Bruce Springsteen…

 Racing… breaks my **** heart

This, so another vote for ‘Racing’ here.

Best album is hard – worst is easy, it’s Born in the USA, but best, so many great albums. Force me to choose and I’d probably say The River, but ask me tomorrow and I might say Born To Run.

My favourite album is still Asbury Park. So much of that seems like poetry set to music.

song New York City Serenade here too short at over 9 minutes long
Album Nebraska

My favourite song up to a few weeks ago is Thunder Road, just takes you to that place amazing.

However I heard The Wish for the first time recently and I was reduced to tears thinking about my Mum. Unbelievably powerful song

worst is easy, it’s Born in the USA,

why’s that then? genuinely curious as why to you (alone in the world, it seems) it’s the obvious choice.

On a basic level I’ve always found his music massively overrated. However, most folk I know that are really into music are besotted. Time I gave him a proper go, from his first album

Love this particular anthem.

Thunder Road live from Hammersmith probably my all time favourite, though.

All that heaven will allow.

Mrs Sandwich and I went to Aston Villa to see him play with Ms Sandwich as a passenger. A sunny day and our first concert as a married couple.

And then there’s this one – so much emotion in such a simple song.

On a basic level I’ve always found his music massively overrated.

He’s written a massive number of songs. A handful are great. A lot are good. Inevitably, some will be dross.

For me, Born to Run is the perfect album, it’s more than just a collection of songs, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Thunder Road is the song I always think of when his name comes up, absolutely perfect song. If you don’t like that song, you aren’t going to like Springsteen.

Born to Run was commercially bigger (both the album and song). I think the song is often misunderstood, it’s an ironic song that people think is a flag-waving patriotic anthem. It’s a decent song, but not his best by far. The album has some pretty decent songs but it doesn’t hang together as an album the way Born to Run does.Glory Days and My Hometown seem a bit more typical Springsteen songs to me than Born to Run

worst is easy, it’s Born in the USA

😂😂😂

There’s literally not a bad track on it

The misappropriation of the title track by idiots that don’t understand the meaning of the song is the only reason that album gets bad press

I like most of his stuff, but Nebraska always stands out. It might be to do with being a teenager in the North of England in 1982, almost shared misery. Post punk Americana?

Thunder Road is the song I always think of when his name comes up, absolutely perfect song. If you don’t like that song, you aren’t going to like Springsteen.

Err.. I don’t like Thunder Road and I like Springsteen. People say Thunder Road is his best song but IMHO its not even the best song on the album its from.

Loads of great stuff above – I have a suggestion from a much more recent album – I absolutely love Ghosts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo5QNcFioZ4

i was at hard rock hyde park when he came on with roy and opened with Thunder road , will never forget it, seen him 13 Times , 3 times in 10 Days on the wrecking Ball tour ,was there when he done the tribute to Clarence was Dusty that night Badlands live version will be played when i go,

Dunno what favourite song is, probably the river but I’m not that clued up.

The blonde woman that appears out if the crowd at about 2:50 and holds his hand on the vid below is my mum though, and she’s on my shoulders! Cov 2016. I’d deff go and see him again.

I saw him at St James Park with the full line up, Clarence, Nils, Miami Steve..

He brought some joy to the Toon.

The first three are my favourites, a lighter tone, and more poetic. From ‘The Wild, The Innocent…’ there’s ‘The E Street Shuffle’, which has such a great groove, and the horns are superb.
‘Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)’ has a similar feel, just grooving on hope and high spirits.
Then there’s ‘Blinded By The Light’, ‘Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street’ and ‘Spirit In The Night’ from ‘Greetings…’ and finally, from ‘BTR’, ‘Thunder Road’, ‘Night’, ‘Backstreets’, ‘Born To Run’…, frankly that whole album is about as good as it gets, not a duff track; all killer, no filler! It’s an album that demands to be played from beginning to end. Still got my original vinyl from when I bought them when they were released.

On a basic level I’ve always found his music massively overrated.

Well, the huge amount of hype that surrounded ’Born To Run’ when it was released, with a quote from a writer from ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine saying ‘I have seen the future of rock and roll, and his name is Bruce Springsteen’, really didn’t help matters! But it’s worth remembering that Springsteen released the first two albums in 1973, then followed with ‘BTR’ in 1975, and there wasn’t really anything quite like him at the time, along with an outstanding band and three hour concerts he caused a sensation. It wasn’t really until Nirvana appeared that a single band made such an impression. And both continue to influence other artists as well.

Err.. I don’t like Thunder Road and I like Springsteen.

Your name has been added to the list. Expect a visit from the music appreciation police in the near future.

Not listened to Bruce for a long while then stumbled across this on night …https://youtu.be/f1YFA_J5JBU

Adam Raised a Cain

Phew, saw the thread title and thought maybe Bruce had been cancelled for being a boomer who once drove a gas guzzling Chevy with fuelly heads and referred to a female as baby…

Racing in the street is the one for me, just magic!

The nice thing about Bruce from my perspective is that his songs and albums seem to have accompanied me on my own journey. My favourite album is usually the one I’m listening to.

The River – endless hours dreaming as a kid watching the disc spin
Born in the USA – St James’ Park 1985/6 I’m a bright eyed 6th former let loose.
Magic – living the dream, working in Melbourne with wife and 3 young children
Western Stars, the kids are grown up, still happily married, plenty to reflect on and hopefully more to come.

