BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - NEBRASKA (1982) 1. Nebraska 2. Atlantic City 3. Mansion on the Hill 4. Johnny 99 5. Highway Patrolman 6. State Trooper 7. Used Cars 8. Open All Night 9. My Father's House 10. Reason to Believe ================================================= NEBRASKA TUNING: Bruce's guitar is out of tune on this one. I suspect it's flat. That means the song was possibly played in 'D'. So to transcribe C#=D, F#=G and G#=A. Live he plays it in 'F'. For an easy transcription just knock all the sharps off. The choice is yours. INTRO: Ab C# Ab C# F# C# Ab C# Ab C# Ab C# I saw her standin' on her front lawn just twirlin' her baton F# C# Ab C# Me and her went for a ride sir and ten innocent people died Ab C# Ab C# From the town of Lincoln Nebraska with a sawed off .410 on my lap F# C# Ab C# Ab C# Through to the badlands of Wyoming I killed everything in my path Ab C# Ab C# I can't say that I'm sorry for the things that we done F# C# Ab C# At least for a little while sir me and her we had us some fun Ab C# Ab C# Now the jury brought in a guilty verdict and the judge he sentenced me to death F# C# Ab C# Midnight in a prison storeroom with leather straps across my chest Ab C# Ab C# Sheriff when the man pulls that switch sir and snaps my poor head back F# C# Ab C# You make sure my pretty baby is sittin' right there on my lap HARMONICA: Ab C# Ab C# Ab C# Ab C# They declared me unfit to live said into that great void my soul be hurled F# C# They want to know why I did what I did Ab C# Well sir I guess there's just a meanness in this world HARMONICA: Ab C# Ab C# F# C# Ab C# ----------------------------------------- ATLANTIC CITY (Live Capo 3rd Fret Chords:Em G C D) F#m A D A Well they blew up the chicken man in Philly last night F#m A D A Now they blew up his house too F#m A D A Down on the boardwalk they're gettin' ready for a fight F#m A D A Gonna see what them racket boys can do F#m A D A Now there's trouble busin' in from outta state F#m A D A And the D.A. can't get no relief F#m A D A Gonna be a rumble out on the promenade F#m A D E And the gamblin' commission's hangin' on by the skin of its teeth CHORUS 1: F#m A D A Well now everything dies baby that's a fact F#m A E F#m But maybe everything that dies someday comes back A D A Put your makeup on fix your hair up pretty F#m A D A And meet me tonight in Atlantic City BREAK 1: F#m A D A F#m A D A F#m A D A Well I got a job and tried to put my money away F#m A D A But I got debts that no honest man can pay F#m A D A So I drew what I had from the Central Trust F#m A D E And I bought us two tickets on that Coast City bus CHORUS 2 F#m A D A Now baby, everything dies baby that's a fact F#m A D A But maybe everything that dies someday comes back F#m A D A Put your makeup on fix your hair up pretty F#m A D A And meet me tonight in Atlantic City BREAK 2: F#m A D A F#m A D A F#m A D A F#m A D A D F#m A E F#m Now our luck may have died and our love may be cold but with you forever I'll stay D F#m We're goin' out where the sand's turnin' to gold D A D A So put on your stockin's baby `cause the night's getting cold D A D A And everything dies baby that's a fact D A E D But maybe everything that dies someday comes back BREAK 3: F#m A D A F#m A D A F#m A D A Now I been lookin' for a job but it's hard to find F#m A Down here it's just winners and losers D A And don't get caught on the wrong side of that line F#m A D A Well I'm tired of comin' out on this losin' end F#m A D E So honey last night I met this guy and I'm gonna do a little favour for him F#m A D A Well I guess everything dies baby that's a fact F#m A D A But maybe everything that dies someday comes back F#m A D A Put your hair up nice and set up pretty F#m A D A And meet me tonight in Atlantic City F#m A D A And meet me tonight in Atlantic City F#m A D A And meet me tonight in Atlantic City F#m A D A Will you meet me tonight in Atlantic City F#m A D A F#m A D A F#m A D A F#m A D A F#m A D A F#m A D A ----------------------- MANSION ON THE HILL INTRO: D G D G D G D A D G D There's a place out on the edge of town sir G D Risin' above the factories and the fields G D A D Now ever since I was a child I can remember that mansion on the hill G D In the day you