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| Tonight! |
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| (1978) |
"Musically
austere, lyrics stripped down to sepia portraiture, Darkness on the Edge of
Town sets out to describe the underbelly of America's everything-all-the-time
culture. The backdrops shift from song to song, moving from Asbury Park to the
Dakotas to the Freehold of the 1950s to the Southwest to the industrial flats
to the highway and beyond. But the real setting is that same forgotten America
that (photographer Robert Frank) had captured in the backwaters of the nation's
cities, towns, and wilderness (in his book The Americans). The personal twists into
the political, and the sociocultural springs from the tangled roots of
individual lives. 'The guy at the end of Darkness,' said Bruce, 'has reached a point where you
just have to strip yourself of everything to get yourself together."
- Bruce, Peter Ames Carlin
Bryan: Despite the tremendous reception to Born To Run, the relationship between Bruce Springsteen and Mike Appel deteriorated rapidly once Bruce took a closer look at the contract he’d signed. Things ended up in court when Appel wrote to Springsteen saying that he would not allow Jon Landau (who had slowly replaced Appel as Bruce’s manager and guru/head apostle) to produce the next album, citing a particular paragraph from their original agreement. Bruce responded by suing Appel, Appel countersued, and the result of it all was that Springsteen was enjoined from any further recording with Columbia Records until everything was resolved. By the time Springsteen and Appel reached a settlement, it was May 1977. The band got on with recording the new album, and Darkness on the Edge of Town was released in June 1978, three full years since Born to Run."
Bryant, you old rascal! Here we are again.
Bryant: The backstory of this album’s
recording is fascinating. It’s easy to
fall into thinking about Darkness as
merely a follow-up to Born to Run,
because in some ways they do sound like a two-album sequence. But Darkness
is more than that, and knowing the story behind makes it ever so much richer an
experience.
Bryan: Absolutely. When Bruce saw the cover and sleeve photography (by Frank Stefanko) he said, "'That's the guy in the songs.' I wanted the part of me that's still that guy to be on the cover. Frank stripped away all your celebrity and left you with your essence. That's what that record was about."
Photographer Ron Akiyama, who shot quite a few of the Darkness tours, agrees. "It was quite a kick to shoot Bruce at that time, and to watch him make the change from a kid to an adult and make the leap from small concerts to arenas. He changed his look drastically. He went from a scruffy Jersey guy who looked like he fixed cars to a guy who’d play in a suit. He cropped his haircut, shaved, and put on a Wall Street shirt. It was nothing like the 'tramps like us' look. He was telling the audience: 'This is what I am now.'"
Bryant: Alright, maybe you were wondering how I felt about the whole exceeding-"maximum"-points thing. And here's what I'll tell you about that: I feel A-OK with it. BUT...I refuse to allow myself to use it willy-nilly. Oh, the temptation has been there, no doubt. But I've been keeping it in my back pocket specifically waiting for this song to roll around. (Might be that I'm holding the 6 in reserve, too. We'll see. That's a guarantease!)
A few things about that.
#1, the only way to listen to this is with the volume cranked, preferably to a level that makes you fear you are going to blow out the speakers on your leased vehicle.
#2, Clarence Clemons, once again striding across the musical landscape like Cthulhu awoken and exercising his right to drive humankind mad, in this instance through the sheer awesomeness of rock.
#3, I have a great memory of this song being played in an American Studies class I took. It was a survey class in which we went through several decades of post-WWII American pop culture. It was an early-morning class, and each morning for the five-to-ten minutes or so that led up to the beginning of class, the professor would blast music that represented the theme of the upcoming lecture. Well, one morning, the song under consideration was "Badlands." Rarely has it seemed as great as it seemed then. It was a large class, with maybe a hundred or so people, and often it was kind of boisterous prior to the lecture beginning. On this particular morning -- and it wasn't alone in that regard (Gil Scott-Heron's "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" had a similar effect) - you could tell that the song just HAD people. Nobody much was talking, and when it got to the midpoint section where the instruments mostly drop out and everyone is just sort of humming while Max drums, I looked around and saw dozens of people nodding their heads, or tapping their hands, or tapping their feet. My memory is shit, but I ain't NEVER gonna forget that.
