Today (September 23) is Bruce Springsteen's birthday. I want to recognize him on this day as someone who's music has meant a lot to me for a lot of years. I think he's a master of characterization. Every so often he writes a love song, or something that's topically political, but the huge majority of his songs are stories he writes about some character he's made up. Here are two from his first album, "Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ" and two from his last, "Devils and Dust".
Growin' Up
I stood stone-like at midnight suspended in my masquerade
I combed my hair till it was just right and commanded the night brigade
I was open to pain and crossed by the rain and I walked on a crooked crutch
I strolled all alone through a fallout zone and came out with my soul untouched
I hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd but when they said "Sit down" I stood
up.
Ooh-ooh growin' up
The flag of piracy flew from my mast, my sails were set wing to wing
I had a jukebox graduate for first mate, she couldn't sail but she sure could
sing,
I pushed B-52 and bombed 'em with the blues with my gear set stubborn on
standing
I broke all the rules, strafed my old high school, never once gave thought to
landing,
I hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd but when they said "Come down" I threw
up
Ooh-ooh growin' up
I took month-long vacations in the stratosphere and you know it's really hard to
hold your breath.
I swear I lost everything I ever loved or feared, I was the cosmic kid in full
costume dress
Well, my feet they finally took root in the earth but I got me a nice little
place in the stars
And I swear I found the key to the universe in the engine of an old parked car
I hid in the mother breast of the crowd but when they said "Pull down" I pulled up
Ooh-ooh, growin' up
It's so hard to be a saint in the city
I had skin like leather and the diamond-hard look of a cobra
I was born blue and weathered but I burst just like a supernova
I could walk like Brando right into the sun
Then dance just like a Casanova
With my blackjack and jacket and hair slicked sweet
Silver star studs on my duds like a Harley in heat
When I strut down the street I could hear its heartbeat
The sisters fell back and said "Don't that man look pretty"
The cripple on the corner cried out "Nickels for your pity"
Them gasoline boys downtown sure talk gritty
It's so hard to be a saint in the city
I was the king of the alley, mama, I could talk some trash
I was the prince of the paupers crowned downtown at the beggar's bash
I was the pimp's main prophet I kept everything cool
Just a backstreet gambler with the luck to lose
And when the heat came down it was left on the ground
The devil appeared like Jesus through the steam in the street
Showin' me a hand I knew even the cops couldn't beat
I felt his hot breath on my neck as I dove into the heat
It's so hard to be a saint when you're just a boy out on the street
And the sages of the subway sit just like the living dead
As the tracks clack out the rhythm their eyes fixed straight ahead
They ride the line of balance and hold on by just a thread
But it's too hot in these tunnels you can get hit up by the heat
You get up to get out at your next stop but they push you back down in your seat
Your heart starts beatin' faster as you struggle to your feet
Then you're outa that hole and back up on the street
And them South Side sisters sure look pretty
The cripple on the corner cries out "Nickels for your pity"
And them downtown boys sure talk gritty
It's so hard to be a saint in the city
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aidan
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Sat 23 Sep, 2006 01:21 am
Devils and Dust
I got my finger on the trigger
But I don't know who to trust
When I look into your eyes
There's just devils and dust
We're a long, long way from home, Bobbie
Home's a long, long way from us
I feel a dirty wind blowing
Devils and dust
I got God on my side
And I'm just trying to survive
What if what you do to survive
Kills the things you love
Fear's a powerful thing, baby
It can turn your heart black you can trust
It'll take your God filled soul
And fill it with devils and dust
Well I dreamed of you last night
In a field of blood and stone
The blood began to dry
The smell began to rise
Well I dreamed of you last night, Bobbie
In a field of mud and bone
Your blood began to dry
And the smell began to rise
We've got God on our side
We're just trying to survive
What if what you do to survive
Kills the things you love
Fear's a powerful thing
It'll turn your heart black you can trust
It'll take your God filled soul
Fill it with devils and dust
It'll take your God filled soul
