Springsteen
This post is going to attempt to answer the following questions.
1. Why do people like Bruce Springsteen's music?
2. Seriously, why do people like Bruce Springsteen's music?
About 20 years ago, he was as big as any star of the 80's. I had never liked him, but with the release of Born in the USA and something like 7 charting singles, his music was inescapable over the mid 1980's. The kids listened to it, their parents listened to it, tens of thousands of people went to his marathon concerts, and a 5 album box set of live recordings was released.
At the time, I didn't get it. I still don't totally get it, but I think I somewhat get it.
Back before we could listen to lots of different free music on the Internet, we had to swallow a lot of crap that the radio fed us. Which meant that if an artist had a huge album, you had to hear the songs plenty of times. This gives you plenty of time to analyze the songs, what worked, what didn't work, and how they related to each other.
Even with that, I had to read a lot of critcism about his work before it was all put into perspective for me.
This is not an original analysis, but you must understand it, because this is the answer to question 1.
The reason why people like Springsteen's music is that his songs are a unique combination of 60's musical influences. He starts by writing a 60's style straight ahead pop song (as opposed to a 60's album song, there will be no lengthy In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida indulgent hippie solo workouts in his songs). Then he crams in other influences, like using a Roy Orbison like expressive vocal style, but writing Dylan-like, jam as much as you can into a line, lyrics, and setting this all against Wall-of-Sound production. I could easily list some more obscure influences, but the point is his songs sound like a bunch of things you have heard before. They are original, but familiar.
Think of this the next time you hear "Born To Run", "Dancing in the Dark", or "Glory Days". Or listen to that elephantine live set. The E Street Band sounds like they are still playing bars (this is meant as a compliment), tight and fast, not sleepwalking all over the place like some 80's stadium act (think Journey). It is no surprise that the first single of the live set was the Edwin Starr oldie "War". It comes straight from the musical time frame Springsteen relates to.
Which explains why people like his music. But it doesn't explain why people really like his music. Because as cleverly constructed as the music is, I find it emotionally cold.
Which brings us to question #2. No doubt there are (or were) tens of thousands of people that emotionally relate to his music. But with a few exceptions (like "Brilliant Disguise"), I just don't get it. He sings about a lot of generic things that sound like something that might have happened to someone somewhere (I am sure somebody somewhere ran into the lake in just his socks and his shirt) but he ends up coming off like a ninth grade poet trying to sound deep, trying to write about experiences he expects to have, but never actually lived through.
And musicians that perform cleverly constucted songs usually don't do well in the marketplace. Probably the best example I can think of is The Tubes. They have a number of cleverly constructed songs, full of sly commentary and a subersive musical style ("Don't Touch Me There" is a perfect example. Also check out "Prime Time"). They had a lot of videos in the can when MTV first came on the air, so they got a lot of play. But their cleverly construced songs got them nowhere, and all anyone remembers was their hit "She's A Beauty", a song I suspect not a lot of people thought about what it really meant.
So since we know tens of thousand of people aren't listening to Bruce's songs because they admire their blending of musical styles, what are they listening for? His generic tales of strife offset by the occasional minor triumph? Because it sounds like the music that was popular when they were kids, and not that modern music of today? Because rock critics tell them to?
1. Why do people like Bruce Springsteen's music?
2. Seriously, why do people like Bruce Springsteen's music?
About 20 years ago, he was as big as any star of the 80's. I had never liked him, but with the release of Born in the USA and something like 7 charting singles, his music was inescapable over the mid 1980's. The kids listened to it, their parents listened to it, tens of thousands of people went to his marathon concerts, and a 5 album box set of live recordings was released.
At the time, I didn't get it. I still don't totally get it, but I think I somewhat get it.
Back before we could listen to lots of different free music on the Internet, we had to swallow a lot of crap that the radio fed us. Which meant that if an artist had a huge album, you had to hear the songs plenty of times. This gives you plenty of time to analyze the songs, what worked, what didn't work, and how they related to each other.
Even with that, I had to read a lot of critcism about his work before it was all put into perspective for me.
This is not an original analysis, but you must understand it, because this is the answer to question 1.
The reason why people like Springsteen's music is that his songs are a unique combination of 60's musical influences. He starts by writing a 60's style straight ahead pop song (as opposed to a 60's album song, there will be no lengthy In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida indulgent hippie solo workouts in his songs). Then he crams in other influences, like using a Roy Orbison like expressive vocal style, but writing Dylan-like, jam as much as you can into a line, lyrics, and setting this all against Wall-of-Sound production. I could easily list some more obscure influences, but the point is his songs sound like a bunch of things you have heard before. They are original, but familiar.
Think of this the next time you hear "Born To Run", "Dancing in the Dark", or "Glory Days". Or listen to that elephantine live set. The E Street Band sounds like they are still playing bars (this is meant as a compliment), tight and fast, not sleepwalking all over the place like some 80's stadium act (think Journey). It is no surprise that the first single of the live set was the Edwin Starr oldie "War". It comes straight from the musical time frame Springsteen relates to.
Which explains why people like his music. But it doesn't explain why people really like his music. Because as cleverly constructed as the music is, I find it emotionally cold.
Which brings us to question #2. No doubt there are (or were) tens of thousands of people that emotionally relate to his music. But with a few exceptions (like "Brilliant Disguise"), I just don't get it. He sings about a lot of generic things that sound like something that might have happened to someone somewhere (I am sure somebody somewhere ran into the lake in just his socks and his shirt) but he ends up coming off like a ninth grade poet trying to sound deep, trying to write about experiences he expects to have, but never actually lived through.
And musicians that perform cleverly constucted songs usually don't do well in the marketplace. Probably the best example I can think of is The Tubes. They have a number of cleverly constructed songs, full of sly commentary and a subersive musical style ("Don't Touch Me There" is a perfect example. Also check out "Prime Time"). They had a lot of videos in the can when MTV first came on the air, so they got a lot of play. But their cleverly construced songs got them nowhere, and all anyone remembers was their hit "She's A Beauty", a song I suspect not a lot of people thought about what it really meant.
So since we know tens of thousand of people aren't listening to Bruce's songs because they admire their blending of musical styles, what are they listening for? His generic tales of strife offset by the occasional minor triumph? Because it sounds like the music that was popular when they were kids, and not that modern music of today? Because rock critics tell them to?
posted by Beukey @ 5:44 PM
1 Comments:
At 11:49 AM,
Anonymous said…
I'm glad you picked this topic because I've also wondered why "The Boss" was/is so popular. I'm sticking my neck out here, but I think the same about the Rolling Stones...God Rest Their Souls..OOps! You mean they are not dead yet (esp. Keith Richards)!?!? My guess is that much of "mainstream America" is easily entertained & influenced. His hits from the '80s have catchy little tunes that anyone could dance to at any firehall (ha ha) and , as you said, are "original, but familiar". Well, sometimes familiarity breeds contempt..and that works for me regarding ol' Bruce! Also, we must include MTV's influence on the public; listeners can be persuaded into liking a mediocre artist through the power of image & imagery. Entertainers use this medium to market themselves, as we all know. My point here is that Springsteen looked and acted like the quintessential hard-working American man, and I think that influenced peoples' opinion of him and his brand of music.They like him & can relate to him since he is down-to earth; therefore they want to support his music. There's my addition to the question posed in #2!
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