Mick Jagger may not be a big fan of “Street Fighting Man,” (he’s admitted as much in interviews), but Bruce Springsteen surely is.
Not only has Bruce labelled the song’s signature line (“What can a poor boy do but sing in a rock and roll band?”) one of the greatest lines of all time, he paid homage to it in his own “Shackled and Drawn.” (What’s a poor boy to do but keep singing his song?)
When The Rolling Stones released their original version as the lead single off Beggars Banquet in 1968, it didn’t exactly start the revolution it called for, peaking only at #48 on the charts. (That’s probably because it was sailing upwind against radio stations that didn’t want to rock the boat by playing it, since the song was released during at very turbulent moment in American politics.)
Still, it gradually became a fan favorite (in fact, it’s a frequent show opener on the band’s current tour) and a critic’s classic; “Street Fighting Man” is firmly lodged in Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in slot #301.
When Bruce Springsteen launched what would prove to be his most popular, iconic tour of all time, he included a cover of “Street Fighting Man” as an encore from the very first show.
Here’s that debut performance, from the opening show of the Born in the U.S.A. Tour in St. Paul, June 29, 1984.
Bruce and the E Street Band continued to cover “Street Fighting Man” regularly throughout the summer and well into the fall, finally dropping it from the setlist just before Halloween after more than two dozen performances.
Bruce brought “Street Fighting Man” back for one final encore the following summer as a tribute to the original artists when the E Street Band played their first stand at Wembley Stadium. And this time, Steve Van Zandt was on hand to join his old bandmates, and the additional guitar power (and the slightly slower tempo) made this version the E Street Band’s definitive one.
It’s been almost 35 years since that last E Street Band cover of “Street Fighting Man,” but we can hope it won’t prove to be the final one. It may be more resonant now than ever.
Street Fighting Man
First performed: June 29, 1984 (St. Paul, MN)
Last performed: July 6, 1985 (London, England)
