What grabbed me from the outset listening to New York City Serenade was the classical music resonance in the introduction piano solo which transforms into a jazz sound. It compares to the standout piano introduction also by Roy Bittan on Backstreets and paints such a ceremonious and rich scene from the beginning. It would have been hard for Bruce to sustain that throughout, but he did just that in both cases. As I wrote in the Incident on 57th Street article back in October last year: ‘From Bruce Springsteen’s 1973 record -The Wild the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle, I played the following 4 songs incessantly in my early adolescence‘:
4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)
Wild Billy’s Circus Story
Incident on 57th Street
New York City Serenade
‘These 4 songs enabled me to enjoy great story telling about topics and scenarios I wasn’t privy to, up until then. Not only did I appreciate the music, but I internalised the words because they transported me to another time and place.….There was a small band of us at school who cherished his music. We felt through his (The Boss) music we could sidestep some of those landmines in middle school. You see, he had already loved and lost. He was someone much older than us and had got out the other end and was telling us stories of what he had seen and learnt growing up.
– Incident on 57th Street
Edited 5 January 2026: Joe Cool stated in his feedback on this article:
‘Think you’ll find it was David Sancious playing the killer piano. Roy Bittan wasn’t in the E Streeters on this album. Amazing, amazing song.
I like the line in Rosalita, “The record company, Rosie, just gave me a big advance”.
$750 million dollars worth from Sony, lol.’
I consider New York City Serenade one of Bruce’s crowning achievements in his music career. It is befitting this song concludes the record. I think the moment where he sings at (3:40) is one of my favourite music moments in Bruce’s career:
So walk tall
Or baby, don’t walk at all
The rich texture of the instrumentals and his vocal input is sublime. The whole song at 10 minutes duration I believe is atmospherically and musically one of (if not) Bruce Springsteen best songwriting feats. It has everything this song.
The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle is Bruce Springsteen’s second studio album. It was well-received critically but had little commercial success at the time, nationally but locally sold well. There was very little press, no advertisements in the trade papers and no release party, possibly because of Springsteen’s deteriorating relationship with Columbia Records. Springsteen and the E Street Band played the album in its entirety for the first time during a concert at Madison Square Garden. In the 2020 updated version of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, the album was ranked at number 345.
[Verse 1]
Billy, he’s down by the railroad tracks
Sitting low in the back seat of his Cadillac
Diamond Jackie, she’s so intact
As she falls so softly beneath him
Jackie’s heels are stacked
Billy’s got cleats on his boots
Together they’re gonna boogaloo down Broadway
And come back home with the loot
It’s midnight in Manhattan, this is no time to get cute
It’s a mad dog’s promenade
So walk tall
Or baby, don’t walk at all
[Verse 2]
Fish lady, oh, fish lady, fish lady
She baits them tenement walls
She won’t take corner boys
They ain’t got no money
And they’re so easy
I said, “Hey, baby won’t you take my hand?
Walk with me down Broadway
Well mama, take my arm and move with me down Broadway,” yeah
I’m a young man, I talk real loud
Yeah babe, I walk real proud for you
Ah, so shake it away
So shake away your street life
Shake away your city life
Hook up to the train
And hook up to the night train
Hook it up
Hook up to the, hook up to the train
Reference:
1. The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle – Wikipedia