Fill it with devils and dust
[ harmonica ]
Now every woman and every man
They wanna take a righteous stand
Find the love that God wills
And the faith that He commands
I've got my finger on the trigger
And tonight faith just ain't enough
When I look inside my heart
There's just devils and dust
Well I've got God on my side
And I'm just trying to survive
What if what you do to survive
Kills the things you love
Fear's a DANGEROUS (should be POWERFUL) thing
It can turn your heart black you can trust
It'll take your God filled soul
Fill it with devils and dust
Yeah it'll take your God filled soul
Fill it with devils and dust
[ harmonica ]
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aidan
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Sat 23 Sep, 2006 01:23 am
Jesus was an only son
Jesus was an only son
As he walked up Calvary Hill
His mother Mary walking beside him
In the path where his blood spilled
Jesus was an only son
In the hills of Nazareth
As he lay reading the Psalms of David
At his mother's feet
A mother prays, "Sleep tight, my child, sleep well
For I'll be at your side
That no shadow, no darkness, no tolling bell,
Shall pierce your dreams this night"
In the garden at Gethsemane
He prayed for the life he'd never live,
He beseeched his Heavenly Father to remove
The cup of death from his lips
Now there's a loss that can never be replaced,
A destination that can never be reached
A light you'll never find in another's face,
A sea whose distance cannot be breached
Well Jesus kissed his mother's hands
Whispered, "Mother, still your tears,
For remember the soul of the universe
Willed a world and it appeared
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Chai
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Sat 23 Sep, 2006 07:31 am
This is by far the hottest song he ever wrote....
Hey little girl is your daddy home
Did he go away and leave you all alone
I got a bad desire
Im on fire
Tell me now baby is he good to you
Can he do to you the things that I do
I can take you higher
Im on fire
Sometimes its like someone took a knife baby
Edgy and dull and cut a six-inch valley
Through the middle of my soul
At night I wake up with the sheets soaking wet
And a freight train running through the
Middle of my head
Only you can cool my desire
Im on fire
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Chai
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Sat 23 Sep, 2006 07:33 am
.....and one of the funniest.....
Crazy Janey and her mission man were back in the alley tradin'
hands
`long came Wild Billy with his friend G-man all duded up for
Saturday night
Well Billy slammed on his coaster brakes and said anybody wanna
go on up to Greasy Lake
It's about a mile down on the dark side of route eighty-eight
I got a bottle of rose so let's try it
We'll pick up Hazy Davy and Killer Joe and I'll take you all out
to where the gypsy angels go
They're built like light
and they dance like spirits in the night (all night) in the
night (all night)
Oh, you don't know what they can do to you
Spirits in the night (all night), in the night (all night)
Stand right up now and let it shoot through you
Well now Wild young Billy was a crazy cat and he shook some dust
out of his coonskin cap.
He said, "Trust some of this it'll show you where you're at, or
at least it'll help you really feel it"
By the time we made it up to Greasy Lake I had my head out the
window and Janey's fingers were in the cake
I think I really dug her `cause I was too loose to fake
I said, "I'm hurt." She said, "Honey let me heal it".
And we danced all night to a soul fairy band
and she kissed me just right like only a lonely angel can
She felt so nice, just as soft as a spirit in the night (all
night)
In the night (all night). Janey don't know what she do to you
Like a spirit in the night (all night), in the night (all
night)
Stand right up and let her shoot through me.
Now the night was bright and the stars threw light on Billy and
Davy
dancin' in the moonlight
They were down near the water in a stone mud fight
Killer Joe gone passed out on the lawn
Well now Hazy Davy got really hurt, he ran into the lake in just
his socks and a shirt
Me and Crazy Janey was makin' love in the dirt singin' our
birthday songs
Janey said it was time to go
So we closed our eyes and said goodbye to gypsy angel row, felt
so right
Together we moved like spirits in the night, all night
Baby don't know what they can do to you
Spirits in the night, all night
Stand right up and let it shoot right through you
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Chai
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Sat 23 Sep, 2006 07:36 am
This ain't the candy-ass version sung by Manfred Mann either....
