My son has showed me the DITD video and asked me if I knew who Courtney was. I suddenly realized he doesn't have a clue about how much I know about Bruce.
When I die, please someone, somehow, find my oldest son and tell him about Silvia/Louisa. His name is Leon.
With this year's tour postponed, now is about the perfect time to drop an archive release.
It's sloppy when they misspell the city on the artwork.
If you haven't...if it's been awhile...you really should...
Saturday night here in Adelaide, Australia.
Just poured myself a Makers Mark and put on my Western Stars DVD. (I would prefer a Blu Ray, but this was so limited release here Down Under that they only released the DVD version).
Up to the Wayfarer now. That and Hitch Hiking are two of the lesser lights on this album for me, but the beauty of these live versions, the cinematography, Bruce's between song confessionals.. I'm swept up in the magic again.
By the end of this, I guarantee I will have welled up at least once. Moonlight Motel slays me, a great song anyway but the version here is the singular most perfectly filmed piece of Bruce video ever IMO. There's a good chance the song Western Stars will also bring on the flies... one of his greatest achievements. Again, IMO.
I watched the Broadway show last night after such a long time and have really enjoyed it. I needed to hear the stories, I think the therapeutic aspect of his speeches can't be overlooked.
The process of growth Bruce went through is so admirable.
I'm watching The Storytellers tonight...
Just re-watching Hail Hail Rock n Roll.... the Chuck Berry doco.
Bruce being interviewed... according to him (circa late 80's), telling his grand kids when he was 70 or 80 that he 'backed up Chuck Berry' was gonna be a big deal. This interview was post BITUSA... but, if you watch it, to me he genuinely believes that him backing Chuck Berry back in the early 70's would resonate more with his grand kids than anything he might’ve done.
God bless you, Bruce.
How have I only heard this (or found out about it altogether) until now? Someone posted about it on either GL or BTX in the last few days, so I thought it was new... yet the You Tube version was posted 9 years ago.
Only a Bruce fan would understand the significance of getting these two ketchup packets with their crappy fast food lunch.
Thanks, Carl's Jr. You see me.
Came across this one tonight. It's very lovely and I need more Joad shows.
I need everything they have from this tour. This is one of the best things I've ever heard.
Had a nice solo campout in the high desert last night and I'm here to confirm that Western Stars remains an excellent campfire listening experience.
It has never been a song I particularly like, but I love these lines....
I don't understand how you can hold me so tight
And love me so damn loose
New Jersey declares Bruce Springsteen Day
https://www.marca.com/en/lifestyle/celebrities/2023/04/16/643bbe54e2704e468c8b45ab.html
So.... MTB Plugged is 30 years old... This got me thinking, I checked the date of my first Bruce gig which was May 16th, 1993.
My first Bruce show on this tour is May 18th. It would have been quite symbolic if it were my last show, wouldn't it?
Thankfully, I have tickets for July also, so I won't be as emotional as I would have been otherwise...
Now playing this from Red Rocks #2 and I think I'd love to review the original River Tour someday.
Reading about the Red Rocks shows from August 1981 as I don't know much about them.
I'd never heard this until now. I love it!
I might have to track down both shows in full.
Listening to Heart this evening and it struck me that These Dreams reminds me of Countin' On A Miracle - the storybook imagery, the enchanted forest. I just played them back to back and they pair well as a he said/she said twofer.
To follow up on my March 2nd post...
Since 2017 my Springsteen listening has been split into halves: Archive Series when out and about; Live Downloads reserved for when I review the shows, with the ones I haven't reached yet on the blog 'locked' and only available for listening when the time calls for them - I don't 100% know why I did this, maybe to not overplay anything and tire of it?
Anyway, since February of this year my focus has, of course, been on the 2023 tour, but because of its mostly unchanging setlIsts I'm sometimes finding myself avoiding them after the most recent blog is published so as to keep the music fresh for the next release. What am I opting for on my travels? 2016! No time for the Archives right now (although I definitely didn't listen to Nashville 2008 or NJ 1999 enough). I have a suspicion it's because I'm engrossed in current day E Street right now and want more of it, but I also think it has more to do with that consistent setlist I talked about nearly twenty days ago in this thread.
To listen to songs like "Last Man Standing" from this tour and link it with what he was saying with "Meet Me in the City" and "Wreck on the Highway"; to be blown away by stand outs such as "The E Street Shuffle" and "Kitty's Back" and then play "I Wanna Marry You" and "Crush on You" which shone brightly from January to April 2016 is a blessing.
And it isn't just The River portion that I've been revisiting either, because in the build up to the Philly show, for example, I got stuck back into September 7th 2016 and revelled in "The Fever," "Does This Bus Stop," "Saint in the City" and "New York City Serenade." Would love to see these songs feature again this time around, but while waiting it's a delight to dream and just be grateful that these songs all featured on that night.
This current tour mightn't be giving us what we all wanted, but at least they're touring and I'm happy it's having an equally positive affect on music from previous tours also.
Redressing the balance a little, as there has been a bit of cynicism lately! I met with a friend who works at the Royal Opera House at the weekend. She has recently been working on a show with the woman who designed the lighting for SOB. She says that in 40 years in the business Bruce is one of the easiest people to work with. Knows what he wants, but is charming, friendly and not in the least pretentious. ❤️
The consistency of the 2023 tour setlist has me revisiting one of the 2016 1st leg shows - if we all thought I'd never go back after reviewing them, we didn't realise The River would become one of my absolute absolute favourite albums.
I've felt this for a while, and maybe should've translated it into one of the Jan-Apr blogs (then again there are still album performances to come in the 2016 shows I haven't reviewed...) but every time I listen to The River played live in 2016 I can't help but think it's one of the most special things Bruce ever did, and that when it's all over, we'll look back on it and say, "Damn, he did something really, really lovely with this. The quality of music they were playing, what he was telling us while they were doing it..."
Maybe I'm rambling - I hope not - but I've kinda made myself a bit emotional writing that and thinking about this. Or maybe it's "Drive All Night." Maybe it's both 🤷
Serious question: how much should a concert ticket be? How much is reasonable?
Back circa 1978-1980, tickets were $6-$9.
The median income was $15k.
Which means the hourly average wage was $7.50
So roughly an hour’s worth of work bought a ticket. Maybe two hours for some fans.
The same held true through 1984: ticket prices and the median went up, but a ticket still cost roughly an hour's worth of work, give or take fifteen minute.
Today’s median income, staggeringly, is under $32k. (For now, we won't get into how the .1% have fucked over the rest of us.)
Which means the hourly average wage is $16.
Which means that the ticket prices the last time he toured—$152 in 2016—cost 10 hours’ worth of work. More than an entire day’s labor to go see a concert.
(And that’s before you get into transportation and a sitter and food and all that.)
So back to my original question: does that seem reasonable?
Maybe it does. The economics of being a musician have changed over the past 40+ years. Back then, with a few exceptions, touring was was a promotional venture, meant to promote sales of the latest record. And record sales were where most musicians made most of their money. Nowadays, obviously, that's not even remotely true for all but a very small handful of the biggest stars.
So. How much is reasonable for a concert ticket?
I wish he'd ditch the solo acoustic I'll See You In My Dreams at least a night or two for a full-band rendition. It's more powerful with the band.
This is an interesting article, I've always assumed the percentage of mental health issues was higher than average among musicians. Now it is apparently confirmed.
Bruce publicly talking about his depression was an admirable and gutsy move, one of the arguments I keep in his defense whenever I feel disappointed with something he does I don't agree with.
Summary: Musicians and musically active people tend to have a higher genetic risk factor for bipolar disorder and depression, a new study reports.
https://neurosciencenews.com/music-genetics-mental-health-22468/
So, I had a new deck/ outdoor area built a few months ago. Here's a picture.
Why is this in the Random Bruce thread? Well, you may notice a name sign up on beam near the roof. Here's a close up...
Here's the view while I enjoy some Bruce and a beer on this sunny Friday arvo in Adelaide
Insanely entertaining, one of my new favourite live Bruce videos
Check out Roy, Gary and Steve's reactions to Bruce's carry on towards the end. And I was gonna say I grinned like a loon through the whole thing, but my reaction was nothing compared to Everet Bradley's infectious delight at the goings on...
Responding to my own post yet again... "as I said to myself, who was with me at the time".
But fired up by night 1 of the new tour, and now a few Friday beers, I'm watching my Hyde Park 2009 DVD and recognise two more songs that I've always enjoyed and that almost universally get panned in Bruce fan circles.
I hope by now you guys know I'm not trolling...
But I genuinely like both Outlaw Pete and Working On A Dream.
Outlaw Pete I liked from the get go... I remember buying the CD at my local JB Hi Fi, getting in the car, putting the CD in and really getting into that song straight away. And to this day I don't hear the Kiss 'I Was Made For Lovin' you connection. The live version on Hyde Park is even better. Bruce's "can you hear me" pleas, combined with that sweeping camera crowd shot... one of my favourite official live Bruce video moments.
Working On A Dream... ok, the live version does get a bit hokey and the build a house schtick isn't great, but the album track I like for some reason. It just has a casual, heart warming sing along freedom to it that I connect with. Infact, I recently relistened to the whole WOAD album and had a good time doing so. I still think, musically and thematically, it may outgrow Magic in Bruce's legacy... at least for long time fans. I challenge someone younger like, say, @Mario Brega, to come back many years from now when he has (God willing) been married and had a family, not to find amazing emotional depth and nuance in WOAD while looking at Magic as a passionate but yet archaic product of it's political times.
Both these songs, I think, are lyrically (but not musically) inspired by Bruce's Seeger Sessions period. Both songs to me reflect stuff like Old Man Tucker and John Henry. I think Outlaw Pete in particular is an amazing exercise in Bruce setting a crazy folk tale to more modern music.
Anyway, I like them, and most others don't. Oh, hang on, let's go to the Hyde Park video replay: observe, Bruce and the band pounding through She's The One. In the background crowd shots, there is zero happening. Later on, Radio Nowhere... crowd shots show the first row on the fence excited, nothing anywhere else. Let's check the Outlaw Pete replay... wow, large parts of the crowd clapping away in time. Now WOAD... what, a fair part of the crowd swaying their arms along to the song.
Maybe some agree with me afterall.
Does anyone have a Bruce tune that is a personal favourite but which seems to be maligned in the wider Bruce fan community (at least going by comments on fan boards etc.)?
A couple immediately come to mind that are genuine favourites of mine but seem to more generally bring disdain and dislike...
57 Channels - it was a favourite from when I first heard it on HT. I even enjoy the live versions.
House Of A Thousand Guitars - again, loved it from the first listen but now sit here wondering if there's something amiss with my hearing as everyone else seems to be scheduling a bathroom break for this number.
I'm sure I'll think of some others.
I was thinking about which Springsteen's male character would fit me the most...
I can dream about the Tougher character but in reality, I seem to have a soft spot for complicated, unavailable men, the Joad
Tracks 4, and WS type...
And this list wouldn't be complete without the Reno guy, his pain is exquisite...
On a good day, the Born to Run fella, because I want to believe that love is wild and real...
If you remember the story of my ex and his request for a pair of Bruce tickets because I had bought them while we still had a joint account and he feels entitled...
He was nagging to the point of getting obnoxious, so I offered him a refund of the money I spent to shut his mouth.
Now he doesn't believe I got them so relatively cheap, so wants to see the receipt ...
I knew back then that I wouldn't go with him, but didn't know who I was going with. Still don't.🤣
I had to put down a name for the ticket, so I decided Bill Horton was the one accompanying me. With the option to rename free of charge ...
Now I'm sending him an email with the prices, and he will see Bill's name there. I was thinking about blacking out the name but have decided to leave it and test his intelligence and Bruce fandom...
I am afraid he'll ask me if I had left him for Mr. Horton... 😁
So if I'm correct, this is a 'bonus' song on DVD versions of Unlpugged.
It wasn't on my original video or audio CD versions, I know that much.
I know that whole project was gonna be a lesser one in fan's eyes... so why not include this...
Among the many riches of the officially released live shows, there's one - just one - that I think of as that show. It's the only recording that truly transports my heart and mind back to that arena, back to that night, back in her arms. It's not the setlist, not the performance, not the venue. It's the date. It's the only Springsteen show I saw with her.
She was never a fan. She hadn't heard enough of his music to love or hate him. She was indifferent, but had commented a few times that his voice was too rough, too gritty for her liking. She wasn't really drawn to rough and gritty, which is why her interest in me was so surprising. It's also why I knew, right from the start, that we wouldn't last. In nearly every way, we were as different as two people could be; far too different to fall under the umbrella of "opposites attract."
We did last quite some time, though. I saw her for nine years, and I loved her. Man, I loved her so much. For my 50th birthday, she took me to see Bruce in Los Angeles on the 2016 tour.
Anyway, I chose to listen to that show this evening.
My memories are vivid, the way the good ones should be. Her leaning close right after Hungry Heart and shouting "he's the epitome of still got it." Dancing with her during Dancing In The Dark. Random comments she made between songs.
The one memory that is most powerful is that of something she said in the car, on the way home after the show. She looked at me with the most peculiar expression and said, "I've never seen you like that before, Rick."
Nine years. I was with her for nine fucking years and that night in the Sports Arena was the only time she ever saw me truly happy, content, alive. It reminds me that in nearly a decade, I never let her see my whole self - not until I did so by accident, lost in the music that meant so much to me, my soul unguarded.
It also reminds me that I never let anyone see the whole of me, and that's why love disowns me if I don't disown it first.
So... I haven't shared this news here before.... I decided to divorce my husband of 27 years last August. It's an agonizing legal process that is still not finished, but it was the best possible choice, the alternative was me staying stuck in a dead and unhappy marriage. I love my freedom, and feel so good about it... I'm doing great...😊 Why am I telling you this? Today I received a text from my ex asking me how many Bruce tickets he is entitled to. I remained civil and replied that I planned to attend all three concerts I had bought tickets for. I politely advised him to go online and buy additional tickets... 😁
Had a big afternoon on the IPA's (and double extra IPA's and whatever other mega many times Red Ale IPA versions there are). Now sipping a Makers Mark bourbon and for the first time in maybe 10 years, I'm watching Disc 2 of the Barcelona 2002 DVD. Wow, this disc is as good a 6-7 song intro to everything Bruce live (or otherwise) is about as anything. Party Bruce, anthem Bruce, songwriter Bruce... it's all here. And if you crank the bugger up but not wanting to hear every nuanced note, the crowd heavy sound mix actually adds to the experience... the sequence during BTR where the crowd sound is going nuts and Bruce points to the crowd and you see the three person tower... iconic.
If you have been neglecting your Rising DVD in recent years, do yourself a favour and have a look / listen... well worth it.
Bring on the horns, bring on the whole E Street Orchestra circa 2012-2014 for the next 24 months. I know I'm in the minority in the fan base, but exhibit A...
dvddubbingguy's generous You Tube release of Racing In The Street using the Nugs audio. I never noticed the subtle percussion from Everet Bradley that underpins the start of the song. Put on tge headphones and listen. It's amazing. Then, the subtle horns in the outro. Absolutely sublime. When used well and in moderation, these elements add so much IMO.
Exhibit B... Downbound Train from the full BITUSA performance in 2013. The (again subtle IMO) horn accents in the outro are utterly brilliant...
When my Dad was dying, this was the song that got me crawling on the kitchen floor crying .... Night after night... And at the same time, it was the song that got me up and standing straight the next morning...
Bruce playing "Santa" with a full orchestra backing him in 2016. How did I miss this one?
I regularly listen to Desert Island Discs, this week the guest was Steven Spielberg and he said if he could take any other people to the island with him it would be his wife, Bruce & Patti! He chose GOTJ as his Bruce track.
