Balboa Park
Bruce Springsteen Lyrics

He lay his blanket underneath the freeway
He set up his makeshift bed below the high-speed roads

As the evening sky grew dark
With night approaching

Took a sniff of toncho from his coke can
He inhaled toncho from a can that previously held coke

And headed through Balboa Park
He went through Balboa Park

Where the men in their Mercedes
Where wealthy men in luxury cars

Come nightly to employ
Go there every night to hire

In the cool San Diego evening
During the pleasant evenings of San Diego

The services of the border boys
The services provided by the border boys

He grew up near the Zona Norte
He was raised near the red-light district

With the hustlers and smugglers he hung out with
He associated with criminals who engaged in these activities

He swallowed their balloons of cocaine
He ingested their drug-filled balloons

And brought 'em across the Twelfth Street strip
And smuggled them into the United States via Twelfth Street

Sleeping in a shelter
Staying in a homeless shelter

If the night got too cold
When the temperature dropped at night

Runnin' from the migra
Fleeing from the immigration officers

Of the border patrol
From the US Customs and Border Protection

Past the salvage yard 'cross the train tracks
Over the salvage yard and across the railroad tracks

And in through the storm drain
Entering through the storm drain

They stretched their blankets out 'neath the freeway
They laid their blankets beneath the freeway

And each one took a name
And each person took on a nickname

There was X-man and Cochise
For instance, there was someone who called himself X-man and another called Cochise

Little Spider his sneakers covered in river mud
And Little Spider, whose sneakers were muddy from crossing the river

They come north to California
They came north to California

End up with the poison in their blood
And ended up with toxic substances in their bloodstream

He did what he had to do for the money
He did what he needed to do for financial reasons

Sometimes he sent home what he could spare
Occasionally, he sent money to his family

The rest went to high-top sneakers and toncho
The remaining amount was spent on high-top shoes and toncho

And jeans like the gavachos wear
And jeans similar to those worn by white people

One night the border patrol swept Twelfth Street
One night, immigration officers patrolled Twelfth Street

A big car come fast down the boulevard
A large vehicle sped along the street

Spider stood caught in its headlights
Spider got caught in its headlights

Got hit and went down hard
He was struck and fell to the ground

Car sped away Spider held his stomach
The car drove away, and Spider clutched his abdomen

Limped to his blanket 'neath the underpass
He painfully hobbled to his bedding below the underpass

Lie there tasting his own blood on his tongue
He lay there tasting his own blood in his mouth

Closed his eyes and listened to the cars rushin' by, so fast
He shut his eyes and heard the cars passing by at high speeds