Madman drummers bummers and Indians in the summer with a teenage diplomat
In the dumps with the mumps as the adolescent pumps his way into his hat
With a boulder on my shoulder, feelin' kinda older I tripped the merry-go-round
With this very unpleasing sneezing and wheezing the calliope crashed to the ground
Some all-hot half-shot was headin' for the hot spot snappin' his fingers clappin' his hands,
And some fleshpot mascot was tied into a lover's knot with a whatnot in her hand
And now young Scott with a slingshot finally found a tender spot and throws his lover in the sand
And some bloodshot forget-me-not whispers daddy's within earshot save the buckshot turn up the band
And she was blinded by the light
Cut loose like a deuce another runner in the night
Blinded by the light
She got down but she never got tight, but she'll make it alright
Some brimstone baritone anti-cyclone rolling stone preacher from the east
He says, "Dethrone the dictaphone, hit it in its funny bone, that's where they expect it least."
And some new-mown chaperone was standin' in the corner all alone watchin' the young girls dance
And some fresh-sown moonstone was messin' with his frozen zone to remind him of the feeling of romance
Yeah he was blinded by the light
Cut loose like a deuce another runner in the night
Blinded by the light
He got down but he never got tight, but he's gonna make it tonight
Some silicone sister with her manager's mister told me I got what it takes
She said I'll turn you on sonny, to something strong if you play that song with the funky break,
And go-cart Mozart was checkin' out the weather chart to see if it was safe to go outside
And little Early-Pearly came by in her curly-wurly and asked me if I needed a ride.
Oh, some hazard from Harvard was skunked on beer playin' backyard bombardier
Yes and Scotland Yard was trying hard, they sent some dude with a calling card, he said, Do what you like, but don't do it here.
Well, I jumped up, turned around, spit in the air, fell on the ground
Asked him which was the way back home
He said take a right at the light, keep goin' straight until night, and then, boy, you're on your own.
And now in Zanzibar a shootin' star was ridin' in a side car hummin' a lunar tune
Yes, and the avatar said blow the bar but first remove the cookie jar we're gonna teach those boys to laugh too soon.
And some kidnapped handicap was complainin' that he caught the clap from some mousetrap he bought last night,
Well I unsnapped his skull cap and between his ears I saw
a gap but figured he'd be all right
He was just blinded by the light
Cut loose like a deuce another runner in the night
Blinded by the light
Mama always told me not to look into the sights of the sun
Oh but mama that's where the fun is
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Chai
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Sat 23 Sep, 2006 07:39 am
This is one of my favorites
The ragamuffin gunner is returnin' home like a hungry runaway
He walks through town all alone
He must be from the fort he hears the high school girls say
His countryside's burnin' with wolfman fairies dressed in drag for homicide
The hit and run, plead sanctuary, `neath a holy stone they hide
They're breakin' beams and crosses with a spastic's reelin' perfection
nuns run bald through Vatican halls pregnant, pleadin' immaculate conception
And everybody's wrecked on Main Street from drinking unholy blood
Sticker smiles sweet as gunner breathes deep, his ankles caked in mud
And I said "Hey, gunner man, that's quicksand, that's quicksand that ain't mud
Have you thrown your senses to the war or did you lose them in the flood?"
That pure American brother, dull-eyed and empty-faced
races Sundays in Jersey in a Chevy stock super eight
He rides `er low on the hip, on the side he's got Bound For Glory in red, white and blue flash paint
He leans on the hood telling racing stories, the kids call him Jimmy The Saint
Well the blaze and noise boy, he's gunnin' that bitch loaded to blastin' point
He rides head first into a hurricane and disappears into a point
And there's nothin' left but some blood where the body fell
That is, nothin' left that you could sell
just junk all across the horizon, a real highwayman's farewell
And he said "Hey kid, you think that's oil? Man, that ain't oil that's blood"
I wonder what he was thinking when he hit that storm
Or was he just lost in the flood?