Spotify wrapped my 2022. Nr. 1 song, with 244 listens, is Nightshift. 😊
Slow to things as always, I only just listened to the Bruce episode of Rick Rubin's Broken Record podcast.
Really interesting for anyone like me who overlooked it before.
I know time has passed, as this was done soon after LTY was actually released, but the interesting thing for me was Bruce's emphasis on Last Man Standing as the song that came first and initiated all the other new songs on the album. And also the fact he states House Of A Thousand Guitars is his favourite song on the LTY album. Which I think is borne out by how often he has played that (albeit acoustically) whenever circumstances have allowed since (crucially, as recently as Light Of Day in recent days).
I personally don't think distance from this material will lessen the chances of Bruce playing it next year, given the band has never done it live. I see Ghosts as a natural opener, both thematically and in musical terms... the drums opening, dropping out for Bruce to sing "I hear the sound of your guitar.." before the band explodes into it. Hell, it sounds like it was actually arranged to start a show, all the way up to where towards the end the music drops out which Bruce could use for his "Hello, (insert location). We are so glad to be in your beautiful city tonight". A few more words before he starts singing again... "I shoulder your Les Paul...". Seriously, listen to it again, it's what the song is built for.
I Can See You In My Dreams is the closer... either as a less boisterous full band benediction at the end of the show the way LOHAD was used in 1999/2000, or maybe a Bruce only acoustic piece like he finished many shows in 2013/2014 with stuff like Thunder, This Hard Land etc. Again, made for it.
After hearing the podcast, I'm locking in House Of A Guitars as a nightly too. Infact, it may be a more subdued centrepiece of the entire set the way Tenth and Marys Place were. An extended Roy intro, a bigger outro with the added backing singer's. Or a main set closer, the way Into The Fire was in 2002.
And Last Man Standing is now in play as a regular for me also. Imagine Last Man Standing going straight into Glory Days as a thematic sequence. And make Where The Bands Are a regular, too, to tie it up in a nice bow.
Something like this for the first third or so of the show...
Ghosts
Badlands
Ties That Bind
No Surrender
Darkness On The Edge...
Western Stars
Last Man Standing
Glory Days
Where The Bands Are
House Of... or, maybe, Nightshift at this point...
I haven't dreamed of Bruce in a long time... It made me laugh. Little Steven had a vintage second-hand shop in NY. The stuff he likes to wear. 😁 I was there with a few other people, Kay was present (I don't know how she looks or sounds, but I heard a female voice commenting on the clothing and knew it was her, her remark was so typical). We were waiting for Bruce to show up. He arrived, looked as he does now, said hi, and went to the back room where Steve had been waiting. I heard a champagne pop, and they started talking and laughing. Patti entered the shop a few minutes, later, looked much older, and with long brown hair. She hugged me, then realized she had mistaken me for someone else, said, 'Oh, you are not one of the family,' turned around, and hit a glass door with her face. Then she got totally confused and ran outside A staff member commented 'She is blind as a bet' and went after her.
I don't know where to post this. I am swamped with all things Bruce. I have been listening to the Stern interview for the past last week, always listening in bed. I fall asleep each night after 20, 30 minutes despite truly loving the interview, so I still have 40 minutes left.
The new download. I told myself I'd listen to the show after finishing the interview. Remember Joad is probably my favorite tour. This Tougher is my favorite version of the song, one of my favorite Bruce songs, and I still haven't listened to the show.
Then there's Mario's review of the new album, still waiting...
🙄
I would love to hear (and see) Bruce do a live show accompanied by a symphony orchestra.
The weird thing is, the songs that save my life are the same ones that kill me.
Watching U2's 2005 Chicago show on DVD right now, and struck yet again by a point I've mentioned previously... Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own is a (deliberate and intended) sequel and answer song from an older person's perspective to Bruce's Independence Day.
It's gonna take me a long time to get over this. I have been supporting this guy since 1980. I am heartbroken. Gutted. I'll shut up.
Some of you might remember me mentioning over the years that I wrote my Uni Dissertation on Bruce, emotion and masculinities. I finally published it on the blog the other day and thought there'd be no harm in sharing it here.
If you want to read it, I hope this long read is worth your time 🙂
https://cantfindtickets.wordpress.com/2022/07/12/i-want-to-know-if-love-is-real-language-emotion-and-masculinities-exploring-how-men-express-love-through-four-stages-of-adulthood-as-evidenced-in-the-lyrics-of-bruce-springsteen/
Beautiful. Roll on 2023.
Cracking version of No Surrender. That camera shot towards the end that catches a plane flying over in the background is affecting for no reason I can explain. Clearly unintentional, yet perfect.
Ok, so Friday night and as is often the case I've had a few beers and graduated to bourbon after dinner.
What to watch... what to watch. I had my mind set on the Darkness full album from the Paramount, but I was grabbing the box set off the shelf when I spotted the poor lonely cardboard sleeve encased full BITUSA DVD that came with High Hopes just sitting there. Ah, screw it, let's go the drinking music party route.
The lack of guitar solo outro on BITUSA itself is disappointing, although I guess you can argue more 'true' to the album original.
Cover Me has just started though and is killer.
Looking forward to the subtle horn additions that pepper the Downbound Train outtro (and that I find myself waiting for in every live version, only to realise they are exclusive to this one).
Oh, and Bruce dancing with Adele and Pamela later... great stuff.