Favourite song – perhaps Independence Day, I always liked Bobby Jean too

St James’ Park 1985 – Born in the USA tour

why’s that then? genuinely curious as why to you (alone in the world, it seems) it’s the obvious choice.

It’s his most deliberately commercial release. Like Bowie’s Let’s Dance. While I can certainly admire the skill with which both artists made these records, and the massive sales figures that they achieved, it didn’t result in stuff that I would call my favourite.

I think Thunder Road is his ‘best’ song, as the lyrics and atmosphere is everything he stands for (more so than Born to Run, for me), and you just can’t see anyone else singing it and getting anywhere close to him for impact and connection.

But New York City Serenade is my favourite song. I like the early stuff.

Album? Hard call that one.

Further on up the Road, from the Dublin Sessions, is getting a lot of play recently too.

The thing I find incredible (I only found out the other day) is that Bruce has never had a number 1 either here or on the other side of the pond.

For an artist with such a huge fan base I fine that a little mad.

Thunder Road is good, the River is better but I’ve a soft spot for Candy’s Room.

No idea why.

Bruce has never had a number 1 either here or on the other side of the pond.

He was big in New Zealand though.

I’m not a huge Springsteen fan, but like a lot of ‘classic’ songs I don’t think I really hear the songs from Born in the USA, if that makes sense? It’s like their ubiquity when I was just getting into music means I kind of learned to tune them out as soon as they come on.

Agree he is a great story teller though. The lyrics on One Step Up always stand out to me for some reason.

Album – Darkness
Song – Youngstown, Downbound Train or Racing, depending on the mood I’m in.

If you’ve read his autobiography it’s well worth watching the video for Brilliant Disguise again, it’s clearly a nod to his father but before he went through all the therapy sessions that brought all that out into the open in his mind.

The screen door slams, Mary’s dress waves, like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays… . Irritating to play on the guitar, really hard to sing, Bruce’s story telling at its best.

This. Darkness on the Edge of Town is probably my favouriteist album of all time. Partly because I remember listening to it for the very first time when I was about 16 with a really nice girl…..

For me, Born to Run is the perfect album, it’s more than just a collection of songs, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Thunder Road is the song I always think of when his name comes up, absolutely perfect song. If you don’t like that song, you aren’t going to like Springsteen.

Absolutely. It’s a fantastic piece as a whole. I’ve never got through most of his discography (one of those artists where there is just so much it’s hard to sift) but Born to Run (the album) is one of my all time favourite pieces of culture.

if you’ve never seen it, I bought a CD box set way back that came with a DVD of the 1975 Hammersmith show and it’s one of the few live concert recordings I’ve ever sat through once, let alone more than once. Brilliant.

He was a complete disappointment when I saw him at Glastonbury – had no idea how to play to a festival crowd that wouldn’t know much of his work.

One of the two artists I’ve seen that can have an entire stadium hanging on his every word. Freddie Mercury was the other.

Am not a massive Bruce fan but do have most of his live stuff which is where he really shines I reckon. The Seeger Sessions recording is my favourite, with the 1975 Hammersmith one a close second.

Shat myself there, thought he was dead.

Nebraska for me, I love the quiet reflective stuff, no time for the bombastic stuff (which is most of it I think).

Never really thought of myself as a fan, but then realised that Arcade Fire is Springsteen for people who don’t know they like Springsteen.

The track of his I like best is Thunder Road, but not his original – the cover by Tortoise and Bonnie Prince Billy on The Brave and The Bold is amazing. I’d loved that for years without ever really paying Springsteen much heed. Had the radio on one night and heard what I thought was a hideous, overblown, over-produced cover. Was the original.

the cover by Tortoise and Bonnie Prince Billy on The Brave and The Bold is amazing

I’m sorry, I find that unlistenable. Really, really awful.

The screen door slams, Mary’s dress waves, like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays… . Irritating to play on the guitar, really hard to sing, Bruce’s story telling at its best.

My first post-lockdown gig was to see a singer songwriter from Cardiff, Martyn Joseph. He’s an excellent performer in his own right, loves Springsteen (it shows) and has done an album of BS covers. Part way through the gig he started playing…

The screen door slams,

..stopped and started talking about the song as he strummed. He deconstructed the lyrics, talked about the chords used, how to play the song, and that it was such a simple song – 3 chords! A simple description of a man and a relationship. There’s nothing complicated in this song at all, but it is the most perfect song. He finished the song by mentioning how much talent Springsteen has, finishing with ‘Bastard!’. It was a brilliant few minutes.

Aww, go on, the lyrics to that cover are great! 😉 I listened all the way through so it must have something.

Like some of you people I have the original Born To Run vinyl, what do you think of it? Mine was and obviously still is a lousy pressing and the production is wall of sound taken to far. The later albums were much better vinyls. Perhaps that’s why people like the live versions so much.

3 chords!

There are 5/6 in the intro alone and they’re all used later in the song. On a guitar in standard tuning and without a capo they’re chords that aren’t that easy to link together. I cheat and play much of the song strumming only 4 or 5 of the strings rather than trying to form and hold down complete chords.

Here’s tab which is pretty close to the original and in the right key:

https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/bruce-springsteen/thunder-road-chords-344758

And another tab, also standard tuning and no capo but slightly simplified, it’s pretty much what I play. I worked out the the song by ear in the days before the Net then forgot about it untill I started busking with a mate who played the River. I wanted a positive song to balance his sad one.

https://www.e-chords.com/chords/bruce-springsteen/thunder-road