"Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" 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 ...
, from his ''
The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle''
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
, and is especially famed as a concert number for Springsteen and
The E Street Band. The song, which clocks in at just over seven minutes, is a story of forbidden love between the singer and the eponymous Rosalita, whose parents disapprove of his life in a rock and roll band. It is included on the
compilation album
A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...
s ''
The Essential Bruce Springsteen'' and ''
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Greatest Hits''. In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked it the 446th greatest song of all time on their updated
500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.
Reception
Never released as a single in U.S. and generally unknown upon its initial album release, "Rosalita" began to get
FM radio
FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting that uses frequency modulation (FM) of the radio broadcast carrier wave. Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to transmit high fidelity, high-f ...
airplay when an advance version of "
Born to Run" was distributed to rock radio stations. As Springsteen gained commercial success, "Rosalita" became one of his most popular airplay tracks, and is still heard on classic rock radio. The song, despite never receiving an official US single release, has been lauded hugely by music critics in the years since its release in 1973. On its release Ken Emerson of ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'' dubbed it "a raucous celebration of desire." In ''
Rock Albums of the Seventies'' (1981),
Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...
described it as "more lyrical and ironic than you could have dreamed". George P Pelecanos of ''
Uncut'' magazine has called it "One of the great rock'n roll performances, and as close to a perfect song as anyone's ever recorded," while
Chris T-T in the same publication declared "Never mind
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
or
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
, this is the best rock'n roll track of all time."
The song is one of
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. Its
music video
A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
occupies the number 71 spot on ''Rolling Stone''s 1993 list of the top 100 videos.
Though it was not released as a single in the US (or anywhere at the time of the album's release), "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" was released as a single in the Netherlands and some other European countries in 1979.
Music video
In 1984, many years after the song's initial release,
MTV began showing a music video for the song. The video was a straight concert performance (from a
Darkness Tour performance on July 8, 1978, at the
Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...
) that included band introductions and female fans rushing the stage.
In 1979, a live concert performance was shown on the
BBC2
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...
television show ''
The Old Grey Whistle Test''. This performance was later released on a compilation DVD of performances from the show.
Live performances
For many years, dating back virtually to when the song was written, "Rosalita" always closed the regular set in Springsteen concerts, often elongated to incorporate extended band introductions. It was the one "sure thing" in a Springsteen set list and celebrated as such.
Steven Van Zandt used this time to shine on backing vocals, as his voice changed on performances of the song from the
Born to Run tours to
The River Tour and during the River Tour on November 2, 1980, Springsteen changed the lyrics to "Rosie, relax and let's have a little fun cause Rosie, my record just went to number one" celebrating the fact that Springsteen just had his first ''Billboard'' number-one album.
On October 19, 1984, in the
Tacoma Dome in
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...
, during the
Born in the U.S.A. Tour, "Rosalita" was dropped from the show, not to reappear. Springsteen biographer
Dave Marsh said this was done to "disrupt the ritual expectations of the fanatic fans
..establishing through a burst of creativity just who ''was'' boss
..he'd liberated the show from an albatross, a song that was too long and had long since stopped breathing."

For many years, "Rosalita" made only rare or sporadic appearances, leading to fans campaigning for the song to be played by holding banners or placards saying "Let Rosie Come Out Tonight!" during shows. Springsteen occasionally granted the wish, though, such as during the last show of the above-mentioned tour in 1985 at the
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the Los Angeles Coliseum or L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park, Los Angeles, Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. Conceived as a hal ...
, or on most of the quick American leg of the 1988
Tunnel of Love Express (it was dropped before the end, and did not appear on the European leg), or on the last night of a 15-show stand at the
Continental Airlines Arena in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
on the
Reunion Tour in 1999. Finally, during the U.S. outdoor stadium portion of
The Rising Tour in Summer 2003, "Rosalita" was inserted into the encores and was played in all 33 of those shows.
During the 2007–2008
Magic Tour, the song made sporadic appearances, sometimes in reaction to audience signs requesting it. On the July 4 show 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 ...
, Van Zandt brought back the famous "double-mike" ditty he and Springsteen used to do in the 1970s with the song's chorus. "Rosalita" continued to make sporadic appearances as the final encore during the 2009
Working on a Dream Tour. Beginning with the Wrecking Ball tour, the song became a regular part of encores.
Personnel
From
Best of Bruce Springsteen Liner Notes
*
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 ...
– vocals, guitar
*
Clarence Clemons – tenor saxophone, backing vocals
*
Danny Federici - organ, backing vocals
*
Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez – drums, percussion, backing vocals
*
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), '' Tr ...
– piano
*
Garry Tallent – bass
Certifications
Notes
External links
Lyrics and audio clips from Brucespringsteen.net
{{Authority control
1979 singles
1973 songs
Bruce Springsteen songs
Song recordings produced by Mike Appel
Songs about New Jersey
Songs written by Bruce Springsteen