I'm just re-watching the Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary blu ray on this cold, wintery Friday night in old Adelaide, South Australia.
Great stuff. But could've been even better stuff if our man Bruce had appeared. Which begs the question, why didn't he? Afterall, the people who did are predominantly other Columbia artists. The only thing I can think of is that the 1992 tour was already underway and he just couldn't get it to work. (Indeed, without researching the specific dates, maybe there was an actual clash).
What would've Bruce done? Probably one or two acoustic songs. But the possibilities are exciting. Imagine some reworking of his I Want You cover with the (Booker T and the MGs) backing band. Or a soulful Chimes Of Freedom. Or something else... a killer cover of Series Of Dreams with Booker T which might still be being talked about in rock and roll circles today.
Anyway, Lou Reed has just finished reading Foot Of Pride off the teleprompter and Eddie Vedder is utterly owning Masters Of War in a way I wouldn't have thought possible for such a 'new' act. So the spirit of Bruce is certainly swirling around, in the absence of the man himself...
Since we seem to have gone off on a tangent...
I only watched The Sopranos for the first time this year. Some great music there, but a song I was only vaguely aware of (as the band was never that big here) was Journey's Don't Stop Believing which has suddenly become a fave... although I still don't know if I actually like the song or not, as all I see in my mind when I listen is that last shot of Tony Soprano looking up in the Cafe.
On my last rewatch of Californication about 18 months ago I suddenly found myself noticing the music a lot more and it introduced me to several songs now on regular rotation... My California by Beth Hart, New York Groove by Ace Frehley, Turn On Tune In Drop Out With Me by Cracker, Wanted Man by Warren Zevon, Eagle's Of Death Metal's cover of Stuck In The Middle.
My all time favourite use of music in TV remains The West Wing's end of Season 2 sequence set to Brothers In Arms. But that whole episode (Two Cathedrals) remains my favourite 40 odd minutes of television anyway.
I've never watched Sons Of Anarchy... perhaps that's where I need to go next in catching up on stuff I've overlooked across the years.
It's nearly ten years since it ended (bloody hell) and I still have my Songs of Anarchy playlist.
The Adam Raised A Cain opening of the S.O.A. final episode is one of my favorite Bruce videos that never was.
"When the Breakdown Hit at Midnight"
That's the title of the last episode of this season's Mayans M.C.
Sons of Anarchy saved Bruce for the greatest episode, so I'm anticipating a hell of a season finale for Mayans in a few weeks.
This is something I remember already sharing, but now I have the proof. 🙂
I had dinner this Saturday with my two best friends, and we were going through old photos. One friend brought two photos I never knew existed...
After my first boyfriend had dumped me I was trying to mend my broken heart by listening to music, lots of music, lots of Bruce. During those 'healing sessions' I would just cry lying on the floor in complete darkness. Sometimes though, I got creative. I would write a love letter never to be sent or a poem. The usual stuff...
One evening my sadness turned into anger, I became so pissed off with myself for not being able to fall out of love, I was fed up with the grief. During that anger attack, I took a roll of paper, the one we used to wrap packages in, Mom's tempera paints, and a flat paintbrush. I remember it was a flat one because it was hard to write with. And I remember I wanted to use markers, but couldn't find any, and that made me even angrier.
I started writing the lyrics of I'm On Fire in black and red and glued them to the wall. The cleansing process must have worked, the song stayed on the wall for quite some time, and I got over him, eventually.
Nonetheless, it was a strange thing to have hanging on the wall, friends were asking questions, and I always felt inclined to play the song for whoever asked anything about my strange wall decoration.
These two photos are important for another reason. You can see the empty boxes, and the HiFi components my Mom gave me for my 18th birthday, assembled beside the TV.
So far still the most important gift I ever received, if we are talking about material gifts...
I've been You Tube surfing on a Saturday night, as you do when Mrs Bosstralian and the two junior Bosstralians go to see the Friends musical parody show and you stay home imbibing Coopers Stout and then Makers Mark.
But, back to Bruce... I assume this clip is from the Apple Only doco that accompanied the LTY album. This song kills me anyway everything I listen to it, but the backing sha la las from Patti on this video version add so much to it IMO... why the released album version didn't include these I don't know. On a separate note, seeing Jon Landau lose his nut listening to his best friend evoke the spirit of everything they did together... well, I'll blame it on the bourbon, but I think a fly flew in my eye...
I know this comes up fairly frequently, but can we get the freaking Born In The U.S.A. boxed set already? If there's a studio version of Seeds, let's not forget to throw that baby on there.
So, today, I found myself air-guitaring to a certain song.
It got me thinking, a lot of my favourite Bruce songs don't lend themselves to air-guitaring.
In your estimation what are the best Bruce songs for playing air-guitar?
Hmmmm...here's a question I'm surprising myself with.
Is Real Man any more cheesy than Glory Days?
I think the River as a "Place" is similar to the story that he tells before performing "My Father's House" at Christic in 1990. The idea that going back to those places night after night will somehow make what happened in those places easier to bear or somehow make them right. That story has meant the most to me in my fandom as I sat there and watched him telling that story. I can still see his face. You go back there because it hurt to be in there, but in truth it is locked inside you as you grow, and the monsters that live there are scary. You go there in the hopes of making it right...
Truth is you can't make them right, because what was wrong about them is what makes us who we are underneath the feelings. The River is both a place and a feeling, a state of mind, in a negative context it is where loss is made real but also a source of strength.
