music

what’s in a name? i love bruce willis (and yes i have seen him live) and i love bruce springsteen (and no i have never seen him live).
it may have been adam who introduced me to the boss, or i may have heard something on the radio, either way the moment i bought ‘born to run’ i was a fan. it is a close to being a perfect album as you can get. from the opening track of ‘thunder road’ (to this day one of the few songs i can almost sing all the words to) to the epic closer of ‘jungleland’ it is all killer and no filler.
springsteen doesn’t so much write songs as paeans to blue collar hopes, and fears. he is a rock and roll troubadour.
back in the day he was one of a handful of lyricists i wanted to emulate. i had given up ever being able to play an instrument and so thought that i would write songs (but hey i also thought i would be a novelist and a stand-up comic: look how that turned out) and i wanted to tell stories in songs just like bruce.
about the time i was wearing out the vinyl of ‘born to run’ i was studying for my a-level n history so as i read about henry the eighth i was listening to ‘10th avenue freeze out’, ‘she’s the one’ and of course, the anthemic, ‘born to run’. shortly after i dreamt that bruce and henry sorted out the reformation between them, it would have made an interesting answer in one of my history papers. i occasionally have the same dream.
years later and many albums bought and enjoyed i discovered that the overpaid and pretty ineffectual consultant we employed was also a very big bruce fan, he never quite saw the irony in liking songs about working class aspirations while he was pulling down a big fat juicy fee from us for basically doing nothing. i hate when people you have little regard for enjoy the same sort of music you do. it almost renders it unclean. no need to worry bruce and i came through it all.
things to notice about this video.
first off it is probably my favourite springsteen song, second the man is drenched in sweat – watch it spray off of him when he moves. then there is the very large crowd, a reason why i have never seen him live, who wants to be among that many people? not me that is for sure. they are all old chaps but they can sure rock. most importantly when bruce invites the crowd to sing along they do and they do so loudly – so often you see a band invite a crowd to join in only to be met with bemused silence.
enough of me. sit back and enjoy the moment of jungleland.