Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fabulous songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the lyrics or title. Today, music legend Bruce Springsteen performs βJersey Girl,β a tender ballad about a working-class New York City guy who falls head-over-heels in love with a gal from New Jersey. The smitten Springsteen has no time to hang out with the boys because, tonight, he’s gonna take that ride across the river to the Jersey side.

He sings, βYou know she thrills me with all her charms / When Iβm wrapped up in my babyβs arms / My little girl gives me everything / I know that someday sheβll wear my ring.β
When Springsteen released βJersey Girlβ as the B-side to his 1984 hit βCover Me,β it was already a fan favorite. Three years earlier, he began performing it during encores of his River Tour. The song generated so much emotion from the concertgoers that it became a set list staple β frequently opening or closing his shows. βJersey Girlβ was selected as the final track of Springsteenβs 1986 box set Live/1975-85 and was the final song performed by Springsteen at New Jerseyβs Giants Stadium before its demolition in 2009.
The Bossβs fans may be surprised to learn that even though Springsteen was born in Colts Neck, NJ, and his rocker wife, Patti Scialfa, was born in Deal, NJ, βJersey Girlβ was actually penned by Californian Tom Waits in 1980. Waits revealed in an interview that he wrote the song with his future wife and Jersey Girl, Kathleen Brennan, after she came into his life and βsaved him.β Waits included the song on his 1980 album Heartattack and Vine.
A master storyteller and poet, Springsteen rarely releases covers of other artistsβ songs, but βJersey Girlβ remains an exception. He recognized the main character in the Waits composition as the same guy from his own βSandyβ and βRosalita.β
In August 1981, Waits and Springsteen β both of whom would later enter the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame β performed βJersey Girlβ together at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.
Born in 1949, Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen was inspired to pursue a music career after watching the Beatlesβ perform on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. The 15-year-old Springsteen bought his first guitar for $18.95 at a Western Auto Appliance store.
He played small venues with a number of bands throughout the late β60s and then caught the attention of a Columbia Records talent scout in 1972. Springsteenβs debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., was released in October of that same year.
Springsteen has sold more than 150 million records worldwide. Heβs earned 20 Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, an Academy Award, and a Special Tony Award for Springsteen on Broadway. In 1999, he was inducted into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
We hope you enjoy the audio track of Springsteenβs live performance of βJersey Girl.β The lyrics are below if youβd like to sing along…
βJersey Girlβ
Written by Tom Waits. Performed by Bruce Springsteen.
I got no time for the corner boys
Down in the street making all that noise
Or the girls out on the avenue
βCause tonight I want to be with you
Tonight Iβm gonna take that ride
Across the river to the Jersey side
Take my baby to the carnival
And Iβll take her on all the rides
βCause down the shore everythingβs all right
You and your baby on a Saturday night
You know all my dreams come true
When Iβm walking down the street with you
Sha la la la la la la
Sha la la la la la la la la
Sha la la la la la la la
Sha la la la Iβm in love with a Jersey girl
You know she thrills me with all her charms
When Iβm wrapped up in my babyβs arms
My little girl gives me everything
I know that someday sheβll wear my ring
So donβt bother me man I ainβt got no time
Iβm on my way to see that girl of mine
βCause nothing matters in this whole wide world
When youβre in love with a Jersey girl
Sha la la la la la la
Sha la la la la la la la la
Sha la la la la la la la
Sha la la la Iβm in love with a Jersey girl
I see you on the street and you look so tired
I know that job you got leaves you so uninspired
When I come by to take you out to eat
youβre lyinβ all dressed up on the bed baby fast asleep
Go in the bathroom and put your makeup on
Weβre gonna take that little brat of yours and drop her off at your mom’s
I know a place where the dancingβs free
Now baby wonβt you come with me
βCause down the shore everythingβs all right
You and your baby on a Saturday night
Nothing matters in this whole wide world
When youβre in love with a Jersey girl
Credits: Photo by Manuel Martinez Perez, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.