchased a bed" instead of "after she put her kids to bed"... oh yeah and making love like a fool boy lol.
by paul baker on 2/10/2011 10:23am
cool cool cool
by Les. Layton on 4/5/2011 8:42am
The Well he was speaking about, was the Ink Well, a coffee house, late night hang out. In Long Branch NJ
by ST on 4/25/2011 5:15pm
If you check the lyrics on Bruce's official website, you will see that that line (my dad, etc) is not there. www.brucespringsteen.net
by VINNI on 7/6/2011 3:51pm
@Anthony Stoner on 11/23/2008 7:31pm
Okay...the line when she thinks about crying...

always thought it said

"and when she thinks about Clarence"

I re-read the lyrics with and added that line-Your post made me choke up.
by Joe Mama on 8/9/2011 2:37pm
How 'bout Springsteen finally coming out of the closet? It's obvious that he smokes the pole!
by Painberg on 10/13/2011 5:16pm
Gotta be: 'Makin love like a pool boy'...

Other than that, a typical Springsteen story/song which you can interpreter any way you like.
Depending on your own situation, age and probably most of all; your experiences and feelings attached to the subject/s touched.
by Joby on 1/3/2012 10:29am
I used to listen to and sing this song when I was 5 years old(on a micro cassettee). I didn't understand it much back then. 25 years later it makes perfect sense, "they'll pass you by glory days." This song makes me think of university mostly.
by xtc on 1/23/2012 4:24am
That old comic Richie Rich had several female characters. Two of them were Little Lotta and Gloria. So I heard, "Yeah, just sitting back trying to recapture
a Little Lotta, Gloria."
by Bullshi% on 2/1/2012 12:37pm
Fu*kin days jst pass by
by Ganz on 2/11/2012 4:14am
Bruce singing his FULL VERSION uncensored

type on a youtube search:

Rare version of Glory Days by Bruce Springsteen

by TheDuke on 3/24/2012 4:37pm
I think everyone has had a special time in their life. We can never go back, but we can cling to the memories. Life is not always good, but the memories help us to get through it.
by urmom on 4/4/2012 4:55pm
UR GRANDAMDAR VERY OLD LIKE RASIAN THIS SONG IS OP NOW SHUT UR FACE
by Atlanta Ray on 6/24/2012 10:24pm
Obviously, urmom spends way too much time at the well... better get over to that AA meeting right now!
by AIDS In My Poop on 5/4/2013 7:21am
I pooped.
by Clinto on 5/11/2013 12:15am
Seems to be a lot of knockers and haters posting on here. My question is why were you here in the first place? Songs like this have stood the test of time which is why they still get airplay. At the end of the day, you can't argue success. Haters, how many albums have you sold and how many arenas have you sold out? Exactly. The world of music is a better place because of people like The Boss. Rock on buddy!
by cris91music on 6/27/2013 9:53am
Great as every song Bruce writes.
We better listen instead of bla bla...

glory days in Hyde Park!!!
by Cj on 9/26/2013 6:54am
Since my teacher just read it to me no bueno
by JRMc on 10/31/2013 8:04am
My Glory Days were in Belleville, NJ. Thanks for recordig them, Bruce.
by Jray on 2/10/2014 10:49am
Great song by the Boss.
by Chris Ach on 5/13/2014 6:30am
Ahhh - to the good old days.
by LeeAnn MacMillan on 8/14/2014 7:21pm
The lesson is "move on" reminiscing is okay but don't make it your hobby.
by Ken on 10/27/2014 9:55pm
Glad to see the section abt Dad @ the Ford plant in Metuchen, NJ bein let go after 20 yrs and out lookn for work. Bruce's evocation of US workers.
by nils on 2/14/2015 3:53am
He could throw that speedball "fire"
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by Dana G on 3/10/2017 9:41am
Have always thought he was singing the line "When she feels like Clarence..." and now after watching this I am certain. He evens looks to his right, toward Clarence, when he says "Clarence" with that broad grin of his.
by Frank on 9/17/2017 4:58am
Is it not:
Drink till I get my BILL ( not fill) ?

Great song !
by Goji on 8/3/2022 5:37am
I was in high school when this song came out. It was annoying then and some things never change. The redundancy of the keyboard is trash. I’d rather eat a frozen skunk than hear it again. “The Boss” trying to throw a baseball in the music video is self-indulgent and laughable. The original version of Blinded by the Light is a garbled mess. Nebraska? Don’t get me started. A friend saw him about 25 years ago and said “he played for 3 hours!” No thanks.








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