I have always had this concept in my mind around certain songs on the River create a real space where one can reside in a way. If you look at everything that came from 1979-1980 it creates this living breathing place where people reside and live. That piece of writing before My Hometown in the Broadway show is an intro. We grow up in the shadow of the church, went to work in the mill, tried to raise a small family and try to survive the process. We find sweet pleasures as we drink ourselves to sleep on Summer sunday nights before our shift begins at 6am on Monday. Our kids go to school and we live.
Just my thoughts.....
A daft question, but one I have to ask you lot...
I've been listening to Bruce's music for a very long time now, some songs longer than others. One of those songs is "The River". Over the weekend I listened to The Ties That Bind LP for maybe the first time, and there's one line in "The River" I heard over the weekend that I think I've been hearing incorrectly since 2009. As the song comes to an end and he sings;
"That sends me down to the river
Though I know the river is dry
That sends me down to the river tonight
Down to the river
My baby and I
Ohh down to the river we ride"
I've always interpreted that penultimate line as him singing about himself and his former lover, but since Saturday I've been thinking - and too scared to ask - is this finale actually set in the present and is "my baby" actually the child he had out of wedlock with Mary? Like, is he taking this kid down to the river to try as a way of trying to answer questions and heal painful wounds he's had since his teenage years?
The thought of going down to the river is a painful one for him, and he hates it, but he must go back. And if he's doing so he's bringing his child with him as a big reminder of why he's there.
I knew half of Tracks before it was released. I know the other half just as well now. It's still a chest of treasure worth picking through from time to time.
Even though it's not there on the official release, I can't listen to My love Will Not Let You Down without imagining "Dub me, dub me" just before it starts. Even after all these years.
There are times, like this moment right now, when Janey, Don't You Lose Heart is the greatest song Springsteen ever wrote.
It was our oldest son's Prom night last night. It was held in a former industrial hall now rearranged into a fancy event place.
Upon arrival, I noticed an interesting sign, a glowing ball, hoped it would lead to some mystical place, but it turned out to be a fully stocked all you could drink bar with that beautiful and deceiving name...
Today has been one of those days when listening to some Springsteen isn't a want or desire, but a genuine need. It's a need for the gut-wrenching stuff, the songs that lift me up and nearly threaten to drop me from their dark heights.
Well, that's a huge relief and I feel like a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders.
I've finally backed up all my Nugs purchases for 2021 to my external hard drive for safe keeping.
I can't get it out of my head.
Froggie went a courtin'
And he did ride
Cross the river to the Jersey side
Uh huh, uh huh, uh
I dreamed about Bruce once, and wrote about it on the brucesplace site, way back when. As I recall, I entered an outdoor show to find that my friend had gotten a sofa past security. We sat on it with some strangers, and watched the show. Fans had lit a bunch of bonfires, including one right near us. At one point Bruce was picked up by 4 little people. They carried him across the stage, horizontally, while he ripped out a rocking guitar solo. I can't remember what song he was playing.
Jerseyfornia's after-smoke nap reminded me of a similar experience I had about 25 years ago. The day before I had surgery on my sinuses, the 4CD Roxy Music set, The Thrill Of It All, arrived in the mail. I was most interested in the 4th disc, which contained a bunch of non-LP singles and B-sides, and I decided to wait until after the operation to listen to it. The next day I came home from the hospital and disc 4 was already loaded into the boombox that was sitting on the bureau next to the bed. I took a couple painkillers to stay ahead of the anticipated pain, and laid there listening to a few songs. One in particular caught my attention, a dance tune that had a chorus that consisted of a repeated phrase. I really enjoyed it. When I awoke some hours later, I took a look at the list of songs on CD 4. It wasn't there. It never existed, outside of my drug addled mind. I not only dreamed of a new Roxy Music song, I dreamed of a complete arrangement and recording of one. Wish I could remember it...
Bruce wrote a lot of great rainy day songs.
I have seriously never dreamed about Bruce in any erotic way.
I did dream about him a few times, sometimes he was just the background music to something else I was dreaming....
I remember one dream though, quite a long time ago, that was really scary. It was a black and white setting of my bedroom, Bruce was dressed as in the BD video, sitting on my bed. With the meanest of voices and in a very hateful way he said: "You want to play, you've got to pay!" I had woken up with shivers...
I can recall two dreams that involved Bruce, I think I mentioned them back on the other place.
One was a second concert at the Stadium of Light, the stage was placed at the East Stand and I think they were playing "We Take Care of Our Own" and it wasn't the Wrecking Ball Tour so that was cool.
The second dream was an actual conversation with him. I asked him if the Vets show was recorded (of course I did), he told me they did, and that they stored it away with a label that said "La La Land!".
Dreams, ey?
I've got a more sentimental thought to share...Remember years back, don't know exactly when, but there was a rumor about Bruce getting a Vegas residency. I hated the idea back then, and have just logged in to say how happy I'm that it never happened. On the contrary, what he did later, the book, Broadway, both new albums with both movies, radio hosting shows, the Obama podcast and book, even the Jeep commercial... He never fails to surprise me with his creativity, and at his age, this is something to wholeheartedly admire. His mind must still be flooded with ideas, and I hope he continues to maintain sparks in his eyes in the future.
Damn. I told you I'm being sentimental.