Oh, and #4, this is Bruce's best song, in my opinion. 7/5
Bryan: I can easily picture this scene you describe. Nice! Even during my years in the anti-Boss wilderness I always maintained this was a kickass tune. I think about the years I wasted convincing myself I no longer liked Springsteen despite having been a super-fan for so many years. Phases of growth! 6/5
Bryan: Absolutely. When Bruce saw the cover and sleeve photography (by Frank Stefanko) he said, "'That's the guy in the songs.' I wanted the part of me that's still that guy to be on the cover. Frank stripped away all your celebrity and left you with your essence. That's what that record was about."
Photographer Ron Akiyama, who shot quite a few of the Darkness tours, agrees. "It was quite a kick to shoot Bruce at that time, and to watch him make the change from a kid to an adult and make the leap from small concerts to arenas. He changed his look drastically. He went from a scruffy Jersey guy who looked like he fixed cars to a guy who’d play in a suit. He cropped his haircut, shaved, and put on a Wall Street shirt. It was nothing like the 'tramps like us' look. He was telling the audience: 'This is what I am now.'"
 |
| Akiyama flanked by the Boss and Max Weinberg, 1978. |
Bryant: The album kicks off with:
"Badlands"
Bryant: Alright, maybe you were wondering how I felt about the whole exceeding-"maximum"-points thing. And here's what I'll tell you about that: I feel A-OK with it. BUT...I refuse to allow myself to use it willy-nilly. Oh, the temptation has been there, no doubt. But I've been keeping it in my back pocket specifically waiting for this song to roll around. (Might be that I'm holding the 6 in reserve, too. We'll see. That's a guarantease!)
A few things about that.
#1, the only way to listen to this is with the volume cranked, preferably to a level that makes you fear you are going to blow out the speakers on your leased vehicle.
#2, Clarence Clemons, once again striding across the musical landscape like Cthulhu awoken and exercising his right to drive humankind mad, in this instance through the sheer awesomeness of rock.
#3, I have a great memory of this song being played in an American Studies class I took. It was a survey class in which we went through several decades of post-WWII American pop culture. It was an early-morning class, and each morning for the five-to-ten minutes or so that led up to the beginning of class, the professor would blast music that represented the theme of the upcoming lecture. Well, one morning, the song under consideration was "Badlands." Rarely has it seemed as great as it seemed then. It was a large class, with maybe a hundred or so people, and often it was kind of boisterous prior to the lecture beginning. On this particular morning -- and it wasn't alone in that regard (Gil Scott-Heron's "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" had a similar effect) - you could tell that the song just HAD people. Nobody much was talking, and when it got to the midpoint section where the instruments mostly drop out and everyone is just sort of humming while Max drums, I looked around and saw dozens of people nodding their heads, or tapping their hands, or tapping their feet. My memory is shit, but I ain't NEVER gonna forget that.
Oh, and #4, this is Bruce's best song, in my opinion. 7/5
Bryan: I can easily picture this scene you describe. Nice! Even during my years in the anti-Boss wilderness I always maintained this was a kickass tune. I think about the years I wasted convincing myself I no longer liked Springsteen despite having been a super-fan for so many years. Phases of growth! 6/5
This version, while we’re here, is pretty bad-ass. Listen to that crowd when Clarence comes in! Nice. And Bruce
really attacks that guitar and the vocals.
This performance showcases everything about the band and Bruce as a
performer/ songwriter that is awesome and absolutely zero that is not awesome.
Bryant: I don't think I'd ever seen that before. Beyond awesome. Why can't I be Clarence? Is this really too much to ask from life?!? To transform me into a strapping young black man who has great red suits and can play the saxophone as though he were imbued with the powers of Odin? Fuck, I guess it must be. Ah, well, maybe when I wake up tomorrow.
Bryant: I don't think I'd ever seen that before. Beyond awesome. Why can't I be Clarence? Is this really too much to ask from life?!? To transform me into a strapping young black man who has great red suits and can play the saxophone as though he were imbued with the powers of Odin? Fuck, I guess it must be. Ah, well, maybe when I wake up tomorrow.
"Adam Raised a Cain"
Bryan: From the Carlin book: "Coaching mixer Chuck Plotkin on how the song should sound: "Bruce described a movie scene showing two young lovers sharing a picnic in a sunlit park. The sun would be shining, the grass would be emerald, the ducks paddled across the pond before them. The camera would zoom out to reveal, just behind them, a human corpse in the bushes behind them, Aieee! 'This song,' he told Plotkin, 'is the dead body.'"
