A definite influence, yes--I'm just not buying the cover band remark, that's all. And
you're not lazy, unless you're writing reviews for any music (maga)'zines with which I'm familiar!
But for what it's worth, I am a Type 1 diabetic, meaning that I am not able to drink any alcohol. I haven't been (and have been diabetic), since I was just 16 years old. I discovered The Hold Steady a hell of a long time after that went down, and they've spoken to me more profoundly than any artist since, ahem, The Boss, circa
The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle. I think that my straightedge-style sobriety has actually worked in my favor, as far as appreciating what I feel are the lyrical nuances of Finn's writing style. Probably of equal note: I am also an atheist, and I feel that this has actually helped me further to enjoy Finn's verse.
I do know what you mean, though, and the constant PBR-wielding, loud-as-shit high-fivers do, indeed, get a bit old, at The Hold Steady gigs, from time to time. Especially when you're stone cold sober. Ugh.
Anyway, I transcribed the lyrics to
Stay Positive. If "Both Crosses," here, sounds like Springsteen, then I guess I'm deaf to reason. And if these are lazy lyrics, especially when considering the honestly head-spinning intertextuality at play and which resonates across all four of the band's albums, then maybe I'm not the only one, Elvis.
This is good stuff, right here!
"Both Crosses"
She says sometimes she sees these things right before they’re happening…
“Hail Mary, full of grace.” Some nights, she swears she feels her face. She’s known a couple boys that died, and two of them were crucified. And the last one had enlightened eyes, but the first guy, he was Jesus Christ. Hey, Judas, I know you made a grave mistake. Hey, Peter, you been pretty sweet, since Easter break.
Now, she’s 4:00 A.M. and she’s wide awake, an’ she’s shiverin’ and smilin’. Let’s clutch and kiss; we sing and shake. Tonight, let’s try to levitate. You Catholic girls, you start much too late. Baby, let’s transverberate. . .
And she saw all the footage, right before it got cut. And she saw all the bodies, and she saw the blood. She saw the angel put a sword in his side. And, baby, that’s how we got canonized. She saw him gushing blood, right before it got cut. She saw him put a body in a bag in the trunk; she saw the guys coming in, from the sides. And, baby, that’s how we get energized.
She said, “You know I’m down to pay for it.” She said, “Just grant me some indulgences, cuz I been mostly dyin’, and I been mostly coughin’, and I been mostly cryin’…and I been thinkin’ ‘bout both crosses...”
She saw the film right before it came out, and at first she thought Judas might go for the mouth. And she saw the nails, and she saw the hands. She said the crowd cheered the band. And the new kid begged ‘em not to do it, and Jesus just said, “Hey, I still love you, Judas.”
Since you been up in Massachusetts, I been dreamin’ ‘bout dos cruces. And I been thinkin’ ‘bout both crosses. And I been dreamin’ ‘bout dos cruces. Yeah, I been thinkin’ ‘bout both crosses…