#421

I’ve just got as far as Rosalita and I don’t think I’ve ever seen any band looking like they were having so much fun on stage.

#422

The big man having an absolute whale of a time

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#423

Dancing In The Dark is one of the best songs of all time tbh. Another 10/10 album. Mad that he just left this off too;

One of my favourite tracks of his

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#424

The first song I ever saw him play live! He opened a lot of sets on the Reunion Tour with it.

The set of songs that were considered for BITUSA is phenomenal. Quite a few turned up on Tracks, and there are a few bootlegs around that include others. I have one called Unsatisfied Heart that has alternate versions of album tracks (a nine minute take on the title song, Glory Days with the extra verse, etc) and lots of unreleased stuff including a set of Nebraska-esque solo songs (I bet when he saw the misinterpretations of BITUSA, Bruce was mightily relieved he didn’t go any further with ‘The Klansman’). If anyone is interested, PM me and I could tell you where to look.. The book on BITUSA in the 33 1/3 series is very good on all these false starts and diversions on the way to the finished album, and it’s well worth a read.

FWIW, my all time favourite number one Springsteen song is one of these offcuts. I first heard a 90s rerecorded version on the Greatest Hits comp, and then the original emerged on Tracks. Think the last verse is one of the best he’s written, absolutely mad that something this good could go unheard for a decade and more

Hey Frank, won’t ya pack your bags
And meet me tonight down at Liberty Hall
Just one kiss from you my brother and we’ll ride until we fall
We’ll sleep in the fields, we’ll sleep by the rivers
And in the morning we’ll make a plan
And if you can’t make it
Stay hard, stay hungry, stay alive
If you can
And meet me in a dream of this hard land

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#425

yes

#426

Bobby Jean :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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#427

‘This Hard Land’ is a definite favourite. Some of the other songs you mentioned are terrific too. Remember getting ‘Unsatisfied Heart’ as part of the Lost Masters series a few years back.

So many songs still unreleased from this era which makes me hopeful we’ll get that Born In The USA box at some point (or at the very least ‘Tracks 2’)

Some more favourites from this era- ‘Shut Out The Light’ which is another one of his post Vietnam songs, but this one is much sadder and full of hopelessness. Think this was a B-side at the time. Top tier Springsteen.

‘Protection’ (which I believe was a hit for Donna Summer?) And ‘Drop On Down And Cover Me’ are terrific unreleased cuts from the time too. ‘DODACM’ isn’t a perfect recording but I think I prefer it to the version of ‘Cover Me’ that he released.

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#428

I love this video of No Surrender with two kids brought up from the crowd. They won’t win any awards for singing, but they approach the song with such reckless abandon it’s a joy to watch:

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#429

Jump to 23:45 in this video (till the end of the song) for some of the best rock-band-camaraderie footage there is: Nils Lofgren looking over to Bruce as they harmonise and then solo, in a sort-of preview of the Bruce and Patty in the Tougher Than The Rest video. It’s the kind of thing that makes you want to be in a rock band.

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#430

The bit about 1:45:20, when there’s a breakdown in Cadillac Ranch and Clarence makes his sax sound like someone trying a car ignition while Bruce hollers “don’t stall on me”, is one of the daftest things I’ve ever seen. Absolutely fantastic.

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#431

yessssss

#432

Seems like a lot of people have great memories associated with this one.

I came to Born in the USA late and struggled initially with something I sometimes find with ‘classic’ albums where I already know half the tracks that I then judge it on the songs I don’t know. It’s easy to focus on ‘Cover Me’ and ‘Working on the Highway’ and just take for granted what a phenomenal song ‘Dancing in the Dark’ is.

Not really sure what else to say that hasn’t already been said about this one - it’s probably, along with Born to Run, the best for just 45 minutes of pure Boss energy. Side 2 from I’m on Fire is basically just a Greatest Hits set and I think it does cheesy-pop-Bruce far more effectively than the lively half of The River. A proper play-loud-on-a-summer-afternoon record and another classic that deserves the hype.

And what a cover!

2 Likes
#433

Not much to add that hasn’t already been mentioned. It’s an album I don’t often listen to, probably because of familiarity and overplaying the “hits”. But the only weak spot on the album for me is Working on the Highway which sounds like an off-cut from The River. If it was replaced by This Hard Land then it’s another perfect album IMO.

Quick shout out for Downbound Train which is an underrated gem. A beautiful, heartbreaking story.

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#434

I agree with most of what’s been said, my lukewarm take is that this is the worst of his ‘good’ albums and maybe his third or fourth worst - ahead of High Hopes, Working on a Dream and Human Touch.

I have a working theory that it’s one of the touchstones for the last couple of decades for arena pop mainstream country that is mostly pretty terrible.

Having said that, i have this one trimmed to an 8 track album on my iPod by ditching Darlington County, Cover Me, Glory Days and Bobby Jean (great song but terrible terrible arrangement, acoustically it’s much better) and I like it a lot more that way. Good mix of pop and more introspective.

Like The River there are also so many b-sides that should have been on but aren’t. Frankie and Shut out the Lights especially are two of his best ever.

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#435

Yeah, this probably makes my top 2 on the album. It’s the one I find easiest to imagine on Nebraska if it wasn’t a full band version.

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#436

Funny you should mention that…

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#437

Another classic - glad I missed out on all the hype and furore around the title track and can just appreciate the album as a collection of great songs (and see it live from front to back in 2013!). Musically it’s another welcome change of pace after the low-key lament of “Nebraska”. The only one I don’t really get on with is I’m Going Down, but looking forward to checking out the outtakes and live sets posted up-thread…

Re: the album tour, from the “Born to Run” autobiography again - this is probably the most rock 'n roll anecdote I’ve ever heard:

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#438

Hahahaha how does that even manage to happen? Proper spinal tap stuff.

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#439

Feel like maybe you’d want to check that your band are all behind you before you start playing, idk?

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#440

Bit of a mixed bad for me this.

Dancing In The Dark is a song I can’t remember not knowing but it actually surprised me a little bit after listening to everything else in order, just sounds totally different to what’s come before from Bruce though of course the lyrics feel like familiar territory. Good lord, that is one amiable melody. I find the first 30 seconds of the title track absolutely thrilling and then I think I’ve heard the best of it. It’s pretty amazing how they arrived at that from the demo. It has it’s own appeal but I prefer the irony given by the battleship drums and ticker tape fanfares.

So songs I like, well My Hometown is a nice closer and I guess it’s the signpost towards Tunnel of Love? Not heard it but from what I read that’s what I’m imagining. I think the three track run in the middle is really great. Downbound Train reminds me of some 90’s alt rock I can’t place, found it instantly likeable and sort of familiar. I’m On Fire is my favourite song here, really simple, feels effortless, no fat. I know what sense Bruce using the words “little girl” and “daddy” in but there’s still a little bit of ick tbh. I really enjoy No Surrender though the rest of the song can’t match the headlong charge of the first verse, love the emotion conjured up in those first lines. Some of the lyrics get a bit too, I’m not sure what the word is, fantastical? self consciously poetic? I’ve never sworn blood brothers against the wind, for example, I’ve never lived. Bobby Jean is really touching

I agree with the folks who aren’t keen on the Cover Me - Darlington County - Working On The Highway sequence. On my first listen I couldn’t believe Darlington came in at under 5 minutes long, jeez. Not fond of the parping baseball ground organ that pops up here and there, Glory Days most obviously, great lyrics mind.

Listened to a few of the leftovers tonight and Shut Out The Lights really stood out. I think considering my qualms I’ll be going 7.

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