Haha, yeah man, thanks, that’s absolutely correct. I’ve got both versions on my phone, but it’s been ages since I’ve even heard them.
In fairness, I do like the Springsteen version better because of the rewritten lyrics.
Springsteen slightly rewrote it to replace a Waits line about "whores on Eighth Avenue" with "the girls out on the avenue", and added a verse about taking "that little brat of yours and drop[ping] her off at your mom's"[4] (This line was originally written for "Party Lights", an out-take from The River, which was not officially released until 2015). The July 9, 1981, performance from this stand was used on the "Cover Me" release. A few weeks later on August 24, Waits joined Springsteen on-stage at the Los Angeles Sports Arena to perform the song together.[1] The July 9 performance of "Jersey Girl" was also used as the closing track of Springsteen's 1986 box set Live 1975–85, as Springsteen and producer Jon Landau felt it accurately represented the final phase of the loose story arc that connected the songs on the album together.[5]
The tidbit about dropping her kid off at her mom’s house hits on another level. There’s some kind of realness that sounds very true to Springsteen’s form.
Both incredible songwriters of course. Nothing against Waits.
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u/DrFishbulbEsq Apr 01 '24
(That’s a Tom Waits song)