Bruce Springsteen

[Cruyff14]

10) The Ties That Bind

You walk cool, but darling, can you walk the line, to face the ties that bind

Again another song I discovered only about a year or so ago. Trawling through YouTube I was seeing the most recent uploaded Bruce vids, and he had just completed his two night stint at Madison Square Garden playing through albums in their entirety, The River of course was one of those albums. Now I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but I’m not that big of a fan of The River. Sure it’s got some good songs, but as a whole, it doesn’t really do it for me. But, like everything in life, there are exceptions, and Ties is one of the exceptions in this case.

Ties opens The River with crashing snare drums and an energetic guitar riff. It’s another real foot tapper, you can’t help yourself. The chorus is catchy as Hell with the bai-ai-ai-ai-ai-ai-ind bit and Bruce has done a great job at creating a catchy hook. Clarence beams on the sax solo with the support of Max showing no mercy once again behind his drum kit.

All in all, Ties is a really underrated song in my opinion. It needs more plays, and it would open a show perfectly, just like it does with The River. The energy the song exerts is bound to get everybody going for the rest of the show.

Just look at the passion in this clip below, it brings tears to my eyes .

[YOUTUBE]Zw0sa9nOFVg[/YOUTUBE]

 

[LIONOFZION]

I've always liked Bruce but never considered myself a massive fan (more of a roots / rock / reggae man), however was surfing Youtube the other night and came across his show from Glastonbury (2009 I think?). Blew me away. The guy is 60 years old!! This is why they call him THE BOSS. Enjoy.


[YOUTUBE]1RR8zDTc0DE[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]5GjZzVT9Hy0&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]

There are more if you care to google them - well worth a look

 

[Ron The Bear]

Since he seems to be in the market for venerable entertainers, Demetriou could do worse than to get Springsteen out for the 2012 GF.

Pros:
- broad appeal
- still in reasonable form
- wouldn't need an elaborate stage set to pull it off
- would attract headlines for the right reasons

Cons:
- cost
- might detract from the main event, like Black Caviar yesterday

 

[JuddyBuddy]

It's hard enough getting him to come over here just for a few concerts. I doubt he's gonna come out for the GF.

 

[Cruyff14]

Since he seems to be in the market for venerable entertainers, Demetriou could do worse than to get Springsteen out for the 2012 GF.

Pros:
- broad appeal
- still in reasonable form
- wouldn't need an elaborate stage set to pull it off
- would attract headlines for the right reasons

Cons:
- cost
- might detract from the main event, like Black Caviar yesterday

lol he would need a huge stage if the ESB played too.

 

[Ron The Bear]

lol he would need a huge stage if the ESB played too.

He could come without that particular band; besides, it's only a seven-piece, including Springsteen. What I meant was, he wouldn't require the stage props that e.g. AC/DC would. Getting the stage out of the way quickly in time for the game to start wouldn't be an issue.

Apparently he did the Superbowl for free. No harm in asking.

 

[Cruyff14]

An acoustic Grand Final warm up would calm people down, not pump them up lol.

But yeah I see what you mean.

 

[Ron The Bear]

An acoustic Grand Final warm up would calm people down, not pump them up lol.

But yeah I see what you mean.

Sorry, didn't mean acoustic either. The reception would be just as good with session muso's backing him.

 

[Cruyff14]

Disagree, what makes Bruce's music even better is The ESB.

Any guesses for number 9 people?

 

[Ron The Bear]

Growin' Up? Much more of a personal favourite than Ties That Bind.

 

[Cruyff14]

Ron all I will say is Growin Up is in the top 10, but it's not next.

 

[Cruyff14]

9) Lost In The Flood

And now the whiz-bang gang from uptown, they're shootin' up the street

One of the Springsteen epics. And it certainly doesn’t fail in delivering a knockout punch. Coming from Bruce’s 1972 debut album, Greetings From Asbury Park makes it even more remarkable.

Only 23 when this was written, probably younger actually come to think of it. The song is haunting, depressing, powerful and raw with Springsteen near his best. It’s hard to believe it is off his first album. Something so great, so epic, was written by a person in their early 20s. It’s almost beyond comprehension, then you realize it’s Springsteen.

This is definitely up there in terms of lyrics and music with Incident and Jungleland. The piano to lead us through the first quarter of the song, then the drums come crashing in, the tempo rises and everybody is jamming and Bruce takes it up a notch with his vocal work. You can imagine the fire he’s got in his veins as he is pounding through this second half of the song.

Lost provides many great images due to the lyrics. In particular “Hey man, did you see that, his body hit the street with such a beautiful thud.” It’s almost too good to be true that a lyric such as that has been penned. That whole last verse sounds almost like a gangland battle, kind of similar to Jungleland in parts.

Intensity near its highest point.

[YOUTUBE]VTyn1rEw1VY[/YOUTUBE]

 

[King Elvis]

Epic thread - I've been a Springsteen fan for years, but this thread has inspired me to explore even more of his catalogue.

I did it with Billy Joel recently; his complete works are amazing, so many hidden gems - and I'm sure The Boss will be the same.

EDIT - Dude, Thunder Road at #20?! :shocked:

No need to defend it, but :shocked: none the less.

 

[Mancey]

Atlantic city fan here. would be my number 1. Closely followed by the river


kingy you are a man after my own heart

 

[King Elvis]

River is epic, so haunting and intense.

Mance, if he tours again, TLS meet up @ Gate 3.

 

[Cruyff14]

Epic thread - I've been a Springsteen fan for years, but this thread has inspired me to explore even more of his catalogue.

I did it with Billy Joel recently; his complete works are amazing, so many hidden gems - and I'm sure The Boss will be the same.

EDIT - Dude, Thunder Road at #20?! :shocked:

No need to defend it, but :shocked: none the less.

Thanks mate, appreciate it. His deeper catalogue is definitely worth listening to. Found a new song only last week.

Seen BJ twice live, awesome.

Haha about Thunder Road, I just listen to other songs more, which means I like them more I guess. I have a feeling people will be in for a few more disappointments though!

How do you think the rest of the top 10 will pan out?

 

[Mancey]

Shit yea kingy

I do the same thing re rediscovering artists I really like. will just grab all their stuff and listen to it exclusively in the car for a few weeks.

Also done the Joel. didn't restrict it to 80s tho heh

 

[raskolnikov]

Epic thread - I've been a Springsteen fan for years, but this thread has inspired me to explore even more of his catalogue.

I did it with Billy Joel recently; his complete works are amazing, so many hidden gems - and I'm sure The Boss will be the same.

EDIT - Dude, Thunder Road at #20?! :shocked:

No need to defend it, but :shocked: none the less.

Would like to see your top 50 Billy Joel songs. My top ten would probably be something like.

1. You're Only Human
2. Say Goodbye to Hollywood
3. Piano Man
4. New York State of Mind
5. Only the Good Die Young
6. It's Still Rock and Roll to Me
7. Allentown
8. Honesty
9. Leningrad
10. A Matter of Trust

 

[Cruyff14]

Stop derailing my thread

Goodnight Saigon is BJ's best song. One of the best songs I've ever heard.

 

[Lets Roar like '44]

Along with Bryan Adams, the best there ever was. Thankfully I got to see Bryan Adams in Vancouver noww alls thats left if the Boss then ill be happy!

 

[Surf Goon]

Really enjoyed reading the posts relating to The Boss... anyone know if he and his band are planning a tour to Oz?

 

[King Elvis]

Would like to see your top 50 Billy Joel songs. My top ten would probably be something like.

1. You're Only Human
2. Say Goodbye to Hollywood
3. Piano Man
4. New York State of Mind
5. Only the Good Die Young
6. It's Still Rock and Roll to Me
7. Allentown
8. Honesty
9. Leningrad
10. A Matter of Trust

Goodnight Saigon, Innocent Man, Captain Jack and Miami 2017 (Lights go out on Broadway) would be in the mix as well.

 

[JimDocker]

Lost in the Flood is a masterpiece. Takes you into the dirt and grime. Almost feel like you need a shower after listening to it !!!

One of my top ten albums of all time.

 

[Cruyff14]

It truly is an amazing song. I was thinking about it today at work, it truly is a masterpiece. The description I wrote doesn't do it justice. Pheonomenal tune and it's not even his best, that's saying something.

 

[Ron The Bear]

Can't say I took much notice of LITF until the Hammersmith video. That performance is a tour de force. But lines like

His countryside's burnin' with wolfman fairies dressed in drag for homicide

are a bit too tryhard for mine, and reek of wacky tobaccy or whatever Bruce was taking back then. Blinded By The Light is typical of his early period. I mean, the verbose rhyming's quite clever on a novelty level, but WTF's it all about? Some of his early catalogue is too cryptic for my liking.