In 1973, Springsteen released his first two albums, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. and The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle, neither of which earned him a large audience. He changed his style and reached worldwide popularity with Born to Run in 1975. It was followed by Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978) and The River (1980), which topped the US Billboard 200 chart. After the solo recording, Nebraska (1982), he reunited with the E Street Band for Born in the U.S.A. (1984), his most commercially successful album and one of the best-selling albums of all time. Seven of its singles reached the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100, including the title track. Springsteen recorded his next three albums, Tunnel of Love (1987), Human Touch (1992), and Lucky Town (1992) using mostly session musicians. He reassembled the E Street Band for 1995's Greatest Hits, then recorded the sparse acoustic The Ghost of Tom Joad, followed by the EP Blood Brothers (1996), his last release of the decade.
Springsteen dedicated his 2002 album The Rising to the victims of the September 11 attacks. He released two more folk albums, Devils & Dust (2005) and We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006), followed by two more albums with the E Street Band: Magic (2007) and Working on a Dream (2009). The next two, Wrecking Ball (2012) and High Hopes (2014), topped album charts worldwide. His latest releases include the solo Western Stars (2019), the E Street Band-featuring Letter to You (2020) and a solo cover album Only the Strong Survive (2022). When Letter to You went to No.2 in the US, Springsteen became the first artist to score a Top Five hit across six consecutive decades.
Among the album era's prominent acts, Springsteen has sold more than 140 million records worldwide and more than 71 million in the United States, making him one of the world's best-selling music artists. He has earned numerous awards for his work, including 20 Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, an Academy Award, and a Special Tony Award (for Springsteen on Broadway). Springsteen was inducted into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2009, named MusiCares person of the year in 2013, and awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2016. He ranked 23rd on Rolling Stone's list of the Greatest Artists of All Time, which described him as being "the embodiment of rock & roll".
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Springsteen
Studio albums
Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973)
The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle (1973)
Born to Run (1975)
Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978)
The River (1980)
Nebraska (1982)
Born in the U.S.A. (1984)
Tunnel of Love (1987)
Human Touch (1992)
Lucky Town (1992)
The Ghost of Tom Joad (1995)
The Rising (2002)
Devils & Dust (2005)
We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006)
Magic (2007)
Working on a Dream (2009)
Wrecking Ball (2012)
High Hopes (2014)
Western Stars (2019)
Letter to You (2020)
Only the Strong Survive (2022)
Protection
Bruce Springsteen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I keep holding on
You say you love me
Then you leave me so lonely
Baby, I don't believe a word
You're sayin'
I think it's all some evil game
Still all day long all I do is think
About ya
You got me believin' that I can't
Live without ya
Well if ya want it, well here is
My confession
Baby, I can't help it, you're my obsession
Protection, that's what I need
I need protection, baby from your love
Protection, that's what I need
I need protection, baby from your love
I wait at home by my telephone
When I call your house, baby
You're not home
Knock on the door and rush
Down the stairs
When I open up, baby you're
Not there
When we're together and ya put
Your arms around me
Your love sweeps away all the
Confusion that surrounds me
You keep my mind
Forever, ever in doubt
You want me believin'
That baby, I can't live without
Protection that's what I need
I need protection, baby from your love
Protection, that's what I need
I need protection, baby from your love
We stand alone, at my window
And stare out, at the shadows
Down below
I feel your fingers on my face
I want to stay, I want to run away
Protection that's what I need
I need protection, baby from your love