Eighth Avenue sailors in satin shirts whisper in the air
Some storefront incarnation of Maria, she's puttin' on me the stare
and Bronx's best apostle stands with his hand on his own hardware
Everything stops, you hear five, quick shots, the cops come up for air
And now the whiz-bang gang from uptown, they're shootin' up the street
And that cat from the Bronx starts lettin' loose
but he gets blown right off his feet
And some kid comes blastin' round the corner but a cop puts him right away
He lays on the street holding his leg screaming something in Spanish
Still breathing when I walked away
And somebody said "Hey man did you see that? His body hit the street with such a beautiful thud"
I wonder what the dude was sayin' or was he just lost in the flood?
Hey man, did you see that, those poor cats are sure messed up
I wonder what they were gettin' into, or were they just lost in the flood?
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dyslexia
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Sat 23 Sep, 2006 07:52 am
Words and music by bob seger
Stood there boldly
Sweatin in the sun
Felt like a million
Felt like number one
The height of summer
Id never felt that strong
Like a rock
I was eighteen
Didnt have a care
Working for peanuts
Not a dime to spare
But I was lean and
Solid everywhere
Like a rock
My hands were steady
My eyes were clear and bright
My walk had purpose
My steps were quick and light
And I held firmly
To what I felt was right
Like a rock
Like a rock, I was strong as I could be
Like a rock, nothin ever got to me
Like a rock, I was something to see
Like a rock
And I stood arrow straight
Unencumbered by the weight
Of all these hustlers and their schemes
I stood proud, I stood tall
High above it all
I still believed in my dreams
Twenty years now
Whered they go?
Twenty years
I dont know
Sit and I wonder sometimes
Where theyve gone
And sometimes late at night
When Im bathed in the firelight
The moon comes callin a ghostly white
And I recall
Recall
Like a rock. standin arrow straight
Like a rock, chargin from the gate
Like a rock, carryin the weight
Like a rock
Lihe a rock, the sun upon my skin
Like a rock, hard against the wind
Like a rock, I see myself again
Like a rock
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edgarblythe
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Sat 23 Sep, 2006 08:47 am
Birthday
(Lennon/McCartney)
They say it's your birthday
It's my birthday too, yeah
They say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you
Ah
Ah
Ah
Come on
Come on
Yes we're going to a party party
Yes we're going to a party party
Yes we're going to a party party
I would like you to dance (Birthday)
Take a cha-cha-cha-chance (Birthday)
I would like you to dance (Birthday)
Dance yeah
Oh
Come on
I would like you to dance (Birthday)
Take a cha-cha-cha-chance (Birthday)
I would like you to dance (Birthday)
Oh dance! Dance
They say it's your birthday
Well it's my birthday too, yeah
They say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you
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aidan
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Sat 23 Sep, 2006 02:52 pm
Chai - Funny you should mention Spirits in the Night- that's one of my all time favorite songs by anyone- never mind Bruce Springsteen. I never thought of it as funny though. I liked it because it just so perfectly described what me and my friends used to do in highschool- hang out down by the lake, etc....it always brings back a lot of fun memories for me. (I also like the saxophone in it).
So you must like Greetings from Asbury Park too-I think it's one of his best.
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Chai
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Sat 23 Sep, 2006 03:10 pm
I think it's funny because I lived near of route 88 and we all knew exactly where he meant by greasy lake.
plus, getting drunk and running into a lake in your socks and a shirt is funny.
double plus, puking out the window of a car and screwing in the dirt isn't exactly serious material.
I mean, they were stoned as hell during the whole song.
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aidan
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Sun 24 Sep, 2006 12:15 am
So did you grow up in NJ? I guess I don't see it as funny, because it doesn't make me laugh. It makes me feel nostalgic-he describes part of the growing up experience that I can relate to. Didn't you ever go skinny-dipping and drink too much and vomit out the window of a car when you were a teen-ager? I know I did.
(And he doesn't say "screwing" - he says "making love" - gives it a whole different tone- they just did it outside).
Here's another one of his I love, again because it reminds me of riding down route l8 to route 9 and on down through Tom's River to Seaside and riding that roller coaster that went out over the ocean.
