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Bruce Springsteen

  • Thread starter Thread starter Cruyff14
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Thanks PJ!

There are more Nebraska songs in my list than I first thought.

I only discovered Maria's Bed on Saturday. Fantastic track.

Girls is a great song - there are better songs on Magic than the other two though imo.

Rumour that a new album is coming out in Spring!
 
40) You’ll Be Comin Down

Easy street, a quick buck and true lies

Probably a bit of curve ball with this entry. As far as I know, Bruce has only played it once live. I’m not quite sure why this is the case. Maybe it didn’t work well live, who knows? Having said that though, I do have the live version that they played and it sounds fine to me. I couldn’t pick out a fault with it; I thought it worked quite well.

It’s one of those songs that just takes a back seat on Magic. You know it’s there, but it never rears its head. It just sits back and enjoys the ride. Again, it’s not overly complex and we get treated to a solo from Clarence.

Various things I have read about this song differ. Some say it’s about Bush, others say a girl. All I know is that when I listen to it, it makes me feel happy. It’s got that cheery vibe about it.

[YOUTUBE]ZhcOV4f3xho[/YOUTUBE]


[YOUTUBE]w6jctYNR8Ds[/YOUTUBE]
 
39) Dancing In The Dark

Stay on the streets of this town, and they'll be carving you up alright

This is weird for me. It’s weird I have it so low considering it’s the song that got me in to Bruce, but at the same time, there probably other songs below this that I like more than it. I guess I will have to settle with it here.

The song that really shot Bruce to superstardom in the 80s. Also gave Courtney Cox her big break. What’s interesting about Dancing In The Dark is that, when played live, it sounds nothing like the original. The original has 80s written all over it. But when you hear it live, it’s got a more rockier feel, you don’t hear the keyboards/synths as much. Max’s snare is not as pronounced and the guitars are more prominent.

As for the song itself, it’s received a few plaudits. It was Bruce’s first song to receive regular play time on MTV, it also won him his first Grammy. And I am pretty sure it was played at every show during the WOAD tour. Also played at every show during the BIT USA tour. Definitely a set list staple and you would expect nothing less for the biggest song off BIT USA.

The lyrics may be lost in the music, but that just means you’ll have more fun.

[YOUTUBE]5eGx6hvd3QQ[/YOUTUBE]

And Bruce’s sister is hot.

This version is with an orchestra, and no ESB. It's very good, I really like it.

[YOUTUBE]WCEqy7h6ZHQ[/YOUTUBE]
 

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38) Candy’s Room

But to get to Candy’s Room, you got to walk the darkness of Candy’s hall

Another song from Darkness. Strangely enough, I only really started loving this when they started releasing little snippets from the box set. I remember seeing the Paramount Theatre performance, turning my volume all the way up and listening to it on repeat.

Something about it grabbed my attention and didn’t let it go. It’s a furious song. It’s fast paced. It’s unrelenting. It’s intense. Three minutes of pure explosiveness. Three minutes of dynamite. The drum beat is fast and in turn Max really drives this song forward. Roy bashes away at his piano energetically. Bruce’s guitar solo is kickass.

The lyrics are kind of perverted. Then again it is about meeting up with a hooker.

Not much else to be said, really.

[YOUTUBE]vb5dtn9tVpU[/YOUTUBE]

And when you can generate that much intensity/passion, in front of an empty room, you know you’re doing something right.
 
37) No Surrender

We learned more from a three minute record than we ever learned in school

That line is definitely one of my favourite Springsteen lines. From the way it is sung, to its simplicity.

Basically it’s about the inspiration rock music can provide. It also later became a representation of his friendship with the E-Street Band.

Doesn’t get enough plays at Bruce concerts really. A real hidden gem from BITUSA. Was the last song to make the album too, thanks to Stevie.

Don’t give up, and follow your dreams, this is what this song is all about to me.

Couldn't decide which version to put, so I went with these three :D

[YOUTUBE]u1rTI0oCe0E[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]z-YMRbh0OqM[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]JxVu41Vsthg[/YOUTUBE]
 
36) Don’t Look Back

So put your foot to the floor and darling don't look back

I’m kind of funny when I listen to songs. Some songs I will only listen to when the sun’s out, others only when it’s raining. But with Don’t Look Back, it’s one of those songs for me, which I can listen to at any time.

It’s another song in the countdown to appear off Tracks, and another song which didn’t make the cut on The River.

