Atlantic City

almost everyone is missing the point of this song.

the story behind it is that the narrator is in trouble, weather it be debt or something else. he wants to get away and start over. when he says "i met a guy and did a favor for him", it means a hit, possibly the "chicken man'' who is a mob boss. "everything dies thats a fact, but maybe everything that dies someday comes back" means that people might come after him to get revenge for the hit of their boss. "...meet me in atlantic city" and "two tickets on that coast city bus" means that he has a way to get away and he wants his significant other to be able to come with him so they can start over.

Everyone keeps nibbling at the edges and getting parts of it. I believe, this is the definitive explanation of the meaning of this song.

Backdrop: At the time this song was written Atlantic City, after decades of decay, was in the beginning stages of a re-birth due to the legalization of Casino Gambling (first Casino opened in 1978). All who opposed and even some who were in favor of Atlantic City gambling saw it as the "easy way out" or "any port in a storm" to the economic woes of Atlantic City.

The person in the song serves at a personal symbolic embodiment of this "choice" Atlantic City made. For example, The song talks about the fact that despite saving money he could not keep up with his debts. This is symbolic of Atlantic City as a whole and its financial condition prior to the Casinos.

In the end, instead of making the harder choices the main character takes the "path of least resistance" and does a "favor" for the mob. This is allegorical with Atlantic City did.

The song of one of Springsteen in his highest form because of these two layers woven so organically. From the standpoint of literature, I see this song a poetic masterpiece for this reason. The more personal and detailed he is about the main character, the more he says about the allegory. So the more he draws you into this man, personally, the more you can more viscerally understand the real realities facing Atlantic City itself.

Today Atlantic City is richer and has "come back" but the question is whether it was worth it. The song does not answer this question. It simply paints the picture of what was happening.

Ultimately, the song is BOTH about the man and the choices we face but also a real quality commentary on a big Jersery of that day. One should not detract from the other, but only add to the understanding of each.

I think its worth mentioning that the ''chincken man'' was the nickname for a mafia boss in philadelphia named Philip Testa, he was killed in 1981... Anyway, meaning aside this is a really great song, i think the boss really outdid himself with this.

this song is about Nicky Scarfo and the Philadelphia Mob wars of the 70's & 80's.

the opening line is a direct reference of Phillip chicken man testa. who was the boss of the Philadelphia Mob at the time.he was killed by a pipe bomb ordered by Peter casella. which lead to Nicky Scarfo becoming mob boss of Philadelphia. he ran the Philly mob from Atlantic City.

the second verse is about how jersey legalized gambling in 1976. and brendan Byrne making a public speech about keeping the mob out of Atlantic City. Gonna be a rumble out on the promenade tonight is also a direct reference to scarfo. who had a contracting company Scarfo inc that did the foundation for the first 6 hotel/casinos in Atlantic City and also killed a rival contractor for bad mouthing Scarfo in publicans the gambling commission hanging on by the skin of their teeth.he also ran local 54 which was the bartenders and hotel workers union and would threaten to strike if they didn't pay his kick backs.

the chorus has a double meaning everything dies that's a fact but everything that dies someday comes back. is the reference of the 2 mob bosses Anthony bruno & Phillip testa getting murdered and being replaced. it could also reference Scarfo directly. bruno banished him from philadelphia to Atlantic City only for him to return to Philadelphia as the boss.

the second part of the chorus is a reference to his mistress Chicago. who was a cocktail waitress from Chicago who would fly into Atlantic City and would check herself into her suite as Chicago.

the third verse is again a direct scarfo reference. in 1963 scarfo killed a long shoreman in a Philly dinner. then boss Angelo Bruno banished scarfo to Atlantic City in 1964. scarfo tried to make a living doing petty crimes but had to take a bartending job just to try to pay his bills and send his cut back to bruno.

the next verse is how in 1979 jersey granted Atlantic City over 1 billion dollars to build and renovate casinos. Scarfo inc had the contract for most of the construction. which is referred to by sands turning to gold. sands was also one of the casinos in Atlantic City.

the last verse is about the murder of sal testa. down here its just winners and losers is referring to the scarfo/riccobene war. which was led by testa because scarfo was in prison at the time. well I'm tired of coming out on the losing end is the jealousy scarfo had of testa winning the gang war while he was in prison. the last two lines are about scarfo hiring help outside of the mob to kill testa. scarfo made 17 attempts to kill testa but failed every time. so he hired someone who had no mob ties to kill testa in a candy store in the Philadelphia Italian market.

the live in NY version is even better

I have always seen this song differently. This song is not about getting out of Atlantic City; it's about getting to Atlantic City in hopes of a new beginning ("Goin' out where the sands turnin' to gold"). The protagonist is a guy from a small, working class town somewhere in Jersey/Pennsylvania/New York. He might owe some money ("Debts that no honest man can pay") so he's running away from that because of the promise of making it in AC. The beginning of the song is a backdrop with the hit of the Philly mob boss Salvatore Testa who had strong ties in AC. Then with the D.A. and the gambling commision. All this is setting a tone.

The main story is about a guy, as described before, trying to get him and his girlfriend/wife a new, better life. Their relationship isnt good anymore and they are on the brink of poverty but he's going to try and make it work. ("Well our luck may have died and our love may be cold, but with you forever I'll stay.") The lines "Everything dies baby thats a fact, well maybe everything that dies some day comes back" is metaphorical for their life and their love. Atlantic City is suppose to be the promised land. He gets there and gets on the wrong side of the law, probably getting involved in the mob. The hope for a better life is then dead.

I think this song is about how his love and luck are all dying, but he has hope that "everything that dies someday comes back"

Beautiful song. Bruce seriously owns.

This is why they call him The Boss.

wow scott dryden, bold statement.

Retards please, this song is crap you guys dont get it , Bruce is a junky !