
Peak
5
Weeks
18
Score
3,034
Chart Year
1985
In this song, Springsteen sings about a chance encounter with an old friend who was a star baseball player in high school. This fellow is Joe DePugh, and the encounter really did happen. Springsteen and DePugh were classmates at St. Rose of Lima School in Freehold, New Jersey and played baseball together in the Babe Ruth League (ages 13-15). They were good friends, but drifted apart as Springsteen pursued music while DePugh took a shot at sports (he tried out for the Los Angeles Dodgers). In the summer of 1973, DePugh was walking in to a bar called the Headliner in Neptune, New Jersey while Springsteen was walking out. Bruce went back in, where he and his old friend talked about the good old days until the bar closed. When "Glory Days" was released, DePugh was living in Vermont, where word got out that he was the subject of the song. Springsteen confirmed the story at his 30th high school reunion in 1997, but DePugh wasn't there; they finally met up again in 2005 when they met for lunch and once again relived their glory days. (Freehold historian Kevin Coyne sleuthed out this story, which was published in the New York Times). This is one of Springsteen's favorites. He almost always plays it at the impromptu bar gigs he is famous for on the Jersey Shore. In concert, Springsteen often extends this to over 10 minutes. Perhaps the most compact version he ever played was at halftime of the 2009 Super Bowl, when he squeezed four songs into a 12-minute set. Springsteen: "The first verse actually happened, the second verse mostly happened, the third verse, of course, is happening now." Originally, this contained a fourth verse which mentioned Springsteen's father working on the Ford assembly line. Springsteen performed this June 25, 1993 on the last David Letterman Show on NBC. Letterman is a huge fan but had never had Springsteen on. Bruce did go on the show a few more times after it moved to CBS. This was one of seven US Top 10 hits on Born In The U.S.A. The band first recorded it in 1982, but it was not released until the album came out. The video was directed by John Sayles, who also did Springsteen's promos for "Born In The U.S.A." and "I'm On Fire." In the video, Springsteen plays a cross between the character telling the story and the guy he's singing about. The full version of the video starts with Springsteen working construction (in real life he never had a job outside of music). In his reverie, he recalls his days playing baseball. Amid the scenes where the E Street Band is playing the song in a bar (Maxwell's in Hoboken, New Jersey), we see him reminiscing with his glove and trophies from the glory days. At the end of the video Springsteen is on the field pitching to his son until his wife comes by in a station wagon to pick them up. It's pretty clear that Springsteen was never much of a pitcher - his form is terrible. He was a right fielder when he played. Julianne Phillips, who was Springsteen's wife at the time, plays that role in the video, appearing in just one shot where she comes to get her boys. Patti Scialfa, who became the next Mrs. Springsteen in 1991, had joined the E Street Band in 1984 and gets a lot more face time in the clip. On the day Springsteen released his album The Rising, he played a concert on The Today Show. This was the only song he played that was not on the new album.
Oh yeah Come on Woo Huh 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 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 Glory days, yeah, they'll pass you by Glory days, in the wink of a young girl's eye Glory days, glory days (Rock it now) Woo Think I'm going down to the well tonight And I'm gonna drink 'til 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, yeah, they'll pass you by Glory days, in the wink of a young girl's eye Glory days, glory days Yeah, they'll pass you by Glory days, in the wink of a young girl's eye Glory days, glory days Well, alright Ooh yeah Well, alright Come on now Well, alright Ooh yeah Well, alright Come on now Woo Woohoo Woohoo Woohoo Alright boys, keep it rocking now Keep on going We're going for home now Bring it home Yeah Bring it home Oh, oh Alright Well, alright Well, alright Well, alright Well, alright Well, alright Well, alright Well, alright Let's go
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jun 1, 1985 | 48 | 78 |
| 2 | Jun 8, 1985 | 37 | 89 |
| 3 | Jun 15, 1985 | 27 | 99 |
| 4 | Jun 22, 1985 | 21 | 105 |
| 5 | Jun 29, 1985 | 17 | 109 |
| 6 | Jul 6, 1985 | 11 | 115 |
| 7 | Jul 13, 1985 | 9 | 117 |
| 8 | Jul 20, 1985 | 8 | 118 |
| 9 | Jul 27, 1985 | 6 | 120 |
| 10 | Aug 3, 1985 | 5 | 121 |
| 11 | Aug 10, 1985 | 7 | 119 |
| 12 | Aug 17, 1985 | 13 | 113 |
| 13 | Aug 24, 1985 | 22 | 104 |
| 14 | Aug 31, 1985 | 32 | 94 |
| 15 | Sep 7, 1985 | 45 | 81 |
| 16 | Sep 14, 1985 | 75 | 51 |
| 17 | Sep 21, 1985 | 79 | 47 |
| 18 | Sep 28, 1985 | 98 | 28 |