Springsteen V ~ Super Bowl Party

[bono_212]

Super Bowl recap in his own words Bruce Springsteen News: brucespringsteen.net: Super Bowl Journal

That was awesome to read.

And I win the argument between my friend and I over whether or not he meant to run into the camera!

 

[u2popmofo]

I was trying to find something on TV while eating dinner tonight, and a Springsteen at Madison Square Garden show from 2000 was playing on Palladia (HD music channel). I lucked out and turned it on in time to get a little Nebraska section of 'Atlantic City' and 'Mansion on the Hill'.

As you all probably know from the massive amount of ownage I received over Born to Run, I'm not all that well versed with Springsteen, and thus had never seen or heard how these are performed live with the full band. I really enjoyed both songs, it was cool to hear how different they are compared the almost demo-like album versions.

 

[corianderstem]

I think that show is available on DVD - it's from the E Street Band Reunion tour and is worth picking up.

I just got done giving Working on a Dream a second run-through. I liked it a lot more than I remembered liking it on first listen.

I think the only songs I don't care for are Queen Of the Supermarket and Kingdom of Days.

 

[martha]

I liked the album a lot better than I thought I would. I haven't felt the urge to give it a second spin yet, though. I'll do that a few times before my show in April.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Super Bowl recap in his own words Bruce Springsteen News: brucespringsteen.net: Super Bowl Journal

That was awesome

But he left out all the stuff about how he was trying to imitate Bono

 

[cjboog]

I just wanted to say...

"The Rising" might be THE best song I've EVER heard.

It's right the hell up there

 

[corianderstem]

One of my all-time favorite Bruce songs, and one of my all-time favorite songs overall.

 

[martha]

I
It's right the hell up there

It is, indeed.

 

[elevation2u]

i don't "get" that song, ....i like it and all but i don't understand what's is sooo great about it... as in...why is he always playing it everywhere? seriously, is there some heavy meaning behind it that i'm not grasping? my city of ruins, empty sky, into the fire, nothing man, further up the road...i love all those, the rising..not so much.

 

[cjboog]

i don't "get" that song, ....i like it and all but i don't understand what's is sooo great about it... as in...why is he always playing it everywhere? seriously, is there some heavy meaning behind it that i'm not grasping? my city of ruins, empty sky, into the fire, nothing man, further up the road...i love all those, the rising..not so much.

Here's my two cents on the song...

A lot of the song is sang from the perspective of a firefighter who hears "bells ringing filled the air" on the morning of 9/11. It's a firefighter going into the Twin Towers to save people after the planes hit the building.

Can't see nothin' in front of me (because of the smoke?)
Can't see nothin' coming up behind
I make my way through this darkness
I can't feel nothing but this chain that binds me
Lost track of how far I've gone
How far I've gone, how high I've climbed (up into the building?)
On my back's a sixty pound stone (heavy equipment?)
On my shoulder a half mile line (maybe a hose or something like that?)

For me though it's beyond just that story because the lyrics can also seem to come from him speaking for the people or an individual for that matter -- in a state of confusion and feeling lost and carrying a heavy burden.

Then I see the long bridge part as a yearning to return to the "dream of life" and how life should be (or how it was?), the "sky filled with light". Maybe with the firefighter narrative, this person sees their children and wife flash before their eyes, and in this terror the things they love in their life is "like a catfish dancing at the end of my line", they can't quite catch it, it is now out of reach.

I see you Mary in the garden
In the garden of a thousand sighs
There's holy pictures of our children
Dancin' in a sky filled with light
May I feel your arms around me
May I feel your blood mix with mine
A dream of life comes to me
Like a catfish dancin' on the end of the line

Anyway, that's what it means to me. There is something so spiritual about it, and as an American it has special meaning to me because I know Springsteen wrote it about 9/11 -- not that that means others can't get the same meaning and feeling from the song . It's like a call for spiritual healing, to recognize the "dream of life" that we have every day, to RISE UP as a people. Not in revenge, or in some kind of nationalistic rage, but in healing and revival in our lives. Notice how when he says "Come on up for the rising, come on up lay your hands in mine" , as opposed to "Come on up, let's go kick some ass". It's about finding strength in each other. It really makes me appreciate things and anyway...that's my take. It's been in my top 5 favorite songs ever since the first time I heard it.

 

[u2popmofo]

I recently considered making a thread about how dated and unfortunately heavy handed and over the top melodramatic the vast majority of "9-11" music sounds now in retrospect.

Apparently I'm in the minority feeling that way.....

 

[cjboog]

I recently considered making a thread about how dated and unfortunately heavy handed and over the top melodramatic the vast majority of "9-11" music sounds now in retrospect.

Apparently in in the minority feeling that way.

HERETIC!

YOU ARE BANISHED

NOW GO!!!

 

[martha]

I like The Rising (the song) because it just sounds good. The band is working well together, I like the melody, I like Bruce's singing. I like it as a song, not necessarily a message.

 

[corianderstem]

I think The Rising transcends its original intent. I don't know how it does, I just feel that it does for me, so that will have to suffice.

