Bruuuuuuuuce!

Jim Burroway
December 9th, 2009

A statement from the Boss:

Bruce Springsteen performing in Buffalo, NY Nov. 22.

A BRIEF STATEMENT FROM BRUCE
Like many of you who live in New Jersey, I’ve been following the progress of the marriage-equality legislation currently being considered in Trenton. I’ve long believed in and have always spoken out for the rights of same sex couples and fully agree with Governor Corzine when he writes that, “The marriage-equality issue should be recognized for what it truly is — a civil rights issue that must be approved to assure that every citizen is treated equally under the law.” I couldn’t agree more with that statement and urge those who support equal treatment for our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters to let their voices be heard now.

YES. Oh, dear God, yes all over.

I want to dance, at some point in the future, with someone to Frankie by Bruce Springsteen (a live version can be found as the 7ᵗʰ song on the music player at the bottom of the page; not as smooth as the first version, but it'll do).

Don't need anyone else around, or can just be in one of each others rooms, for all I care. I want to just goof off with them, slowly sway with them, pull them close just to whisper into their ear

Walk softly tonight, little stranger…
Into the shadows where lovers go
Talk softly to me…little angel
Whisper your secrets…so soft and low
Walk softly tonight, little stranger
Into the shadows where the lovers go
Talk softly to me, little angel
Whisper your secrets so soft and low…
Talk softly tonight, little angel…
Here in the shadows where…lovers go
Talk softly to me, little stranger
Whisper your secrets, baby, soft and low
Talk softly to me…
Talk softly to me…
Talk softly to me…
Talk softly to me…

until the voice goes hoarse or the words just fade away. I just want that moment.

Dark weekends in the sun, out on Chelsea Row
Descending the stairs, ah, Frankie my love[…]
We'll dance round this dirty town
'Til the night is all done

Let all the finer things sleep alone tonight
Let all the minor kings – lose – their – thrones – tonight

Don't worry about me baby, I'll be alright…
-Bruce Springsteen

You do the dryin'
I'll do the dishes
Who'll do the cryin'
When all them wishes don't come true…?

You do the washin'
I'll do the foldin'
Whose heart is breaking
When whose arms are holding someone new,
     sittin' on a peaceful lakeside?
Didn't hear the roar of the waterfall come in

When it's all a sorry mixed story
When it's all so easy and nice –

Here comes trouble in paradise

You did the dustin'
I did the sweepin'
You did the drivin'
Oh, and I did the sleepin' a little too long
     on a picnic made for skies so blue
We didn't see the rain and heartache coming through

When it's all an old black and white movie
And you're sure you've seen the endin' twice –

Here comes trouble in paradise

You said everything was fine
I'm sorry, baby, I didn't see the signs!
Oh, so beautifully you read your lines…
In a play where the hero has no vice
And Love comes without a price…

So does trouble in paradise

Don't matter who did the dustin'
Who did the sweepin'…
Who did the trustin'
Or who did the cheatin' when it's all gone
     layin' in a field on a summer's day
Waitin' for those gray skies to clear away

Nor when all love's glory and beauty
Can vanish before you think twice

Even trouble in paradise

Now we share the laughin'
We share the jokin'…
Oh, we do the sleepin'
Mmhmm, with one eye open…
-Bruce Springsteen

The screen door slams…
Mary's dress sways…

Like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays
Roy Orbison singing for the lonely
Hey, that's me – and I want you only
Don't turn me home again –
I just can't face myself alone again…
Don't run back inside, darlin',
You know just what I'm here for
So you're scared
And you're that maybe we ain't that young – anymore
Show a little faith! – there's magic in the night…
You ain't a beauty, but, hey, you're alright
Oh, and that's alright with me…

