36K 1996 Subscriber poll results (fave songs, etc.) > From: Craig Stockinger > Subject: Poll Results (Finally!) > Date: Mon, 11 Nov 1996 20:49:18 -0600 (CST) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ RESULTS OF CRAIG'S 3RD ANNUAL COMPREHENSIVE SPRINGSTEEN INTERNET POLL ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Here are the results of the 3rd annual poll. I received a total of 426 responses, up from 396 last year, and 138 the first year. Thanks to everyone who sent in a completed ballot. I included comparisons to previous polls for all repeat questions. (Note that not all totals add up to 426 as some respondents left some questions blank, while others had multiple answers to some questions.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Where do you live? I got replies from 42 states (plus DC) and 29 countries. 33% of all responses came from outside the U.S., compared to 23% last year. Here is the breakdown by country: United States 284 Greece 2 Canada 25 Malaysia 2 United Kingdom 24 New Zealand 2 Netherlands 13 Singapore 2 Finland 10 Switzerland 2 Norway 9 Cyprus 1 Italy 8 France 1 Sweden 7 Israel 1 Austria 5 Japan 1 Germany 5 Poland 1 Australia 4 Portugal 1 Spain 4 Slovenia 1 Denmark 3 South Africa 1 Ireland 3 United Arab Emir. 1 Belgium 2 The breakdown by state: AL 1 NE 1 AK 1 NV 1 AZ 4 NH 2 CA 24 NJ 27 CO 6 NM 1 CT 4 NY 32 DE 1 NC 8 DC 3 OH 19 FL 8 OK 2 GA 4 OR 7 IL 11 PA 13 IN 6 RI 1 IA 2 SC 1 KS 1 TN 7 KY 4 TX 7 LA 2 UT 1 ME 1 VT 2 MD 11 VA 8 MA 18 WA 4 MI 7 WV 4 MN 4 WI 9 MO 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2. Age: Age Range: 11-54 Average age: 31 Median Age: 30 Mode (Most commom) age: 26, 30 Age Group # % ---------------------------- 11-19 15 (4%) 20-24 65 (15%) 25-29 109 (26%) 30-34 97 (23%) 35-39 83 (20%) 40-49 49 (12%) 50-54 4 (1%) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3. Sex (Gender, not frequency) Male 351 (82%) Female 75 (18%) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4. Occupation: For obvious reasons, I can't include the occupation of every person, but here are the most common fields: Students 80 Science related fields 18 Computer Related Fields 63 Engineers (non-computer) 16 Management 27 Librarians/Library Techs 9 Teachers/Professors 20 Accountants/CPA's 8 Writing related fields 19 Sales 8 Attorneys 18 Computer related fields include: Programmers/Software Engineers 25 Systems Analysts 8 Other computer related jobs 30 Students include: Most common fields of students: Grade School Student 1 Science related 9 High School Students 2 Business 7 PhD/Doctorate Students 7 Computer Related 7 Economics 6 Just to give an indication of the diversity of the respondents, here are some of the specific occupations given, not listed above: Actress Head of Programming, VH1 Europe Animator Meteorologist Arms Control Specialist Nuclear Physicist Butcher/Meat Cutter (2) Neurobiologist Cancer Researcher Psychic Comic Book Editor Radio/TV Personality (3) Exploration Geophysicist Roulette Dealer Farmer Scaffolding Supervisor Golf Course Architect ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5. In what year did you become a Bruce fan? Not surprisingly, a large majority (76%) became fans during the glory days between 1975-1985. Still, 34 people became fans during the 90's. Several of those who answered 1984 or 1985 remain defensive about the label of "bandwagon jumper." I think most people would agree that after more than ten years burning down the road, they are obviously true fans. '68 1 '84 70 '72 3 '85 33 '73 17 '86 14 '74 14 '87 8 '75 45 '88 5 '76 26 '89 5 '77 14 '90 8 '78 37 '91 4 '79 21 '92 10 '80 45 '93 3 '81 14 '94 3 '82 12 '95 4 '83 7 '96 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6. Number of Bruce shows you've seen