Let's see - a song I hear too often on the radio? This is another one of those "negative" days, so I'll spare you being negative about being negative (But seriously, who complains about hearing a song on the radio too much? You can switch the channel! And, come on, can we really have too much Bruce on the radio?) Being in New Jersey, you'd think I hear a lot of Bruce on the classic rock stations, but somehow I end up hearing a ton of Billy Joel. Have I written enough words to post the song yet?
I'll just go with this, as it is probably my least favorite of Springsteen's big hits. Also, we are heading to peak summer, so I fully expect to hear this song on Q104.3 over...and over....and over....
Any Springsteen song that's a bit too radio friendly for your tastes?
We here at Legends of Springsteen hope you are all having a great summer so far. Personally, I think summer is the best season for Springsteen music. His songs are the perfect soundtrack for a backyard barbecue.
For this fourth of July weekend, we bring you another installment of "Bruce Versus Bruce"! Did you know that the mechanical shark from Jaws was named "Bruce"? Well, now you know! And do you know what would happen in a fictitious match-up between Springsteen the shark-Bruce? Well, let's find out!
Smile you son of a bitch!
Bruce the Shark
Bruce Springsteen
Hometown
Amity Island
Freehold, New Jersey
Advantage: Springsteen
Hang Out Spot
The Ocean
The Boardwalk
Advantage:Springsteen
Relationship With Fish
Eats Them
Duets With Them
Advantage: Shark
Director
Steven Spielberg
He's His Own Boss
Advantage: Springsteen
Soundtrack Created By
John Williams
Bruce Springsteen
Advantage: Springsteen
Sequels
Disappointing
Critically Acclaimed
Advantage: Springsteen
Acadmey Awards
3
1
Advantage: Shark
Main Goal
Eating Swimmers
Rocking For The Working Man
Advantage: Springsteen
Ability to Live On Land
Impossible
Unabated
Advantage: Springsteen
Well, in a 7-2 beat-down, Springsteen wins again! Sorry, Shark-Bruce, perhaps you have to set your sights on a lower Bruce to devour.
Usually, around this time of year, Christmas music starts to subliminally weaves it way back into the public consciousness via car commercials, speaker systems at Starbucks, and the like. However, while Springsteen has a couple of famous Christmas song performances in his catalog, we at Legends of Springsteen have already covered them extensively in our past. Rather than rehash the same old tunes again, I'd encourage you to go back and check out our archives:
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town But, what video are you going to watch today? Why, a cover of the Beatles' "Anytime At All" by the Weeklings, featuring E Street's own Max Weinberg on drums. Why this song? Well, this is from a concert in July, and the performance has a perfect "summer" feel to me. In the midst of all this winter music, it's good to take a break from all the ho ho hos and holly jolliness. Did this video help you feel a bit warmer? No? Well, I tried. Thanks for your continued readership! (And, if you are still in the holiday spirit, check out the Springsteen Holiday Gift Guide we posted last week!)
This gut-wrenching rendition from Toronto during the 1984 Born in the U.S.A. tour begins with a two minute intro heavy on ambient piano and wailing before leading into the familiar opening notes. Just one look at Bruce’s ripped jean jacket and you know he means business. From the defiant guitar solo to the sweat soaked bandana, the energy is palpable.
Key Lyrics
“When the breakdown hit at midnight
There was nothing left to say but I hated him and I hated you when you went away”
While I’m partial to the so-close-you-can-feel-it description of “getting wasted in the heat,” I can’t stray from this raw admission of hatred made all the more painful by the disappointment with which it is laced.
Demos and lyric drafts have shown that early versions of “Backstreets” explicitly cast the character of Terry as a female. But I prefer to stick to the song text which leaves the gender ambiguous. Perhaps because Bruce’s career is full of heterosexual love gone sour, “Backstreets” feels all the more exceptional when read as a tragic tale of love between two men – regardless of whether it’s a homosexual or platonic love.