 

[u2popmofo]

I think The Rising transcends its original intent. I don't know how it does, I just feel that it does for me, so that will have to suffice.

See, that was more or less what my thread was going to be about. The Bouncing Souls are another band who released an album that about 60+ % of it deals directly with Sept. 11th (they're also from New Jersey). The best songs from the period still work. The songs that were too specific feel incredibly dated.

Maybe it's just the feeling of, "Ok, we've dealt with this, let's please move on," that makes me feel like some of the music from this period is dated or "too much". Maybe it's just that dealing in specific details of a political/cultural nature lyrically really does date music and it loses its relevance with time. I don't know, but there's a lot of it I can't stand hearing any more. There's a lot I still love too though.

 

[corianderstem]

I guess the only specific "9/11" music I can think of (that I like, anyway - Toby Keith doesn't count) is The Rising.

I personally find the title track to be very moving, for reasons somewhat related to 9/11, and for other reasons as well. The other tracks that are 9/11-specific aren't as strong to me, so for those songs I'd agree with you.

I give a pass to My City of Ruins, since that was an old song that just happened to perfectly fit in with the theme. It's hard to associate that song with something other than 9/11, but that's okay. I do love that one as well.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

I had a job, I had a girl
I had something going mister in this world
I got laid off down at the lumber yard
Our love went bad, times got hard
Now I work down at the carwash
Where all it ever does is rain
Don't you feel like you're a rider on a downbound train?

She just said joe I gotta go
We had it once we aint got it any more
She packed her bags left me behind
She bought a ticket on the central line
Nights as I sleep, I hear that whistle whining
I feel her kiss in the misty rain
And I feel like Im a rider on a downbound train

Last night I heard your voice
You were crying, crying, you were so alone
You said your love had never died
You were waiting for me at home
Put on my jacket, I ran through the woods
I ran till I thought my chest would explode
There in the clearing, beyond the highway
In the moonlight, our wedding house shone
I rushed through the yard, I burst through the front door
My head pounding hard, up the stairs I climbed
The room was dark, our bed was empty
Then I heard that long whistle whine
And I dropped to my knees, hung my head and cried

Now I swing a sledge hammer on a railroad gang
Knocking down them cross ties, working in the rain
Now don't it feel like you're a rider on a downbound train?

/random

 

[martha]

One of my top five Bruce songs.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

It's like a call for spiritual healing, to recognize the "dream of life" that we have every day, to RISE UP as a people. Not in revenge, or in some kind of nationalistic rage, but in healing and revival in our lives. Notice how when he says "Come on up for the rising, come on up lay your hands in mine" , as opposed to "Come on up, let's go kick some ass". It's about finding strength in each other. It really makes me appreciate things and anyway...that's my take

I agree wholeheartedly..and that's why it transcends 9/11 and can be appropriate for other situations and for our personal lives. That's why it's timeless, and I think it's a very spiritual song.

Very good post you wrote there

 

[phanan]

One of my top five Bruce songs.

Same here.

 

[cobl04]

Like that song, just can't really get into Born in the USA however. I enjoy it, but nothing beyond that. Apart from Dancing in the Dark, there's no song that I really, really like.

 

[martha]

Dancing in the Dark did very little for me on the album and live on the subsequent tours

UNTIL

a few tours ago when the band did a balls-out guitar rave-up of it. Now I like all versions of it all the time.

 

[corianderstem]

I do really like the latest live version - it's seriously fun and awesome. It's just okay on the album.

 

[Popmartijn]

Dancing in the Dark did very little for me on the album and live on the subsequent tours

UNTIL

a few tours ago when the band did a balls-out guitar rave-up of it. Now I like all versions of it all the time.

Yeah, that guitar version is quite fun. I think Bruce started playing the song like that on the Rising Tour. That one also had a kick-ass version of Born In The U.S.A. (less synths and even more thundering drums).

 

[elevation2u]

seeing the band perform No Surrender and Workin on the Highway made me enjoy Born in the USA, before then I couldnt stand to listen to the album. but now I can enjoy Downbound Train, Goin Down, I'm on Fire..

 

[phanan]

I've always enjoyed Born In The U.S.A. Perhaps it's because that's the main album that introduced me to him. I had known Hungry Heart, I had heard Atlantic City thanks to MTV, but that album was what really brought me into it. I was 13 at the time, and it just blew me away. Sure, Dancing In The Dark sounds dated, and I still can't stand Cover Me, but the stretch from Darlington County to I'm On Fire to end Side One was always my favorite part, and then going from No Surrender to Glory Days was always fun.

So yeah, I really like the album. Sue me.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

I love Born in the U.S.A. It's my third favorite Bruce album behind BTR and Darkness.

 

[martha]

I've always enjoyed I'm On Fire.

Yep.

 

[bono_212]

I've always enjoyed I'm On Fire.

Yep.

I said just like two pages ago, I think, that it's my favorite song by him. I enjoy the album a great deal, it's in my top five. It may be a little bit sillier? than his other albums, but it is a huge part of what made him famous, and I think for good reason.

 

[elevation2u]

i have never been able to like glory days or cover me, it's painful to hear Springsteen be so sucky.