The 30 Day Song Challenge, Day 25

The last few days have been a roller coaster of emotions - angry, happy, sad, weddings, and funerals.  We take yet another turn today with a song that makes me laugh.  While Springsteen can often be humorous on stage and in interviews, his songs are often dour.  Yet I still didn't find today all that much of a challenge:

Bruce has some silly songs such as "Sherry Darling" and "Working On The Highway", but "In Freehold" is always the one that gets me, especially the line about his Catholic education.  I don't want to spoil all the jokes, so give it a listen yourself.

What Springsteen songs make you laugh?

Bruce On Jimmy Fallon: Beware of Ducks!

As reported earlier this week, Bruce made another comedic appearance on Jimmy Fallon last night.  In it, Bruce answered the most troubling question know to man: would you rather fight 100 duck-sized horses, or one horse-sized duck?  Fortunately, Bruce has garnered much wisdom on his time on Earth, and provides a well thought out answer:



While there were no Ke$ha parodies, as implored by my fellow writer Steve, Bruce parodies his own song, using it to take some light-hearted jabs at the Chris Christie brouhaha.  The parody shows Bruce's classic "dad humor", as he leans heavily on pee-pee jokes.  But, as always, the highlight of these skits is Bruce's wigs and outfits.  I'd love to see these costumes make a comeback on the tour; they definitely look better than the "man in black" routine we've seen for the last decade or so.



Check out this post for more "Born To Run" TV Moments!

Video Spotlight - Bruce's Story of Meeting Clarence

If you are familiar with Bruce Springsteen's live shows, and I hope to God you are, you know that Bruce will burst out a long, rambling personal story or two (or three).  Usually, these precede classic songs, but whenever you hear the opening notes of "Growing Up", you know you that after about two minutes in, you are in for a crazy tale that sounds straight out of American folklore.  These outlandish accounts always are punctuated by Clarence's roaring saxophone part that closes out the final minute of the song.  This particular version from 1985 is probably the longest and most elaborate of Springsteen's myths, involving props, coordinated pantomimes, and additional actors in outrageous costumes.  It runs over ten minutes, and is worth stick around through (if you make it to the very end, you can hear the opening notes of another Springsteen classic).  We often spotlight Bruce's humor on this blog, and this strange tale of bears and gypsies is a worth addition to Bruce's comedy reel.

Lyrics Spotlight - In Freehold

"Well, I got a good Catholic education here in Freehold
Led to an awful lot of masturbation here in Freehold
Father, it was just something I did for a smile
Hell, I still get a good one off once in a while
and dedicate it to Freehold."
-- "In Freehold"

Who doesn't love a good masturbation joke? As an amateur comedian, I use masturbation as the crux of so many jokes that I've begun to abbreviate it as "M" in my notebook. It may be low-brow, but it gets a chuckle, or, in Bruce's case here, an enthusiastic cheer.

"In Freehold" is a song Springsteen wrote for a special concert he performed in his old high school gym. While the songs he penned in his teens and early 20s were all about breaking out of this "town full of losers", here he reflects on his youth with nostalgia, humor, and a twinge of sadness. Tales of his first kiss, his first band, his father, and his sister all make it into this epic. But ultimately, Bruce ends it with the one element that everyone can relate to when thinking about their high school years.

Great Moments in Springsteen Television History - The Office, Crime Aid

In this classic episode of The Office, Michael Scott is holding an auction to try to raise money to replace the office equipment that had been stolen due to his negligence.  Many of the items in the auction are undesirable (save for a weekend in Martha's Vineyard and a hug from Phyllis), and Michael Scott has to come up with a gift that will be universally appealing to everyone in the office.  You need something that will appeal to a very diverse workplace - the staff runs the gamut from young and old, with different races, backgrounds, and even sexual orientations.  The choice of front row Springsteen tickets is perfect - it both fits the criteria and maintains the show's realistic setting.  Choosing a young "hot" musician or a musician who NBC is trying to promote (i.e. someone who would be performing on SNL that week) would distract from the reality created in the show and make the episode feel phony and dated.  But what really cements this as a great moment in Springsteen television history is Michael Scott's knowledge of Bruce's song catalog.  It was partially the inspiration behind the Bruce rip-off article I wrote, although rewatching that clip, I now regret not putting Tracy Chapman and Randy Newman on that list.  

Springsteen Lyrics of the Week - Working on the Highway

I saved up my money and I put it all away
I went to see her daddy but we didn't have much to say
"Son can't you see that she's just a little girl
She don't know nothing about this cruel cruel world"
--"Working on the Highway", Born in the USA

Springsteen's sense of humor has been a subject of discussion recently on this blog.  "Working on the Highway" is another song I immediately associate with Springsteen's funny side.  However, this is due to the rockabilly style and over-the-top crotch thrusts that are staples of his live performances.  The tale actually told in this song is more sardonic.  The narrator works on the highway dreaming of a better life, gets in trouble while pursuing a girl, and ends up in prison, where he is back working on the highway.  In the end, his freedom and his imprisonment were the same.  The above passage is my favorite part of the song, and, if read out of context of the music and other lyrics, it could easily be mistaken for a song from Nebraska.

Springsteen Video of the Week: Bruce Being Funny

When I stumbled upon the above video on YouTube, I assumed that it would be either a parody or a mockery of Bruce Springsteen. For as strong as the bond is between Bruce and his fans, there's still a tendency to playfully make fun of him even as you idolize him. Ben Stiller has proclaimed his adoration for Bruce Springsteen but he still slyly mocks his persona in the Legends of Springsteen segments on The Ben Stiller Show. As such, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the above video was in sincere praise of Bruce's sense of humor and his ability to make us laugh.

Springsteen Lyrics of the Week - Sherry Darling

"Well this morning I ain't fighting tell her I give up
Tell her she wins if she'll just shut up
But it's the last time that she's gonna be ridin' with me."
--"Sherry Darling", The River

Springsteen's sense of humor has been a topic of minor debate among the Legends of Springsteen editors.  On one hand, nearly every song of Springsteen's is full of lost souls who run away from dark places only to find more misery.  On the other hand, in concert, he'll take these songs and make them into joyous crowd sing-a-longs (see "Hungry Heart").  However, Bruce's more humorous side shines through in "Sherry Darling".  His silliest song to-date ironically appears on his third (or fourth) darkest album (I'd rank Nebraska and Darkness ahead of it; Wrecking Ball come close).  These lyrics highlight the exasperation we've all felt when arguing over nonsense - it always gets to a point where silence trumps any feeling of victory you'd get in winning an argument.