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Gems - Bruce Springsteen


The final instalment for 'The Boss' is this set of gems...

For You - A full tilt romp from ‘Greetings from Asbury Park’ which belies the earnest sentiment of the lyric. The pared down version heard on the 1975 Hammersmith Apollo live album allows the words to resonate giving the listener a different perspective.

New York City Serenade - At almost ten minutes long the closing track from ‘The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle’ gives a subtle hint at the widescreen sounds that were to follow. The lush arrangements compliment the soul and gospel flourishes heard here that give the song a tenderness not always associated with Springsteen’s writing.

Because the Night - Originally recorded as part of the sessions that would become ‘Darkness on the Edge of Town’ this was given to Patti Smith who refined the lyric and had a hit with the song. It regularly features in live sets and appears alongside a few other great outtakes from the time on 2010’s ‘The Promise’.

The Promise - Title track from the same outtakes collection also features on 1998’s ‘Tracks. This piano led song movingly describes the despair and emptiness of unrealised ambition.

Out in the Street - Springsteen can write great pop and here is a live favourite from ‘The River’.

Valentine’s Day - A weary waltz provides the backdrop for the troubled Springsteen who, fearful of losing his ‘girl’, repeatedly proclaims his love and desire for his absent partner. A highlight from ‘Tunnel of Love’.

57 Channels (And Nothin’ On) - Now into middle age Springsteen uses a propulsive bass line to good effect and is possibly self deprecating as he bemoans some of the ‘first world problems’ facing a rich man in America.

Maria’s Bed - A sweet and soulful country blues taken from ‘Devils and Dust’.

Livin’ in the Future - This song pips 'The Rising's', 'Waitin' on a Sunny Day' as Clarence’s sax stars in this full-on E-Street throwback to ‘Hungry Heart’. Despite the upbeat nature of the track it carries the foreboding tone of its parent album 'Magic'. Seen in the resilience of the lyric “Woke up election day, skies gunpowder and shades of grey, Beneath a dirty sun I whistle my time away”.

Wrecking Ball - The title track and centrepiece for his 2012 album ‘Wrecking Ball’. This rousing rockabilly anthem is a tribute to the New Jersey Giants stadium that was demolished in 2010. Themes from the album carry through as humanity is sacrificed to enable private gain “And all our little victories and glories, have turned into parking lots”.



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