live: Although there are still 30 people who haven't seen Bruce live, the majority are either new fans or they live in places Bruce has yet to play. Again, most fans know exactly how many shows they've attended, even if it's in the dozens. The total number of shows seen is 4285. Ironically, that is exactly the same number of times Bruce has said "cunnilingus" on his current tour. Range: 0-240 Average: 10 Median: 5 Never 30 10 20 1 51 11-14 42 2 42 15-19 25 3 31 20-24 15 4 30 25-29 12 5 32 30-34 7 6 22 35-49 10 7 17 50-99 4 8 15 100 and up 5 9 16 Most shows seen: 240 (Desiree) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 7. Farthest you have traveled to see a Bruce show: I converted all kilometer answers to miles (1 kilometer is .62 miles). An indicator of how fanatical Springsteen fans are is that half of all those who have seen him in concert have travelled over 250 miles to see a show. One out of six has gone over 1000 miles. Range: .5 mile to 9200 miles Median Distance: 250 miles .5-49 63 1000-1999 26 50-99 34 2000-2999 14 100-249 76 3000-3999 18 250-499 95 4000 and up 4 500-999 53 Longest Trips: New Zealand-Philadelphia 9200 miles (David) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-London 6500 miles (Gary) Honorable Mention: 2000 miles hitchhiking (Dave) 950 kilometers (589 miles) hitchhiking (Dirk) "Made a roadtrip with a friend from Turku, Finland to see Bruce in Frankfurt, Germany and Paris, France. We drove 4300 kms (2666 miles) and slept 4 nights in my Russian made station wagon ("Brucemobile I") during our 9 day trip." (Jyrki) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. Favorite artists, in order: Following this year' rank for each artist is the ranking they had in the '95 and '94 polls respectively. A "t" denotes a tie and an "N" denotes that the artist was not ranked in that year's poll. The biggest gainers are Neil Young, who jumped from fifth place into second; Steve Earle, who jumped into the poll all the way into the number 14 slot; and the Eagles, who jumped from 31 into a tie for the 15th slot. As usual, 40+ year old white male singer-songwriters did very well. --------- How I tabulated: #1 3 points #2 2 points #3 1 point each additional 1 point (for those who said the artists were in no particular order, I gave 2 points to each.) ---------- Artists with 8 or more votes: Rank '96 '95 '94 Points -------------------------------------------- 1 (1) (1) Bruce Springsteen 1049 2 (5) (4) Neil Young 83 3t (2) (2) Beatles 70 3t (3) (5t) Bob Dylan 70 5 (4) (3) U2 56 6 (9) (13t) Tom Petty 46 7 (8) (13t) Rolling Stones 44 8 (7) (5) REM 37 9 (10) (7t) Southside Johnny 32 10 (6) (7t) John Mellencamp 30 11 (11) (17t) Melissa Etheridge 25 12 (12) (15) Van Morrison 24 13 (15) (10) Billy Joel 22 14 (N) (N) Steve Earle 17 15t (16) (N) Eric Clapton 16 15t (13) (11t) Elvis Costello 16 15t (21t) (N) Dire Straits 16 15t (31t) (N) Eagles 16 15t (18t) (N) Pearl Jam 16 20 (27) (26t) Elvis Presley 14 21t (31t) (19t) Counting Crows 13 21t (21t) (19t) Sting 13 23t (25t) (26t) Grateful Dead 12 23t (20) (17t) Bob Seger 12 23t (17) (11) The Who 12 26 (21t) (19t) Peter Gabriel 11 27 (31t) (N) Indigo Girls 10 28t (14) (N) Jackson Browne 9 28t (N) (N) Mary Chapin-Carpenter 9 28t (29t) (N) CCR 9 28t (N) (N) Nils Lofgren 9 32t (28) (N) Bon Jovi 8 32t (18t) (7t) John Hiatt 8 32t (N) (N) Prince 8 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 9. Favorite official album by Bruce: Tramps like us, baby we love Born to Run. Born to Run and Darkness received over half of all votes, both increasing their percentages over last year. TGoTJ received 10 votes in its first year. Greetings continues to fall in the rankings. Rank Percentage '96 '95 '94 Votes '96 '95 '94 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 (1) (1) Born to Run 134 31% (27%) (28%) 2 (2) (3) Darkness 97 22% (20%) (15%) 3 (4) (2) Tunnel of Love 50 12% (12%) (16%) 4 (3) (4) The River 48 11% (15%) (13%) 5 (5) (5) Wild, Innocent 31 7% (8%) (9%) 6 (6) (6) Nebraska 23 5% (7%) (7%) 7 (7t) (7t) Born in the USA 19 4% (3%) (4%) 8t (9t) (9) Live 75-85 8 2% (2%) (3%) 8t (7t) (10) Lucky Town 8 2% (3%) (1%) 10 (NA) (NA) Ghost of Tom Joad 6 1% (NA) (NA) 11 (9t) (7t) Greetings 6 1% (2%) (4%) 12 (12) (NA) Greatest Hits 1 0% (0%) (NA) 13 (13) (12) Human Touch 1 0% (0%) (0%) 14 (11) (11) XXPlugged 0 0% (0%) (1%) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 10. Least favorite official album by Bruce: Once again, there "Ain't no mercy on the streets of this town." Human Touch got hammered again, this time with 40% of the votes in this category. For the third consecutive year, Born to Run didn't receive a single vote. Born in the USA only got 9 votes, compared to 24 in last year's poll. Several people pointed out that the worst Springsteen album is still better than the best album by most artists. Rank Percentage '96 '95 Votes '96 '95 ------------------------------------------------- 1 (1) Human Touch 159 40% (32%) 2 (2) Greetings 48 12% (17%) 3 (NA) Ghost of Tom Joad 37 9% (NA) 4 (4) Wild, Innocent 29 7% (9%) 5 (3) Nebraska 26 6% (9%) 6 (5t) Lucky Town 25 6% (6%) 7 (11) XXPlugged 18 4% (2%) 8t (8t) Greatest Hits 15 3% (5%) 8t (7) Tunnel of Love 15 3% (5%) 10 (8t) Live 75-85 11 3% (5%) 11 (5t) Born in the USA 9 2% (6%) 12 (12) Darkness 5 1% (1%) 13 (10) The River 4 1% (2%) 14 (13) Born to Run 0 0% (0%) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 11. Favorite Bruce song: "Come take my hand, riding out tonight to case the promised land." Thunder Road is the overwhelming choice for the third consecutive year, more than doubling number two Born to Run. The top 4 songs are all from the Born to Run album, accounting for nearly 50% of all votes in this category. The Promised Land jumped from 20th place into a tie for 7th, likely due to the acclaimed version he is playing on the current tour. Across the Border debuted at number 13. Songs with 5 or more votes: Rank '96 '95 '94 Votes ------------------------------------------ 1 (1) (1) Thunder Road 105 2 (3) (4t) Born to Run 42 3 (5) (3) Backstreets 34 4 (2) (2) Jungleland 31 5 (6) (9t) Badlands 20 6 (4) (4t) The River 13 7t (7) (7t) Incident on 57th St 12 7t (20t) (9t) The Promised Land 12 7t (8) (7t) Rosalita 12 10 (20t) (9t) Darkness 11 11 (12) (8t) NYC Serenade 10 12 (9t) (8t) Racing in the Street 9 13t (NA) (NA) Across the Border 8 13t (15t) (9t) Brilliant Disguise 8 14 (13t) (N) Drive All Night 7 15t (9t) (7t) Point Blank 6 15t (9t) (6t) Prove it All Night 6 17t (20t) (N) She's the One 5 17t (15t) (9t) Tougher Than the Rest 5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 12. Least favorite Bruce song: "You're not man enough for me to hate or woman enough for kissing." Mary Queen of Arkansas nudges out Real Man for the second straight year. Those two songs accounted for over a quarter of all votes. Several people said they still liked the song they picked, just that it was their least favorite. Songs with 5 or more votes: Rank '96 '95 Votes ---------------------------------------- 1 (1) Mary Queen of Arkansas 59 2 (2) Real Man 46 3 (3) 57 Channels 25 4 (4) Pony Boy 23 5 (12) Big Muddy 16 6 (9) Dancing in the Dark 15 7 (6) The Angel 12 8 (10t) Man's Job 11 9 (5) Cover Me 8 10t (15t) Adam Raised a Cain 7 10t (N) Real World 7 12 (N) Spare Parts 6 13 (N) All or Nothing at All 5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 13. Best unreleased Springsteen song: The first three places remained constant from last year, but there are three new songs in the top ten. The Wish made a