You can hide 'neath your covers and study your pain
Make crosses from your lovers, throw roses in the rain
Waist your summer prayin' in vain
For a savior to rise from these streets
Well, now, I'm no hero – that's understood
All the redemption I can offer, girl, is beneath this dirty hood
With a chance to make it good, somehow
Hey – what else – can we – do now?
Except – roll down the window and let the wind blow back your hair…
Well, the night's bustin' open
These two lanes will take us aaa-nnnny-where
We got one last chance to make it real
To trade in these wings-on-some-wheels
Climb in back
Heaven's waiting down on the track…

Oh, oh, come take my hand
We're riding out tonight – to case the Promised Land
Oh oh, oh
Oh, Thunder Road!
Oh, Thunder Road!
Oh, Thunder Road!
Lying out there, like a killer in the sun!
Hell, I know it's late – we can make it if we run!
Ooh…
Oh oh, oh, oh Thunder Road
Hang tight! Take hold!
Thunder Road!

Well, I got this guitar and I learned how to make it talk…
Yeah, my car is out back, if you're ready to take
That lo-ooo-ong walk
From your front porch to my front seat
The door's open – but the ride, it ain't free
Now, I know you're lonely for words that I ain't spoken
But tonight, we'll be free – all the promises will be broken
There were ghosts in the eyes of all the boys you sent away
They hunt this dusty beach road in the skeleton frames
Of burnt out Chevrolets
They scream your name at night in the street
Your graduation gown lies in rags at their feet
And in the lonely cool before dawn –
You hear their engines roaring on
But when you get to the porch, they're gone on the wind…
So, Mary, climb in:

It's a town full of losers
We're pulling out of here to wiiiiiin

I think I most definitely will need to do a Born to Run album review soon.

One soft infested summer, me and Terry became friends
Trying in vain to breathe the fire we was born in
Catchin' rides to the outskirts, tying faith between our teeth
Sleeping in that old abandoned beach house, getting wasted in the heat...

And hiding on the backstreets
Hiding on the backstreets
With a love so hard and filled with defeat
Running for our lives at night on them backstreets

Slow dancing in the dark on the beach at Stockton's Wing
Where desperate lovers park, we sat with the last of the Duke Street Kings
Huddled in our cars, waiting for the bells that ring
In the deep heart of the night, they set us loose of everything

To go running on the backstreets
Running on the backstreets
Terry, you swore we'd live forever
Taking it on them backstreets together

Endless juke joints and Valentino drag
Where famous dancers scraped the tears up off the street, dressed down in rags
Running into the darkness, some hurt bad, some really dying
At night sometimes it seemed you could hear the whole damn city crying...
Blame it on the lies that killed us - blame it on the truth that ran us down
You can blame it all on me, Terry, it don't matter to me now
When the breakdown hit at midnight, there was nothing to say:
But I hated him - ...and I hated you when you went away...

Laying here in the dark, you're like an angel on my chest...
Just another tramp of hearts crying tears of faithlessness...
Remember all the movies, Terry, we'd go see?
Trying to learn to walk like the heroes - we thought we had to be!
And after all this time, we find we're just like all the rest -
Stranded in the park - and forced - to - confess - to!

Hiding on the backstreets...
Hiding on the backstreets...
Where we swore forever friends
On the backstreets until the end...

Hiding on the backstreets...
Hiding on the backstreets...
Hiding on the backstreets...
Hiding on the backstreets...

XXX

I really want to do a post of just a long, long list of Bruce lyrics...I probably will at some point, if I know me...

Damned Hell, I had wanted to find sheet music for For You during the summer, not far after it had finished. Of course, this reminder led me to listening to some tracks and...geez, you forget how unnerving he can be. If you like raw rock, this is just downright gorgeous.

Beneath...the city...
     two hearts beat
Soul engines running through a night so tender...
In a bedroom, locked
In whispers of soft
     confusion...and then
     ...surrender
In the tunnels uptown...the Rat's own dream guns him down
Shots echo down them hallways in the night...
No one watches as an ambulance pulls away

Or as the girl shuts out the bedroom light...

Outside, the streets are on fire -
     in a real death-waltz -
Between what's flesh and what's fantasy
And the poets down here don't write nothing at all -
     they just stand back and let it all be

And in the quick of a knife - they reach for their moment
     and try to take an honest stand
But they wind up wounded...not even dead...

