"Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" | ||||
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Single by Bruce Springsteen | ||||
from the album The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle | ||||
B-side | "Night" | |||
Released | September 11, 1973 (album) 1979 (single) |
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Recorded | 1973 at 914 Sound Studios in Blauvelt, New York | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 7:04 | |||
Label | Columbia Records | |||
Writer(s) | Bruce Springsteen | |||
Producer(s) | Mike Appel, Jim Cretecos | |||
Bruce Springsteen singles chronology | ||||
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"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 just over seven minutes, is a story of forbidden love between the singer and the titular Rosalita, whose parents disapprove of his life in a rock and roll band. It is included on the compilation albums The Essential Bruce Springsteen and Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Greatest Hits.
Never released as a single in U.S. and generally unknown upon its initial album release, "Rosalita" began to get FM radio airplay when an advance version of "Born to Run" was given out 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 dubbed it "a raucous celebration of desire." Robert Christgau 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 or The Rolling Stones, 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 occupies the #71 spot on Rolling Stone's 1993 list of the top 100 videos.