can see the children playing G D On the road that leads to those gates of hardened steel G D A D Steel gates that completely surround sir the mansion on the hill G D At night my daddy'd take me and we'd ride G D Through the streets of a town so silent and still G D Park on a back road along the highway side A D Look up at that mansion on the hill HARMONICA: D G D A D G A D G D In the summer all the lights would shine G D There'd be music playin' people laughin' all the time G D Me and my sister we'd hide out in the tall corn fields A D Sit and listen to the mansion on the hill G D Tonight down here in Linden Town G D I watch the cars rushin' by home from the mill G D A D There's a beautiful full moon rising above the mansion on the hill HARMONICA: D G D G D G D A D G ---------------------- JOHNNY 99 NOTES: I recommend slapping a capo on the second fret to make fretting easier. INTRO: B F# B B Well they closed down the auto plant in Mahwah late that month F# Ralph went out lookin' for a job but he couldn't find none B He came home too drunk from mixin'Tanqueray and wine F# B He got a gun shot a night clerk now they call him Johnny 99 Down in the part of town where when you hit a red light you don't stop F# Johnny's wavin' his gun around and threatenin' to blow his top B When an off duty cop snuck up on him from behind F# B Out in front of the Club Tip Top they slapped the cuffs on Johnny 99 E B Well the city supplied a public defender but the judge was Mean John Brown F# He came into the courtroom and stared poor Johnny down B Well the evidence is clear gonna let the sentence son fit the crime F# B Prison for 98 and a year and we'll call it even Johnny 99 HARMONICA: B E B F# B E B A fistfight broke out in the courtroom they had to drag Johnny's girl away F# His mama stood up and shouted Judge don't take my boy this way B Well son you got any statement you'd like to make F# B Before the bailiff comes to forever take you away Now judge judge I had debts no honest man could pay F# The bank was holdin' my mortgage and they was takin' my house away B Now I ain't sayin' that makes me an innocent man F# B But it was more 'n all this that put that gun in my hand Well your honour I do believe I'd be better off dead F# And if you can take a man's life for the thoughts that's in his head B Then won't you sit back in that chair and think it over judge one more time F# B And let 'em shave off my hair and put me on that execution line OUTRO: E B F# B F# B ------------------------- HIGHWAY PATROLMAN INTRO: D D G D My name is Joe Roberts I work for the state A I'm a sergeant out of Perrineville barracks number 8 D G D I always done an honest job as honest as I could A D I got a brother named Franky and Frank he ain't no good G D Now ever since we was young kids it's been the same come down A I get a call on the shortwave Franky's in trouble downtown D G D Well if it was any other man, I'd put him straight away A D But when it's your brother sometimes you look the other way CHORUS 1: G D A G D Yeah, me and Franky laughing and drinking nothing feels better than blood on blood A G D A Takin' turns dancin' with Marie as the band played Night of the Johnstown Flood D G D I catch him when he's straying like any brother would A D Man turns his back on his family well he just ain't no good G D Well Franky went in the army back in 1965 A I got a farm deferment, settled down, took Maria for my wife D G D But them wheat prices kept on dropping 'till it was like we were getting robbed A D Franky came home in `68, and me, I took this job CHORUS 2: G D A G D Yea we're laughing and drinking nothing feels better than blood on blood A G D A Takin' turns dancin' with Marie as the band played Night of the Johnstown Flood D G D I catch him when he's straying, teach him how to walk that line A D G A D Man turns his back on his family he ain't no friend of mine G D Well the night was like any other, I got a call `bout quarter to nine A There was trouble in a roadhouse out on the Michigan line D G D There was a kid lying on the floor lookin' bad bleedin' hard from his head A D There was a girl crying at a table and it was Frank, they said G D Well I went out and I jumped in my car and I hit the lights A But I must of done a hundred and ten through Michigan county that night D G D It was out at the crossroads, down round Willow bank A D Seen a Buick with Ohio plates behind the wheel was Frank Well I chased him through them county roads G D 'till a sign said Canadian border five miles from here A D I pulled over to the side of the highway and watched his taillights disappear CHORUS 3: G D A G D Me and Franky laughing and drinking nothing feels better than blood on blood A G D A Taking turns dancing with Marie as the band played Night of the Johnstown Flood D G D I catch him when he's straying like any brother would A D G D Man turns his back on his family well he just ain't no good --------------------- STATE TROOPER INTRO: Am Am New Jersey Turnpike riding on a wet night D Am 'neath the refinery's glow, out where the great black rivers flow D License, registration, I ain't got none but I got a clear conscience Am About the things that I done Mister state trooper, please don't stop me D Am D Am Please don't stop me, please don't stop me Maybe you got a kid, maybe you got a pretty wife D Am The only thing that I got's been bothering me my whole life Mister state trooper, please don't stop me D Am D Am Please don't you stop me, please don't you stop me In the wee wee hours your mind gets hazy, D Am Radio relay towers gonna lead me to my baby Radio's jammed up with talk show stations D Am It's just talk, talk, talk, talk, till you lose your patience D Am Mister state trooper, please don't stop me D Am Oh, Oooh oh Aint somebody out there, listen to my last prayer D Am Hiho silver-o, deliver me from nowhere D Oh, Ooh SHUFFLE: A D A E------------------------------------ B------------------------------------ G-------------22-----222------------- D-22-222-222--00-000-000-000---22-22- A-0030003000----30003---30003--00300- E------------------------------------ ---------------------- USED CARS INTRO: D D G D My little sister's in the front seat with an ice cream cone A D My Ma's in the black seat sitting all alone G D As my Pa steers her slow out of the lot A D For a test drive down Michigan Avenue G D Now, my Ma, she fingers her wedding band A D And watches the salesman stare at my old man's hands He's telling us all about the break he'd give us G D If he could, but he just can't A D Well if I could, I swear I know just what I'd do CHORUS 1: G Now, mister, the day the lottery I win I ain't D A D Ever gonna ride in no used car again G D Now, the neighbors come from near and far A D As we pull up in our brand new used car G D I wish he'd just hit the gas and let out a cry A D And tell 'em all they can kiss our asses goodbye HARMONICA: G A D G D My dad, he sweats the same job from mornin' to morn A D Me, I walk home on the same dirty streets where I was born Up the block I can hear my little sister in the G D Front seat blowing that horn A D The sounds echoing all down Michigan Avenue CHORUS 2: G Now, mister, the day my numbers comes in I ain't D A D Ever gonna ride in no used car again HARMONICA OUTRO: G D A D G D A D A D ---------------------- OPEN ALL NIGHT INTRO: F# Well, I had the carburettor, baby, cleaned and checked With her line blown out she's humming like a turbojet B Propped her up in the backyard on concrete blocks F# For a new clutch plate and a new set of shocks C# Took her down to the carwash, check the plugs and points F# Well, I'm going out tonight I'm gonna rock that joint Early North Jersey industrial skyline I'm a all-set cobra jet creeping through the nighttime B Gotta find a gas station, gotta find a payphone F# This turnpike sure is spooky at night when you're all alone C# Gotta hit the gas, baby, I'm running late F# This New Jersey in the morning like a lunar landscape BREAK: B C# F# Now, the boss don't dig me, so he put me on the nightshift Takes me two hours to get back to where my baby lives B In the wee wee hours your mind gets hazy F# Radio relay towers, won't you lead me to my baby? C# Underneath the overpass, trooper hits his party light switch F# Goodnight good luck one two power shift I met Wanda when she was employed behind the counter at route 60 B Bob's Big Boy Fried Chicken on the front seat, she's sitting in my lap F# We're wiping our fingers on a Texaco roadmap