Springsteen to tour ... archived
Frank said:
My favorite line in this very bad song: "The road of good intentions has gone dry as bone." That's two cliches and a mixed metaphor in just ten words. Plus it doesn't even make sense. Aside from the lame lyrics, it's also tuneless, shapeless, and features bizarre '80s handclaps that sound kinda like "Private Eyes." Which is an infinitely better song.
"The road of good intentions has gone dry as bone."
I almost posted the same thing here and on FB ... When I listen to Girls In Their Summer Clothes the line that grates on me is:kids rubber ball smacks
Off the gutter 'neath the lamp light ... You don't bounce the ball off the GUTTER! You bounce it off the CURB!! Any kid knows this ... Lazy songwriting ...
Whoa, CURB BALL! Hadn't thought of that in eons. Sweet call!!
http://www.nj.com/entertainment/music/index.ssf/2012/01/song_of_the_week_we_take_care.html
Song of the Week: 'We Take Care of Our Own,' Bruce Springsteen
Published: Thursday, January 19, 2012, 10:00 AM Updated: Thursday, January 19, 2012, 10:13 AM
By Tris McCall/The Star-Ledger
William Perlman/The Star-Ledger
Taking care of his own: The Boss and friends at Light of Day 2012.
On "Long Walk Home," a very sad song from the "Magic" album, Bruce Springsteen's narrator stops to contemplate the meaning of the American flag. "It means certain things set in stone," sang the Boss, "Who we are, what we'll do, and what we won't." In the narrative, these words are spoken by the main character's father in a flashback -- Bruce Springsteen is a master at moving around in time in a four-minute pop song -- to a time when "nobody goes it alone." The tragedy of "Long Walk Home" is that this time is over: The Veterans Hall is shut and businesses are boarded up, the ties that bind have been severed, and the town is cold and unrecognizable to the main character.
"We Take Care of Our Own," the first single from the upcoming "Wrecking Ball" set, returns to the flag. And once again, he's trying to find home in a land that has been hardened and defamiliarized. Over accompaniment typical of Bruce Springsteen at his most expansive -- piano octaves, strings, dramatic guitar downstrokes and big, fist-pumping kick drum, handclaps, backing vocal shouts -- the Boss makes the message of "Long Walk Home" explicit, and pares it down to an essential couplet. "Wherever this flag's flown," he sings, "we take care of our own." The most fundamental American virtue, suggests this reflexively patriotic songwriter, is compassion. When we let that go -- when our "good hearts turn to stone" -- we're betraying our nation.
This is an awfully optimistic interpretation of what it means to be an American, and it isn't exactly one that is ratified by historical facts. But Springsteen has always held to it -- it's the loosening of those ties that bind and the dissolution of community that prompt all those tragedies on "Nebraska" and "Born in the U.S.A." -- and his faith in the better angels of our nature is one of his most admirable traits. Hurricane Katrina is still haunting him: after referencing New Orleans, he rhymes "the Superdome" with "we needed help, but the cavalry stayed home." Given an opportunity to take care of our own in a time of desperate need, we proved inadequate to the task.
For those who are tired of the moralizing strain in Springsteen's writing, "We Take Care of Our Own" is a bad sign. It's an indication that he'll be back on the barricades this time around, reminding us forcefully of our responsibilities to each other. But Bruce Springsteen is now 62 years old. He's lived through plenty, and we've always counted on him to spin resonant poetry from those experiences. If he says we've grown colder and more disconnected from each other -- if the "hearts that run over with mercy" are harder to find -- perhaps we ought to engage in some self-examination.
Midway through the song, Springsteen returns to another of his favorite words. "Where's the promise," he asks in that gruff, husky, world-weary voice he's been using for his sociopolitical songs ever since "Devils and Dust," "from sea to shining sea?" The Boss has been explicit about promises and the cost of breaking them. As he's told us in many of his songs, he believes an American is born into the promise that our communities will be there for us in hard times. But that promise is only as good as our willingness to live up to its terms. Right now, in the hardest times many of us have ever known, we aren't measuring up.
Bruce Springsteen is a cagy guy. Everything he does is on purpose, and his choice to make this song a singalong was strategic. At some point later this year, he's going to come charging out on some grand stage in New Jersey, and he's going to get you to sing "we take care of our own," over and over. He wants to get it stuck in your head. More importantly, he wants to get it stuck in your heart.
Song of the Week: 'We Take Care of Our Own,' Bruce Springsteen
Published: Thursday, January 19, 2012, 10:00 AM Updated: Thursday, January 19, 2012, 10:13 AM
By Tris McCall/The Star-Ledger
William Perlman/The Star-Ledger
Taking care of his own: The Boss and friends at Light of Day 2012.
On "Long Walk Home," a very sad song from the "Magic" album, Bruce Springsteen's narrator stops to contemplate the meaning of the American flag. "It means certain things set in stone," sang the Boss, "Who we are, what we'll do, and what we won't." In the narrative, these words are spoken by the main character's father in a flashback -- Bruce Springsteen is a master at moving around in time in a four-minute pop song -- to a time when "nobody goes it alone." The tragedy of "Long Walk Home" is that this time is over: The Veterans Hall is shut and businesses are boarded up, the ties that bind have been severed, and the town is cold and unrecognizable to the main character.
