2020 has seen lockdowns, separation and desperation in equal measure as we try to swim through these troublesome times. Every now and again you hope to find an escape, a release from the reality we find ourselves in. Music is a good place to start.
I don’t think there has been a time in my life that I’ve needed music more. Crazily shit times…and to think that Bruce got the band back together and recorded an album in 4 days last autumn before the world even heard of Covid 19 seems scarily ironic. It’s like they knew what was coming.
This is probably going to be a long and perhaps tedious write up to read as you witness a fan pour his thoughts out- you might feel the same way we all feel when there’s at least a 6 year gap between the band playing on a Springsteen album.
This record is a story of death and loss but also one of acceptance and retrospect. The thing that may surprise a lot of people is the fact that Donald Trump has been in office for 4 years and there is not a single political bone in this album. Releasing an album that completely bashes Trump and releasing it in the UK 2 hours before the final presidential debate would have been rather poetic but oh well! The themes of this album are not too dissimilar from Western Stars from 18 months ago. I still do think album number 21 may be the political and angry Wrecking Ball of the 2020’s…if we should ever receive it.
“One Minute You’re Here” is an opener that almost seamlessly blends last years record with the new material. A gentle acoustic guitar with words reflecting on loss and growing old. Some would say that this song almost seems like a parody of a Springsteen song – the river, trains and The Edge of Town are all mentioned at some point in this song. I personally think that it’s deliberate. This album really is a retrospective piece. This song almost seems like a metaphor for the scary world we live in this year. Life is fragile.
The title track was the first thing we heard from the four day session last autumn. That E Street Sound. The power of Mighty Max, the feel of the guitars, the melody of the professor. Hearing that sound on new material for the first time in many years was a special moment. “Dug Deep in my soul and signed my name true” is another hint that this album is looking inwards and not outwards. I don’t think Springsteen is focusing on characters as much in this record – I think there is a lot of internal soul searching and struggle which is of course something he has explored in his other work over the past couple of years.
The 3 songs from the vault that he has pulled out and dusted down for this album are absolutely sublime. 3 songs that he wrote before he even put out his debut album and 3 songs that he’s decided to rework 48 years later for his 20th. Fascinating.
“Janey Needs a Shooter” – a song that was written in 1972, recorded in 2019, but yet sounds like it has come straight out of 1978. This song would not have sounded out of place on Darkness. I know that he did play about with the song during sessions for that album and that there’s a very fuzzy version from ‘78 on YouTube. It’s probably my favourite on the album – the power, the projection in his voice, the never ending coda. You would never think that it was a 70 year old man singing that song. Proof that he hasn’t lost any of his legendary performance skills.
My most anticipated song from the album was “If I Was The Priest”. I’ve been listening to the 1972 demo for most of my life. The way I felt just before midnight tonight was the exact same way I felt whilst waiting for the new studio version of Land of Hope and Dreams in 2012 – “Is this going to ruin a song I’ve loved for years or make it 1000% better?”
I’d been wondering if it would keep the piano “Racing in the Street” feel that the demo had all those years ago. It’s almost like a “Racing In The Street ‘78” version of this song. It’s the same song with the same themes and feeling, but the band bring it a different dimension. A beautiful recording. He always said that he would never perform this song live, I certainly hope he reconsiders that before we get a tour.
“Songs For Orphans” is another outtake from a golden age of Springsteen’s writing – and yes I’m talking about a period before he even released an album. He makes a reference in the accompanying film about his lyrics around that time and every song sounded like it used a rhyming dictionary. You get a wee taste of that in this emotional recording – “Cheerleader tramps and kids with big amps sounding in the void
High society vamps, ex-heavyweight champs mistaking soot for soil” – sounds like similar phrasing to Blinded By The Light. The simple use of the harmonica too – bliss!
One of my favourite songs on the album is “Rainmaker”. That moment when the band kicks in at the chorus is just what you want from the E Street Band. Sister Soozie’s biggest appearance on this album – love the violin hook in the chorus. The gravel in Bruce’s voice in this song is almost his 80s singing style. It’s one song that I can’t wait to hear live,
“Burin’ Train” has all the heart and soul of this band in 3 and a half minutes. Mighty Max is 69 years old but can still play the f**k out of those drums without missing a single beat. That continuous beat is amazing – and of course he is doing this without taking a single eye off his boss. It’s amazing in the film that his focus on Springsteen is the exact same in the studio as it is on stage, waiting for a cryptic movement that would signal an instruction to change his playing style or the warning of an impending musical breakdown. Bruce’s vocal in this song in unreal. Hitting notes that many people don’t hit when you get to the stage of his career.
“The Power of Prayer” and “House of A Thousand Guitars” seem very similar to me. I think they both touch on the similar themes. Bruce has often mentioned that performing live is his “meditation” and calls “rock and roll” this in the accompanying film. I think these songs (along with references in Ghosts) are him reflecting on this meditation.
I think the pain of losing Danny in 2008, George from The Castiles in 2018 and of course The Big Man in 2011 is really apparent on this album. He has of course talked about Danny and Clarence at length, especially during the Broadway run, over the years since but the story about George’s passing and therefore becoming the last living member of his first band has had a profound effect on him and this record. You can hear this in “Ghosts” – “I hear the sound of your guitar
Comin’ from the mystic far” and “It’s just your ghost moving through the night, Your spirit filled with light”
Although, I think it’s more clear in the closing song of the album. “I See You in My Dreams”
“The road is long and seeming without end
The days go on, I remember you my friend
And though you’re gone and my heart’s been empty it seems
I’ll see you in my dreams”
“I got your guitar here by the bed
All your favourite records and all the books that you read
And though my soul feels like it’s been split in the seams
I’ll see you in my dreams”
Loss is a big theme on this album and these songs are probably some of the most personal he’s ever released. The reflection on his life is continuing after Western Stars and will probably continue after this record too. Despite his ability to still bring the power and the fact his concerts will probably still tip the 3 and a half hour mark, he’s making his way into his twilight years and I think there is an acceptance on this album that life is short.
I honestly don’t see him slowing down though.
He is the boss after all
Ryan Borthwick 