KnoxHarrington
12-13-2008, 08:40 AM
There are artists who put out one or two really great albums that stand out from their repertoire, that I think you have to admit the greatness of even if you are indifferent to their work as a whole. It's probably the only album of theirs you own or even listen to regularly, while the others you can take or leave. For me, it's this one:
http://www.leftoffthedial.com/nebraska.bmp
Now, I feel a little nervous admitting I'm not a Springsteen fan on a board populated by so many from Jersey. But my problem isn't so much The Boss himself as it is the E Street Band. I think when he plays with them, his impulses to make everything completely overblown and bombastic get indulged. Plus, it's a forum for that douche Clarence Clemons to dance around like a jag until he plays another bad sax solo.
And that, to me, ruins the impact and maybe even meaning of a lot of the songs. I mean, "Born to Run" gets the full E Street treatment with blaring horns, loud guitar parts, thundering drums. And the lyrics of that song suggest a much darker, more complex song than the music gives you. It turns into a theme for some douche driving a Camaro to his job as an insurance salesman.
Which brings me to Nebraska. Springsteen recorded these songs at home, by himself, thinking of taking them to the E Street Band. But he listened to them and realized that these songs cannot be theme songs for aforementioned Camaro driving insurance guy. They're stark, brutal songs about people who are not born to run, who aren't loveable "tramps" out to have as good a time as they can. They're people whose time is already up. Or people who have gone into a dark place they cannot get out of -- and are taking people with them. When, at the end of the title track, Bruce sings "They want to know why I did what I did/Well, sir, I guess there's just a meanness in this world", it's as chilling and stark and terrifying a moment as has ever been put to music. And, I'm sorry, Little Stevie, you can't pose with your guitar and a douchey bandanna on your head during this song. Not for you.
So there you go. This is the album that gave us the poet of doom Bruce should be, but won't let himself be because he has to pack out an arena.
http://www.leftoffthedial.com/nebraska.bmp
Now, I feel a little nervous admitting I'm not a Springsteen fan on a board populated by so many from Jersey. But my problem isn't so much The Boss himself as it is the E Street Band. I think when he plays with them, his impulses to make everything completely overblown and bombastic get indulged. Plus, it's a forum for that douche Clarence Clemons to dance around like a jag until he plays another bad sax solo.
And that, to me, ruins the impact and maybe even meaning of a lot of the songs. I mean, "Born to Run" gets the full E Street treatment with blaring horns, loud guitar parts, thundering drums. And the lyrics of that song suggest a much darker, more complex song than the music gives you. It turns into a theme for some douche driving a Camaro to his job as an insurance salesman.
Which brings me to Nebraska. Springsteen recorded these songs at home, by himself, thinking of taking them to the E Street Band. But he listened to them and realized that these songs cannot be theme songs for aforementioned Camaro driving insurance guy. They're stark, brutal songs about people who are not born to run, who aren't loveable "tramps" out to have as good a time as they can. They're people whose time is already up. Or people who have gone into a dark place they cannot get out of -- and are taking people with them. When, at the end of the title track, Bruce sings "They want to know why I did what I did/Well, sir, I guess there's just a meanness in this world", it's as chilling and stark and terrifying a moment as has ever been put to music. And, I'm sorry, Little Stevie, you can't pose with your guitar and a douchey bandanna on your head during this song. Not for you.
So there you go. This is the album that gave us the poet of doom Bruce should be, but won't let himself be because he has to pack out an arena.