"4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)", often known just as "Sandy", is a 1973 song by

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

, originally appearing as the second song on his album ''

The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle ''The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle'' is the second studio album by the American rock singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen. It was recorded by Springsteen with the E Street Band at 914 Sound Studios in Blauvelt, New York, and released ...

''. It was released as a single from the album in Germany. One of the best-known and most praised of his early efforts, p. 58. the song remains one of his most popular ballads, p. 25. and has been described as "the perfect musical study of the

Jersey Shore The Jersey Shore, commonly called the Shore by locals, is the coast, coastal region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The term encompasses about of shore, oceanfront bordering the Atlantic Ocean, from Perth Amboy, New Jersey, Perth Amboy in the n ...

boardwalk culture".

Themes and recording

Set on, as the title suggests,

the Fourth of July Independence Day, known colloquially as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States which commemorates the ratification of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the ...

Asbury Park, New Jersey Asbury Park () is a beachfront city located on the Jersey Shore in Monmouth County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 15,188, a decr ...

, the song is a powerful love ballad, dedicated to one Sandy and describing the depressing atmosphere that threatens to smother the love between the singer and Sandy. Locals include the "stoned-out faces", "

switchblade A switchblade (also known as switch knife, automatic knife, pushbutton knife, ejector knife, flick knife, gravity knife, flick blade, or spring knife) is a pocketknife with a sliding or pivoting blade contained in the handle which is extended ...

lovers" and "the greasers" who "tramp the streets or get busted for sleeping on the beach all night". The singer is tired of "hangin' in them dusty arcades" and "chasin' the factory girls". The song begins with the line: "Sandy, the fireworks are hailin' over Little Eden tonight." Writer Ariel Swartley views the song's verses as depicting the narrator as something of an "adolescent loser ... ho'sruining his chances with the girl: he can't stop telling her about the humiliations, about the girls who led him on, about the waitress that got tired of him." Nevertheless, Swartley observes the choruses to be warm, immediate, and portray an irresistibly romantic atmosphere.

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

's influence can be heard in this song, as "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" closely parallels his romanticization of

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

in such songs as "

Cyprus Avenue "Cyprus Avenue" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and included on his 1968 album ''Astral Weeks''. It refers to Cyprus Avenue, a residential street in Morrison's hometown of Belfast, Northern Ireland. In perfor ...

" and "

Madame George "Madame George" is a song by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It appears on the album '' Astral Weeks'', released in 1968. The song features Morrison performing the vocals and acoustic guitar. It also features a double bass, flute, d ...

" from the 1968 album, ''

Astral Weeks ''Astral Weeks'' is the second studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was recorded at Century Sound Studios in New York during September and October 1968, and released in November of the same year by Warner Bros. Re ...

''. "Sandy" showcases the wistful side of Springsteen; ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' writer

Robert Hilburn Robert Hilburn (born September 25, 1939) is an American pop music critic, author, and radio host. As music critic and editor at the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1970 to 2005, his reviews, essays, and profiles have appeared in publications worldwide ...

later wrote that "the verses

ere Ere or ERE may refer to: * ''Environmental and Resource Economics'', a peer-reviewed academic journal * ERE Informatique, one of the first French video game companies * Ere language, an Austronesian language * Ebi Ere (born 1981), American-Nigeria ...

whispered as if he was singing into his girlfriend's ear." During recording of the song for the album, Springsteen wanted a children's choir to sing on it, but they did not show up for the session. Instead, he recorded the high, clear voice of

Suki Lahav Tzruya (or Tsruya) "Suki" Lahav (; born July 16, 1951) is an Israeli violinist, vocalist, actress, lyricist, screenwriter, and novelist. Lahav was a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band from September 1974 to March 1975, then returned to I ...

, overdubbing it repeatedly, to give a choir-like effect. Lahav, the wife of Springsteen's sound engineer at the time, would not be credited for her role, but would later join the

E Street Band The E Street Band is an American rock band that has been the primary backing band for rock musician Bruce Springsteen since 1972. In 2014, the E Street Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For the bulk of Springsteen's recordin ...

for six months as a violinist and singer. No singles were released from ''

''. "Sandy" would, however, along with "

Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" is a 1973 song by Bruce Springsteen, from his '' The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle'' album, and is especially famed as a concert number for Springsteen and The E Street Band. The song, which clocks in at ...

", become fan favorites from the album, and would garner

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

radio airplay during the ramp-up of Springsteen's visibility preceding the 1975 release of ''

Born to Run ''Born to Run'' is the third studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released on August 25, 1975, by Columbia Records. Co- produced by Springsteen with his manager Mike Appel and the producer Jon Landau, its recordin ...

