Bruce Springsteen - Classic or Dud ?

I don't know why he says, at the end of the song: 'I seen the glory of the coming of the lord'.

Steve Cropper was asked why he plays Peaveys and not vintage Teles; he said, “It’s kind of like once I drove a Ferrari, I never went back to a Chevrolet.”

I like this!

xpost Well, Darlington County is most likely South Carolina, so it's possibly just a goofy Civil War reference. Like, we went down south, saw the glory of the coming of the Lord, then left and went back home.

Also saw this ... ambitious take:

Perhaps in “Darlington County” that glory is actually the flashing lights of the state trooper’s Ford. The allusion to The Battle Hymn conveys a sense of the lawman’s moral authority and the complete domination of Wayne’s attempt to “secede” from a life he didn’t want.

Could also, I suppose, just be a sex joke.

I don't know why he says that but I think it works great. It's a bit of a Dylan trick, maybe - dropping a borrowed line of some classic song into a new setting that makes you sit up and pay attention. You know what comes after "mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the lord," and it's not a dude handcuffed to a police car. So there's the comic subverting-of-expectations thing, and the shift from the sublime to the ridiculous - because that line is grand and glorious, and I can't help finding it stirring even in this context - and something about that shift just sums up the whole song for me, the way the narrator sets out to tell this great story about his epic road trip with Wayne and then it's just two dudes going somewhere for work and one of them getting arrested.

You know what comes after "mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the lord,"

I don't. Is this better known in the USA?

I agree that it's a grandiose phrase followed by bathos, but I think for me the first phrase is too vague and untethered to anything else to work so well.

I think my sense has always been that the two lines are referring to the same thing, not separate. So the idea that the 'glory' is the flashing lights *does* make some kind of sense; or just the unkind idea that it's 'glorious' to see his friend arrested.

I'm 100% sure that 'my eyes seen the glory of the coming of the lord' is a satisfied reflection on recently acquired carnal knowledge.

He got some, is what he's saying.

xpost It's "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," one of those broadly patriot songs that most Americans probably know. Interesting backstory here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_Hymn_of_the_Republic

He got some IN A CAAAAAARRR, is what he's saying.

Fixed

I don't know why I thought the Battle Hymn of the Republic was widely known outside the US. All of these explanations make sense imo.

The line is "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the lord/ he is trampling down the vineyards where the grapes of wrath are stored," and of course it's a battle hymn, so it's all about the righteous wrath of God. So I think this

I think my sense has always been that the two lines are referring to the same thing, not separate. So the idea that the 'glory' is the flashing lights *does* make some kind of sense; or just the unkind idea that it's 'glorious' to see his friend arrested.

makes a lot of sense to me, but he wouldn't necessarily have to think it's glorious that Wayne is being arrested - he might just see it as divine justice/ Karma/ what have you catching up with Wayne.

These lines have been somewhat elucidated!

Springsteen dropping more hints about a BITUSA set on his radio show:

"None but the Brave," I believe, was recorded for Born in the USA, for which many, many, many, many other songs were recorded, many of which could have come out, but did not, due to insanity.

Hard to say what a BitUSA box might contain, since so much has been released already. For sure the "Darkness" and "River" sets featured a few surprises.

I don't know if this is up to date, but I found:

Currently, thirty-two different songs have been officially released from the Born In The U.S.A. sessions, including those originally recorded for but not included on Nebraska. There are thirteen other songs that are circulating unofficially as complete takes in very good sound quality. Eight songs from Nebraska ("Atlantic City", "Johnny 99", "Used Cars", "Nebraska", "Open All Night", "Mansion On The Hill", "Highway Patrolman" and "Reason To Believe") are known to have been recorded with the band, plus another thirty-three songs that may have been worked to completion. Altogether these total eighty-six songs, fairly consistent with Weinberg, Plotkin and Springsteen's recollections.

Might work best combined with an expanded "Nebraska," if they ever did that. Otherwise I expect some redundancies with some other releases.