Protection, that's what I need
I need protection, baby from your love
Protection, that's what I need
I need protection, baby from your love
Protection, that's what I need
I need protection, baby from your love
In the song "Protection," Bruce Springsteen is exploring the themes of love, obsession, and the need for protection. The singer is in a tumultuous relationship with someone who says they love him but who keeps leaving him feeling lonely and confused. Despite his reservations about his partner's commitment, the singer cannot help thinking about them constantly and feeling as though he cannot live without them. He becomes obsessed with this person, waiting for their calls, knocking on their door, and feeling confused when they are not around. The singer is caught in a cycle of love and fear, wanting to protect himself from being hurt but unable to resist the pull of his intense emotions.
The chorus, "Protection, that's what I need. I need protection, baby from your love," is a plea for help. The singer is grappling with the intense emotions of love and obsession, and he needs someone to help him break free from their grip. He wants someone to protect him from the power of his emotions and his partner's fickle behavior.
Overall, the song is a powerful exploration of the intense emotions that often accompany love, and the need for protection both from others and from ourselves.
Line by Line Meaning
Night after night
I keep holding on
You say you love me
Then you leave me so lonely
I am continuously putting my faith in you, despite you expressing your love and then abandoning me, isolating me.
Baby, I don't believe a word
You're sayin'
I think it's all some evil game
You're playin'
I am losing trust in your words, suspecting that you are manipulating me for your own amusement.
Still all day long all I do is think
About ya
You got me believin' that I can't
Live without ya
Well if ya want it, well here is
My confession
Baby, I can't help it, you're my obsession
My thoughts are consumed by you, believing that I'm unable to live without you. I admit that I'm helpless because of my fixation on you.
Protection, that's what I need
I need protection, baby from your love
Protection, that's what I need
I need protection, baby from your love
I require safety from the emotional harm that you are causing me by loving and leaving me repeatedly.
I wait at home by my telephone
When I call your house, baby
You're not home
Knock on the door and rush
Down the stairs
When I open up, baby you're
Not there
I am patiently waiting for your call, but you are not answering. Even when I go to your house, you are not there to be found.
When we're together and ya put
Your arms around me
Your love sweeps away all the
Confusion that surrounds me
When we are intimate, I'm able to forget all the troubles in my head and feel at ease, thanks to your embrace.
You keep my mind
Forever, ever in doubt
You want me believin'
That baby, I can't live without
You are keeping me in a constant state of insecurity and doubt. You want me to believe that I am nothing without you.
We stand alone, at my window
And stare out, at the shadows
Down below
I feel your fingers on my face
I want to stay, I want to run away
We're gazing out my window, completely entranced by the outside view. I feel your touch on me, causing me to feel conflicted - wanting to stay with you and wanting to escape.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@thebossfanman4900
Here's the real deal behind Protection I pulled from a Bruce Expert. Enjoy🎸🎷🎵
In 1982, David Geffen called in a favor. His record label was still an upstart at the time, and he was looking for material for the first recording artist he'd signed.
Geffen phoned a friend who happened to manage a client who Geffen thought might be just the person to write a song for his artist's new album. Geffen's friend agreed to talk to his client about it, and his client was up for the opportunity.
Geffen's artist was reigning disco queen Donna Summer, and his friend Jon Landau's client was Bruce Springsteen, rock's heir to the throne in 1982. The pairing was an intriguing one, and when red-hot producer Quincy Jones was added to the mix, it was a can't-miss combination.
Bruce set about writing a song that had one foot in the disco arena and one foot in rock. It turned out great--so great, in fact, that Landau wouldn't let his client give "Cover Me" away.