Tonight...
     in...
          Jun-
               gle
                    Land!

Well, there's a dark cloud rising from the desert storm
I've packed my bags and I'm heading straight into the storm
Gonna be a twister to blow everything down
And I ain't got - the faith - to stand it's ground

Blow away!
     the dreams that tear you apart
Blow away!
     the dreams that break your heart
Blow away!
     the lies that leave you nothing but lost and broken-hearted...

So, oh, ohh - come take my hand
We're riding out tonight to case the Promise Land
Oh, oh - ohh, Thunder Road
     oh, Thunder Road, Thunder Road...
Lying out there, like a killer in the sun!
Baby, I know it's late - but we can make it, if we run
Oh, oh, oh - oh, Thunder Road
     Sit tight - take hold!
Thunder Road!

Well now, some folks are born into a good life
And other folks get it anyway, anyhow
Well now, I lost my money and I lost my wife
But them things don't seem to matter much to me now

Tonight I'll be on that hill!
     'cause I can't stop...
I'll be on that hill
     with everything that I've got
Lives on the line!
     Where dreams are found and lost!
I'll be there on time!
     And I'll pay the cost
For wanting things - that can - on-ly - be - found...

In the Darkness on the edge of town

Outside, inside - wherever you may be: Rosie! Come out tonight!

http://houston.culturemap.com/newsdetail/08-01-10-is-there-a-haunting-suicide-in-bruce-springsteen-past-songs-20-11/
http://houston.culturemap.com/newsdetail/08-08-10-the-top-best-bruce-springsteen-songs-of-all-time-and-a-beckoning-HBO-Boss-documentary/
(all 200 hundred of the songs have the author criticize the bad and bring up the good, so I gave you the page for where the last 20 greats by him starts; it's not a long read (and I kinda freaked a little when he gave Wild Billy's Circus Story a low rating), but totally worth it)

I think I'm going to listen to Bruce music until I pass out asleep. Fucking night....

Lights out tonight - trouble in the heartland
Got a head-on collision - smashing in my guts, man
I'm caught in a crossfire...that I don't understand...

But there's one thing I know for sure - girl,
I don't give a damn - for the same old played out scenes
Baby, I don't give a damn - for just the inbetweens

Honey, I want the heart, I want the soul,
I want control right now -
You better listen to me baby

Talk about a dream - try to make it real
You wake up in the night - with a fear, so real
You spend your life waiting for a moment - that just don't come

Well, don't waste your time waiting!

Badlands!
You gotta live them everyday
Let the broken heart stand as the price you gotta pay...
Keep - pushin' 'til it's understood
And these Badlands start treating us good...

Working in the field - 'til you get your back burned...
Workin' 'neath the wheels...'til you get your facts learned...
Baby, I got my facts - learned real good right now...

You better get it straight, darlin'!
Poor man wanna be rich - rich man wanna be king
And the king ain't satisfied 'til he rules everything
I wanna go out tonight - I wanna find out what I've got

Well, I believe in the love - that you gave me
I believe in the faith - that can save me
I believe in the hope and I pray - that someday
It - may - raise me - above these -

Badlands!
You gotta live them everyday
Let the broken heart stand as the price you gotta pay...
Keep - pushin' 'til it's understood
And these Badlands start treating us good...
Woah, woah, woah!

Hmmm...hmmm, hmm...
Hmmmmmhmmmhmmhm...
Hmmmmmhmmmhmm...
Hmmmhmhmmhmhmhmm...
This is for the ones who have a notion...a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
I wanna find one face - that ain't looking through me
I wanna find one place - I wanna - spit - in the face of these -

Badlands!
You gotta live them everyday
Let the broken heart stand as the price you gotta pay...
Keep - pushin' 'til it's understood
And these Badlands start treating us good...
-Bruce Springsteen

I remember, some years back, I "apparently" left the browser open with my xanga in it and my dad just "happened" to find and read it. Clearly I still don't entirely trust the sincerity of his claim. Nonetheless, he read parts of it. As he was telling me about this, he mentioned that a lot of it was lyrics, "lots and lots of lyrics".