"We Take Care of Our Own," the first single from the upcoming "Wrecking Ball" set, returns to the flag. And once again, he's trying to find home in a land that has been hardened and defamiliarized. Over accompaniment typical of Bruce Springsteen at his most expansive -- piano octaves, strings, dramatic guitar downstrokes and big, fist-pumping kick drum, handclaps, backing vocal shouts -- the Boss makes the message of "Long Walk Home" explicit, and pares it down to an essential couplet. "Wherever this flag's flown," he sings, "we take care of our own." The most fundamental American virtue, suggests this reflexively patriotic songwriter, is compassion. When we let that go -- when our "good hearts turn to stone" -- we're betraying our nation.
This is an awfully optimistic interpretation of what it means to be an American, and it isn't exactly one that is ratified by historical facts. But Springsteen has always held to it -- it's the loosening of those ties that bind and the dissolution of community that prompt all those tragedies on "Nebraska" and "Born in the U.S.A." -- and his faith in the better angels of our nature is one of his most admirable traits. Hurricane Katrina is still haunting him: after referencing New Orleans, he rhymes "the Superdome" with "we needed help, but the cavalry stayed home." Given an opportunity to take care of our own in a time of desperate need, we proved inadequate to the task.
For those who are tired of the moralizing strain in Springsteen's writing, "We Take Care of Our Own" is a bad sign. It's an indication that he'll be back on the barricades this time around, reminding us forcefully of our responsibilities to each other. But Bruce Springsteen is now 62 years old. He's lived through plenty, and we've always counted on him to spin resonant poetry from those experiences. If he says we've grown colder and more disconnected from each other -- if the "hearts that run over with mercy" are harder to find -- perhaps we ought to engage in some self-examination.
Midway through the song, Springsteen returns to another of his favorite words. "Where's the promise," he asks in that gruff, husky, world-weary voice he's been using for his sociopolitical songs ever since "Devils and Dust," "from sea to shining sea?" The Boss has been explicit about promises and the cost of breaking them. As he's told us in many of his songs, he believes an American is born into the promise that our communities will be there for us in hard times. But that promise is only as good as our willingness to live up to its terms. Right now, in the hardest times many of us have ever known, we aren't measuring up.
Bruce Springsteen is a cagy guy. Everything he does is on purpose, and his choice to make this song a singalong was strategic. At some point later this year, he's going to come charging out on some grand stage in New Jersey, and he's going to get you to sing "we take care of our own," over and over. He wants to get it stuck in your head. More importantly, he wants to get it stuck in your heart.
Frank said:
My favorite line in this very bad song: "The road of good intentions has gone dry as bone." That's two cliches and a mixed metaphor in just ten words. Plus it doesn't even make sense. Aside from the lame lyrics, it's also tuneless, shapeless, and features bizarre '80s handclaps that sound kinda like "Private Eyes." Which is an infinitely better song.
Watching the official Sony video ... With lyrics ... I'm gonna rewrite this line for Bruce ... No charge ... How about "The river of mercy has gone dry as a bone ..." See, that works better.
johnlockedema said:
Max's drumming is very stiff on that song.
I think he used studio guys on this ...
From Backstreets.com
First of all, for anyone who's been listening to the new single and has been wondering exactly who they're listing to, props to Bruce Brunch and Boss Time Radio host Tom Cunningham for getting these credits out there:
Bruce Springsteen: vocals, guitars, banjo, piano, organ, drums, percussion & loops.
Ron Aniello: guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, loops.
Soozie Tyrell: violin & backing vocals
Patti Scialfa & Lisa Lowell: backing vocals
The New York String Section: strings
First of all, for anyone who's been listening to the new single and has been wondering exactly who they're listing to, props to Bruce Brunch and Boss Time Radio host Tom Cunningham for getting these credits out there:
Bruce Springsteen: vocals, guitars, banjo, piano, organ, drums, percussion & loops.
Ron Aniello: guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, loops.
Soozie Tyrell: violin & backing vocals
Patti Scialfa & Lisa Lowell: backing vocals
The New York String Section: strings
Seems like it's actually Bruce on drums, believe it or not (if you believe the credits). Actually sounds like a pretty nice groove to me. Simple and solid. Somebody somewhere compared it to Arcade Fire, which made me hear the song differently (still don't like it much, though).
Bruce=vocals, guitars, banjo, piano, organ, drums, percussion & loops. Ron Aniello: guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, loops. Soozie Tyrell: violin & backing vocals. Patti Scialfa & Lisa Lowell: backing vocals + the New York String Section.
Bruce=vocals, guitars, banjo, piano, organ, drums, percussion & loops. Ron Aniello: guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, loops. Soozie Tyrell: violin & backing vocals. Patti Scialfa & Lisa Lowell: backing vocals + the New York String Section.