''. The song would be released as a single in Germany in mid-1975, with the title reversed into "Sandy (4th July, Asbury Park)". "Sandy" also attracted the attention of other musicians; it was one of the two Springsteen songs that drummer

Max Weinberg Max Weinberg (born April 13, 1951) is an American drummer and television personality, most widely known as the longtime drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and as the bandleader for Conan O'Brien on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' an ...

knew when he auditioned for Springsteen's

in late 1974. p. 117. Once ''Born to Run'' made Springsteen a major rock figure, "Sandy" received additional airplay on progressive and

album oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the late 1960s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. US radi ...

formats.

Live performance history

"Sandy" was included on Springsteen and the E Street Band's best-selling 1986

box set A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists ...

'' Live/1975–85'', in a 1980

Nassau Coliseum Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (or simply the Nassau Coliseum) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Uniondale, New York, on Long Island. The venue is situated approximately east of the eastern limits of the Borough (New York City), borough of Q ...

performance that nevertheless had a "club feel" to it. p. 419, 429–430. Its sequencing in the box set represented the opening stages of the journey that the core characters in Springsteen's work take; Springsteen said, "Then you get 'Sandy'. That's the guy and he's on the boardwalk, and I guess that was me then, when I was still around Asbury. And there's the girl.... Here it is. This is the beginning of the whole trip that's about to take place." It is also included on the 2003 compilation ''

The Essential Bruce Springsteen ''The Essential Bruce Springsteen'' is a compilation album by Bruce Springsteen, released on November 11, 2003. The collection is part of a series of ''Essential'' sets released by Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Music. It includes songs from vari ...

'' The song was a mainstay of Springsteen and the E Street Band's concert

set list A set list, or setlist, is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance. A setlist can be made of nearly any materi ...

s during the early part of his career, and a 1975 performance is included on the 2006 '' Hammersmith Odeon London '75'' audio and video release. It became much rarer to hear after the 1980–1981 River Tour, appearing only very sporadically, and then usually in New Jersey. Within the

, the song was heavily identified with

Danny Federici Daniel Paul Federici (January 23, 1950 – April 17, 2008) was an American musician, best known as a founding member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, where he was its organist, accordionist and glockenspiel player. Federici appeared on ten ...

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

part, which is the main musical element. "Sandy" was played several times late on the first leg of the 2007–2008 Magic Tour, including Federici's final regular appearance in November 2007 before taking a leave of absence for

melanoma Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer; it develops from the melanin-producing cells known as melanocytes. It typically occurs in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye (uveal melanoma). In very rare case ...

treatment. When Federici made his only return to the stage after that, on March 20, 2008, appearing for portions of a Springsteen and E Street Band performance at

Conseco Fieldhouse CNO Financial Group, Inc. (formerly Conseco, Inc. (from Consolidated National Security Corporation)) is an American financial services holding company based in Carmel, Indiana. Its insurance subsidiaries provide life insurance, annuity and supp ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, "Sandy" was the one song that he requested be performed. Following Federici's April 17, 2008 death, "Sandy" was performed in tribute to him, with

Roy Bittan Roy J. Bittan (born July 2, 1949) is an American musician best known as a long-time member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. Nicknamed "The Professor", Bittan joined the E Street Band in 1974. He plays the piano, organ, accordion and synth ...

taking over the accordion part. In July 2008, the live EP '' Magic Tour Highlights'' was released, with the final Federici performance of "Sandy" the closing track. The song has been played live about 230 times.

Covers

The Hollies The Hollies are an English rock and pop band formed in Manchester in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Singer Allan Clarke and ...

recorded a single of "Sandy" (under that title) in 1975, and included it on their '' Another Night'' album. Released on

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

in the U.S. in April 1975, it only achieved minor airplay, reaching number 85 on the U.S. pop singles chart. Nonetheless, ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' called it a "winning ballad." It had better success in New Zealand, reaching number 12 on their singles chart. Though released as a single, it did not reach the chart in the UK, though in London it made no.15 on Capital Radio's 'Capital Countdown' Top 40. While not a big hit unto itself, The Hollies' use of "Sandy" presaged other artists mining the early Springsteen songbook for material, a notion that would soon be exploited to much greater commercial success by

Manfred Mann's Earth Band Manfred Mann's Earth Band are an English rock band formed by South African musician Manfred Mann (musician), Manfred Mann. Their hits include covers of Bruce Springsteen's "For You (Bruce Springsteen song), For You", "Blinded by the Light" an ...

and others.