Landau convinced Bruce to hang on to "Cover Me" (it became the follow-up single to "Dancing in the Dark" and peaked at #7 in 1984), urging him instead to write something just like it, but different.
He did exactly that. Bruce wrote "Protection," another disco-influenced song that was the lyrical polar opposite of "Cover Me" and recorded a demo with the E Street Band.

Where "Cover Me" featured a narrator begging for the shelter of his partner's love, the narrator of the anti-"Cover Me" needs protection from his lover.
Night after night I keep holding on
You say you love me, then you leave me so lonely
I don't believe a single thing you're saying
I think it's all some evil game you're playing
Still all day long, all I do is think about you
You got me believing that I can't live without you
Well, if you want it, well here's my confession
Well, I can't help it, you're my obsession
Protection, that's what I need
I want protection, baby, from your love
But despite its thematic inversion, "Protection" is similar to "Cover Me" in more ways than just its musical structure and blistering Boss guitar solos. They're both lyrically slight, as pop songs often are, relying on the chorus to carry the weight rather than fleshing out the verses with detail and character development.
Still, it's effective here--considerably more so than in "Cover Me"--thanks in large part to an adrenaline-fueled backing track that captures our narrator's paranoia. He's fully wrapped around his lover's finger, and they both know it--and at least through his eyes, she seems to be enjoying torturing him.
The phone rings in the middle of the night
And when I pick it up, you won't answer
A knock on the door, I rush down the stairs
When I open up, there's no one there
Out in the darkness I feel your eyes on me
I lay in bed and feel your hands upon me
Well, is it all just my imagination
You keep me in doubt, believing I can't live without your
Protection
I stand alone at my window
I see you waiting in the shadows down below
I feel your fingers on my face
I know I want to stay, but I want to run away
Protection, that's what I need
I want protection, baby, from your love
It's never quite clear, however, whether the off-screen love interest is as manipulative as our narrator seems to believe. Those middle verses are very similar to the dream sequence in "Downbound Train" (Bruce was dipping into dream imagery often during that period), and it's easy to imagine our narrator is haunted by his imagination more than his infatuation.
Still, that last verse can go either way. Is he lost in a dream, in memory? Or is this just the beginning of a new cycle of torment? We don't know, but either way we can feel how badly Bruce's character needs some relief. Relief that he never gets--this is isn't that kind of song.
Summer loved the demo of "Protection" so Bruce flew out to Hollywood to work on it with her. For a time there was even talk of them recording a duet together. If such duet was ever recorded, however, it remains unconfirmed to this day.
Still, Bruce spent a few days with Donna working on the song, and he appears on her officially released track, playing lead guitar and contributing backing vocals on a backing track that sounds very similar to the E Street Band's version. (Roy Bittan also performs on the track.)

Donna released "Protection" as the second single from her self-titled album in early 1983, but it didn't chart. It did, however, earn her a Grammy nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. (She lost to Pat Benatar.) In her album liner notes, she thanked Bruce for "hangin' out and workin' out" on the song.

As for Bruce's own version, it remains complete but unreleased in his vault. To this day, he's never performed it concert, although he may have come close in 1988, when he rehearsed it for the Tunnel of Love Express Tour.

Despite Summer's inclusion of it on her own album, "Protection" was at one point a contender for Born in the U.S.A. as well, with Landau in particular lobbying for its inclusion. If the long-rumored Born in the U.S.A. anniversary box set ever sees the light of day, there's a good chance we may finally see an official release of Bruce's version of "Protection."
@Lukas.1984
Night after night
I keep holding on
You say you love me
Then you leave me so lonely
I don't believe a single thing you're sayin'
I think it's all some evil game you're playin'
Still all day long all I do is think about you
You got me believin' that I can't live without you
Well if you want it, well here's my confession
Well I can't help it, you're my obsession
Protection, that's what I need
I need protection, baby, from your love
Protection, that's what I need
I need protection, baby, from your love
The phone rings
in the middle of the night
When I pick it up
You won't answer
A knock on the door
I rush down the stairs
When I open up
there's no one there
Out in the darkness
I feel your eyes on me
I lay in bed and feel your hands upon me
Well is it all
just my imagination
You keep me in doubt
believing I can't live without
Protection, that's what I need
I need protection, baby, from your love
Protection, that's what I need
I need protection, baby, from your love
We stand alone, at my window
And stare out, at the shadows down below
I feel your fingers on my face
I want to stay, I want to run away
Protection, that's what I need
I need protection, baby, from your love
Protection, that's what I need
I need protection, baby, from your love
Protection
@jackiehite5099
Yeah. The boss of rock and roll can sing another. He's the greatest
@mavwarfable
Truly the boss. Who else can affort to NOT put a song like that on an album?!?! Looking forward to see him this summer.
@pascalamiteiten
It’s on the Donna Summer album “Donna Summer” from 1982.
@darrenlangton3996
This has the same type of vibe as Roulette, with the fast pace, and Clarence's passionate saxophone solos - a fine outtake from the Born In The USA experience.
@erykjones5170
My thoughts exactly. Roulette came to mind immediately
@carlosu251
Way better than Roulette.
@thebossfanman4900
Here's the real deal behind Protection I pulled from a Bruce Expert. Enjoy🎸🎷🎵
In 1982, David Geffen called in a favor. His record label was still an upstart at the time, and he was looking for material for the first recording artist he'd signed.
Geffen phoned a friend who happened to manage a client who Geffen thought might be just the person to write a song for his artist's new album. Geffen's friend agreed to talk to his client about it, and his client was up for the opportunity.
Geffen's artist was reigning disco queen Donna Summer, and his friend Jon Landau's client was Bruce Springsteen, rock's heir to the throne in 1982. The pairing was an intriguing one, and when red-hot producer Quincy Jones was added to the mix, it was a can't-miss combination.
Bruce set about writing a song that had one foot in the disco arena and one foot in rock. It turned out great--so great, in fact, that Landau wouldn't let his client give "Cover Me" away.

