Escrita por Bruce Sringsteen, foi gravada em 1973 no 914 Sound Studios em Blauvelt, em New York e lançada em 11 de setembro de 1973 no disco The wild, the innocent & the E street shuffle. O tema é redenção, um tema que ele viria a voltar várias vezes. A historia se passa em New York City e conta a história de um Spanish Johnny e uma Perto Rico Jane. É como se fosse uma West Side Story com Romeu e Julieta, com personagens latinos em NYC. Johnny é chamado de um cool Romeo e Jane de Late Juliet. Johnny vai pra Midtown Manhattan depois de levar uma surra ao tentar trabalhar como um prostituto. Apesar de ser rejeitado por todos, Jane dá colo a ele, dizendo Johnny não chore. Eles dormem juntos mas quando seus velhos amigos o chamam pra um programa, ele a deixa. Ela concorda mas pede que ele volte. Ele diz que sim mas não sabe se será capaz. O cantor não diz qual o fim, deixando a cargo do ouvinte decidir. David Sancious toca piano e Bruce canta e toca guitarra. Vini Lopez toca bateria. Danny Federici tocou orgao. Gary Tallent tocou baixo.
A letra:
Spanish
Johnny drove in from the underworld last night
With bruised arms
and broken rhythm and a beat-up old Buick but dressed just like
dynamite
He tried sellin' his heart to the hard girls over on easy
Street
But they said, Johnny, it falls apart so easy, and you know
hearts these days are cheap
And
the pimps swung their axes and said, Johnny, you're a cheater
And
the pimps swung their axes and said, Johnny, you're a liar
And
from out of the shadows came a young girl's voice
Said, Johnny,
don't cry
Puerto
Rican Jane, oh, won't you tell me, what's your name?
I want to
drive you down to the other side of town
Where paradise ain't so
crowded and there'll be action goin' down on Shanty Lane tonight
All
the golden-heeled fairies in a real bitch-fight
Pull
thirty-eight's and kiss their girls goodnight
Oh, goodnight, it's
alright, Jane
Now let them black boys in to light the soul
flame
We may find it out on the street tonight, baby
Or we may
walk until the daylight, maybe
Well, like a cool Romeo
he made his moves, oh, she looked so fine
Like a late Juliet, she
knew she'd never be true but then, she didn't really mind
Upstairs
a band was playin' and the singer was singin' something about going
home
She whispered, Spanish Johnny, you can leave me tonight, but
just don't leave me alone
And Johnny cried,
Puerto Rican Jane, word is down, the cops have found the vein
Oh,
them barefoot boys left their homes for the woods
Them little
barefoot street boys, they said their homes ain't no good
They
left the corners, threw away all of their switchblade knives
And
kissed each other goodbye
Johnny was sittin' on
the fire escape, watchin' the kids playin' down the street
He
called down, hey little heroes, summer's long, but I guess it ain't
very sweet around here anymore
Janey sleeps in sheets damp with
sweat
Johnny sits up alone and watches her dream on, dream on
And the sister
prays for lost souls, then breaks down in the chapel after everyone's
gone
Jane moves over to
share her pillow but opens her eyes to see Johnny up and putting his
clothes on
She says, those romantic young boys (those romantic
young boys), all they ever want to do is fight
Those romantic
young boys (those romantic young boys), they're callin' through the
window
Hey, Spanish Johnny, you want to make a little easy money
tonight?
And Johnny whispered,
goodnight, it's all tight, Jane
I'll meet you tomorrow night on
lover's lane
We may find it out on the street tonight, now,
baby
Or we may walk until the daylight, maybe
Oh, goodnight, it's
alright, Jane
I'm gonna meet you tomorrow night on lover's
lane
Oh, we can find it out on the street tonight, baby
Or we
may walk until the daylight, maybe
Ah, goodnight, it's
alright, Jane
I'll meet you tomorrow night on lover's lane
Oh,
we may find it out on the street tonight, baby
Or we may have to
walk until the daylight, maybe (goodnight it's alright, Jane)
A versão de Bruce Springsteen:
A versão de Jon Latham:
A versão de Hans Ludvigsson:
