Springsteen

[Edgy MD]

Followed "Hungry Heart" up the charts in early 1981, peaking at #20, though I'm sure any local charts would have placed it higher in the tri-state area.

I loved it. Good, clear, strong soul vocal with both the tones and words better articulated than the typical BS song of the time. I like the swelling organ on the verses giving way to the plaintive piano on the bridge. It has a four-bar-or-so break coming out of the bridge that goes back to the organ, but I feel like a sax solo would have shined in there.

I also like the false ending where Bruce seems to have left the studio but then keeps singing from the next room. James Brown would approve of that sort of drama.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

237. "Seaside Bar Song" was left off Wild & Innocent because its party vibe didn't quite fit the narrative Bruce was going for on that album. But it sounds to me as though some bits ("The highway is alive tonight" section and the "chrome wheels" line) were resurrected for "Born to Run." This is a fun song you should play at your next party. Ranked #116

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

238. Bruce considers generational anguish on a camping trip in "Long Time Comin'." For my $$ this is the most accessible of the Devils & Dust tracks and coulda been a radio single if he didn't "fuck it up this time." Makes for a powerful finish though. Ranked #154

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

239.

I was trying to find my way home
But all I heard was a drone

Bruce foretells the future of New Jersey in "Radio Nowhere" the fist single from 2007's Magic. The single didn't go anywhere perhaps because it already did when it was called "867-5309-Jenny." I like this song even if the fuzzy guitar isn't really the Springsteen sound and the lyric is more literal than "57 Channels." Ranked #113

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

240. Another love-is-deathly-terrifying-so-who-needs-a-sax-player song from Tunnel of Love, "Valentine's Day." Ranked #86, or 46 slots below "Independence Day."

JUST 100 MORE BRUCE SONGS TO GO

[metirish]

239.

I was trying to find my way home
But all I heard was a drone

Bruce foretells the future of New Jersey in "Radio Nowhere" the fist single from 2007's Magic. The single didn't go anywhere perhaps because it already did when it was called "867-5309-Jenny." I like this song even if the fuzzy guitar isn't really the Springsteen sound and the lyric is more literal than "57 Channels." Ranked #113

Oh damn, yes, it sounds like Jenny

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

241. The theme song for the Sean Penn movie "Dead Man Walking" known as "Dead Man Walkin'" I recall critics going nuts for how great a movie this was but I don't remember a thing from it. I also don't have a lot of memories of goateed Bruce with 7-inch sideburns. Ranked #200

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

242. Its got all the elements of a Bruce classic, the band rocks and harmonizes, the guy's in his car about to do something and the words make sense literally as well as symbolically. The final verse is just about as powerful as "the highway's jammed with broken heroes" bit --the music swells, a twister appears on the horizon and the guy is like fuck it, I'm driving straight into it. Dave Marsh theorized the driver could be The Magic Rat, grown up a little but still confused.

Ranked #5

[Edgy MD]

I had either not known or (more likely) forgotten that "State Trooper" was based directly on "Frankie Teardrop" by Suicide.

In retrospect, it sounds almost the other way around, and the sad and scary "Frankie Teardrop" can sound like a comedian trying to spontaneously free-associate a Springsteen Nebraska track on stage.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

243.
You'll be fine long as your pretty face holds out
Then it's gonna get pretty cold out

Damn Bruce. Pairs a sunny pop song to a doomful lyric in "You'll Be Coming' Down." Coming down meaning down, and not coming over. Ranked #251

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

244. "Ghosts" from Letter to You is obviously meant to be a latter-day arena-pleaser. To me the lyric gets a little clunky at times and it sounds a little bit like "And the Walls Came Down" by the Call but lacks that one's thrill.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

245. Unsure of himself in his new role as a husband Bruce looks for inspiration from his factory-workin dad Doug Springsteen in "Walk Like A Man," #150 on your all-Bruce countdown.

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

I think these are some of Bruce's best, and most relatable, lyrics. It always hit me kind of personally - maybe because I got married five days after Tunnel of Love was released. I have so much respect for my father, and those first and last sections hit hard. I don't know if this is a song he plays live or whether it's just a great deep cut. But I think it's great. I know I'm out there alone in thinking this is his best album, but I love this pretty much start to finish.

I remember how rough your hand felt on mine
On my wedding day
And the tears cried on my shoulder
I couldn't turn away
Well so much has happened to me
That I don't understand
All I can think of is being five years old following behind you at the beach
Tracing your footprints in the sand
Trying to walk like a man

By our Lady Of The Roses
We lived in the shadow of the elms
I remember ma draggin' me and my sister up the street to the church
Whenever she heard those wedding bells
Well would they ever look so happy again
The handsome groom and his bride
As they stepped into that long black limousine
For their mystery ride
Well tonight you step away from me
And alone at the alter I stand
And as I watch my bride coming down the aisle I pray
For the strength to walk like a man

Well now the years have gone and I've grown
From that seed you've sown
But I didn't think there'd be so many steps
I'd have to learn on my own
Well I was young and I didn't know what to do
When I saw your best steps stolen away from you
Now I'll do what I can
I'll walk like a man
And I'll keep on walkin'

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

My ToL estimation has grown over the years and this countdown hasn't stopped that.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

246. Anyone who's had someone close to them die has felt the odd sadness of encountering their belongings or objects. Bruce's "You're Missing" also suggests the eeriness of a 9-11 victim whose remains cannot be located. Ranked #124

[Gwreck]

I know I'm out there alone in thinking this is his best album

Not as far as you think. More than his others, it’s grown in critical estimation over time. I’d comfortably put it in his top 5 albums.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

247. Another leftover from Darkness, "The Little Things (My Baby Does)." 60s-style pop-soul would have been a Southside Johnny smash. Ranked #288