Bryant: Reading the lyrics to "Adam Raised a Cain," and knowing thanks to the autobiography his relationship with his father, that seems like even better a song than I thought.
Bryan: 4.3/5 My first impression of all pre-Born in the USA Bruce (with the exception of "Hungry Heart," which I'm sure I probably heard on the radio but have no clear memory of it) is filtered through that Live ’75 to ’85 from 1986. Which I got for Christmas that year and pretty much dominated my landscape until Hysteria came out at the end of the following summer. As a result, it’s rare when I like the studio version of one of those tunes more than that Live Set – memories of an impressionable age being what they are – but this is one of those occasions.
Bryant: 4.5/5 I think this and about half the rest of this album need to appear in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and I will not accept no for an answer. You mentioned in relation to a different song on another album -- which, weirdly, may not have come up yet in the actual blog post (hey, vertigo!) - that it sounded like a Gene Simmons Kiss song. This one sounds like that to me, but I don't think even they could have made it rock as much as these E Street fellows do. I know at least one massive Bruce fan who isn't fond of this song, and that makes sense, because it is kind of an outlier in his discography. I love it, though.
Bryan: Picturing Kiss do "Adam Raised a Cain" is
fun. "Raised a
Cain" takes on a whoole new Gene-and-Paul-ified meaning .I never
understood why Bruce was singing "Rye-sed a Cain." He’s somewhat inconsistent with his affectations. ("Whyyyvin'" at the girls," from Pink Cadillac, or "thank" and "pank" for "think" and "pink" from the same song.) I guess it’s only when the mood strikes him or when he thinks the
situation calls for it. Sort of like DeNiro’s accent in Cape Fear.
Bryant: 3.25/5 Nothing wrong with it, but it doesn't move me the way a lot of the others do.
Bryan: 3/5 I like some of the lyrics for their despair and all, but not my favorite example of this sort of tune and the music, while certainly sway-worthy, doesn't really excite me.
Bryant: 4.25/5 Another one for Guardians, which is a silly lens to look at this album through, but hey, it's what I've got. Is this Max Weinberg's finest hour? Either way, this song rocks, and it rocks HARD.
Bryan: 4/5 Guardians and Darkness really do go well together. This one used to strike me more as a musical breath between the two tracks around it, even if I like it technically more than either. It feels unfinished to me. The evolution of the song is interesting, though – it’s definitely the best version of all the "Candy's" versions he worked on. I guess we’ll get to that when we get to The Promise, though. I agree, though – it rocks, and it rocks hard, whatever else one has to say about it.
"Something in the
Night"
Bryant: 3.25/5 Nothing wrong with it, but it doesn't move me the way a lot of the others do.
Bryan: 3/5 I like some of the lyrics for their despair and all, but not my favorite example of this sort of tune and the music, while certainly sway-worthy, doesn't really excite me.
"Candy's Room"
Bryant: 4.25/5 Another one for Guardians, which is a silly lens to look at this album through, but hey, it's what I've got. Is this Max Weinberg's finest hour? Either way, this song rocks, and it rocks HARD.
Bryan: 4/5 Guardians and Darkness really do go well together. This one used to strike me more as a musical breath between the two tracks around it, even if I like it technically more than either. It feels unfinished to me. The evolution of the song is interesting, though – it’s definitely the best version of all the "Candy's" versions he worked on. I guess we’ll get to that when we get to The Promise, though. I agree, though – it rocks, and it rocks hard, whatever else one has to say about it.
"Racing in the
Street"
Bryan: 2.5/5 I like this one fine, but it seems
like the wrong musical mood for the story to me. If this was the only such tale
in the catalog, I'd look at it differently, but in all honesty I can live without
it.
Bryant: 4.75/5 Hmm...! I'm a much bigger fan of this one than you are. I really respond to the lyrics, especially the last verse or two, which wreck me.
Bryan: "She sits on the porch of her daddy's house but all her pretty dreams are torn / She stares off alone into the night with the eyes of one who hates for just being born. / For all the shut down strangers and hot rod angels rumbling through this promised land. / Tonight my baby and me we're gonna ride to the sea and wash these sins off our hands."
Pretty wreckworthy for sure. If it was just the lyrics, I’d go higher, but this is one where the lyrics and music don’t match up for me.
