Song Spotlight - "The Last Words Of Copernicus"

It is weird to think of Bruce Springsteen incorporating samples into his music (a la 2 Live Crew).  However, in "Death To My Hometown", Bruce took the chanting from Alan Lomax's recording of "The Last Words of Copernicus" to enhance the riotous sound of the record.  In fact, in many songs featured on Wrecking Ball, snippets from other songs are parsed through tracks such as "Shackled and Drawn" (Lyn Collin's "Me And My Baby Got Our Own Thing Going") and "Rocky Ground" (Peerless Four's "A Soldier In The Army Of the Lord").  It is interesting to see the Boss still experimenting with different ways of creating music in the fifth decade of his career.

Great Moments in Springsteen Cinema History: Grown-Ups 2

I recently had the great fortune of catching Grown-Ups 2 on an airplane. The fact that this half hazard collection of half heartedly written scenes makes up an actual movie – let alone one released by a major studio grossing over $100 million – is nothing short of astounding. Now, I’m an Adam Sandler faithful, so I’ll concede that I laughed a few times, but the only moment of real value is the invocation of Springsteen.

In the film’s climax, Sandler hosts an ‘80s themed party for the neighborhood, with attendees all dressed as pop culture icons. Happily, Sandler dresses like Springsteen on the cover of Born in the U.S.A. When his son doesn’t know who that is, Sandler responds, “My own son doesn’t know The Boss? I’ve failed as a father.”

Amen.

Sadly, the film doesn’t feature any Springsteen tunes – even if it begs for a “Glory Days” riff. Alas, Sandler fans will just have to satiate themselves with “Growin’ Up” in Big Daddy or “Hungry Heart” in The Wedding Singer.

Video Spotlight - "You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)"....A Cappella!

Usually, we spotlight a ton of acoustic performances on this blog, but here's something that I personally haven't seen before: a completely instrument-free Springsteen snarling out a song.  And, surprisingly, it works!  Bruce fully commits to the rambunctious style, swinging his hips in his best Elvis impersonation and making classic Bruce-faces throughout the quick performance, and the audience buys in completely.

We usually try to keep the video spotlights short, but if you've got an hour to kill, I highly recommend watching this whole concert from 1986.  It is a must watch for fans of acoustic Bruce, as he plays a stripped down set with Danny Federici and Nils Lofgren.  The setlist includes many Born In The USA-era hits, as well as a being joined on stage by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young.

Lyrics Spotlight - Bobby Jean

And I'm just calling one last time not to change your mind
But just to say I miss you baby, good luck goodbye

--"Bobby Jean", Born In The U.S.A.

As I've mentioned before, I am a big comic book fan.  And, as any comic book fan knows, you will be the subject of hundreds of embarrassing moments that are almost unavoidable given the lifestyle.  Perhaps its that time you thought buying that fedora was a good idea; or that time your mom yelled "I'll pick you up at 8!" in front of all the cool kids at the comic convention; or that time someone asked you who would win in a fight between Batman and the Hulk, and you went into an extremely detailed break-down that disturbed the person who asked the question.  All of these are ultimately harmless "character builders", and everyone has them.  On the comic book podcast In This Issue, they will occasionally share these amusing tales, calling them "Embarrassing Nerd Confessions".  Their openness has inspired me to share some of my embarrassing Springsteen confessions, so strap yourself in - it is pretty cringe-worthy.  Ready?  Let's not beat around the bush:

I thought the above lyrics would be good to text to a girl.

Ugh, I want to kick my own ass after typing that.  But, now that that is out in the open, let's go back a bit.  It was college, and I was in my golden age of drunken texting.  I would get a couple of shots in me and think my texts were worthy of Bartlett's.  Some texts would be humorous, but most of the time I was sending a message at 4:17 AM that elegantly stated, "what r u up to".  Most of these texts would go unanswered, but I was a young man; a little failure would not deter me.

Upon this occasion, there was a girl who I had seen maybe a handful of times.  However, my charm was starting to wear thin (shocking!), and the girl was doing what was probably the most polite and mature thing you could do in your college years: just ignore me.  Now, this wasn't the first time, nor the last time, things would end this way with a girl.  But, I'd just like to breakdown how my reaction to this has changed over the last few years:

Early 20s Rory: "She hasn't responded to my text in two days!  Oh no!  This is it.  I'm doomed.  She hates me.  What did I do wrong?  Will I ever find love?  I'm going to die alone.  But maybe she lost her phone?  Or should I wait another day?  Should I give her a call?  Or maybe just another text?  Will that seem too desperate?  But what do I have to lose?  Heaven's to Betsy, what a pickle!"

