Favorite Springsteen Song

Holy shit, F_B, Stand In The Fire is out on CD? Finally? Holy fuck, this is major news. One of the great, great, great live albums ever. I wore out a casette of it years ago. I'd given up hope of ever seeing it on CD.

 

Bought it the first day it arrived, Huggy.
"I"m asking her to dance with me/She might say yes..."

 

"And he's looking for James Taylor!!!"

 

"Rosalita," or "Kitty's back." Whenever I hear those songs, my day improves. Anytime, anywhere, any mood.

I love "Growin' Up," from "Asbury Park."

And because it specificially reminds me of spring, 1975, and one person, "New York City Serenade."

 

Badlands:

On acoustic "Born to Run" vs. the full-band version: I much prefer the full-band version, but I understand why he wanted to do it in a different arrangement for a while -- I think he was getting sick of it, and doing it in a different arrangement pumped some life back into it.

 

Classic.

 

Besides, BTR has that wonderful crashing-style descendo into silence, before we get the ole 1...2...3...4! Totally lost song acoustically.

 

Factory, off of 'Darkness.' A beautiful piano intro to what is just a stark, stark song.

End of the day, factory whistle cries,
Men walk through these gates with death in their eyes.
And you just better believe, boy,
somebody's gonna get hurt tonight,
It's the working, the working, just the working life.

 

My sister, who is eight years older than me (I'm 36) had a copy of Born To Run on vinyl and I remember being about 9 or 10 and putting that record on and playing and it realizing even then that there was something special about it. Jungleland always reached out and grabbed me, and so did Meeting Across The River. Live version of Rosilita is good. And I always liked hearing the rendition of Santa Claus Is Coming To Town around the holidays. It always sounded like something they had fun with.

I recorded a documentary off VH1 a while back that I think was a 30th anniversary special on the making of Born To Run. Must watch for any Springsteen fan. That whole album was just brilliant. He was 26. Where were you when you were 26?

 

My introduction to Bruce Springsteen as a lad on the tundra came with Born in the U.S.A. I still listen to "Glory Days" and smile because even then I knew some day I'd be a fat guy holding a sweating beer and reliving the times I was an OK ballplayer. And "My Hometown" nailed where I lived. I still think of that song when I go home and it haunts me a little. Gave me the perspective that it wasn't just my little shitsplat town that was seeing troubles and could swallow you up if you let it. Helped me understand the grass isn't always greener somewhere else.

 

1. "Hungry Heart"
2. "Bobby Jean"
3. "Born To Run"

 

I prefer the band version as well... but there are times when I like hearing that acoustic version.