I remember seeing Springsteen on the ... What was the tour where he played alone ... Cripes ... I remember turning to my brother and saying "Just because you can play all these instruments, doesn't mean you should ..."
Clemons' nephew to play sax on Springsteen tour
Associated Press – 1 hr 21 mins ago
NEW YORK (AP) — Bruce Springsteen has announced that two saxophonists, including Clarence Clemons' nephew, will join his upcoming world tour with the E Street Band.
The announcement was made Thursday on Springsteen's website. Springsteen says longtime collaborator Eddie Manion wil "share the saxophone role" with Jake Clemons.
Returning singers Cindy Mizelle (my-ZEHL') and Curtis King, trombonist Clark Gayton and trumpeter Curt Ramm also will be on the tour, along with newcomer Barry Danielian on trumpet.
"Wrecking Ball" is Springsteen's 17th album and the first since the death of E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons last summer.
The tour starts March 18 in Atlanta.
http://news.yahoo.com/clemons-nephew-play-sax-springsteen-tour-170650987.html
Associated Press – 1 hr 21 mins ago
NEW YORK (AP) — Bruce Springsteen has announced that two saxophonists, including Clarence Clemons' nephew, will join his upcoming world tour with the E Street Band.
The announcement was made Thursday on Springsteen's website. Springsteen says longtime collaborator Eddie Manion wil "share the saxophone role" with Jake Clemons.
Returning singers Cindy Mizelle (my-ZEHL') and Curtis King, trombonist Clark Gayton and trumpeter Curt Ramm also will be on the tour, along with newcomer Barry Danielian on trumpet.
"Wrecking Ball" is Springsteen's 17th album and the first since the death of E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons last summer.
The tour starts March 18 in Atlanta.
http://news.yahoo.com/clemons-nephew-play-sax-springsteen-tour-170650987.html
First off, cool.
Second - when I read this sentence -
Which just goes to show - I can remember all kinds of stuff from years ago, such as reading album covers when we played "records" (some of you kids might not remember them). I think I got that one about 35 years ago, although apparently my poor memory can dredge the details up.
Second - when I read this sentence -
- in my head I immediately translated that as "Eddie 'Clams' Manion", since that's how the guy was described on the "This Time It's For Real" album by Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes.Zoinks said:
Springsteen says longtime collaborator Eddie Manion wil "share the saxophone role" with Jake Clemons.
Which just goes to show - I can remember all kinds of stuff from years ago, such as reading album covers when we played "records" (some of you kids might not remember them). I think I got that one about 35 years ago, although apparently my poor memory can dredge the details up.
That tune's not as bad as I thought it would be. He's an old dude with something he wanted to say. He's not that interested in hooks and musicianship anymore and that's okay.
noo2wood said:
That tune's not as bad as I thought it would be. He's an old dude with something he wanted to say. He's not that interested in hooks and musicianship anymore and that's okay.
Why is that okay? If you just want to write an editorial, write an editorial. If he's no longer that interested in hooks and musicianship then I'm no longer that interested in his music.
Zoinks said:
Clemons' nephew to play sax on Springsteen tour
Associated Press – 1 hr 21 mins ago
NEW YORK (AP) — Bruce Springsteen has announced that two saxophonists, including Clarence Clemons' nephew, will join his upcoming world tour with the E Street Band.
The announcement was made Thursday on Springsteen's website. Springsteen says longtime collaborator Eddie Manion wil "share the saxophone role" with Jake Clemons.
Returning singers Cindy Mizelle (my-ZEHL') and Curtis King, trombonist Clark Gayton and trumpeter Curt Ramm also will be on the tour, along with newcomer Barry Danielian on trumpet.
"Wrecking Ball" is Springsteen's 17th album and the first since the death of E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons last summer.
The tour starts March 18 in Atlanta.
http://news.yahoo.com/clemons-nephew-play-sax-springsteen-tour-170650987.html
Good additions. If only he could get rid of Patti....
It's not the greatest song from his portfolio, but it was like seeing a visitor from a time long ago, when there were songs commenting on current events.Soul_29 said:
But, at least Sir Paul got into it!
Don't know where that picture was from, but that is pretty cool. :-Dmichaelgoldberg said:
They look like great pals.
I'm pretty sure that picture is from last night (not sure if it was before or after the show)
Apparently they scrapped a Clarence tribute at the Grammys to make room for the Whitney tribute... Understandable, but I would've liked to see what they were going to duo for The Big Man.
Maceo Parker posted something on FB that he was going to partake in the Clemons tribute until it got bumped.
As I figured, the song is a LOT better live than on the record. Now I don't think it will be as much a drag in concert than Working on a Dream was.
As I figured, the song is a LOT better live than on the record. Now I don't think it will be as much a drag in concert than Working on a Dream was.
jonsel said:
As I figured, the song is a LOT better live than on the record. Now I don't think it will be as much a drag in concert than Working on a Dream was.
Agreed.
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Frank