It’s hard not to see this, too: "Some guys they just give up living/And start dying little by little, piece by piece/Some guys come home from work and wash up/And go racin' in the street" as more or less epitaph-level Springsteen.
Bryan: 3.75/5 Musically, I find this one kind of boring (although I like the solos), but lyrically/ emotionally, they hit it out of the park here.
Bryant: 4.25/5 Bruce's vocals seem mildly strained here, but otherwise, this one works for me big-time.
Bryan: That chorus really gets stuck in your head.
Bryant: 2.25/5 It's not bad, but it's another one that seems to just sort of stop. I think this song points the way toward Nebraska in some ways, and I'd be curious to hear a stripped-down version of it in that mode.
Bryan: 3/5 Me too. I looked around for one, but if it’s out there, I couldn’t find it.
Bryan: 3/5 I like it a lot more after repeated listenings, but it’s still not one I really love or would reach for.
Bryant: 4/5 Here's another one I like way more than you do. Nothing wrong with that! We're "arguing" over how much we like songs we like. As spats go, that's pretty damn civil. We should be in Congress.
Bryan: For many non-Bruce reasons, as well!
Bryan: 4.35/5 How can you go wrong with this chorus? I’m always impressed with Bruce’s seemingly limitless ability to just go off in the corner and write a quick hit single (or hit-sounding single, at least – I guess it wasn’t quite a “hit” at the time of release) as the situation demanded. We’ve talked about it before, but it’s a fascinating process, this tension between a hitmakers' sensibility and an artist wanting to explore his own thing/ indulge other impulses. It’s as potent a creative fuel as inner conflict. When this tension lessens due to changed circumstances, sometimes the creative fuel burns lower. Ditto for when depressive types like Bruce go into therapy. The old paradox: the better-balanced you are and better-rewarded you become for what you do, the harder it becomes to do it.
Anyway, I love the out-of-nowhere blistering guitar solo, too - reminds me of one of those uber-70s keyboard solos that suddenly cuts in to an otherwise traditional 4/4 rocker.
Bryant: 4.75/5 Very nearly flawless, in my opinion. Not quiiiiiite there, but close. Here's an epically awesome version that YouTube suggested for me while I watching a thing about "The Mist." YouTube knows me pretty well, I am sad to say.
Bryan: They know us all far too well, verdammt. That is a great version for sure.
Bryan: 4.25/5 This one could have been a great U2 track. Maybe it still will someday. Either way it's a classic, even if I like the lyrics/ mood a little bit more than anything going on musically.
Bryan: Total: 38.15 Avg: 3.82 Not my favorite Bruce overall, but my favorite thus far.
Bryant: Overall 44 total, 4.4/5 average Which means that, in a shocking turn of events, this album has edged out Born to Run in my estimation! I might consider changing my score on "Badlands" to prevent that, but then again, listening to them back-to-back like this, I think I do prefer this one by a hair.
Bryan: Me, too. It’s such a great collection of tunes. Bruce and the gang’s determination to make the album work as a whole and excise such great material (as found on The Promise) is frustrating on one hand, but the end result of Darkness is hard to argue with. Whatever collection of emotion and perspective and rock and roll they wanted to convey, they sure did.
Bryant: 4.75/5 Hmm...! I'm a much bigger fan of this one than you are. I really respond to the lyrics, especially the last verse or two, which wreck me.
Bryan: "She sits on the porch of her daddy's house but all her pretty dreams are torn / She stares off alone into the night with the eyes of one who hates for just being born. / For all the shut down strangers and hot rod angels rumbling through this promised land. / Tonight my baby and me we're gonna ride to the sea and wash these sins off our hands."
Pretty wreckworthy for sure. If it was just the lyrics, I’d go higher, but this is one where the lyrics and music don’t match up for me.
It’s hard not to see this, too: "Some guys they just give up living/And start dying little by little, piece by piece/Some guys come home from work and wash up/And go racin' in the street" as more or less epitaph-level Springsteen.
"The Promised Land"
Bryan: 3.75/5 Musically, I find this one kind of boring (although I like the solos), but lyrically/ emotionally, they hit it out of the park here.
Bryant: 4.25/5 Bruce's vocals seem mildly strained here, but otherwise, this one works for me big-time.
Bryan: That chorus really gets stuck in your head.