C# F# I remember Wanda up on scrap metal hill with them big brown eyes That make your heart stand still BREAK: B C# F# Well, at five AM oil pressure's sinking fast I make a pit stop, wipe the windshield, check the gas B Gotta call my baby on the telephone F# Let her know that her daddy's coming on home C# Sit tight, little mama, I'm a coming round F# I got three more hours, but I'm covering ground Your eyes get itchy in the wee wee hours Sun's just a red ball rising over them refinery towers B Radio's jammed up with gospel stations F# Lost souls calling long distance salvation C# Hey, mister DJ, wont ya hear my last prayer F# Hey, ho, rock'n'roll, deliver me from nowhere Hey a lay da di da lay da di da da yodle Hey a lay da di da lay da di da da yodle B Hey a lay da di da lay da di da da yodle ----------------------- MY FATHER'S HOUSE INTRO: D A D G D Last night I dreamed that I was a child A Out where the pines grow wild and tall D G D I was trying to make it home through the forest A D Before the d..arkness falls G D I heard the wind rustling through the trees A And ghostly voices rose from the fields D G D I ran with my heart pounding down that broken path A D With the devil snappin' at my heels G D I broke through the trees and there in the night A My father's house stood shining hard and bright D G D The branches and brambles tore my clothes and scratched my arms A D But I ran till I fell, shaking in his arms HARMONICA: D A D G D I awoke and I imagined the hard things that pulled us apart A Will never again, sir, tear us from each other's hearts D G D I got dressed, and to that house I did ride A D From out on the road, I could see its windows shining in light G D I walked up the steps and stood on the porch A A woman I didn't recognize came and spoke to me through a chained door D G D I told her my story and who I'd come for A D She said I'm sorry, son, but no one by that name lives here anymore HARMONICA: G D A D G D A D G D My father's house shines hard and bright A It stands like a beacon calling me in the night D G D Calling and calling so cold and alone A D Shining across this dark highway where our sins lie unatoned ------------------ REASON TO BELIEVE NOTES: I suggest turning this tune into a bluesy shuffle in the style that Bruce now performs it with the E Street Band. HARMONICA INTRO: F# B F# Seen a man standing over a dead dog by the highway in a ditch C# He's looking down kinda puzzled poking that dog with a stick F# B F# Got his car door flung open he's standin' out on highway 31 B F# C# F# Like if he stood there long enough that dog'd get up and run B F# C# F# Struck me kinda funny seem kinda funny sir to me B F# C# F# Still at the end of every hard day people find some reason to believe B F# Now Mary Lou loved Johnny with a love mean and true C# She said baby I'll work for you every day and bring my money home to you F# B F# One day he up and left her and ever since that B F# C# F# She waits down at the end of that dirt road for young Johnny to come back B F# C# F# Struck me kinda funny seemed kind of funny yeah indeed B F# C# F# How at the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe HARMONICA: B C# F# B C# F# B F# Take a baby to the river Kyle William they called him C# Wash the baby in the water take away little Kyle's sin F# B F# In a whitewash shotgun shack an old man passes away B F# C# F# Take his body to the graveyard over him they pray B F# C# F# Lord won't you tell us, tell us what does it mean B F# C# F# At the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe B F# Congregation gathers down by the riverside C# Preacher stands with his Bible groom stands waiting for his bride F# B F# Congregation gone the sun sets behind a weeping willow tree C# F# Groom stands alone and watches the river rush on so effortlessly B F# C# F# Wondering where can his baby be B F# C# F# Still at the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe HARMONICA OUTRO: B F# C# F# B F# C# F# TUNING: The tuning to play in the key above is slightly flat, not quite a whole semitone. Live the song is played in 'G' which makes me think that this was possibly played in 'G' but his guitar was maybe out of tune. To transpose F#=G, B=C and C#=D...or tune down slightly.
