This is a song about little things that lead to big things. Small choices that lead to consequential moments. Or as Bruce put it one night, it’s about “not knowing what you’re gonna do until you do it.”
Sometimes he’d introduce it with a story about a girl who did a body shot of tequila off of him. Other times he regaled the audience with a tale of a barmaid who exchanged a ride home for a quarter he needed for the payphone.
Whatever the night’s story, Bruce told it with the barest hint of discretion, a twinkle in his eye, and a disclaimer that all of the events happened “a very, very long time ago”… if they happened at all.
Our tale starts innocently enough, although our narrator’s inner voice knows better from the outset.
She said we could just sleep together, there’d be nothing wrong
We could just hold each other with our clothes on
I went to answer, “I don’t think we should”
Then I heard a voice say, “yeah, I guess we could…”
She kissed me lightly and said “you know sometimes when you’re down
It’s the little things that count
It’s the little things that count
It’s the little things”
Small moments of human connection. That’s what it’s all about, right?
She said it was too late, and I shouldn’t try to drive
She unbuttoned my shirt and whispered “just close your eyes
Let me take your boots off, you know sometimes when your luck’s run out
It’s the little things that count
It’s the little things that count
It’s the little things”
Don’t drive drunk, kids. That’s the moral here.
Her dress rode lightly as she walked
Then she pulled the covers down
Okay, so maybe our narrator’s gaze is distracted for a moment. It’s a little thing, a minor detail.
Small kindnesses. Minor details. Little moments… that lead to bigger ones.
I was so dry, she held a water glass to my lips
Well the polish on her nail was chipped
She said she had a boyfriend I reminded her of
His hair was the same muddy brown
She stuck her tongue in my mouth
Because sometimes you just don’t know what you’re going to do until you do it.
I’m pretty sure this isn’t anybody’s favorite Springsteen song. You’ll probably never see it on a request sign, and good luck finding recordings of it on YouTube.
Still, Bruce recorded it not once but twice in the studio–first in 1995 for The Ghost of Tom Joad, and then again in 2004 for Devils & Dust–and he performed it live thirty-eight times during the years in between.
It may be little known, but it counts.
It’s the Little Things That Count
Recorded: 1995, 2004
Never released
First performed: November 27, 1995 (Los Angeles, CA)
Last performed: February 20, 2003 (Somerville, MA)
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So this is the one he introduced with the speech about “we don’t give out quarters around here”? I always remembered that because it was so funny. Oh… the version I had mentioned her fingertips instead of nails being chipped.
I always thought of this as a sad song because it comes off like she sleeps around with no real commitments or love, maybe him too. I admit I thought it was the same situation as “Reno.”