Well, yes, this is true. In fact, some posts are nothing but lyrics (or a song, in the case of the last entry). But so what? Those lyrics are just as important. Even if it only gives you a vague sense of what was going on for me at the time, they certainly say a deal about, the person, me.

I've been re-listening to (read as: rediscovering the beauty of) Darkness On the Edge of Town. Really, the second to forth albums I'm rediscovering. I've gotten used to just picking out favorite songs knowing that classic albums were there that I'd not listened to the albums themselves anymore.

It's absolutely fantastic. I forgot how much of a more conventional rock album it really is (I so would love to see a heavy metal version of Adam Raised a Cain someday). At the same time, while one of the highlights of Born to Run was being able to hear the guitar, piano, and Sax beautifully featured, Darkness gives us the pleasure of the harmonica as well.

It's not the epic that Born to Run was, that's definitely true. You won't get utter genius gems like Jungleland. But you do get treated to an album that doesn't deserve a skip through all its 10 tracks (granted, even more so than Born to Run). And one that definitely makes you relate and you feel like can be pertinent to your life.

Besides, the album has Promised Land - a rousing track that (I admit) I like more than even Badlands. Badlands beats at lyrics just a bit more but the instrumentation and delivery on Promised Land totally just win it over.

I remember I read somewhere that The River was meant to capture both the good in life and the bad. I would argue that Darkness does this far better. My biggest issue with River is that there are a good deal of filler tracks. You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch) sounds fantastic as a rock 'n' roll song (the live version is downright fantastic), but the lyrics (and overall message) could use more specificity and clarity. Other songs lack the sound to reel you in as well as similar lyrics.

Meanwhile, Darkness has uplifting songs and downright depressing. But it also has those which strike some kind of medium. I wouldn't be one to label Candy's Room as necessarily utterly uplifting. Yet the overall message is an escape. It's utterly fantastic, really.

Plus, even the possibly weak (lyrically) track, Streets of Fire, uses the lack of clarity and specificity in its lyrics to its total advantage - the people it's talking about "don't really exist".

Forgive me, but these albums are far more substantial and hard hitting than most of anything he's been releasing these days (harsh, but c'mon - he's set a precedence by now, I'm allowed to hold him to it).

On another note, I really want to learn For You for the piano this summer. I'll have to do it by ear, since I can't seem to find any sheet music (I've had enough piano lessons to technically know how to figure it out by guitar tabs, but I'm just terrible at retaining some information). Ought to be fun.

Nothing really new to say today. Was just in the mood for this song (or maybe Thundercrack...or Rosalita). From Shortbus, which is a fantastic movie. It might actually become the fifth of my favorite movies, though I have to see it once more to be certain. Unfortunately, one of my friends who met the director with me said he was a bit of a creeper (see, Kari, you're not alone). But the movie's still fantastic.

Looking over my footprints, I have some of the oddest reasons people come here, though there are a large amount who do (though that might just seem like that to me because I near to never check my footprints). It seems the largest reasons thus far is people looking for lyrics for "Hellfire"from The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Disney, "Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica, and various songs by Bruce Springsteen (most recently "No Surrender"). Amuses me, because I don't think anyone beforehand ever came by here. Suppose 4, going on 5, years of journal can do that. Not that I mind. It's always been open to anyone. Not entirely sure you'll be interested, unless you actually know me, but it's free to browse around.

Know what annoys me? People who overlook something they deem "offensive" in a piece of work. If you have to over look anything - either the work is flawed or you're missing a crucial part of the work. Expand your minds a little.

In his novel Timequake, the late Kurt Vonnegut tells of the late jazz musician Fats Waller who, when he was in the throes of a brilliant performance, was prone to yell: “Somebody shoot me while I'm happy!”