Growin' Up

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"Growin' Up" is a song by Bruce Springsteen from the album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. in 1973.

It is a fast-paced tune, concerning an adolescence as a rebellious New Jersey teen, with lyrics [1] written in the first-person. The chorus in the first verse is "I hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd but when they said 'Sit down' I stood up" and the second verse switches it to "they said 'come down' I threw up" while the third verse finishes the song with "they said 'pull down' I pulled up."

It soon became a live favorite for the Springsteen audiences and Springsteen used the song to tell a long history about his problems with his father as an intro to the song. A version of this history can be heard on the live album Live/1975-85.

David Bowie recorded a version of this song in the early stages of the Diamond Dogs sessions with Ronnie Wood on lead guitar. In 1990 this was released as a bonus track on the Rykodisc reissue of his Pin Ups album, and in 2004 it appeared on the bonus disc of the 30th anniversary edition of Diamond Dogs.