Yeah, you and I have debated the unevenness of TR before. I do feel that the *sound* unifies things—on some days it's my favorite sound on a Bruce record, a band recorded live in a room—but doesn't quite make the album cohere.
Thanks for posting this, it amazes me how tone deaf some “fans” can be to the lyrics. I think Pink Floyd fans are even worse! Agree with him or not, why anyone is surprised by Roger Waters’ politics is beyond me.
Hahaha, yeah — I also remember certain Floyd fans losing their shit over the "woke rainbow" on the Dark Side of the Moon 50th anniversary logo. Not enough facepalm emojis in the world for that one...
Nice. I'm with you on The River - "its unwillingness to commit to a unified mood or vibe across even one of its four sides" - for a long time now I've preferred the slower songs, and find the rockers kind of forced. And sad to say I'm one of those who is not a fan of Weinberg's drumming. But Bruce is bigger than all that.
There are a few rockers on The River that I really love — "The Ties That Bind" and "Two Hearts," both of which are almost power pop, and "Jackson Cage," which both sonically and thematically feels almost like a Darkness outtake. But otherwise, yeah, they feel really forced, which may indeed be partly because Weinberg is definitely not the drummer you want for garage-y tracks like "Crush On You" or "Ramrod".
Important, timely piece Dan, thank you. It is remarkable this deep, deep divide in consciences, this musicial/lyrical disconnect explains this all by itself. What is it now, over 30 artists have had to reach out to stop right wing politicians from using their songs without politician., often songs that are protesting exactly what the dumbass politician stands for. To me it says everything anyone needs to know that, as far as I know, there's not one right wing artist protesting the use of any of their songs anywhere, that says it all doesn't it?
Raygun & minions don't get "Born in the USA", same with bush I & Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World. Then, so telling when Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young toured on Neil's so very obviously anti- bush II album "Living With War," containing the 'hit' - "Let's Impeach the President" - a band who's rise to fame was clearly and largely based on protest of the Viet Nam war and nixon - that a large number of the audience angrily protested the band and left. The idiocy and ignorance of that at the time really got to me, somehow the peace-loving, anti-war fans of the band somehow morphed into hawkish, rabid pro-war bootlickers who became infuriated over the bands then current anti-war, anti dishonest president, now here we are, it's even worse. They released a tour video on it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9j%C3%A0_Vu_Live.
Have you seen/read any of Tom Morello's foray into social media 'splain' to current idiot fans telling him that Rage Against the Machine needs to "quit preaching their politics and entertain us - like you used to!" - Gobsmacked at how fucking stupid these 'fans' are, the fucking name of the band is protest. It's not promising that so many are so clueless on artists they pay to listen to and see and then expect them to support people that might actually make their lives better.
On a lighter note, so love the "Mad Dog" Lopez love, when I was in college and Brooce worship was on the rise, I never really 'got it' with him, appreciated the hell out of a lot of his lyrics (and the Manfred Mann covers) but the bombastic production and stiff rhythms of his records turned me off. I finally got it when my downriver roomie (Trenton) turned me on to Bruce's first two albums with Vini - I love those swingin' affairs! "Tunnel of Love" album is my other favorite, a lot of great songs on there. Was not hip to "Ricochet" thanks and agree on all accounts, I wish he put it out there at the time too & love that he's not backing down now.
Awww, so glad you got into the first two Springsteen records; these days, Wild/Innocent is my favorite LP of his. And re: RATM — a friend of mine told me he recently saw a Craigslist ad from a guy who was looking to put together a band "like Rage Against the Machine, but with conservative politics". I was like, what are they gonna sing? "Fuck you — I will do what they tell me"?
Hey Dan, a stellar article, even by your own standards. One could make a case that it exemplifies what Substack is here for: an opportunity for a writer to weave some instant karmic nostalgia memoir with a specific piece of music that resonates in the present day in which the artist in question is in the headlines for all the wrong reasons that are also all the right reasons (if you get my drift). Giving that you seem to have written it almost overnight while on book deadline sets the Substack bar high!
I was not aware of "Roulette" and having listened to it twice in a row this morning feel he may have made the right call as he stripped songs away from The River. But one of the great things about going in deep on an artist is having those obscure faves. Maybe you can ask your partner on Crossed Channels if he'd like to do an episode on The Boss at some point? Hopefully he would say yes.
The article screamed to be called "The Ties That Bind" imho but it's nice to be able to choose your own on Substack is it not?
Hahaha, I was just thinking that we should cover Bruce on Crossed Channels — maybe even the episode after next?
And thank you — frankly, I should have been working on the book instead of this post, but sometimes things come knocking inside my brain and won't leave me alone until I put 'em down "on paper". (And given the shadow that is grimly hanging over all of our back yards here in the States, I thought my title was rather apropos...)
I know it's silly, but "Born in the USA" feels very patriotic to me, and I *know* the lyrics and what they mean. Maybe it's the anthemic vibe, maybe I just saw one too many Chrysler commercials back in the day. I dunno...
More importantly, here's to enduring friendships. Few things on this planet are more important.
I get that — you can be patriotic while still wanting your country to do better at living up to its stated ideals, which always seemed to me where Bruce was coming from, even before he wrote the song. But yeah, I am lucky to have quite a number of long-running friendships, all of which I truly cherish.
Yeah, you and I have debated the unevenness of TR before. I do feel that the *sound* unifies things—on some days it's my favorite sound on a Bruce record, a band recorded live in a room—but doesn't quite make the album cohere.
Yeah, the sound of it is fantastic - I kinda wish they’d figured out how to get that sound before recording Darkness.
Def. Best drum sound on a Bruce record to my ears.