Overall
I often think of “Backstreets” as the ultimate summer song. It effortlessly evokes both the initial optimism and inevitable disappointment that define every summer season in our teenage years. As one of the few Born to Run songs that doesn’t feature heavily in Bruce’s recent concert rotations, “Backstreets” packs a powerful punch when you are fortunate enough to hear it. It’s easy to overlook but hard to forget.
Yes, as we reach the apex of the summer, my mind goes back to that wonderful night in April, the last time I was able to see Springsteen live. This performance of "Talk To Me" was a true highlight of the night, punctuated by Bruce's bizarre magazine rant. Even though it was the tour premiere of the song, the routine felt so natural that it made "Talk To Me" feel like a concert staple. Either way, it made me take notice of a song that I hadn't paid much attention to in the past (and, it further supports the popular opinion that The Promise disc two is much superior to disc one). It's a fun and bouncy song, perfect for those long summer nights.
Much like in 2012, Independence Day has fallen in sync with our posting schedule. Rather than spotlight "Independence Day", a somber tune about leaving home, I figured I'd double-dip and go take yet another look at "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)". When I previously discussed "No Surrender", I praised the lyrics for their ability to paint specific images in my head. In "4th of July", Bruce nails the feeling of youthful adventure you'd have on the boardwalks of South Jersey. Springsteen is able to capture all the highlights of a trip to the boardwalk: the old arcades, the fortune tellers hustling for a buck, and, finally, to the fireworks that cap the weekend nights. Listening to this song, you can practically feel the ocean wind blowing sand in your face. It takes a lot of guts to name a song for a specific time and place, but this song lives up to its own billing with a perfect encapsulation of the moment.
Sandy
The fireworks are hailin' over Little Eden tonight...
- "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" from The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle
Well, the choice was obvious, but in keeping with the theme of this week, I'll spotlight Bruce's classic summer song, "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)". While the lyrics are very sad, yearning for a more innocent time, the song's imagery and tone creates an aged photograph of the perfect summer day. So, go out there, check out the girls in their summer clothes, drink warm beer in the soft summer rain, and dance with your shirt open!
Remember watching MTV and VH1 for hours on end waiting for the three minutes of bliss when you could see the music video you loved? The iTunes generation and beyond may never appreciate this pastime. And I can’t blame them. Hours of watching TRL and Morning Buzz could be maddening. You might come across a song you’ve never heard before but in return you’d have the lyrics to “The Thong Song” seared into your memory for all eternity.
The downside of living in an era of instant gratification and music video channels that refuse to play music videos is that we don’t experience the visual impact of pop music anymore. With the release of the “Rocky Ground” music video the other week, I realized that I couldn’t recall that many Bruce Springsteen music videos that vividly. Of course there are the iconic “Dancing in the Dark” and “I’m on Fire” videos but neither were in heavy rotation when I was doing the majority of my music video watching. The only music video I remember seeing on heavy rotation was “The Rising” – and that was a concert video from the MTV Music Video Awards. There was also the “Secret Garden” music video which I saw a few times but more prevalent than that video was the radio version of the song that Z100 used to play with dialogue from Jerry Maguire interspersed through the instrumental sections.
Should an artist with Bruce’s popularity even bother making music videos anymore? Is anyone discovering his music through this format? I’m not certain, but sparked by “Rocky Ground” I started looking through his VEVO channel on YouTube and found this beautiful video for “Girls in their Summer Clothes.” This video could have easily been a parade of bikini-clad supermodels to appeal to teenage boys but instead it’s something much more emotional and lyrical, with girls young and old accompanied by heartfelt imagery. While most fans would have been aware of this song already, seeing the visuals does add another layer for interpretation. In this case, it reiterates the melancholy of the lyrics and suggests that ‘summer clothes’ could be more of an emotional state than a physical appearance.
"Sleeping in that old abandoned beach house, getting wasted in the heat"
- Backstreets, Born to Run
We've been fortunate enough to enjoy an amazing run of beautiful weekends in New York City and with the signs of summer all around, I keep thinking of this song.
Are there any Springsteen lyics that better evoke the feeling of being young and carefree in the summertime? Some might say "Racing in the Streets," but for my money "Backstreets" captures both the allure and the melancholy of an aimless summer better than any other.
