Album Review - Nebraska

Today marks the 32nd birthday of Nebraska, one of Springsteen's most unique and unexpected albums.  For those familiar with Springsteen at all, you know this album's reputation.  Among the descriptors for Nebraska I have heard over the years are: dark, depressing, uncompromising, challenging, gritty, original, controversial, etc.  It is what makes this review difficult to write - this album has been dissected and analyzed so much these last three decades that I will inevitably end up using one or more of those cliche descriptions.  So, before getting into the review, allow me to indulge in something personal, since it may be the only original idea I will have going forward.

I have had a bias against this album for quite some time.  It really has nothing to do with its content, but rather all to do with what I just wrote about: it's reputation.  Too often, I have heard the album described the following way: "Even if you don't like Springsteen, you'll love Nebraska."  While you could interpret this as saying that Nebraska is Springsteen's best album, or it has a universal appeal, the context is often positioning this statement as a critique of most of Springsteen's other work.  "Here, listen to Nebraska.  It is actually artistic, not that like those other Springsteen records with their overblown sounds and corny lyrics."  It is insulting, yet it is not unusual to hear Springsteen fans themselves promote Nebraska to their non-Springsteen loving friends in the same manner.  So, based on this mildly pretentious description, I developed a resentment towards the album.  Did I like it?  Of course!  It's Springsteen!  But, I bestowed it with the one word used by many a snarky internet blogger: overrated.

But, admittedly, I was being an idiot.  What someone else says or thinks about an album shouldn't affect my enjoyment of it.  When seeking out new music, the first question should be "What is the music like?", not "Who else is listening to this?"  The concept of something being overrated or underrated is silly and arbitrary to begin with.  So, with the anniversary of the anniversary of the record approaching, I decided to try to clear my mind of all preconceived notions of the album and give it a fresh listen (I did the same with Working On A Dream earlier this year).



Upon my first listen, my thoughts immediately confirmed all the cliches I listed in the first paragraph.  It is certainly not a record where you can just put on and go clean the house.  It is a challenging listen to grasp all of what Springsteen is laying out there.  There are complicated characters, stories told from various viewpoints, and a harmonica motif that runs from the first song to the last.

Naturally, as I digested the album more, I found myself always drawn back to songs such as "Atlantic City", "Johnny 99", and "Reason To Believe", which are songs that were eventually given a full-band makeover in the 21st century.  "Atlantic City" is one of my all-time favorite Springsteen songs, and the nature of the lyrics leads to many variations: it can be a tale of a hero making one last stand against the forces of darkness, or the story of a loser deluding himself into yet another failure.  "Johnny 99" is everything that "Outlaw Pete" wishes it was - a raucous scoundrel story with a catchy riff.  "Reason To Believe" is a perfect note in ending the album, as it is probably the most uplifting song on the album (despite starting with the image of a dead dog).



What keeps bringing me back to the album is the themes, both musically and lyrically, that tie the album together.  For example, "Nebraska" starts and ends with a sad, distant harmonica, which is present in almost nearly every other song, such as "Mansion On The Hill" and "Used Cars".  This  harmonica turns upbeat in the concluding song "Reason To Believe".  Another theme is Springsteen's wailling, on "Johnny 99", we hear a joyous "woo!"  Yet, this turns to screams of anguish in "State Trooper".  The darkness permeating the album can be overwhelming at times.  Dirges such as "Mansion On The Hill" and "My Father's House", both dark lullabies about houses of some sort, are more whispered than sung, and are probably the most difficult to get into. Additionally, "Open All Night" stands out as an unusually track to include, as it is a rockabilly toe-tapper and the only song to use an electric guitar.

After going back, I would consider myself a convert to Nebraska.  It is an impressive experiment by Springsteen that has never been exactly duplicated. (Sidenote: While others may point to The Ghost of Tom Joad and Devils & Dust as attempts to recapture Nebraska, I feel Springsteen's best recent "experiment" has been The Seeger Sessions).  It is not my all-time favorite Springsteen album, but it easily stands among his best work, and I would rate it as a 5 out of 5.

Johnny Cash's "Johnny 99" and "Highway Patrolman"

Last month, I spotlighted Johnny Cash's cover of "I'm On Fire", and emphasized how it encouraged me to check out more music from the Man In Black.  Little do I know that it was not Cash's first foray into Springsteen music.  In 1983, Cash released an album called Johnny 99, including covers of both the title track and "Highway Patrolman".  Johnny takes Bruce's stark, bleak tunes and gives them a country flair.



While the Nebraska album was divisive among Springsteen fans at the time, but its influence on other musicians is clear, as it has been cited as an influence for musicians ranging from Steve Earle to Kelly Clarkson.  There are various covers of nearly every song from Nebraska - too many to list in this post.  So, let us know in the comments: do you have a favorite Nebraska cover?