4th of July Asbury Park
Sandy the fireworks are hailin' over Little Eden tonight
Forcin' a light into all those stoned-out faces left stranded on this fourth of
July
Down in town the circuit's full with switchblade lovers so fast so shiny so
sharp
And the wizards play down on Pinball Way on the boardwalk way past dark
And the boys from the casino dance with their shirts open like Latin lovers
along the shore
Chasin' all them silly New York girls
Sandy the aurora is risin' behind us
The pier lights our carnival life forever
Love me tonight for I may never see you again
Hey Sandy girl
Now the greasers they tramp the streets or get busted for trying to sleep on the
beach all night
Them boys in their spiked high heels ah Sandy their skins are so white
And me I just got tired of hangin' in them dusty arcades bangin' them pleasure
machines
Chasin' the factory girls underneath the boardwalk where they promise to unsnap
their jeans
And you know that tilt-a-whirl down on the south beach drag
I got on it last night and my shirt got caught
And that Joey kept me spinnin' I didn't think I'd ever get off
Oh Sandy the aurora is risin' behind us
The pier lights our carnival life on the water
Runnin' down the beach at night with my boss's daughter
Well he ain't my boss no more Sandy
Sandy, the angels have lost our desire for us
I spoke to 'em just last night and they said they won't set themselves on fire
for us anymore
Every summer when the weather gets hot they ride that road down from heaven on
their Harleys they come and they go
And you can see 'em dressed like stars in all the cheap little seashore bars
parked making love with their babies out on the Kokomo
Well the cops finally busted Madame Marie for tellin' fortunes better than they
do
This boardwalk life for me is through
You know you ought to quit this scene too
Sandy the aurora's rising behind us, the pier lights our carnival life forever
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Chai
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Sun 24 Sep, 2006 10:23 am
aidan wrote:
So did you grow up in NJ? I guess I don't see it as funny, because it doesn't make me laugh. It makes me feel nostalgic-he describes part of the growing up experience that I can relate to. Didn't you ever go skinny-dipping and drink too much and vomit out the window of a car when you were a teen-ager? I know I did.
(And he doesn't say "screwing" - he says "making love" - gives it a whole different tone- they just did it outside).
aidan - Yes, I did grow up in NJ, right down the road from Asbury Park, on the Shore.
I don't know where you are from, but I do know the environment he was righting about....Madame Marie, 10th Ave freeze out....I guess you had to be there.
yes, the song is nostaligic....but I'm sensing not in the way you grew up.
this wasn't about innocently hanging out with friends and the occasional vomit when you drank to much.
It's about driving around blind drunk and meeting up with other derelict friend to see how far you can make it go on any given night.
Everyone had a friend like Hazy Davie....constantly stoned, a drop out who sold weed to get by....fun to be around if you want to get messed up, but really kinda dense. Most of us outgrew Davie sometime after going to college...but he's always in our memories as that crazy stoned son of a bitch that made you laugh and was always hitting you up for cigarettes or a meal at the diner.....but he always had the best grass around.
and yeah....that's really funny.
it's funny in that you never killed yourself riding around in a '77 firebird with 5 of your best friends screaming out the window in the middle of february at 3am throwing food and bottles at other people in cars, who were just as f*cked up and prone to a violent explosion as you were.
If you went out to greasy lake, it wasn't to make love....it was so screw in the dirt.
it's the kind of funny that if you still have a friend from those times, you're amazed you both didn't end up working at a 7-11 as a career.
You don't end up having friends named Wild Billy, hazy davie and crazy janie by hanging out at the lake.
Look at his early music aidan....it's not sentimental....it's stark.
I'm not going to argue your view aidan....but I grew up at the same time, the same place...went to the same bars and diners......I wasn't tough....just a drunken observer....and that's what was observed.
jesus....listen to me
YOU DON'T KNOW! YOU WEREN'T THERE MAN!!!
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aidan
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Mon 25 Sep, 2006 01:12 pm
I guess I wasn't Chai, but I don't think Bruce was either. He obviously had it together enough to write intelligent, creative lyrics and music pretty much throughout his teen-age years, and has often spoken about his intact family life, going to church with his mother, etc., etc.
