Moe Lane

Thunder Road, Bruce Springsteen

That’s the live version and the link is to the studio version, but… you gotta respect the crowd skills.  Well, you don’t actually have to, but… you should. I know just enough about how Bruce does this to know that I will, never be able to duplicate it.

Rosalita (Come Out Tonight), Bruce Springsteen

I seriously wish Bruce Springsteen would just write songs more like this, and less like he’s trying to be Arlo Guthrie or something.

No Surrender, Bruce Springsteen

…And, geez, I’m back to liking this version again.  Maybe it’s the time of the year that’s the trigger?

So, this morning I’m drinking my brunch in an Irish bar waiting for the rest of the family to finish up going to church…

IT WAS A GLORIOUS MOMENT OF PURE, CRYSTALLINE AWESOME, ACTUALLY.  THANKS FOR ASKING.

…anyway, so this comes up on the jukebox.

Shenandoah, Bruce Springsteen

And I think to myself, Yup.  That tears it.  Next time, go with the Ploughman’s Platter.

Well, that and Dammit, this bar needs Wi-fi so that I can watch that Lawrence Welk thing.

Yeah.  You all knew that this was inevitable.  No sense in hanging it over your heads.

Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town, Bruce Springsteen

Still, this is a tradition among my people.

I’m invariably told that I’m not allowed to do these sorts of songs, you know.  Which is what makes it fun.

Born In The U.S.A., Bruce Springsteen

I know that I did this one already this year, but I can’t think of one that fits my mood better.

No Surrender, Bruce Springsteen

No Surrender, Bruce Springsteen

Note that the Amazon link is to the considerably more hard-rocking version.  Not voluntarily, mind you: it’s heresy of me to even hint at this, but I kind of like this one when it’s done low and slow.

[pause]

…which is entertaining, because two years ago I had the exact opposite opinion.  And two years from now I will probably flip-flop again.

Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town, Bruce Springsteen

…Yeah, well, sorry, but it is the Christmas season.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhahV_6uhFs

Badlands, Bruce Springsteen

The odd paradox of Bruce Springsteen is that he got ahead in this world by singing legitimately powerful and heartfelt songs about… how people like Bruce Springsteen can’t get ahead in this world.

Oops.  On the other hand, what is he supposed to do?  Give back the money and awards?  I wouldn’t.

Glory Days, Bruce Springsteen

Heh. We’re done with the Springsteen retrospective, but I gotta wonder whether these guys ever look around and wondered what happened. I mean, they sort of had the opposite thing happen to them than they usually sang about.

Born In The U.S.A., Bruce Springsteen

You could write a doctoral dissertation – or, at least a masters’ dissertation – on the multilayers of irony that are represented by this song, how it was entertainingly subverted by the Right, and how its history is in itself a humorous subversion of said song’s underlying message.  In fact, probably somebody already has; I only hope that it’s vaguely readable.  I get the impression that many aren’t.