Late 20s Rory: "She hasn't responded in two days?  Ah well, guess she's not that interested.  I wish her the best in all her future ventures.  On to the next."

Unfortunately, I was still in my early 20s.  So, feeling a bit depressed, I went out drinking with some friends (including fellow blog editor Steve).  And a thought started brewing.  Who never fails with the ladies?  The Boss, that's who.  So, perhaps I could use his coolness to win the heart of this girl (and, for the record, I do not believe this girl had shown any positive or negative feelings about Bruce Springsteen in the brief time I knew her).

The message was typed.  My finger hovered over the send button.  And, then, I made an excellent decision: I talked to Steve about it.  Steve had (and still has) one of the best relationships I know, so I figured I would take his advice.  He told me, politely, that it probably would not be a good idea.  However, looking back, I could tell he was biting his tongue, fighting back the urge to call me an idiot and slap me upside the head.  And, with that, Steve saved the day, and the text was deleted.

The next day, as I sobered up, I realized how close I was to adding another embarrassing drunk moment to an ever-growing list.  An important lesson was learned, and I curtailed my drunken texting. (Side note to all single people struggling with this: delete the phone numbers of your exes.  They will just linger their in your phone book, and can cause nothing but misery.)

So, perhaps I misled you all, as the embarrassing action was not seen through to its completion.  I just figured I'd share it all with you - it was cathartic to get it off my chest.  We all make embarrassing Springsteen-related decisions, so no need to feel bad about them.  If you've got any such confessions, please feel free to share them in the comments!

Duet Spotlight: Bruce and Phish

At Bonnaroo in 2009, one of the more unlikely musical pairings happened: Bruce Springsteen (who performed as the headliner the previous night) teamed up with those lovable stoners known as Phish.  It was a short team-up, where Bruce sang the lead for three songs, and Phish gave them all their trademarked jam band sound.



The performance doesn't seem quite legendary, but it is tough to tell with these poorly filmed Youtube clips.  But Bruce does seem a bit looser than usual, especially during the extended jam finishes.  Perhaps he's riding a contact high from Trey Anastasio?

Video Spotlight - "Blinded By The Light" in Helsinki, 2012

We're a bit obsessed with Bruce going acoustic here on this blog, and astute readers may notice we are double-dipping a bit here.  I originally posted this in response to Steve's post last month, but figured it was worth going back to during this 4-day weekend.  So, if you missed it the first time around, make sure to take seven minutes away from your family and loved ones and check out this fun, loose, and excellently filmed performance.

Breaking News - "High Hopes" Video Released, New Album Announced

Well, once we were treated to a fantastic studio version of "Dream Baby Dream", the rumors started to swirl.  Today, everything became official: a video was released for "High Hopes", and an album by the same name was announced for January 14th.  Like Wrecking Ball, it's a not-quite-E-Street album, featuring a lot of Tom Morello (he's listed on eight of 12 tracks).  Upon first listen, "High Hopes" has that same "angry mob" sound that characterized Wrecking Ball stand-out tracks such as "Death To My Hometown" and "Shackled and Drawn".  While it isn't as catchy as "We Take Care Of Our Own", this song, as well as the aforementioned "Dream Baby Dream", have me very excited for the new album, and, more importantly, the (potentially) forthcoming tour.

Rumors: The Track List for the New Album?

Yesterday, Stan Goldstein culled information from a Springsteen fan forum to put together a possible listing of songs for the new Springsteen album.  I encourage you to click the link for more information; it is very informative with some great Springsteen live clips.  If this listing is true, it makes the album an amalgamation of covers (including a "cover" of "The Ghost of Tom Joad"), songs Springsteen had previously only performed live, and songs cut from other studio albums.  

Now, granted, this is just a rumor, but I've come to believe everything on the Internet is true, even if it contradicts itself.  So, assuming this is true, I'm excited, with a couple reservations, such as creating a studio version of "American Skin" (making it an "only live" song gives it a novel status, and, by setting it apart from the rest of Springsteen's catalog, helps underline the strong message of the song) and the lack of some of my personal favorite Springsteen covers from the past few years (such as "Coma Girl").  However, we are getting about a half dozen new Springsteen songs, so that's nothing to complain about.  In the end, I can't think of a way to end the article without making a terrible "I have....high hopes for this album" joke, so here we go: I have....high hopes for this album.