E Street Shuffle Archive

Oh man. I was dreading the first time the dice came up with one of these songs, because I’m not sure how to classify them. Are they originals or covers?

See, Bruce does this thing once in a while where he “covers” a song but in the process rewrites all the lyrics and rearranges all the music. But the title and some snippets are the same (except when he changes the title, too).

It’s kind of the musical equivalent of an “inspired by a true story” movie.

Case in point: “I’m a Coward,” originally recorded in 1962 by Gino Washington as “I’m a Coward” and released nationally in 1964 as “Gino is a Coward.”

Lyrically, the only line either version has in common with Bruce’s 1988 re-working is “I’ve got one muscle made of iron, one muscle made of steel,” and the chorus hook, “I’m a coward when it comes to love.”

And musically, well… here’s the 1964 version:

…and here’s Bruce’s version, from the Tunnel of Love tour.

Worlds apart (a song for another day).

Thematically, both songs deal with a fear of commitment. Structurally, as well, the songs tread the same ground, with both narrators boasting of their manliness and fearlessness in (almost) all things:

Gino spent a year hunting in the jungle and captured and beat a gorilla barehanded. Bruce one-ups him, wrestling King Kong (who never even mussed his hair!)

Gino fought in three wars and won a medal; he even rode a dinosaur! Bruce? He’ll take on all comers: Frankenstein, Godzilla, even Mike Tyson.

There’s only one thing that gets Gino’s and Bruce’s knees a-knocking: L! U! V!

Gino: “Just the thought of it, just one little kiss makes me shiver and shake. Oh, girl get near to me, and appear in me: rocks, roll, shimmy, the shake!”

Bruce: “You can bring on a different sexy girl every night of the week, and buddy, that’s okay. But I start sweating, my knees get week, whenever I hear her say: “Do you love me baby?”

“I’m a Coward” was a staple of the Tunnel of Love Express tour, performed every night–but never before or since.

In concert, it was a showpiece and a showstopper, full of audience interaction and fueled by the powerful horn section. Bruce vamped with the audience, vamped with the horns, vamped and flirted with Patti Scialfa (who probably had something to say in private about this song: it became increasingly meta for the married-to-someone-else Springsteen as the tour progressed).

It was Bruce at his most playful, staged, and choreographed. Witness this 1988 performance from Copenhagen:

So what’s your take? Is this an original homage, or a creative cover? Share your thoughts below!

I’m a Coward
First performed: February 25, 1988 (Worcester, MA)
Last performed: August 3, 1988 (Barcelona, Spain)