Lyric discussion by Image In Nation 

Cover art for Growin' Up lyrics by Bruce Springsteen

I believe the line actually says

"I hid in the clouded warmth of the crowd but when they said, "Calm down," I threw up"

@Image In Nation I came here (and resurrected my SongMeanings login) to say that. The lyrics above have two errors, substituting "wrath" for "warmth" and "come down" for "calm down".

Hearing "come down" for "calm down" is understandable. The sounds are very similar, and he was just talking about flying an airplane and strafing his school. But it ruins the poetry of the line, which is about being an adolescent rebel without a clue who makes life tough and unpleasant for himself by doing the opposite of what he's told....