The only dream I've ever had which included Bruce started off with him slowly taking off his shirt... Oh wait, that's a different dream, sorry.
I had a dream once where, you know how things morph in and out, people kind of come and go? I was driving with a couple of mates, one of whom I was once really close to and actually haven't seen for many years, and at some point, driving along listening to the live version of Racing in the Street, I said, still looking forward, something like 'this is such a classic song' and the voice next to me gave that little half chuckle and said "thanks man" I turned to my left and it was Bruce, chilling sitting back in the seat, tapping along on the doorhandle to the song, looking out the window with shades on... I thought, COOL, but then couldn't think what else to say....
I realise there is a slight parallel, in that many years ago I lived in a commune with what was at the time South Africa's top band, still the only SA rock band to sell over 100 000 copies of a debut album. I was out of a long term relationship, as was the lead vocalist. I was mates with the guys and one night had to take Ard, the lead singer/songwriter, somewhere because his car was broken down. It was a Sunday night... We were driving and I had a compilation CD playing, one I'd made. One of his songs came on and I told him what it meant to me and how it was resonating with me at that moment... He told me the background to how he wrote it and said how it meant more than anything else, doing what he did, knowing the songs meant something to just one other person.
This was the song. Not sure why the artwork is actually from a much later album...
He pops up occasionally in my dreams, but the best dream I had was if him performing in my church! In my defence, we had had a concert in there a few days previously and one of the performers did a (pretty good) cover of The River.
I don't recall ever having a dream about Bruce, but today when I was having an after-smoke nap, I dreamed he released a studio album of vintage soul covers and I was pretty disappointed when I woke up and realized it hadn't happened.
Charlie Chaplin's youngest son is younger than Bruce Springsteen.
A fact that means absolutely nothing, but still, a fact that's a little mad to think about on account of how Charlie Chaplin was born in 1889.
I love reading this tonight.
The Racing outro is a musical masterpiece. I have been playing this with different versions and have come to the understanding that everyone is a vital moment of redemption and amidst the seeming ruins that exist at the moment when the verse ends and the interlude begins. It always begins with Roy and whatever he does set the tone for the rest. It rises and falls and begins again. To me, at this moment it is proof that life exists and by the end, the narrator and his muse are redeemed yet again. It is essential E street material. I love that Paramount version, and of course Hyde Park. I played Tempe 1980 the other day, and although it's shorter than the others it really punches it home. Then I played one from Australia in 2017, it is so incredible. They all are amazing in their own ways. What I think in all honesty is that it may be the greatest thing Bruce can ever do live.
Darkness, I have attempted to write about for years. I always come back to it, If any of you want to know the real Adam (the one hitting these keys tonight) You just have to put on Darkness on the edge of town. It speaks to my obsessions and how they feed me. or I will more accurately say, how my obsessions have almost made me half of who I am. That other song where the guy does some things that he thinks are saving him cause they make him feel free, but in truth are really killing him. That's me in that dark place out near Abrams bridge. I don't race cars, but I do remember that girl who has her style she's trying to maintain. She sometimes lives in my house at the end of that long hall. I was, and sometimes am a ghost amongst the ones who love me, which is the crux of the first part of the song. But then he changes gears and goes deeper. The secret we try to keep can kill us, and then one day you cut it loose or it will kill you. I suggest if you have a secret, tell it to someone, it will become lighter...I suggest shedding the things that hold you back. I used to think my secret defined me, it's just baggage we don't need that weighs us down, or it'll get you loaded or land you in bed with someone who isn't your wife. I think the girl loved him but as he gave up on himself she fled. The point is to keep going up that hill. It's all we have. The struggle for acceptance. Tonight I'll be on that hill and we all know the rewards are the search itself.
I don't know if this clears up anything, it's great to have a place to write and friends to read it.
We have a cool named craft beer in Slovenia... With a comma, it would have been perfect! 😁
Well, that lasted long. Miami Steve on maracas and cowbell simultaneously on the Candy's Boy video... fantastic.
Darkness... well, for a long time this was never a favourite. Probably still isn't, but the older you get the more it means. I probably never really appreciated, nor indeed really understood I don't think, this song. But as I've aged this song has just become more and more vital to me, musically and lyrically.
I was 16 when I first heard it... so not unreasonable the nuances escaped me. But the fact I'm only at age 51 really appreciating what Bruce knew at 29 years of age is concerning.
Well filmed and timed Bruce close ups in this, also.
As an aside, I only have the DVD version of this, but played on a good HD TV with a player that upscale to 1080... wow, the thing looks incredible. The sepia colours work well.
Ok, time for another bourbon and whatever's next. I won't bore you with a blow by blow report on that (whatever it may be).
Slow down, Australia.😁
Prove It... its a live performance piece that really needs an audience, and for me this doesn't add much to versions we already have. But there is a way cool moment where Bruce's mid song solo starts, and we get a shot of Stevie grinning before the angle switches to the other side and we get Clarence shouting encouragement at Bruce.
Oh, outro solo... I may have spoken too soon. That is one of the best Reunion period outro solos I've seen or heard, TBH.
Streets Of Fire... never a favourite, TBH. But the Darkness archive show versions are incredible. Bruce's vocals here for the first part fall flat for me, but the guitar playing... wow. And then the pseudo howling vocally after the last chorus is immense. Great closing solo, also.