"Factory"
Bryant: 2.25/5 It's not bad, but it's another one that seems to just sort of stop. I think this song points the way toward Nebraska in some ways, and I'd be curious to hear a stripped-down version of it in that mode.
Bryan: 3/5 Me too. I looked around for one, but if it’s out there, I couldn’t find it.
"Streets of Fire"
Bryan: 3/5 I like it a lot more after repeated listenings, but it’s still not one I really love or would reach for.
Bryant: 4/5 Here's another one I like way more than you do. Nothing wrong with that! We're "arguing" over how much we like songs we like. As spats go, that's pretty damn civil. We should be in Congress.
Bryan: For many non-Bruce reasons, as well!
"Prove It All Night"
Bryan: 4.35/5 How can you go wrong with this chorus? I’m always impressed with Bruce’s seemingly limitless ability to just go off in the corner and write a quick hit single (or hit-sounding single, at least – I guess it wasn’t quite a “hit” at the time of release) as the situation demanded. We’ve talked about it before, but it’s a fascinating process, this tension between a hitmakers' sensibility and an artist wanting to explore his own thing/ indulge other impulses. It’s as potent a creative fuel as inner conflict. When this tension lessens due to changed circumstances, sometimes the creative fuel burns lower. Ditto for when depressive types like Bruce go into therapy. The old paradox: the better-balanced you are and better-rewarded you become for what you do, the harder it becomes to do it.
Anyway, I love the out-of-nowhere blistering guitar solo, too - reminds me of one of those uber-70s keyboard solos that suddenly cuts in to an otherwise traditional 4/4 rocker.
Bryant: 4.75/5 Very nearly flawless, in my opinion. Not quiiiiiite there, but close. Here's an epically awesome version that YouTube suggested for me while I watching a thing about "The Mist." YouTube knows me pretty well, I am sad to say.
Bryan: They know us all far too well, verdammt. That is a great version for sure.
"Darkness
on the Edge of Town"
Bryan: 4.25/5 This one could have been a great U2 track. Maybe it still will someday. Either way it's a classic, even if I like the lyrics/ mood a little bit more than anything going on musically.
Bryant: 5/5 I don't really know what that
titular darkness on the edge of town is, but somehow, I know exactly
what it is. I will restrain myself from bloviating on the subject, but
know this: I could. Oh, sure. Instead I'll just say that that
moment when Max kicks the drums in is about as big a fist-pump moment as I know
of in music.
FINAL
THOUGHTS
Bryan: Total: 38.15 Avg: 3.82 Not my favorite Bruce overall, but my favorite thus far.
Bryant: Overall 44 total, 4.4/5 average Which means that, in a shocking turn of events, this album has edged out Born to Run in my estimation! I might consider changing my score on "Badlands" to prevent that, but then again, listening to them back-to-back like this, I think I do prefer this one by a hair.
Bryan: Me, too. It’s such a great collection of tunes. Bruce and the gang’s determination to make the album work as a whole and excise such great material (as found on The Promise) is frustrating on one hand, but the end result of Darkness is hard to argue with. Whatever collection of emotion and perspective and rock and roll they wanted to convey, they sure did.
WHAT THE CRITICS SAID
"Ideas, characters and phrases jump from song to song like threads in a
tapestry, and everything's one long interrelationship. Now that
it can be heard, the E Street Band is clearly one of the finest rock and roll
groups ever assembled. Max Weinberg's drumming has enormous size, a heartbeat
with the same kind of space it occupies onstage, bassist Garry Tallent and
guitarist Steve Van Zandt are a perfect rhythm section, capable of both power
and groove. Pianist Roy Bittan is as virtuosic as on Born to Run, and
saxophonist Clarence Clemons, though he has fewer solos, evokes more than ever
the spirit of King Curtis. But the revelation is organist Danny Federici, who
barely appeared on the last L.P. Federici's style is utterly singular, focusing
on wailing, trebly chords that sing (and in the marvelous solo at the end of 'Racing in the Street,' truly cry).
Yet the dominant instrumental focus is Bruce Springsteen's
guitar. Like his songwriting and singing, Springsteen's guitar playing gains
much of its distinctiveness through pastiche. more than ever, Springsteen's
voice is personal, intimate and revealing, bigger and less elusive. It's the
possibility hinted at on Born to Run's 'Backstreets' and in the
postverbal wail at the end of 'Jungleland.'"