Movie Review - The Grapes of Wrath

One of my favorite Springsteen legends revolves around John Ford's film adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath.  The story goes that Bruce was flipping around the television dial one night, and stumbled across The Grapes of Wrath, and was immediately drawn in by the tale of the Joad family.  He had never read the original novel by John Steinbeck, but used the film as the basis for his future songwriting (most notably in the album not surprisingly titled The Ghost of Tom Joad).  Before sitting down to write this post, I scoured the internet to try to find confirmation of this tale, but failed.  Maybe I had heard it at a concert, or read it in one of the many Springsteen books I've reviewed throughout the years, or perhaps it was just another one of my beautiful and disturbing Springsteen dreams.  Regardless, having never read the book either, I decided to plop on my couch, flip on Netflix, and emulate my hero.

Before going into my thoughts and feelings, let me just give a quick summary of the movie for those unfamiliar with the story.  If you are worried about spoilers for a movie that came out in 1940, I'd suggest you skip over the rest of the review.  The movie opens with Tom Joad, played by Henry Fonda, returning to his Oklahoma home after a four year stint in prison for killing a man in a bar fight.  Upon returning home, however, he finds that the Dust Bowl has wrecked the economy of his home town, and the banks are forclosing on his home.  There is no use battling back, as there is no specific man to blame, and the construction equipment coming to tear down his home cannot be haulted - you stop one, and they'll send more.  So the Joad family packs up and heads to California, hoping to find more work.  Unfortunately, when they arrive, they see that there are too many people looking for work, and the employers have slashed their wages due to the overabundance of labor.  They working picking peaches, and are forced to live in destitute bungalows where they are heavily monitored, as attempts to organize a resistance are immediately squashed by hired goons.  The family finds some peace in a government-run camp where the community is run by the workers.  In the end, Tom Joad moves away from his family, inspired to take up the fight for the working man across the nation.  His final words are stirring and memorable: "I'll be all around in the dark. I'll be everywhere. Wherever you can look, wherever there's a fight, so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever there's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there. I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad. I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry and they know supper's ready, and when the people are eatin' the stuff they raise and livin' in the houses they build, I'll be there, too."

Reading that description alone sounds like you've just listened to about fifty different Springsteen songs.  As a Springsteen fan for years, it was eye-opening to see how heavily this influenced him.  I'd compare it to the first time I saw Citizen Kane after growing up on The Simpsons: it's amazing how many references you can pick up on now.  I'm not exaggerating: take a look at the very first shot of the movie, does it remind you of anything?

John Ford, with famed cinematographer Gregg Toland, fills the movie with beautiful, stark imagery like that above.  In traveling from Oklahoma to California, we see gorgeous scenic shots that remind me of a film noir version of Breaking Bad (there are a lot more parallels you can draw between Breaking Bad and The Grapes of Wrath, but that's a subject for a completely different blog).  Springsteen's music reflects the barren, depressing mood in the film most notably in Nebraska and the obvious The Ghost of Tom Joad.  As Steve wrote about this summer, The Ghost of Tom Joad could be considered the most cinematic Springsteen album, but I see a lot of influence from this film in his most recent work, Wrecking Ball.  Two songs particularly stand out: "Death To My Hometown", as the men who kick the Joads off their farm are exactly what you'd imagine the "greedy thieves that came around and ate the flesh of everything they’ve found" would look like; and "We Are Alive", which draws from Tom's aforementioned "I'll be there" speech.

I would highly recommend this movie to all Springsteen fans.  While it may be a bit liberal for some of the more conservative Springsteen fans, it tries its best to stay apolitical, with Tom not even knowing what a "red" is.  The main message, as Springsteen echoes (on Wrecking Ball again), is that we take care of our own.  It is a tribute to the working class and a plea for compassion for your fellow man.

Springsteen Video of the Week - Disorder in the House with Warren Zevon

Fellow Springsteen tribute site, Nebraska, contains a great database of Springsteen’s guest appearances on other artists’ albums.

If you’re looking to be a Bruce completest head on over to see their full list and hunt down everything from Bruce playing acoustic guitar with Ronnie Spector on “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” to providing narration on “Street Hassle” for Lou Reed.

Nebraska’s list introduced me to the above video featuring Bruce Springsteen and Warren Zevon collaborating on a raw rocker about domestic instability for Zevon’s final album, “The Wind.”

First Draft: Child Bride

Earlier this week Rory mentioned how the lyrics from "Working On The Highway" "if read out of context of the music and other lyrics, it could easily be mistaken for a song from Nebraska."  Well he's right!  "Working On The Highway" was originally written for Nebraska. But Bruce decided to hold on to it, jazz it up, add a catchy chorus and bingo!  We have the beloved version of "Working On The Highway" that we all know and love today.

First off, let me start off by saying this was a fantastic decision.  "Child Bride" is just an awful name for a song, and would be really hard to defend as a fan.  Secondly, even though I love Nebraska and his other folk albums, this song just sounds so much better as the uptempo toe-tapper that we all know today.  That's not to say the song doesn't have it's merit.  "Child Bride" is much more akin to the somber lyrics.  "Working on the Highway" is paradoxical to it's lyrics.With rockabilly guitar licks, a snappy beat and an incredibly catchy chorus, "Working On The Highway" is always a favorite in concert.  I can't really imagine fans holding up signs for "Child Bride" in concert.