Everyone has their own version of Greasy Lake. You know - my friends and I rode around - but no- we never threw bottles at cars- we were all peacful little hippies I guess- actually, I was the only one that even listened to or liked Bruce Springsteen- everybody else were major Dead Heads. I didn't have friends named Hazy Davy and Wild Billy - just Deuce and Weed (guess why) - but Weed wasn't dense at all - in fact he was probably smarter than the rest of us combined- just enamored of smoking grass more than any of the rest of us.
You hear his music one way - I hear it another - you hear screwing - I hear making love (which is what the lyrics say). That's one thing I admire about the guy - he's always respectful of women (in his songs),
he's got an open mind about people. I think he's a romantic through and through. Read the lyrics again - a tough guy doesn't say things like, "We danced all night to a soul fairy band" or call his screw partner "a lonely angel".
Secret Garden
She'll let you in her house
If you come knockin' late at night
She'll let you in her mouth
If the words you say are right
If you pay the price
She'll let you deep inside
But there's a secret garden she hides
She'll let you in her car
To go drivin' round
She'll let you into the parts of herself
That'll bring you down
She'll let you in her heart
If you got a hammer and a vise
But into her secret garden, don't think twice
You've gone a million miles
How far'd you get
To that place where you can't remember
And you can't forget
She'll lead you down a path
There'll be tenderness in the air
She'll let you come just far enough
So you know she's really there
She'll look at you and smile
And her eyes will say
She's got a secret garden
Where everything you want
Where everything you need
Will always stay
A million miles away
*How much more romantic can you get? This guy gets (understands)women. His lyrics are all about romance, the romance of the road, the romance of the land, etc- his love affair with cars, even.
PS - And I never said his songs were sentimental. There's a big difference between nostalgic and sentimental and romantic and sentimental. Although I don't think sentimental is bad at all. It's just another emotion. But I do agree that some of his stuff is stark - Nebraska, especially. And there is some pretty stark stuff on The Ghost of Tom Joad.
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deezee
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Fri 6 Oct, 2006 06:31 pm
haven't been on this site in ages but was thrilled to see other bruce fans here. here's some pix from the first time i saw bruce playing with the castiles at the cafe wha? in nyc in 1968. happy belated birthday bruce! being a native new york city "girl' myself, my favorite has always been
"new york city serenade".
bruce is the one leaning against the wall
hidden by the microphone
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Chai
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Fri 6 Oct, 2006 08:30 pm
aidan wrote:
I guess I wasn't Chai, but I don't think Bruce was either.
Birthplace: Freehold New Jersey.
Give me a break Aidan...why does it always have to be that your opinions are somehow of a higher nature?
Maybe some day you'll get tired of being in your ivory tower and join the rest of us.
Why don't you go talk to your buddy Mathos for a dozen pages about absolutely nothing?
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aidan
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Fri 6 Oct, 2006 11:04 pm
Deezee - wow - great pictures. Have you heard The Seeger Sessions yet? I wasn't sure I'd like it, so I borrowed it from a friend - it's turned out to be one of my all time favorites by him. I feel like I'm at a revival or something when I listen to it - even when I'm all by myself. (I was raised Southern Baptist - in NJ of all places - but we actually did have revivals and to this day, I"ve never experienced anything else like one in terms of a feeling of celebration or inspiration or renewal- except a really good concert).
Anyway, this record has spirituals (my favorite), traditional celtic songs, songs like John Henry and the Ballad of Jesse James, and even the Erie Canal song I used to sing in music in grade school - brings back a lot of memories. He's got a whole new group of musicians - fiddlers, accordian players, a horn section - so the music is anything from New Orleans jazz/dixie land to zydeco to roots to folk, etc.
I'm trying to get tickets to see him on this tour - I have a friend who apparently belongs to some group on which she gets first bid on such things on e-bay or something and she's working on it for me.
Bruce is just such a good person, on top of his musical and writing talents.
Thanks for posting the pictures.
