For every great song Bruce has released over the years, there’s at least one great outtake that never saw the light of day.
“Little Girl Like You” isn’t one of them.
You might argue that as a home demo recording from the Born in the U.S.A. sessions, it’s unfair to judge what the song might have become, and you might have a point.
Except, of course, that Bruce did finally release it decades later on L.A. Garage Sessions ‘83, so it is now official Springsteen canon. With its rushed, overly simplistic melody and shallow, unimaginative lyrics, I’d argue this song would be lost on any album it appeared on.
But perhaps that ‘s not the only reason why Bruce hid it away for so long.
Although it might shock today with the benefit of knowing Bruce’s full body of work and politics, back in the early 1980s, Bruce had come under fire by the National Organization for Women as a sexist artist.
The primary complaint? Bruce’s penchant for labelling his female characters “little girls.”
“When you call us ‘little girls,’ read the letter that kicked off a mail-and-phone protest campaign, “you perpetuate the myth that women do things in a ‘small’ way.”
When called for comment, Bruce’s spokesperson defended the phrase (remember this was 45 years ago), calling it a common rock-and-roll term. But we can’t help but notice Bruce’s “little girl” references quickly and quietly faded.
So a song called “Little Girl Like You”… let’s just say that including this song on Born in the U.S.A. might have been like throwing a match in the proverbial powder keg.
Check out the lyrics:
I want a little house, on a little hill
I wanna settle down, yeah I think I will
Settle down and find a little love that’s true
Settle down with a girl like you
Seen a lot of girls, h**ad a lot of fun
Ran around a lot, n**ow my runnin’s done
Honey, all I want, w**anna be runnin’ to
Is the arms of a girl like you
You start living life l**ike you just don’t care
You done everything, yo**u been everywhere
But what I done ain’t nothin’ t**o what I wanna do
When I find a little girl like you
We’ll get married i**n a church down a winding path
Tell a lot of jokes, h**ave a lot of laughs
Do whatever it is that we wannna do
Long as I do it with a girl like you
Hey little stranger, w**alkin’ down the street
You’re the only one can make my life complete
I got a plan but i**t’s made for two
So I need a little girl like you
Yeah hey, I need a little girl like you
Oh honey I need a little girl like you
Oh baby I need a little girl like you
It’s not just the repeated “little girl” phrasing that’s problematic. It’s the context of a song about a guy who seems more interested in having someone like you rather than you in particular. Or more pointedly, he seems more interested in companionship than in a companion.
It’s explicitly clear in the last verse that our narrator is addressing a stranger, and in the earlier verses it’s clear that he’s got quite the hookup history and has his mind set on another.
In 1983, these lyrics were offensive. Today, they’re also creepy.
So, yeah: this is a lost track that probably should have stayed lost.
Little Girl Like You
Recorded: January 20, 1983
Released: L.A. Garage Sessions ‘83 (2025)
Never performed
© June 15, 2018 / December 12, 2025