Book Review - Glory Days by Dave Marsh

Dave Marsh's two Bruce Springsteen biographies – Born to Run and Glory Days – are widely considered the definitive books about The Boss. With unparalleled access to Bruce and his camp, it would be hard for them not to be. If anything, Marsh has been criticized for hero worship. But you won't find any such criticisms on a blog called Legends of Springsteen. Hero worship or not, Marsh’s detailed, engaging and affectionate writing deserves credit on its own merit.

Glory Days picks up where Born to Run leaves off and covers Bruce's career from The River through the release of Live: 1975-1985. One of the highlights here is a finely detailed account of Springsteen creating the Nebraska album. The picture of Bruce alone in his New Jersey home writing and recording the solo album may seem like familiar territory in Bruce folklore. However, the level of insight to the album's production and the marketing approach offers an engrossing account of the album’s unorthodox production.

Another section I found particularly enlightening was the post-Born in the U.S.A. success. Marsh gives a grand account that represents the sheer enormity of the album's popularity. I was intrigued to learn about the radio / dance remixes of "Born in the U.S.A." and "Dancing in the Dark" by Arthur Baker. I didn't even know these versions existed before. It's interesting to listen to them now - although both are unremarkable apart from their novelty.



The book concludes with a great promotional effort for the Live: 1975-85 album. I had never given the album much thought before, figuring that I have so many live songs already but after reading about the considerable work that Bruce and record producer Jon Landau put into the track selection and order, I'm very eager to pick up a copy. Marsh includes a quote from Landau about the project that we should all envy: "It was an enormous amount of work and it was easy as hell."

Glory Days is full of beguiling anecdotes that will have Bruce fans enraptured for page upon page. My personal favorite involves Bruce going to see a movie by himself in Denver and ending up meeting a teenage fan who invites him back to his house for dinner with his parents. It's tempting to suspect such stories to be apocryphal but it's much more fun to believe that Bruce really is that down to earth.

Returning to the hero worship claim, there isn't much critical here beyond a harsh ribbing of "Downbound Train". Throughout the book, you kind of keep waiting for some sort of failure to creep in but it's really all about success. I would be fascinated to read Marsh's take on 1987 through 1996 in contrast. In 2003 Marsh released Two Hearts, the Story which combined abridged versions of Born to Run and Glory Days and included a new addendum on The Rising. I haven’t had the opportunity to read it myself but from what I understand it doesn’t delve into the less revered period of Bruce’s career.

I picked up my second hand copy of Glory Days for $2.00 at a Housing Works in New York City. What a steal! Every Springsteen fan should read this book. If you aren't lucky enough to find a copy in a secondhand store, it's still worth the money on Amazon Market Place. Just be sure that you have your iPod within reach while you're reading.

Lyrics of the Week- Atlantic City

“Well they blew up the chicken man in Philly last
night now they blew up his house too.
Down on the boardwalk they're getting ready
for a fight gonna see what them racket boys can do”- “Atlantic City”, Nebraska


“Atlantic City” has always been one of my favorite songs.  From the emotional studio version,  to the rocking electric version he plays with the E Street Band, and even the downright whacky version with the Sessions Band.  There’s something about this song that’s always kept it one of my favorites.  I even love covers of the song done by The Hold Steady and The Band.  You just can't go wrong with whatever version you pick.

But for the longest time I had no idea what those opening lyrics were about.  What was a chicken man?  And more importantly why would someone want to blow one up?  It wasn’t until I was in college that I finally figured it out.  I was a Criminal Justice major at Niagara University(Go Purple Eagles!) and took a class on notable cases of the 20th century.  And while learning about infamous Philly Mob Boss, Philip Testa, and his involvement in the poultry business.  When I went on to read more about him, and how he was killed in a bomb blast, that was ordered by his own underboss, I finally realized what Bruce was singing about!

The mafia references are prevalent throughout the song, and knowing now a little more about the Testa getting whacked, and the 4 year Philadelphia mafia-war that ensued because of it, have made the lyrics that much more meaningful.  Not only are there numerous mafia references, but references to death, and the consequences of decisions we make.  Something I’m sure Philip Testa would testify too, if he could.  Oh well, “Everything dies, that’s a fact.”

Springsteen Lyrics of the Week - Nebraska

"They wanted to know why did what I did

Well sir, I guess there's just a meanness in this world"

- Nebraska, Nebraska

 

Although the song is about the infamous serial killer Charles Starkweather, the closing lines seem to relate to any tragedy that has occurred.  In these situations, we often struggle to find answers, and more often than not there doesn't seem to be a clear cut answer. 

 

Springsteen sings this song in a flat, intentionally uninspired voice from the point of view of Starkweather.  With another line in the song stating that he is unrepentant for his actions, it confirms that there are some actions that we just can't understand.  Although it is an unpleasant thought, this song acknowledges the fact that some people are capable of evil that we cannot comprehend. 

 

Although despair and even tragedy are not foreign to Springsteen's song writing, in most of these songs there is an underlying message of hope.  "Nebraska", on the other hand, has no hope, no silver lining, no positive message at all.  Most of the songs on Nebraska have a dreary, bleak message, but none more than the titular song.  Even writing this entry has been depressing.