Air Supply Air Supply is an Australian soft rock duo formed in Melbourne, Australia, in 1975, consisting of Englishman Graham Russell (vocals, guitar) and Australian Russell Hitchcock (vocals). With record sales of 100 million worldwide, they had a suc ...

recorded "Sandy" for their 1985 album ''

''. Singer-songwriter

Richard Shindell Richard Shindell (born August 3, 1960) is an American Folk music, folk singer, songwriter, producer, and musician. Shindell grew up in Port Washington, New York, Port Washington, New York, and now lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with his wife ...

recorded what has been described as a "near-holy reading" of this song for his 2002 live album, ''

Courier A courier is a person or organization that delivers a message, package or letter from one place or person to another place or person. Typically, a courier provides their courier service on a commercial contract basis; however, some couriers are ...

''.Jeff Schwatcher, Courier reviewat

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

(4.5/5) Jason Heath and the Greedy Souls recorded a version in Los Angeles, 2009 which is officially endorsed by Bruce Springsteen. The band line up features the original E Street Band keyboardist and accordion player Danny Federici's son, Jason Federici. The song was released through Springsteen's website and a video can be seen on YouTube. Swedish artist

Ulf Lundell Ulf Gerhard Lundell (born 20 November 1949) is a Swedish writer, poet, songwriter, composer, musician and artist. He made his debut in 1975 with the LP '' Vargmåne'' and was immediately hailed as "Sweden's Bob Dylan". In 1976 his first novel, ...

made a Swedish version of the song called "Sanna, (Nyårsafton Åre 1983) (Sandy)". The song was dedicated to his daughter Sanna, and instead of taking place on 4th of July, it takes place on New Year's Eve. Ben E. King covered the song on the 1997 tribute album ''One Step Up/Two Steps Back: The Songs of Bruce Springsteen.'' New York hard rock band

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

released a single titled " Shandi", from their 1980 album '' Unmasked'', with the song title being inspired by Springsteen's Sandy according to

Paul Stanley Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who was the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss from the band's inception in 1973 to their retireme ...

, the only member of Kiss to work on the recording of the song in the studio, although all four members of the group appeared in the song's promotional video clip. Dutch group Theu Boermans en de groep covered this song in a Dutch language as Venlo'67

Legacy

This song was chosen by

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

as one of his

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordin ...

, apparently because he listened to it many times when he was courting his future wife

Cherie Booth Cherie, Lady Blair (; born 23 September 1954), also known professionally as Cherie Booth, is an English barrister and writer. She is the spouse of former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair. Early life and education Booth was born ...

Madam Marie

One of the song's most famous lines is: :''Did you hear, the cops finally busted Madam Marie,'' :''for tellin' fortunes better than they do ...'' The "Madam Marie" mentioned in the song was a real-life fortune teller on the

Asbury Park Asbury Park () is a beachfront city located on the Jersey Shore in Monmouth County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 15,188, a dec ...

boardwalk A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway typically built with wooden planks, which functions as a type of low water bridge or small viaduct that enables pedestrians to ...

named Marie Castello, who died June 27, 2008, aged 93. Springsteen offered memories and condolences of her on his website, saying: Springsteen said some of the same remarks on stage during the next show on the Magic Tour, dedicating a performance of "Sandy" in

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

, Sweden on July 4, 2008, to her. Similar dedication took place in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, Finland a few days later. The dedication, word-by-word, from Gothenburg: :''We always send this one out to Danny,'' :''and just a few days ago, Madam Marie,'' :''who was the gypsy teller in the Asbury Park'' :''boardwalk passed away, she was 98,'' :''that's a lot of fortune-telling.'' :''There's enough mystery lost in the world,'' :''we need all the fortune-tellers we can get,'' :''so tonight we're gonna send this one out to'' :''Madam Marie...'' Springsteen incorrectly noted she died at 98; she was in fact 93. The song has always been dedicated to

since his death on April 17, 2008, as this was "his" song, featuring a prominent accordion throughout the song.

References

External links

Lyrics, at Bruce Springsteen official web site
{{Authority control 1970s ballads 1975 singles 1973 songs American folk rock songs Asbury Park, New Jersey Bruce Springsteen songs Folk ballads Independence Day (United States) fiction Rock ballads Songs about New Jersey Song recordings produced by Mike Appel Songs written by Bruce Springsteen The Hollies songs