My grandfather worked at the Holden's car plant at Woodville in Adelaide. My grandma used to take us on the train to go meet him after work (the plant was that big, it had it's own dedicated train stop). The whistle would blow, and guys would just come pouring out the door. Some of them were actually running as they left. It was fascinating for an eight year old like me (clearly, as I remember it to this day). Just tge working, the working, the working life.
so Promised Land has just hit, and it's the first Clarence focussed moment other than the Badlands solo. Clarence then doing the 'hey heys' in the outro probably hits harder emotionally than the sax itself.
Candy... his voice is flat at the start, the 2019 Bruce can't quite do that 'ssshhh, quiet I have a secret' intro any more. Nevermind, greatness incoming...
Racing... well, what can I say. When suddenly at that 'some guys just give up living' line, Bruce stares straight into the camera at the viewer and it's... well, I don't know what... thrills, chills and spills. And he sings straight at us in several more points. It's freakin' moving to the point of emotional overload. A few songs from now, he'll tell us that everyone has a secret, something they can't face... well, we've just been Sony for a few minutes and he's shared it with us.
Oh, and then there's this whole musical outro that is just.... well, Mario/Paolo may need to help me, or perhaps Buddhabone can sort it out. Because I have no words.
Ok, some drunken as it happens real time Bosstralian reporting. All complaints to, well, me I guess. No guarantee I'll answer them. (Or, indeed, read them).
So Saturday night, and Australia Post failed to deliver my No Nukes Blu Ray. Screw you, Aussie Post.
Nevertheless, Bosstralian and his extremely strongly mixed Makers Mark and Dry will not be deterred. So, for the first time in many aeons, I've dragged out the Darkness box and put on the Darkness album performance DVD.
Badlands without false endings is cool.
Adam is insanely intense. Great, great version.
Bruce howling at the start of Something... is elemental.
More incredibly insightful reporting to come...
Sometimes my oldest son surprises me really nicely... 🥰
He sent me a text message today with a link to Sam Fender's Dancing In The Dark, performed in Amsterdam last Monday.
That is fascinating. What did you love so much about it? The scenery?
So, back in 2018, we did our 'once in a lifetime' family holiday to the US.
We visited San Francisco, flew across to NY, caught the train down to Washington DC, flew across to Vegas. From there, one of my favourite five hours ever, Luxbus through to Anaheim. Before heading into Univeral City for five days in LA.
We spent 3-5 days in each location, doing the family friendly tourist stuff.
Including a night tour of the monuments in Washington DC. We stood on these steps. I saw the view. I felt the undescribable weight of what it represented.
And, I feel in my soul, what Bruce is singing about on those same steps. Does anyone living there in the US feel the same, or is just guarding your little team box more important?
New strain available at the pot shop today.
I'm expecting a three and a half hour experience or it isn't worthy of the name.
My daughter's best friend is in Rome, staying some place where they keep Born In The U.S.A. on the wall. I like that Melody thought I should see that.
He did it at the September 22, 2012 at Metlife Stadium in NJ. The rain delay show, where we sang Happy Birthday after midnight. It's available in the Live Archive series. I think it came out over the last year.
"Meeting" into "Jungleland" has happened a canny few times (using https://www.setlist.fm/stats/songs/bruce-springsteen-2bd6dcce.html?songid=1bddc9a4, here a few more)
September 17th - Palladium - 19th and 21st - Passaic - in 1978;
October 1st, 1978 in Atlanta;
Richfield Coliseum on New Year's Day 1979;
A bunch of times on the Reunion Tour, including:
Earls Court '99; Arnhem 99; August 2nd, August 7th and 12th in Continental Airlines Arena; August 21st in Boston; September 17th and 21st in Philly; September 27th in Chicago etc.
Also happened in MSG in October 2007 and March 2016; there are more instances, but yeah, it's happened before 😀
I'm sure must've happened live cos on the album it's completely.......right/seemless.
Here's a question for those of you who pay attention to these things. I have just read a Harlan Coben book and I know he is a big Bruce fan who always slips a mention of Bruce or a song into his stories. This time he was describing a sacred moment in someone's life, like when Springsteen plays Meeting Across The River followed by Jungleland and, in my very limited experience I couldn't find an occasion when this happened?
I was pretty chuffed when I heard my son telling his girlfriend that Bruce is the best live act he's seen and he can't wait to go with her to a show.
Us lot are doing something right...
That post by Louisa above reminds me of (one of many) conversations with our daughter concerning Bruce. We'd taken her to see Bruce for the first time (she was 15) in Glasgow in 2009. She enjoyed it but wasn't maybe blown away. We'd already decided to go to Spain (Santiago de Compostela) for the euro tour finale and thought we'd arrange for our daughter to stay with a friend. About a few weeks after the Glasgow show daughter announces that she'd like to come with us, so more expense, frantic ticket searching (at least the whole show was GA) and off we went.
On the way to the show by taxi (we were about 8 miles from the venue and public transport wasn't a possibility) daughter asks me if Bruce will play Born In The USA. I say no he doesn't play that much now. Great show, scary venue (getting in and out and back to hotel) but after what I thought would be the final song, Bruce and the band do Born In The USA, the only time still, that it's closed a show. Daughter gave me that knowing look only 15 year olds can, I just smiled. She's still a Bruce fan and has a BITUSA real vintage tour t shirt (was mine) that she says is considered very cool by her friends.
So, hearing BITUSA always reminds me of that night and daughter makes sure I don't forget.