- Dave Marsh, Rolling Stone (later author of that one Bruce
book)
SINGLES
PERSONNEL
Bruce Springsteen – lead vocals, lead guitar, harmonica
Roy Bittan – piano, backing vocals
Clarence Clemons – saxophone, backing vocals
Danny Federici – organ, glockenspiel
Garry Tallent – bass guitar
Steve Van Zandt – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Max Weinberg – drums
Next: The River. See you then.
Brian Roberts sent me his thoughts on this album tonight, and they are killer:
ReplyDelete"Back for album 4! I, of course, took some time off between “Born to Run” and “Darkness on the Edge of Town” to symbolize the long lay-off between the recording of the two albums. Similarly, I also own the London Bridge and was the second shooter on the grassy knoll in Dallas.
“Badlands” - I’ve gone through stretches of time where this is my favorite of Bruce’s songs. Max and Roy really stand out on this one, with a great mini solo from Clarence. Much like The Dude’s pissed upon rug, the breakdown in the middle really ties this song together. The little refrain that Roy plays twice on piano during that stretch stands out to me for some reason. Coming off of the fist pounding rock of much of “Born to Run” this was the perfect song to start an album that was a long time in coming. Large sections of this album are imbued with a lot of anger, and this song is just the tip of the iceberg for it. 6.0/5
“Adam Raised a Cain” - there aren’t many songs in Bruce’s catalog that have been as divisive for me as this one. I used to not like it at all. It was harsh on my ears and I just didn’t care for Bruce’s vocals. There was also a time in my life when I didn’t like chicken wings. I don’t know what to tell you, that guy was a fucking moron. When this song finally flipped for me is when I watched the Music Cares tribute to Bruce and Alabama Shakes played a version of it. Something about hearing Brittany Howard sing the song just made it make sense in a way that it hadn’t before. Listening to it again with Bruce singing, I found that I loved the vocals. This is probably as close as the band ever got to doing punk rock, and there’s a part of me that wishes there was a whole album out there like it. That anger that was hinted at in track one is a sledgehammer in this song. I don’t totally love it the way that I now love chicken wings, but it’s a pretty solid song. 4.0/5
“Something in the Night” - if someone had put a gun to my head and told me to sing this song, I wouldn’t be capable of writing this review. Is it just a totally unmemorable song? Or does it just feel that way because of the songs it shares the album with? I really like the section at the 3 minute mark where there’s a layered vocal for about 30 seconds. The breakdown that follows is fine, but had it actually been followed by 30 seconds of Clarence laying waste to the world, something tells me that we would all think very differently about this song. Missed opportunity there. 3.0/5
“Candy’s Room” - I imagine that the nickname “Mighty Max” probably came about during the recording of this song. He absolutely owns the song in a way that really only Clarence and Sancious have owned songs up to this point in the catalog. When the tempo changes just after the one minute mark the song becomes something altogether different. The guitar solo that follows is maybe the one time where I’m glad that they didn’t have Clarence contribute. I absolutely love this song. 4.75/5"
My replies:
Delete(1) "I also own the London Bridge and was the second shooter on the grassy knoll in Dallas." -- I'm not sure this matches the canon of "Quantum Leap" on the issue, sir.
(2) "there aren’t many songs in Bruce’s catalog that have been as divisive for me as this one. I used to not like it at all." -- I can vouch for this. I can remember Brian being all like, nah, don't like it, pass. And I was all like, but it rocks though. I was right! But it really is a kind of outlier among Springsteen's songs, so I get how a fan would hear it and just sort of bounce right off it.
(3) "When this song finally flipped for me is when I watched the Music Cares tribute to Bruce and Alabama Shakes played a version of it. Something about hearing Brittany Howard sing the song just made it make sense in a way that it hadn’t before." -- Have I heard that version? I don't think I've heard that version.
(4) "There was also a time in my life when I didn’t like chicken wings. I don’t know what to tell you, that guy was a fucking moron." -- I am too, but I don't believe I have ever been anti-wing. Had to be persuaded into loving bleu cheese, though.
(5) "The breakdown that follows is fine, but had it actually been followed by 30 seconds of Clarence laying waste to the world, something tells me that we would all think very differently about this song. Missed opportunity there." -- Big time.
