(A cento is a poem made of verses taken from the works of other poets.  Back in 2002 some friends and I were having some typically obscure discussion about the lyrical qualities of certain rock and pop songs [the work of the Boss did not fare well in this discussion] and I came up with this poem made up of first lines from Springsteen songs.)

Well, the river runs through this valley
Well a great black river a man had found
Well, I got a little girl down by the river
Well, she comes to me like a childhood soul
Well, hurry up hurry up, here we go
Well it's Saturday night in New Jersey
there ain't a cloud up above

Them soldier boys were returning home screaming "Banzai"
To make a fortune in the Promised Land
Trying in vain to breathe the fire we was born in
Some men need riches and lots of money to spend

She said it was her birthday so we had us a nice little toast
She said there was nothing that I could have done
She said we could just sleep together
She said, "Now don't say nothin'
The sky is grown with cloud seed sown and a bastard's love can be redeeming”

Her brains they rattle and her bones they shake
Well Janey's got a doctor who tears apart her insides.
You ride to where the highway ends and the desert breaks
Won't you take me on a ride
My soul went walkin' but I stayed here

Well there's a light on yonder mountain
Well, far between sundown's finish and midnight's broken toll
Well there's sparklin' angels on your fire-escape tonight
Well I'm a little hot wired, but I'm feeling alright
Well, hurry up hurry up, here we go
Well it's Saturday night in New Jersey
there ain't a cloud up above

A thousand sand-dune soldiers led by an Arabian Queen
Gonna hold my baby as tight as I can
Goin' someplace there's no goin' back
A hard working ramblin' man.

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