Landau convinced Bruce to hang on to "Cover Me" (it became the follow-up single to "Dancing in the Dark" and peaked at #7 in 1984), urging him instead to write something just like it, but different.
He did exactly that. Bruce wrote "Protection," another disco-influenced song that was the lyrical polar opposite of "Cover Me" and recorded a demo with the E Street Band.

Where "Cover Me" featured a narrator begging for the shelter of his partner's love, the narrator of the anti-"Cover Me" needs protection from his lover.
Night after night I keep holding on
You say you love me, then you leave me so lonely
I don't believe a single thing you're saying
I think it's all some evil game you're playing
Still all day long, all I do is think about you
You got me believing that I can't live without you
Well, if you want it, well here's my confession
Well, I can't help it, you're my obsession
Protection, that's what I need
I want protection, baby, from your love
But despite its thematic inversion, "Protection" is similar to "Cover Me" in more ways than just its musical structure and blistering Boss guitar solos. They're both lyrically slight, as pop songs often are, relying on the chorus to carry the weight rather than fleshing out the verses with detail and character development.
Still, it's effective here--considerably more so than in "Cover Me"--thanks in large part to an adrenaline-fueled backing track that captures our narrator's paranoia. He's fully wrapped around his lover's finger, and they both know it--and at least through his eyes, she seems to be enjoying torturing him.
The phone rings in the middle of the night
And when I pick it up, you won't answer
A knock on the door, I rush down the stairs
When I open up, there's no one there
Out in the darkness I feel your eyes on me
I lay in bed and feel your hands upon me
Well, is it all just my imagination
You keep me in doubt, believing I can't live without your
Protection
I stand alone at my window
I see you waiting in the shadows down below
I feel your fingers on my face
I know I want to stay, but I want to run away
Protection, that's what I need
I want protection, baby, from your love
It's never quite clear, however, whether the off-screen love interest is as manipulative as our narrator seems to believe. Those middle verses are very similar to the dream sequence in "Downbound Train" (Bruce was dipping into dream imagery often during that period), and it's easy to imagine our narrator is haunted by his imagination more than his infatuation.
Still, that last verse can go either way. Is he lost in a dream, in memory? Or is this just the beginning of a new cycle of torment? We don't know, but either way we can feel how badly Bruce's character needs some relief. Relief that he never gets--this is isn't that kind of song.
Summer loved the demo of "Protection" so Bruce flew out to Hollywood to work on it with her. For a time there was even talk of them recording a duet together. If such duet was ever recorded, however, it remains unconfirmed to this day.
Still, Bruce spent a few days with Donna working on the song, and he appears on her officially released track, playing lead guitar and contributing backing vocals on a backing track that sounds very similar to the E Street Band's version. (Roy Bittan also performs on the track.)

Donna released "Protection" as the second single from her self-titled album in early 1983, but it didn't chart. It did, however, earn her a Grammy nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. (She lost to Pat Benatar.) In her album liner notes, she thanked Bruce for "hangin' out and workin' out" on the song.

As for Bruce's own version, it remains complete but unreleased in his vault. To this day, he's never performed it concert, although he may have come close in 1988, when he rehearsed it for the Tunnel of Love Express Tour.

Despite Summer's inclusion of it on her own album, "Protection" was at one point a contender for Born in the U.S.A. as well, with Landau in particular lobbying for its inclusion. If the long-rumored Born in the U.S.A. anniversary box set ever sees the light of day, there's a good chance we may finally see an official release of Bruce's version of "Protection."
@TiesHelder-hu8ow
Nice stuff, thanks.
@newdamage5945
Why haven't these Born in the USA outtakes gotten an official release is beyond me.
@MattSmith-iq1ld
That Born In The USA box set is coming out at some point. Maybe they are waiting for the the 40th anniversary of its release?? Will Bruce be alive??