Brian's thoughts, part 2:
ReplyDelete"“Racing in the Streets” - (deep sigh to compose myself) You know how certain songs will connect with you at certain moments in your life in an emotional way that you can’t really explain or put into words? That’s this one for me. At an incredibly volatile time in my life, a time where I was having to accept a monumental change (failure) in my life, the sadness and weight of this song just became a part of me. It’s the first song in this project that I didn’t actually listen to when writing the review, because there are simply times that I can not listen to it. There are other times where it’s the only song I want to hear. I can’t explain how or why, it just is what it is.
Apart from all of that, I think what is here is beautiful. The chorus isn’t really a chorus. The story being told is a great character study. That last verse is one of the saddest things ever written, and the quiet backup vocals sung below it give it an absolutely haunting quality. High quality stuff, especially for a song that closes out side one.
If I hear this song at the wrong time, it’s a 0/5. If I hear it at the right time, it’s a 12/5. I figure I’ll just average that. 6.0/5
“Promised Land” - I would love to have experienced listening to this album for the first time on vinyl. To go from the gut punch of the previous song, where I almost certainly would’ve needed a break to get a beer, to flipping the album over to this… wow. Those stretches of time where “Badlands” was my favorite song ended when I finally let myself buy in to this song. I don’t know if I’ve ever connected to a lyric more personally than I do to the second verse of this song. Thankfully I’ve left a lot of the anger issues of my younger life behind, but “Take a knife and cut this pain from my heart” still resonates in a way that I’m not always terribly comfortable with. The musical section that follows - piano solo, to organ solo, to guitar solo, to sax solo, to harmonica solo just wrecks me every time. The backup vocals that go along with the final verse carry it on home for me. It’s my favorite Bruce song. 7.0/5
“Factory” - had we embarked upon this project a decade ago, I imagine this song would’ve probably scored in the low 2s for me. Having spent the better part of the last decade working a blue collar job, I hear it in a whole different way. It’s a brutally sad song that musically is played in a way that stands in juxtaposition to that sadness. The organ solo especially gives it a hopefulness that belies the lyrics. So many of the guys that I work with leave the job site every day with a look of pride in their eyes. They’ve done a hard day’s work to support their family and the look on their face matches the music that’s playing in this song. The place typically sucks the soul out of me, so I leave for home feeling like the lyrics in the song. I think this was maybe the first time in his music that Bruce really tried to understand his father; a complicated man that probably dealt with both sides of the emotional coin that this song presents. It definitely works for me now. 3.75/5"
More from me:
Delete(6) "(deep sigh to compose myself)" -- Oh yeah, I'm familiar with that particular perched-at-the-keyboard feeling!
(7) "You know how certain songs will connect with you at certain moments in your life in an emotional way that you can’t really explain or put into words?" -- https://media.giphy.com/media/KDVswimTNahWzcd7sV/giphy.gif
(8) "It’s the first song in this project that I didn’t actually listen to when writing the review, because there are simply times that I can not listen to it. There are other times where it’s the only song I want to hear. I can’t explain how or why, it just is what it is." -- I think (and I say this armed with my vast working knowledge of how people behave on a daily basis, ahem) that most people who really love music must have dozens of these, right? Like, how could you not? Well, maybe if you're not an emotional wreck that might help, but holy shit, prove to me anyone fitting THAT bill exists. The Pentagon is expected to issue a non-report report on their existence any day now.
Anyways, yeah, I get that one, for sure. That sort of thing is why Springsteen's fans are as devoted as they are, I bet. Just about every album (of the seventies and eighties, at least) has one or two that edge into that territory for me.
Somewhere, somebody feels the exact same way about "Wild Billy's Circus Story." Wrap your head around THAT happy crappy if you can.
"If I hear this song at the wrong time, it’s a 0/5. If I hear it at the right time, it’s a 12/5. I figure I’ll just average that. 6.0/5" -- I cannot speak for this blog in any official capacity, but is my considered opinion that its author will deeply approve of mathematics of this nature.
(9) "It’s my favorite Bruce song." -- I salute this choice!
(10) "Having spent the better part of the last decade working a blue collar job, I hear it in a whole different way. It’s a brutally sad song that musically is played in a way that stands in juxtaposition to that sadness." -- This makes me want to listen to that song with fresh ears.