I just read the rather syrupy Dave Marsh book (Glory Days) and knew the story in some detail. The full-band versions of Nebraska material are, to me, interesting - an archival curiosity. But, perhaps in an old-fashioned way, I choose to respect the official releases as canonical.

Like, I have read early drafts of Mrs. Dalloway and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Lolita, but only as keys to understanding the canonical work.

It'll be no different from getting the full band Racing in the Street in the Darkness box.

I don't know, I think it could be more significant than that. Have you heard the "Nebraska" version of "Pink Cadillac" compared to the slick electric version?

I would love to have actual official releases of "Child Bride" and "Drop on Down," if nothing else.

xp Will do!

Full band Nebraska would be a more significant release for sure, but it's not gonna affect the "canon" or anything.

What I really want from a BITUSA box set is an album's worth of the drony depressive stuff he was recording around 1983/84 that doesn't sound like anything else he did. Stuff like "Unsatisfied Heart." I could listen to that miserable, unintelligible monotone all day.

Lily Dale is showing deep knowledge here. I thought I loved the Boss but I have never even heard of the 3 songs she cites.

the full band Racing in the Street

Is this different from the one at the start of THE PROMISE? (Which I think starts magnificently, but loses by not having the more varied chord structure of the LP version - which *is*, of course, a full band version.)

Have you heard "The Klansman"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDLL1OsYjRM

xp Yeah, The Promise one I meant. Yeah, really I should've said faster arrangement or whatnot.

Josh in Chicago: I have not. Baffled by how many extras songs the Boss wrote.

On LETTER TO YOU, I don't understand 'Janey needs a shooter', 'if I was the priest', and 'song for orphans'.

Does anyone else?

I know that Janey needs a shooter, like, now!

That's a good reading, Maffew12. Hard to disagree.

There's a light on yonder mountain and it's calling me to shine
There's a girl over by the water fountain and she's asking to be mine
And Jesus is standing in the doorway in a buckskin jacket, boots and spurs so fine
He says, "We need you son tonight up in Dodge City
'Cause there's just too many outlaws trying to work the same line"

Now if Jesus was a sheriff and I were the priest
If my lady was an heiress and my Mama was a thief
If Papa rode shotgun on the Fargo line
There's still too many bad boys trying to work the same line

Well sweet Virgin Mary runs the Holy Grail saloon
Well for a nickel she'll give you whiskey and a personally blessed balloon
And the Holy Ghost is the host with the most, he runs the burlesque show
Where they'll let you in for free and they hit you when you go
Mary serving Mass on Sunday and she sells her body on Monday
To the bootlegger who paid the highest price
He don't know he got stuck with a loser, she's stone junkie what's more she's a user
She's only been made once or twice by some kind of magic

If Jesus was a sheriff and I were the priest
If my lady was an heiress and my Mama was a thief
And Papa rode shotgun on the Fargo line
There's still too many outlaws trying to work the same line

Well things ain't been the same in heaven since big bad Bobby came to town
He's been known to down eleven, then ask for another round
Me I've got scabs on my knees from kneeling way too long
It's about time I played the man, took a stand where I belong
And I forget about the old friends and the old times
There's just too many new boys trying to work the same line

Well if Jesus was a sheriff and I were the priest
If my lady was an heiress and my Mama was a thief
And Papa rode shotgun on the Fargo line
There's just too many outlaws trying to work the same line

Well there's a light on yonder mountain and it's calling me to shine
There's a girl over by the water fountain 'cause she's asking to be mine
Jesus is standing in the doorway, six gun drawn and ready to fan
Said, "We need you tonight son up in Dodge City"
Told him I was already overdue for Cheyenne

If Jesus was the sheriff and I were the priest
If my lady was an heiress and my Mama was a thief
And Papa rode shotgun on the Fargo line
There's still too many bad boys trying to work the same line

A Western fan, I like the Western theme. But still don't know what the song's saying. Maybe it's not saying anything.

