I've
been listening to Bruce Springsteen for a long time. I'd like to say
I didn't need 'Time' and 'Newsweek' to show me the way to 'Born to Run',
but that would be lying.
He's
one of a handful of performers who has stayed as relevant and as
interesting after forty years as he was after four minutes. Like a
classic movie or a great book, his songs hold up to repeated
listening because there is always something new to be found in
them.
Add
that these songs were often rendered in front of an audience with as
much fire and passion as they had been in a recording studio, and an indelible
rock and roll icon was born.
Very
few performers poured themselves into their concerts like Bruce Springsteen
did. His concerts were hands-above-your-head celebrations of
rock and roll; exorcisms of generational expectations and wage slavery
which would crescendo into the orgiastic ecstasies of salvation and
redemption.
It's
not an abuse of poetic license to compare them to southern baptist
church services—wild and unfettered.
Of
course, all of this was a long time ago—I haven't been to a
Springsteen concert since 1984. But
the songs below live on.
And unlike me, they remain ageless and undiminished.
And unlike me, they remain ageless and undiminished.
1.
Backstreets - Captures that sense of loss and regret when the
wide-screen dreams of childhood give way to the tedium and obligation of
adulthood.
2.
The River – Moving portrait of a young, working-class couple expertly rendered and observed.
3.
Badlands - Compelling statement of survival, will and purpose.
4.
Born to Run – An anthem for anyone who ever loaded up their car in
hopes of finding something better.
5.
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out - Razor-sharp tribute to the R&B of
Springsteen's youth.
6.
Johnny 99 - Composite of every end-of-his rope, down-on-his-luck
character Springsteen ever wrote about, and sadly as true in '15 as
it was in '82.
7.
No Surrender - Picture-perfect reminiscence of how thrilling and
influential rock and roll was to us, especially in our youth.
8.
Born in the U.S.A. - Howling litany of a veteran's betrayal which
unwittingly became example number-one in pop song misinterpretation.
9.
Incident on 57th Street - The opus-highlight of an album rooted in
beat poetry and soul music.
10.
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) - A wild and exuberant celebration of
career and romance freshly bloomed.
11.
Thunder Road - A song that captures the anticipation of striking out
on your own.
12.
Jungleland - A stylized street life ballet that rises and falls like
sex.
13.
Factory - This song moves like the factory clock. You can practically
feel the weariness of feet in steel-toed boots.
14.
Racing in the Street - A couple at the point where they realize the
honeymoon is over.
15.
She's the One - Glorious celebration of lust and sexual attraction.
16.
Streets of Philadelphia - Haven't heard this song in years, but can
still hear the haunting line "...and my clothes don't fit me no
more."
17.
Prove It All Night - Not for anything contained in the lyrics--just
for the epic floggings it received on the 1978 tour.
18.
Stolen Car - Thoughtful meditation on an album mostly dedicated to
upbeat frat-rock.
19.
Atlantic City - Another profile of people in desperate straits, set
to a sober, haunting melody.
20.
Tougher Than the Rest – An expression of eternal love, with a
melody as pure and uncluttered as the thought.
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