Video Spotlight - Arcade Fire and Bruce Springsteen, "Keep The Car Running"

Win Butler of the Arcade Fire has often cited Bruce Springsteen as an influence on his music.  We've looked at the Arcade Fire playing a Springsteen song before; here, Bruce joins them on stage for "Keep The Car Running", a song that is the most Bruce-sounding non-Bruce song I've heard in quite some time.  While I wish the quality of the recording was better, I can only imagine I'd have the same reaction as the "WHAT THE FUCK" guy in the beginning if I had been seeing this live.

I bring up this video from seven years ago because, last weekend, I had the pleasure of seeing Arcade Fire live for the first time at Barclays Center.  While we've drawn parallels to other performers being inspired by Springsteen for their lives shows in the past, I must say the Arcade Fire have their own unique style.  From high-heeled beefcake dancers to performers with large paper-mache heads, there was never a moment where you'd mistake yourself for being at a Springsteen show.  However, while they didn't play "Keep The Car Running" (nor the other Springsteen-esque favorite of mine, "Antichrist Television Blues"), they did start the encore with a tangentially-related nod to the Boss:



It is a complete reworking of Suicide's "Dream Baby Dream" featuring David Byrne.  However, Springsteen has been covering the song for nearly a decade, and released a studio version of it on his most recent album.  Yes, I know it is an incredible stretch to say a cover of a cover that sounds entirely different is an ode to Springsteen, but it wouldn't surprise me if this was an ever-so-slight tip of the hat.