Let’s take a listen to a never-released outtake from Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska sessions that’s especially, um, high concept.
(Side note: Good luck trying to find this song on youtube. Thanks to another well-known Springsteen who’s an equestrian star, searching for “Bruce Springsteen Riding Horse” does not yield desired results. So feel free to bookmark this for your repeat listening pleasure.)
So… yeah, this is basically just a short guy/tall girl song, and I’m pretty sure the horseback riding is euphemistic.
I got a girl so tall and fair
I need a stepladder to run my fingers through her hair
I’m gonna kill the next guy who asks “how’s the weather up there?”
Early on a Saturday night
She takes me on her riding horse
I love the sound of her voice when she says “I love you so”
Take me on your riding horse
Come on baby, let’s giddy-up and go
See what I mean? And lest anyone accuse Bruce of subtlety, he erases that notion in the next verse:
Now Mister, I ain’t no hot-lovin’ clown
There ain’t a man on the planet could cover all that ground
Late at night she kisses me so sweet
But I need a map to find my way from her lips to her feet
Yup, the chorus is a euphemism all right.
Baby take me on your riding horse
I love the sound of your voice when you says I love you so
Take me on your riding horse
Come on baby lets giddy-up and go
Take me for a pony ride
I love your voice when you say “baby, it’s right”
For the life of me, I cannot fathom why Bruce left this off of Nebraska. Tight, polished lyrics, a great melody, and a relatively unplumbed theme. Go figure.
When the next tour comes, I think I know what my next sign request is gonna be.
Riding Horse
Recorded: March-April 1981
Never released
Never performed
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