*Chai - I'm not in an ivory tower. My feet are right here on the ground. I don't judge or comment on who you talk to or what you talk about - in fact I don't even know who you talk to or what you talk about. The way I look at it, that's none of my business, and you're prerogative. Seems like you're the one looking down on me, having a problem with me about who I talk to and what I talk about - judging it to be "nothing".
My opinion is just an opinion - nothing more. Don't give it any more weight than anyone elses - I don't.
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deezee
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Sat 7 Oct, 2006 08:43 am
aidan wrote:
Deezee - wow - great pictures. Have you heard The Seeger Sessions yet? I wasn't sure I'd like it, so I borrowed it from a friend - it's turned out to be one of my all time favorites by him. I feel like I'm at a revival or something when I listen to it - even when I'm all by myself. (I was raised Southern Baptist - in NJ of all places - but we actually did have revivals and to this day, I"ve never experienced anything else like one in terms of a feeling of celebration or inspiration or renewal- except a really good concert).
Anyway, this record has spirituals (my favorite), traditional celtic songs, songs like John Henry and the Ballad of Jesse James, and even the Erie Canal song I used to sing in music in grade school - brings back a lot of memories. He's got a whole new group of musicians - fiddlers, accordian players, a horn section - so the music is anything from New Orleans jazz/dixie land to zydeco to roots to folk, etc.
I'm trying to get tickets to see him on this tour - I have a friend who apparently belongs to some group on which she gets first bid on such things on e-bay or something and she's working on it for me.
Bruce is just such a good person, on top of his musical and writing talents.
Thanks for posting the pictures.
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hey aidan
since i was raised on pete seeger's music and others like him i knew most of the songs before this came out. but i wasn't prepared for the show live...he does so many different things with the music!
if you go you'll love it. it's so much fun though unlike other bruce concerts with the e street band. hope that your friend can get your tickets. however as far as anyone knows right now he's in europe and not doing anymore of the seeger session shows here in the u.s.. but that could very well change so stay tuned. i've seen bruce over 400 times in concert since my first time at the cafe wha? i followed him around the country starting in the very early 70's (before "greetings was released)- the 80's. must admit that i'm a fan of the early stuff more than anything. and lots of the "unreleased material" is even better than the stuff on the studio releases.
it's impossible to say what his music has meant to me and so many others over the years. just glad to see other people on here who like him too.
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aidan
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Sat 7 Oct, 2006 09:28 am
deezee- I'm so excited to be talking to a Bruce fan on here too - when music means a lot to you - it's almost like the person making it is a brother or sister - they've gone through your life with you and you can't imagine how it would have been without him or her. I feel like that about him too - he's seen me through a lot of good times...but you've seen him many, many more times than I have. I've seen him four times - started in the eighties with the Born in the USA tour and then the Dancing In the Dark tour, then I don't remember what tour and then I saw him either three or four years ago with The Rising tour.
I would so love to see this show.. I'm in England - so she's working on tickets for Dublin. No luck yet though- and it's been a couple of weeks - so I guess it's starting to look doubtful- although I don't even know the dates for that show- I'm not being very proactive - but she told me that there's no chance to get a ticket through regular channels and she'll take over on her end with the e-bay thing.
I like his early stuff alot too - although I have to say I also love Human Touch - not sure why - maybe it's just the time of my life it came out or something - but I do love that record - even though it never made a very big impact commercially or critically.
You'll have to tell me all your early Bruce stories. Did you ever meet him? I used to hang out at Richie's Station - this pizza place in Asbury Park because I read once that was his favorite restaurant - this was back in the seventies. Never ran into him though oh well - I still have the menu- I'm such a dweeb sometimes..
Someone told me there this whole record of all the recorded versions of his big songs that he initially cut and then didn't release - alternative versions of songs like Thunder Road - Born to Run- etc. I'd like to hear that.
I'm so glad you posted on this thread. Any other pictures, trivia or impressions- I'd be into hearing them. Talk to you later.
oh well - I still have the menu- I'm such a dweeb sometimes..
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