huge jump, leaping from 15th place to 4th with 25 votes, compared with only 4 votes last year. This is likely due to the fact that Bruce has played this great song several times on his current tour. Two newly discovered songs, Back in Your Arms Again and Brothers Under the Bridge, have become quick fan favorites, both debuting in the top ten. Note that Roulette has been released as a B-side. Songs with 6 or more votes: Rank '96 '95 Votes ----------------------------------------- 1 (1) Loose Ends 47 2 (2) Frankie 37 3 (3) The Promise 26 4 (15t) The Wish 25 5 (NA) Back In Your Arms Again 23 6 (4) The Fever 19 7 (N) Brothers Under the Bridge 12 8 (8t) Roulette 10 9 (5) Thundercrack 10 10t (8t) Cindy 6 10t (N) Stolen Car (alternate)* 6 10t (10t) Sugarland 6 10t (N) Preacher's Daughter 6 * aka "Son You May Kiss the Bride" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 14. Best cover song Bruce has ever done: "Well, it seems like I'm caught up in your trap again." Trapped wins by a healthy margin, while Jersey Girl jumped 60% over last year and easily leapfrogged the Detroit Medley for the #2 spot. Five of the top six choices have been officially released, with Who'll Stop the Rain being the exception. Songs with 6 or more votes: Rank '96 '95 Votes ----------------------------------------- 1 (1) Trapped 63 2 (3) Jersey Girl 43 3 (2) Detroit Medley 28 4 (4) Who'll Stop the Rain? 24 5 (10) War 18 6 (4) Chimes of Freedom 16 7 (15) It's My Life 15 8 (7) This Land is Your Land 13 9 (9) Twist and Shout 12 10 (16t) I Want You 11 11t (N) Drift Away 9 11t (18t) Quarter to Three 9 13t (12t) Mountain of Love 8 13t (6t) Santa Claus is Coming... 8 13t (11) Viva Las Vegas 8 16 (8) Follow That Dream 7 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 15. Best Springsteen Tour: Darkness easily won again, but the "Ghost" Tour is the big story here. It finished in a very impressive 4th place with 11% of the vote. Many people said they hadn't attended or heard enough of different tours to vote in this category, while others voted for both the best tour they've seen and the best they've heard on bootleg. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Rank Percentage '96 '95 '94 Votes '96 '95 '94 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 (1) (1) Darkness 149 37% (41%) (45%) 2 (2) (2) Born in the USA 76 19% (21%) (25%) 3 (3) (3) The River 63 17% (19%) (13%) 4 (N) (N) The Ghost of Tom Joad 44 11% (NA) (NA) 5 (4) (4t) Tunnel of Love 28 7% (7%) (5%) 6 (5) (4t) Born to Run 20 5% (5%) (5%) 7 (6) (4t) '92-'93 9 2% (3%) (5%) 8 (7) (N) '76-'77 8 2% (2%) (0%) 9 (10) (7t) '73-'74 3 1% (0%) (1%) 10t (9) (N) Christic 1 0% (1%) (0%) 10t (10t)(7t) Amnesty 1 0% (0%) (1%) 10t (N) (N) '82 Club Tour 1 0% (NA) (NA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16. Best Springsteen show: The majority of the top shows are available on high quality bootlegs, but 1/12/96 Youngstown and 9/13/81 Cincinnati, finished on the list despite not yet being available on a bootleg CD. I listed the bootleg CD's that each show is available on, if applicable. The 9/22/92 show was officially released in Europe as XXPlugged. Shows with 4 or more votes: Rank '96 '95 Date City Votes Available on ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 1 12-15-78 San Francisco, CA 37 Live in the Promised Land 2 2 09-19-78 Passaic, NJ 29 Piece de Resistance 3 4 12-31-80 Nassau, NY 25 Nassau Night 4t 5t 02-05-75 Main Point, PA 16 The Saint, the Innocent... 