(11) "So many of the guys that I work with leave the job site every day with a look of pride in their eyes. They’ve done a hard day’s work to support their family and the look on their face matches the music that’s playing in this song. The place typically sucks the soul out of me, so I leave for home feeling like the lyrics in the song." -- These are the words of a dude who ought to be writing more.
I like, too, how Bruce is totally faking his factory blue collar cred. He's able to mimic the thoughts and feelings and mood of it all the way I'd be able to mimic (in theory) the feelings of a grunt landing on the beach in D-Day. As a writer, Bruce is a great faker. I mean all this in a good way, much as Bruce says in the intro to Springsteen on Broadway. (i.e. "I've somehow convinced people I know the travails of the 40-hour-a-work crowd, even though until this show I'd never worked forty hours a week in my life.")
Delete(Which seems wrong to me, or an exaggeration, but the point is clear: Bruce is a writer, and a great one. Not a working class hero. Not that there's necessarily some great wall of division between the two things.)
"If I hear this song at the wrong time, it’s a 0/5. If I hear it at the right time, it’s a 12/5. I figure I’ll just average that. 6.0/5"
DeleteYessiree that works for me.
I loved that part of the Broadway show. That's the sort of fact which could easily throw cold water on the notion of somebody's entire persona, but with Springsteen isn't. I think the least charitable way of looking at it is to say, well, he tried to lie and accidentally told the truth. The most charitable way -- and the correct way -- is exactly what you've just said: that he's a great writer. Which means, I think, that Bruce is a deeply empathetic person when it comes to those sort of things, and channeled the stories and feelings of people he'd known or seen.
DeleteThis is making me want to listen to some Springsteen!
Brian sent me a followup comment regarding "Factory," so I thought I'd pass it along:
Delete"I didn't say it in the post, and I'm not sure why, but listening to "Factory" several months ago is what made me want to chime in on this whole thing. I felt like I actually had something to say! Of course, I bungled it a bit because I forgot to include that I think the tonal difference between the music and the lyrics represents the way Bruce saw his dad or thought his dad felt and the way that his dad actually did feel. I don't think he consciously knew that, but I think he's talented enough and perceptive enough that it leaked in there."
Brian's thoughts, part three:
ReplyDelete"“Streets of Fire” - I always kind of forget this song is on this album, which is a shame because it’s really pretty good. The organ/vocal build nicely to a chorus that hits much harder. Bruce is in good voice here, too. The guitar solo is nice, but probably would’ve been improved by the second half being sax. Ultimately it doesn’t really go anywhere, and maybe that’s why I forget about it. I could sing it with or without the gun to my head, tho, so something about it works. 3.5/5
“Prove It All Night” - That anger that was introduced in the first song comes back pretty strong here. Or at least I hear a lot of this song as being angry. Like the character is pissed off that he hasn’t had a chance to prove things to his woman. He’s not mad at her, but at the bullshit that life always presents to get in the way of him being able to do it. Maybe it’s just the way it’s sung. The sax solo is great and the guitar solo that follows is even better. The music dropping out for the final verse is just great. 4.75/5
“Darkness on the Edge of Town” - if I go for a long period of time without hearing this song, I somehow convince myself that the whole thing is played at the tempo of the intro. My mind completely blocks out the big parts of the song. It’s kind of great because that means that the drums kicking in is almost like a little surprise to me and then I get to remember just how much I really like it. There’s some really great imagery created with the lyrics that I’ll join you guys in not trying to decipher. It all works really well as a closer for a brilliant album. 4.5/5
That’s a total score of 47.25 for an average of 4.725. So it edges out “Born to Run” by my score, and that seems about right, as I prefer this one by just a little bit. When played along with the material that was cut, it’s clear that Bruce was in an incredible place as a song writer. Clearly the new working relationship with John Landau worked, and the time that they were unable to record for legal reasons helped them to shape a really complete and sharply finished album."
More of my replies:
Delete(12) "I could sing it with or without the gun to my head, tho, so something about it works." -- The tone of the song indicates that it's probably better with. For legal purposes, this should not be construed by anyone as advice.
(13) "So it edges out “Born to Run” by my score, and that seems about right, as I prefer this one by just a little bit." -- That's how my math worked out as well back in the day when McMolo invited me to do this with him. I was surprised by learning that I'd scored it higher than "Born to Run," but ultimately I do feel this is a better overall set of tunes. Which is saying a lot!