I was introduced to it on the Live In NYC album. Disc 2 never really got much attention from me until I bought Live in Barcelona, ironically. I thought I’d give it a go. This was one of the songs that grabbed my attention.

Sounds like a love song to me, whatever happens, the male and female character won’t regret their decisions.

[YOUTUBE]ZCG0i1z6rRE[/YOUTUBE]
 
35) Spirit In The Night

I think I really dug her 'cause I was too loose to fake

The funny thing about Spirit In The Night is that I don’t really like the full band version. I will probably get slated for it, but I just feel there is too much going on. Maybe I don’t like the beat, I don’t know. However….

The solo version of Spirit from Bruce in Barcelona, is awesome. The melody sits better with me, and the whole tempo of the song just flows better in my opinion. And you would think with just the piano, it would seem more intimate and take the fun away from the song. But no, the fun remains front row, center.

You feel compelled to sing because of the Spanish crowd (bless those Europeans), and it adds to the fun of the performance. For a song that is solely on the piano, it just doesn’t feel like it because of the crowd. They get involved and make you feel like you’re there with them.

What is also unique about Spirit is the large list of characters
- Crazy Janey
- Wild Billy
- G-Man
- Hazy Davy
- Killer Joe

Wild Billy may well be Bruce, with Crazy Janey being a love interest when he was younger.

And we danced all night to a soul fairy band
and she kissed me just right like only a lonely angel can

---

Me and Crazy Janey was makin' love in the dirt singin' our birthday songs

Love his head movements when he hits those opening chords.

[YOUTUBE]tZWmbt_d76Y[/YOUTUBE]
 

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34) Meeting Across The River

Here, stuff this in your pocket, it’ll look like you’re carrying a friend.

If there ever was a song to precede Jungleland, this is perfect.

I’m pretty sure I heard this the same day I discovered Jungleland, which I think was March 2008. I could be wrong though. I was sitting on YouTube cycling through Bruce clips and I stumbled across the Passaic version of this song.

I thought it was amazing. The song screams desperation. The protagonist is really down on luck. He’s in big strife, with what would seem to be somebody in the mob.

It is a very haunting track. Bruce is only accompanied by a piano and a trumpet, but that’s all he needs and he makes it work. The trumpet adds that element of something different, and I think it really helps the song. For some reason, when I hear the trumpet, I think of the 60s night scene.

[YOUTUBE]UruxAZ_Y14I[/YOUTUBE]
 
Nice work so far, Cruyff.

Good list and great detail.

One of my mate's is a massive Springsteen fan, so I've been listening lately.

Don't know many songs, but I like Dancing in the Dark and Radio Nowhere.

Keep it up!
 
33) Your Own Worst Enemy

Your own worst enemy has come to town

Another curve ball, and another song from Magic. A really underrated song in Bruce’s catalogue. I don’t really remember much about upon the first few listens with Magic, but I think some point through last year, I started listening to it on my playlist. And it really grew on me.

The violin adds a great element. None of the instruments are too overpowering either, Bruce sounds like he is kind of crooning (I think), and the song sounds like it is sung in a key. It also sounds a tad churchy, but in a good way.

Apparently the song is about Bush. But listening to the lines

There’s a face you know
Staring back in the shop window
The condition you’re in
You just can’t get out of this skin

you could kind of get the impression that Bruce is singing about someone being their own worst enemy.

A song that is not played nearly enough, which is a real shame considering its quality. The violin adds a great element. None of the instruments are too overpowering either

Definitely one of the best songs off Magic.

[YOUTUBE]z_-_1C4Qerw[/YOUTUBE]


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32) The Promised Land

Blow away, the dreams that tear you apart

And another song from Darkness chimes in to say hello. When I got the Barcelona DVD, this was one of the songs I skipped (shameful looking back on it I know). Then the Hyde Park DVD came out and I gave it a shot. How wrong I was to have skipped it whenver I would watch the Barcelona DVD.

It’s got that same, broken dream theme that most of the songs on Darkness have in common. Typical blue collar guy going absolutely nowhere in life but he dreams of a better life – The Promised Land.


Working all day in my daddy's garage
Driving all night chasing some mirage
Pretty soon, little girl, I'm gonna take charge

It sounds happy, but you can hear the despair in the lyrics. Props to Bruce for the use of harmonica in this too. The intro is great, not Thunder Road great, but it adds something different to a generally depressing album. And you can’t forget the ‘Blow away’ part when it’s done live. It is spine tingling and at the same time, somewhat breaking. Clarence’s solo tries to lift you up, but at the same time it reminds you that you’re not going to get all the way up with its melody/tone.