4t 3 06-24-93 E. Rutherford, NJ 16 New Jersey Night 6 7t 08-20-84 E. Rutherford, NJ 9 Last Great Show 7 7t 07-07-78 Los Angeles, CA 7 Hands Toward the Sky 8t 9t 08-09-78 Cleveland, OH 6 The Teenage Werewolf 8t 5t 11-16/17-90 LA, CA (Christic) 6 Acoustic Tales 10t N 12-31-78 Cleveland, Ohio 5 The Firecracker Show 10t N 07-03-88 Stockholm, Sweden 5 Summer Night 10t N 01-12-96 Youngstown, Ohio 5 (none) 13t N 09-13-81 Cincinnati, Ohio 4 (none) 13t N 09-22-92 Los Angeles, CA 4 XXPlugged 13t N 04-24-96 Brixton 4 Brixton Nights ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17. How many Bruce bootleg shows do you own? It is apparent that many fans have greatly increased their collections in the past year. There were only 25 respondents with no bootlegs, compared to 53 last year. 25% have fifty or more bootleg shows, compared to 16% last year. Average: 52 Median: 15 Total: 21,885 None 25 1-9 137 10-24 107 25-49 47 50-99 48 100 and up 57 The most: (All names have been changed to protect the guilty) "Wow!! How to answer this....I have all the circulated shows, that means I'm missing Strausborg, Brussels, and Madrid from this tour, Phoenix 2nd nite from 92-93, TOL is complete, two missing from BUSA, need I go on. It is ridiculous, I must have close to 2000 tapes." ("Janey 99") "Too many to count. All circulating tapes and as many cds vinyl as I can afford. Actually, more than I can afford." ("Sherry Darling") ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18. Have you ever met Bruce? (Autographs count) Lots of tramps have met Bruce in the past year and many credit the LTD for information helping them to accomplish this. 26% have now met Bruce, compared to just 16% a year ago. Yes! :-) 110 (26%) No :-( 316 (74%) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 19. What rarely or never played song would you like to hear on the next tour? Incident on 57th Street and Jungleland dominated this category again this year, but there were many big position changes among the top 20. Apparently, many people had the current acoustic tour in mind when making their choice. For You made the biggest gain, jumping 16 places from 21st to 5th, while The Promise, Frankie, Downbound Train, and Open All Night all gained eight or more places. The only two songs that have never been played live are Loose Ends and Back In Your Arms Again. Songs with 4 or more votes: Rank '96 '95 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 (1) Incident on 57th Street 48 2 (2) Jungleland 27 3 (8) Loose Ends 15 4 (12t) The Promise 13 5 (21t) For You 11 6t (4) Kitty's Back 10 6t (3) Lost in the Flood 10 8t (14t) Backstreets 9 8t (17t) Frankie 9 10t (N) Back In Your Arms Again 8 10t (21t) Downbound Train 8 10t (7) The Price You Pay 8 13t (21t) Open All Night 7 13t (N) Shut Out the Lights 7 13t (N) Stolen Car 7 16t (N) Follow That Dream 5 16t (6) Point Blank 5 16t (21t) The Ties That Bind 5 16t (21t) Valentine's Day 5 20 (N) The Wish 4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 20. Favorite band member of all-time other than Bruce himself: Do I have to say his name? Give me a C... Once again, the Big Man wins by more than a 2 to 1 margin, with Steve reclaining the number two spot. The percentage of votes for each band member has remained amazingly steady over the three years. Rank Percentage '96 95 '94 Votes '96 '95 '94 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 (1) (1) Clarence "Big Man" Clemons 160 38% (39%) (37%) 2 (4) (2) "Miami" Steve Van Zandt 76 18% (16%) (19%) 3 (2) (3) "Mighty Max" Weinberg 70 17% (18%) (16%) 4 (3) (4) "Professor" Roy Bittan 64 15% (17%) (15%) 5 (5) (5) "The Incredible" Nils Lofgren 17 4% (4%) (5%) 6 (8t) (6) "Davey" Sancious 9 2% (1%) (2%) 7 (7) (8t) "Mr." Garry W. Tallent 7 2% (1%) (1%) 8 (6) (7) "L-l-lovely" Patti Scialfa 5 1% (1%) (1%) 9 (N) (8t) Suki Lahav 3 1% (0%) (1%) Receiving 1 vote each: Boom Carter, Gia Ciambotti, The Dancing Bear, Danny Federici, Shayne Fontayne, Mad Dog Lopez, "The Man in Black," Crystal Taliafero. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 21. Should Bruce tour with the E Street Band on his next tour? While the results of this question are still overwhelming in favor of Bruce reuniting with the E Streeters, the number of votes against the reunion nearly doubled from last year. This is likely due to the very successful acoustic tour. Many of the "other" votes were in favor of an E Street tour if Bruce used a band, but many said they'd prefer another solo acoustic tour. Others used the disclaimer that they only wanted an E Street tour if Bruce recorded new material with them. Votes '96 '95 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ YES 339 80% (85%) No 30 7% (4%) Other/no vote 57 13% (10%) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 22. Have you ever bought a Springsteen ticket for more than face value from a scalper/broker? Over one third of respondents have bought a ticket for more than face value, but many vowed they would never do it again. Several said that it was no longer necessary with ticket drops and the Internet as a resource. Yes: 149 (35%) No: 273 (65%) If yes, what is the most you have paid? $25-$49 17 $50-$99 63 $100-$199 51 $200-$299 15 $300-$399 6 $400 and up 3 The highest amount admitted to is $850 for a ticket. However, there were 4 people who refused to disclose how much they laid out for a ticket. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 23. Favorite album by an artist other than Bruce: Bob Dylan's 1975 masterpiece tops the list, with U2's Joshua Tree close behind. The Beatles have five albums on the list. Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Southside Johnny, and U2 each have two. Albums with 3 or more votes: Artist Album Title Votes ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bob Dylan Blood on the Tracks 19 U2 The Joshua Tree 15 Neil Young Rust Never Sleeps 9 Beatles Abbey Road 8 John Mellencamp Scarecrow 7 Pink Floyd The Wall 7 Beatles Rubber Soul 6 Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street 6 Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers 6 Counting Crows August and Everything After 5 Meatloaf Bat Out of Hell 5 U2 Achtung Baby 5 Beatles White Album 4 Beatles Sergeant Pepper's Lonely... 4 Dylan Blonde on Blonde 4 Southside Johnny Better Days 4 REM Automatic For the People 4 Beatles Revolver 3 Dire Straits Brothers in Arms 3 Eagles Hotel California 3 Pearl Jam X 3 Southside Johnny Hearts of Stone 3 Who Who's Next 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 24. Which candidate do you prefer in the upcoming U.S. Presidential Election? I think the numbers pretty much speak for themselves. Perhaps the biggest surprise was the strong showing of Ralph Nader. Ross Perot had a very poor showing, just nudging out Mickey Mouse in total votes (as well as the size of his ears). Many people chose not to vote in this category, stating that they didn't like any of the candidates. The non-U.S. vote results are very one-sided. Bill Clinton 206 67% Bob Dole 49 16% Ralph Nader 19 6% Bruce Springsteen 5 2% Harry Browne 3 1% Clarence Clemons 3 1% Ken Griffey Jr. 3 1% Ross Perot 3 1% Hillary Clinton 2 1% Mickey Mouse 2 1% Others (1 vote each) 12 4% Votes from outside the United States: No vote 69 49% Clinton 62 44% Dole 4 3% Others (1 vote each) 7 5% ------------------------------------------------------------------------ That's all folks! ************************************************************************ * In real life: Craig Stockinger // Internet: craig@execpc.com * * * * "Someday girl, I don't know when, we're gonna get to that place * * we really want to go and we'll walk in the sun. But till then, * * tramps like us, baby we were born to run." * * * * -Bruce Springsteen * ************************************************************************