Whew!
After a string of essays demanding deep lyrical analysis, it’s a relief to be reminded that even for Bruce, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
“Ricky Wants a Man of Her Own” is a pop trifle so straightforward that the title pretty much summarizes the song. It’s the tale of a teenage girl seen through the eyes of her family, and it’s a song only a big brother could write.
It’s funny and light, but it rings with painful truth to a parent of a teenage daughter.
Bruce made a wise choice writing from the perspective of Ricky’s big brother: falling age-wise in between his sister and his parents, the narrator is able to empathize with both, to observe and note both the humor and the angst.
Well look out mama, your little girl she has changed
She cut her baby curls and she’s got her act rearranged
Well look out daddy, what she needs now she can’t find at home
Oh Ricky wants a man of her
She wants a man of her
Ricky wants a man of her own
Mama says her little girl won’t talk to her anymore
She just goes in her room, turns on the radio, and shuts the door
She’s got her own bathroom, TV, stereo, extension phone
Oh but mama, Ricky wants a man of her
She wants a man of her
Ricky wants a man of her own
(Perhaps the song is a bit dated–my girls don’t listen to the radio or watch TV (they stream), and they have no idea what “stereo” or “extension phone” refers to.)
The bridge is where Bruce rubs salt in his parents’ wounds:
Well daddy says when he drops her off Friday night at the gym
She slides way down in the front seat so the kids won’t see her with him
She don’t do no work, she won’t tell nobody when she’s coming home
She makes poor daddy wait down on the corner at midnight all alone
I feel you, dad. Been there, too.
As the verses resume, note how Bruce moves a little closer (literally and figuratively) to a father figure:
She used to like me to take her to a ball game or a movie show
She used to make daddy take his little girl where she wanna go
Now we’re left peeking through the curtains every time that we hear a horn blow
Well I guess Ricky wants a man of her own
That’s a clever technique that Bruce uses to help his younger listeners empathize, too–since they identify more with the brother than the parents, the transitive property of songwriting carries them the rest of the distance.
All the while, the E Street Band has provided merry accompaniment, carried primarily by Roy’s piano and Danny’s farfisa organ. But now the band quiets to make room for the song’s most pointed, funny and truth-ringing line:
Well my folks say, “Son, talk to her, she’ll listen to you”
Yeah she listens real nice and she does what she wants to do
Max leads the band back in for the big finish, twisting the parental knife with one final, perfectly placed “almost.”
Daddy says she wears her jeans so tight, “Well, you change ’em or you’re stayin’ home”
Oh but daddy, Ricky wants a man of her
She wants a man of her
Ricky wants a man of her own
She’s almost grown
Ricky wants a man of her
She wants a man of her
Ricky wants a man of her own
Bruce and the E Street Band recorded “Ricky” early on during the River sessions, and it would have been a great fit on the album along light, fun rockers like “Sherry Darling” and “Crush on You.” In fact, on the first cut of the album in late 1979, “Ricky” was the fourth track on what would have been Side One. But as time passed, the album grew from one disc to two, and as Bruce added tracks he also subtracted for balance and flow. Unfortunately, Ricky was one of the casualties.
Bruce eventually did right by “Ricky,” lifting her grounding and sending her off into the world on Tracks in 1998, and again on The Ties That Bind: The River Collection in 2015.
And in all that time, Bruce brought Ricky out on stage exactly once: at the very last show of the Magic Tour in Kansas City, where he opened the show with it. I was fortunate enough to be there in the pit, and it was a genuine “holy crap” highlight (even if they played it just a tad too slow).
I was genuinely surprised that “Ricky” didn’t get an encore during the 2016 River Tour–that seemed like a no-brainer to me–but hope springs eternal. Let’s hope Bruce brings her back for the next tour; she’s certainly fully grown by now.
Bonus: Listen to an unreleased alternate take of “Ricky Wants a Man of Her Own,” with a different third verse.
Well daddy’s pullin’ out his hair, he says, “The girl ain’t got no direction”
She don’t care to bring her boyfriends home to pass daddy’s inspection
Ricky Wants a Man of Her Own
Recorded: July 16, 1979
Released: Tracks (1998), The Ties That Bind: The River Collection (2015)
First performed: August 24, 2008 (Kansas City, MO)
Last performed: August 24, 2008 (Kansas City, MO)
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