Thanks for posting this, it amazes me how tone deaf some “fans” can be to the lyrics. I think Pink Floyd fans are even worse! Agree with him or not, why anyone is surprised by Roger Waters’ politics is beyond me.
Hahaha, yeah — I also remember certain Floyd fans losing their shit over the "woke rainbow" on the Dark Side of the Moon 50th anniversary logo. Not enough facepalm emojis in the world for that one...
It’s pretty much been an “Us and Them” world for about decade now with no signs of it ever ending…
Aye. Just gotta remember to "Breathe"...
One of the things I like about him as a musician is that he always tells it plain, with no filter...
Gotta love music friendships. Thanks for sharing this.
Thanks for reading, Chris!
Thank you for your thanks.
Have a brilliant day.
PS: did you know (probably yes) that Bruce just released an EP and included that speech
I just found out about it this morning! Love it — he's clearly not backing down...
Nice. I'm with you on The River - "its unwillingness to commit to a unified mood or vibe across even one of its four sides" - for a long time now I've preferred the slower songs, and find the rockers kind of forced. And sad to say I'm one of those who is not a fan of Weinberg's drumming. But Bruce is bigger than all that.
There are a few rockers on The River that I really love — "The Ties That Bind" and "Two Hearts," both of which are almost power pop, and "Jackson Cage," which both sonically and thematically feels almost like a Darkness outtake. But otherwise, yeah, they feel really forced, which may indeed be partly because Weinberg is definitely not the drummer you want for garage-y tracks like "Crush On You" or "Ramrod".
Important, timely piece Dan, thank you. It is remarkable this deep, deep divide in consciences, this musicial/lyrical disconnect explains this all by itself. What is it now, over 30 artists have had to reach out to stop right wing politicians from using their songs without politician., often songs that are protesting exactly what the dumbass politician stands for. To me it says everything anyone needs to know that, as far as I know, there's not one right wing artist protesting the use of any of their songs anywhere, that says it all doesn't it?
Raygun & minions don't get "Born in the USA", same with bush I & Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World. Then, so telling when Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young toured on Neil's so very obviously anti- bush II album "Living With War," containing the 'hit' - "Let's Impeach the President" - a band who's rise to fame was clearly and largely based on protest of the Viet Nam war and nixon - that a large number of the audience angrily protested the band and left. The idiocy and ignorance of that at the time really got to me, somehow the peace-loving, anti-war fans of the band somehow morphed into hawkish, rabid pro-war bootlickers who became infuriated over the bands then current anti-war, anti dishonest president, now here we are, it's even worse. They released a tour video on it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9j%C3%A0_Vu_Live.
Have you seen/read any of Tom Morello's foray into social media 'splain' to current idiot fans telling him that Rage Against the Machine needs to "quit preaching their politics and entertain us - like you used to!" - Gobsmacked at how fucking stupid these 'fans' are, the fucking name of the band is protest. It's not promising that so many are so clueless on artists they pay to listen to and see and then expect them to support people that might actually make their lives better.
On a lighter note, so love the "Mad Dog" Lopez love, when I was in college and Brooce worship was on the rise, I never really 'got it' with him, appreciated the hell out of a lot of his lyrics (and the Manfred Mann covers) but the bombastic production and stiff rhythms of his records turned me off. I finally got it when my downriver roomie (Trenton) turned me on to Bruce's first two albums with Vini - I love those swingin' affairs! "Tunnel of Love" album is my other favorite, a lot of great songs on there. Was not hip to "Ricochet" thanks and agree on all accounts, I wish he put it out there at the time too & love that he's not backing down now.
Awww, so glad you got into the first two Springsteen records; these days, Wild/Innocent is my favorite LP of his. And re: RATM — a friend of mine told me he recently saw a Craigslist ad from a guy who was looking to put together a band "like Rage Against the Machine, but with conservative politics". I was like, what are they gonna sing? "Fuck you — I will do what they tell me"?
Yes - I saw that! It's embarrassing to be a member of the same species anymore. By all means - lets "RAGE AGAINST OUR FREEDOM!"
Hey Dan, a stellar article, even by your own standards. One could make a case that it exemplifies what Substack is here for: an opportunity for a writer to weave some instant karmic nostalgia memoir with a specific piece of music that resonates in the present day in which the artist in question is in the headlines for all the wrong reasons that are also all the right reasons (if you get my drift). Giving that you seem to have written it almost overnight while on book deadline sets the Substack bar high!
I was not aware of "Roulette" and having listened to it twice in a row this morning feel he may have made the right call as he stripped songs away from The River. But one of the great things about going in deep on an artist is having those obscure faves. Maybe you can ask your partner on Crossed Channels if he'd like to do an episode on The Boss at some point? Hopefully he would say yes.
The article screamed to be called "The Ties That Bind" imho but it's nice to be able to choose your own on Substack is it not?
Cheers,
Tony
Hahaha, I was just thinking that we should cover Bruce on Crossed Channels — maybe even the episode after next?
And thank you — frankly, I should have been working on the book instead of this post, but sometimes things come knocking inside my brain and won't leave me alone until I put 'em down "on paper". (And given the shadow that is grimly hanging over all of our back yards here in the States, I thought my title was rather apropos...)
I know it's silly, but "Born in the USA" feels very patriotic to me, and I *know* the lyrics and what they mean. Maybe it's the anthemic vibe, maybe I just saw one too many Chrysler commercials back in the day. I dunno...
More importantly, here's to enduring friendships. Few things on this planet are more important.
I get that — you can be patriotic while still wanting your country to do better at living up to its stated ideals, which always seemed to me where Bruce was coming from, even before he wrote the song. But yeah, I am lucky to have quite a number of long-running friendships, all of which I truly cherish.