album cover
The Line
2,767
Rock
The Line was released on November 21, 1995 by Columbia as a part of the album The Ghost of Tom Joad
album cover
Release DateNovember 21, 1995
LabelColumbia
LanguageEnglish
Melodicness
Acousticness
Valence
Danceability
Energy
BPM

Music Video

Music Video

Credits

PERFORMING ARTISTS
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards
COMPOSITION & LYRICS
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Songwriter
PRODUCTION & ENGINEERING
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Producer
Chuck Plotkin
Chuck Plotkin
Producer
Toby Scott
Toby Scott
Recording Engineer, Mixing Engineer
Dave Collins
Dave Collins
Mastering Engineer

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
I got my discharge from Fort Irwin
Took place on the San Diego county line
Felt funny bein' a civilian again
It'd been some time
My wife had died a year ago
I was still tryna find my way back home
I went to work for the INS on the line
The California border patrol
[Verse 2]
Bobby Ramirez was a ten year veteran
And we became friends
His family was from Guanajuato
The job, it was different for him
Said, "There is death in the deserts and mountains
Pay all they got to the smuggler's rings
We send 'em home, they come right back again
Carl, hunger is a powerful thing"
[Verse 3]
Well, I was good at doin' what I was told
Kept my uniform pressed and clean
At night I chased their shadows
Through the arroyos and ravines
Drug runners, farmers with their families
Young women with little children by their side
Come night we'd wait out in the canyons
Try to keep 'em from crossin' the line
[Verse 4]
The first time that I saw her
She was in the holdin' pen
Our eyes met and she looked away
Then she looked back again
Her hair was black as coal
Her eyes reminded me of what I'd lost
She had a young child cryin' in her arms
I asked, "Señora, is there anything I can do?"
[Verse 5]
There's a bar in Tijuana
Where me and Bobby drink, the same people, the same pack a day before
We met there, she said her name was Louisa
She was from Sonora and just come North
We danced, I held her in my arms
I knew what I would do
She said she had some family in Madeira county
She, her child and her younger brother could just get through
[Verse 6]
At night they come across the levee
In the searchlight's dusty glow
We'd rush 'em in our Broncos
Force 'em back down in the river below
She climbed into my truck
She leaned towards me and we kissed
As we drove, her brother's shirt slipped open
And I saw the tape across his chest
[Verse 7]
We were just about on the highway
When Bobby's Jeep come up in the dust on my right
I pulled over and let my engine run
Stepped out into his lights
I felt myself movin'
Felt my gun restin' 'neath my hand
We stood there, starin' at each other
As off through the Arroyo she ran
[Verse 8]
Bobby Ramirez, he never said nothin'
Six months later, I left the line
I drifted to Central Valley
And took what work that I could find
At night I searched the local bars
And the migrant towns
Lookin' for my Louisa with black hair fallin' down
Written by: Bruce Springsteen
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