must be some good shit in that balloon

Interesting article here about Janey... and Zevon's interpretation of the shooter as the bang-bang type:
https://estreetshuffle.com/index.php/2020/07/27/roll-of-the-dice-janey-needs-a-shooter/

I had no idea Priest was one of this first tunes
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/day6/covid-19-in-long-term-care-rudy-giuliani-channels-veep-the-rise-of-parler-springsteen-s-manager-and-more-1.5800016/after-48-years-bruce-springsteen-has-finally-released-the-song-that-launched-his-career-1.5800018

Song for Orphans is the other song on the record written in the 70s. It's funny that you seized on these three. He was wordier back then.

Springsteen on NPR a few months back:

INSKEEP: In the old songs, you hear a cascade of images that may or may not be related. The wordplay caused early critics to hear the influence of one of your heroes, Bob Dylan.

SPRINGSTEEN: I wrote for several years in that style.

INSKEEP: Were these songs narratives and they're just so complicated I don't get the narrative? Or was it just imagery?

SPRINGSTEEN: I don't get the narrative, either, so you're not alone.

(LAUGHTER)

SPRINGSTEEN: All I know...

INSKEEP: Well, that interests me, though, because within a few years, you were telling stories with specific characters that you could relate to and events you could follow. What made you change?

SPRINGSTEEN: I changed the style because of all the Dylan comparisons. Sometimes I regret not holding onto that style a little bit longer just because it was so much fun.

That interview is reassuring in that it suggests that I'm not missing anything coherent.

In 'song for orphans' he mentions a 'Confederacy' which I find interesting but puzzling.

I just read that blog post on 'Janey needs a shooter'. At last, I've learned something!

Read that a while back, but need a refresher

Janey's been seeing a lot of guys but she needs someone who really knows her well, who's a straight shooter who tells it like it is, whose peen isn't quite as large as the policeman's.

Oh you don't think he means a shooter with a gun? OK.

I don't think I have ever heard 'shooter' to mean 'straight talker', but this does make sense with the rest of the song.

"straight shooter" is someone that tells it like it is
then there's shooter as in gun
then there's shooter as in needle
then there's shooter as in a shot of liquor

shooter's a pretty versatile word!

But I thought the actual meaning of the song was a 5th thing: a man with a gun.

One thing for sure is that there are altogether too many bad boys trying to work the same Janey.

Janey needs a break.

Who has it worst in Springsteen songs in general: Janey, Bobby or Johnny?

Here’s a question: is Bobby Jean a boy or a girl? I always assumed a girl, but I guess that’s not definite (“we liked the same clothes”)?

(I always pictured two “New Waver” kids.)

Let's also bear in mind that Incident on 57th Street's character wasn't really named Jane. By that token, was Spanish Johnny really a Johnny? Was he even Spanish?

I think of Bobby Jean more as a boy, but really I think it's more like - both? Neither? A blank wall of gender on which you can project whatever Bobby Jean you happen to be carrying around locked in your own personal heart?

There's something kind of shapeshifty about Bruce's Characters of Indeterminate Gender, I think - less like they're actually trans or nonbinary, more like they're an Ursula Le Guin character who is sometimes male and sometimes female in the same narrative.

No Surrender is another one. I always heard it as written to a woman and telling a story that's a lot like The River, because of the way it seems to start out with them lying in bed together, him wanting to go out and party and her wanting to go to sleep. I heard it as they were young and had this wonderful friendship and now they're married and settled down and aging together, and he's having a midlife crisis and is angry at her for reminding him that his youth is behind him and is thinking about having an affair. But then everyone including Bruce says it's a song of friendship for Steve Van Zandt, and the "blood brothers" line does make more sense that way. I'm not totally sure it's the same character all the way through the song.

That line “I hear your sister's voice calling us home across the open yard” is so evocative to me; I’m not even sure why. The sibling of a friend evokes a deep connection somehow.

It’s like those David Berman lines:

I had this friend his name was Marc with a "c"
His sister was like the heat coming off the back of an old TV