"Growin' Up" is a song by American musician

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

from his 1973 album '' Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.''. It is a moderately paced tune, concerning an adolescence as a rebellious

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

teen, with lyrics written in the first-person. The lyrics feature a chorus that is progressively modified as the song continues, with the first chorus being "I hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd but when they said 'Sit down,' I stood up," while the second chorus switches to "clouded warmth...'come down,' I threw up" and the third finishes the song with "mother breast...'pull down,' I pulled up." An acoustic version of the song, part of Springsteen's 1972 audition for CBS Records, appears on '' Tracks'', ''

18 Tracks ''18 Tracks'' is an album by Bruce Springsteen, released in 1999. All but three selections had been on the boxed set '' Tracks'', released six months before. This single album was intended to capture more casual fans, and thus was oriented toward ...

'', and '' Chapter and Verse''. During the

Born to Run tours The Born to Run tours were the unofficially-named concert tours surrounding the release of Bruce Springsteen's 1975 album ''Born to Run'' which occurred between 1974 and 1977. The album represented Springsteen's commercial breakthrough, and was ...

and following

Darkness Tour Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's Darkness Tour was a concert tour of North America that ran from May 1978 through the rest of the year, in conjunction with the release of Springsteen's album ''Darkness on the Edge of Town''. (Like mos ...

, Springsteen often performed an extended version of this song, extending it with a long, sometimes exaggerated and/or fictional biographical narration of his youth and his passion for guitar playing. The song was featured on the soundtracks of the films '' Big Daddy'' (1999) and ''

Gracie Gracie may refer to: Names * Gracie (name), a given name and a family name (includes a list of people with that name) * Gracie family, a Brazilian family known for their practice and development of martial arts * Hurricane Gracie, a 1959 Atlantic ...

'' (2007).

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

recorded a version of this song in the early stages of the ''

Diamond Dogs ''Diamond Dogs'' is the eighth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 24 May 1974 through RCA Records. Bowie produced the album and recorded it in early 1974 at Olympic and Island Studios in London and Ludolph Studios i ...

'' sessions with

Ronnie Wood Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock musician, best known as an official member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, as well as a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group. Wood began his career in 1964, playing guitar with a nu ...

on lead guitar. In 1990 this was released as a bonus track on the

Rykodisc Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance. History Claiming to be the first Compact Disc, CD-only independ ...

reissue of his ''

Pin Ups ''Pin Ups'' (also referred to as ''Pinups'' and ''Pin-Ups'') is the seventh studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 19October 1973 through RCA Records. Devised as a "stop-gap" album to appease his record label, it is a cover ...

'' album, and in 2004 it appeared on the bonus disc of the ''30th anniversary edition'' of ''Diamond Dogs''. The song has also been covered by

Any Trouble Any Trouble are a British rock band, originating from Crewe, England, best known for their early 1980s recordings.

, John Hammond, Jr.,

Portastatic Portastatic is an American indie rock band founded in the early 1990s as a solo project of Mac McCaughan, singer and guitarist of the indie rock band Superchunk. The project has since expanded into a full band, sometimes including Superchunk gui ...

and

Alvin Stardust Bernard William Jewry (27 September 1942 – 23 October 2014), known professionally as Shane Fenton and later as Alvin Stardust, was an English rock singer and stage actor. Performing first as Shane Fenton in the 1960s, Jewry had a moderately s ...

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...

and

The Bouncing Souls The Bouncing Souls are an American punk band from New Brunswick, New Jersey, formed in 1989. By the time of their acknowledgment by the national punk rock scene, they had reignited a "pogo" element to New Jersey punk rock by playing fast light-he ...

have also played it live.

Personnel

According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon: *

– vocals, acoustic guitar * Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez – drums *

Garry Tallent Garry Wayne Tallent (born October 27, 1949), sometimes billed as Garry W. Tallent, is an American musician and record producer, best known for being bass player and founding member of the E Street Band, Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band si ...

– bass *

David Sancious David Sancious (born November 30, 1953) is an American musician. He was an early member of Bruce Springsteen's backing group, the E Street Band, and contributed to the first three Springsteen albums, and again on ''Human Touch'' (1992), '' Trac ...

– piano

References

{{authority control 1973 songs Bruce Springsteen songs Songs written by Bruce Springsteen Song recordings produced by Mike Appel