The last verse sums it up, if he could have anything, it will be that better life he dreams about.

Well the dogs on Main Street howl, cause they understand
If I could take one moment into my hands
Mister I ain't a boy, no I'm a man
And I believe in a promised land

[YOUTUBE]ekdXmPlCBOY[/YOUTUBE]
 
31) Loose Ends

Well how could something so bad, darling, come from something that was so good

To be honest, I have never listened to Tracks in its entirety, I have only previewed it on Amazon, once, and this track never stood out when I listened to it. So I never really went out of my way to listen to it again. Then one day I was sitting on YouTube and this was in related videos. It was a version from the Reunion Tour. As soon as I heard Max pounding on his drums in the intro, I was hooked. I ripped it off YouTube straight away and listened to it several times that day.

I don’t know what else to say about it really. To sum the song up, it’s a relationship gone wrong. Again, like a lot of things off Tracks, it doesn’t get played too often. Big shame, it’s a ripper track.

[YOUTUBE]BjgCDy_LPAc[/YOUTUBE]
 

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30) Human Touch

We're all riders on this train

For all the great things Bruce has brought us, you can’t really name too many positive reasons for breaking up the ESB. However, it didn’t completely back fire.

And that’s what leads us to entry 29, Human Touch.

From the 1992 album of the same name, it is probably the best song he wrote when he went solo (Joad fans will be cursing, but live with it).

This song really sets the stage alight when it’s done live. Bruce and Patti play it like a duet, sort of. Bruce of course commanding the stage as always, but Patti is just a little to his left. You can really see the chemistry between them when they hit the bridge and again toward the end of the song when they are sharing Bruce’s mic. What’s even better is how well this works with the ESB.

My favourite part of Human Touch is probably the outro. The band is rocking in full force and Bruce is wielding that Telecaster like a chainsaw, it’s brilliant.

In regards to the video clip, here is a funny story about it from another site;

“So then a few years pass, and Meiert hired me to shoot a band called the Rituals and we’re shooting all the view on materials, it’s always like rituals like ancient African rituals, and we’re shooting in this cave and we got this moving camera. There’s lightning-strikes machine, and we’re shooting weddings and all first strange ritualistic behavior. And then when shoot material with this girl in like a ‘30s or ‘40s apartment. Well, we’re shooting the girl and there’s lightning flashing, and they told me we’re going to New Orleans, and there’s going to a street car and a spark when it goes over the joint. And so I’m playing with that in this shoot as well, and there are interior lights coming through the windows.”

“In between takes, I look, and Springsteen comes walking into the studio. So I go, ‘Oh, f*ck. What the f*ck is he doing here?’ I’m thinkin he’s probably coming out to a meeting with Meiert to talk about either what’s he going to be doing in the future, or look at some video Meiert made for him. So I just keep my eye here on the camera, thinking I’ll just stay with the camera and he’ll leave eventually. I won’t to have to deal with this guy. I’m not going to talk to him. So we’re shooting another take and as we finished the take, I get tapped on the shoulder by Springsteen, and he goes, ‘Daniel, the circle becomes complete.’ He says, ‘You were right on how you wanted to light me. I was wrong. This [video you are on right now] is my song. We’re shooting here now, and this is the only way we could get you to do it. I want to apologize because you were right.’ And that turned out to be the video for ‘Human Touch’, which I think, is a great video in a lot of ways.”

You can see the full background story here:

http://goldenageofmusicvideo.com/?p=436

[YOUTUBE]5mTk9HzS-_A[/YOUTUBE]
 
Cruyff14 said:
Anything surprised you Brad?
Click to expand...

Probably "Spirit in the Night" being so low. It's bloody hard though, he is such a prodigious song writer with a massive catalog. I like his darker stuff as opposed to his poppier stuff like "Dancing in the Dark" or "Glory Days." The list is good fun though, he's a phenomenal musician.
 
bradrowe#32 said:
Probably "Spirit in the Night" being so low. It's bloody hard though, he is such a prodigious song writer with a massive catalog. I like his darker stuff as opposed to his poppier stuff like "Dancing in the Dark" or "Glory Days." The list is good fun though, he's a phenomenal musician.
Click to expand...

Yeah completely agree with this, the non-mainstream stuff is so much better.
 

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