by Bruce Springsteen grew up in Freehold, just 40 minutes from where I grew up (Forked River); it seemed time to do some musical exploring while on a visit to my parents’ house. Springsteen (or “The Boss”) tried to capture the spirit of the working class and the everyday man, and especially his life experiences in NJ. To be honest, I never was a big fan of his music, but in the spirit of Van Life, I’m here to learn and listen.
I listened to his autobiography, Born to Run, as an audiobook, and it was a relatively easy listen. Dwight Garner’s review in the New York Times said “The book is like one of Mr. Springsteen’s shows — long, ecstatic, exhausting, filled with peaks and valleys”, and I would agree with his assessment. The NJ described by Bruce felt a world away from the small town NJ I grew up in. I appreciated his frank talk on his mental health struggles, but would give the book 3.5 out of 5 stars, as it was compelling, but not great.
I decided to give Born in the U.S.A. a listen, as it has been a long time since I listened to any of his music, and this 1984 album was a runaway smash – it sold 15 million copies in the U.S., 30 million worldwide, and had seven singles in the Top 10. As I listened I was surprised how many of the songs felt familiar, but I was mostly struck by thoughts of “how on earth did this guy ever get a record deal?” Besides his scratchy, often tough-to-understand voice, the songs aren’t traditional hits, and my goodness are they repetitive. Born in the USA, Working on the Highway, I’m Goin’ Down repeated the same lyrics so often I finally did a word count on the latter – “down” appears 100 times!! Apparently I’m in the minority feeling this way, as he has sold more than 140 million records worldwide, and won 20 Grammy Awards; Rolling Stones put him at 23rd on their list of the Greatest Artists of All Time.
I wanted to give a shout out to Jersey Girl, which really captures the Jersey Shore, in my opinion; imagine my surprise to discover it’s actually a cover of a Tom Waits song! That being said, a live Springsteen version is worth a listen, especially how the audience eats it up.
And finally, this live version of Fire is a lot of fun; Springsteen is hamming it up and it’s a treat. But let me just add, these lyrics do NOT hold up to 2020s political correctness: “’I’m pulling you close, you just say no/ You say you don’t like it, but girl I know you’re a liar” – oh my.
One thought on “The Boss, Bruce Springsteen”