Bruce Springsteen: Is he just Barbra Streisand with a Telecaster now?
As much as it pains me to say it, yes, it is the truth. Sadly, this denizen of my home turf at the Jersey shore and in the Jersey Pines, who was one of my heroes when I was in high school in NJ lost his way after 1980’s “The River,” and continued on his Downbound Train (one of his few later songs that I liked) ever since, hitting total and irreversible nothingness after entering his faux Tom Joad phase. Living in his mansion in Rumson, adding earrings like a Goth teenager, pretending to be the ordinary person leading an extraordinary life that he was back in the 70s. I feel sorry for him.
But he deserves this excellent take-down from my new favorite site, BigHollywood:
The Cult of Springsteen and the mythology of his greatness have never waned in the mainstream media. Sounds like a glorified community organizer I know.
He’s one of those folks I’ve seen so many times that I can’t count them—both of my kids “saw” him in utero, and kicked along—but he lost me a long time ago, both musically and with his witless celebrity ideology.
StickerShock:
Is Bruce Barbara? No. Barbara was always an ass. Bruce, sadly, has become one. I’d just ignore the idiotic ideology if his music was still fabulous. But the newer stuff stinks. I chuckle about how many trips we made to Asbury Park & The Stone Pony acting on rumors that he was showing up. He was my absolute favorite artist through high school, college, and at least a decade beyond.
27 January 2009, 8:40 pmcollegemom16:
Please tell who the musicians are that create music worth listening to and are not liberal? Why can’t they all just shut up and play?
27 January 2009, 9:49 pmdriver:
CM16, I thought the RHCP did a pretty damn good job of it at the Grammys when they won best rock album and the Chixie Dix won all the rest for their Bush-bashing. RHCP were very classy.
27 January 2009, 11:44 pmfundingfather:
My daughter was a teacher for one of Bruce’s kids in a very tony school where it was common for the teachers to receive Coach handbags and other assorted expensive trinkets from the parents for Christmas. Her gift from the Springsteens: nada. So much for spreading the wealth to the little people.
28 January 2009, 1:01 amdriver:
Some night the old Scroogesteen will be visited by the ghost of the Spirit in the Night. And then he will remember where the gypsy angels went.
28 January 2009, 2:46 amldmom:
I’m sorry, he’s never going to be cool again. When he started going for the ‘Adnan/IwannadateBritneySpears’ look with that stupid little chinstache thing, I knew he had lost his confidence and therefore his cool. Silly, silly man.
28 January 2009, 8:41 amdriver:
“Chinstache…” Good word. The jazz guys used to call that a “soul spot.” And it was very cool that The Bruce had an earring back in the 70s when it was still daring and unusual, but now he’s got more self-validating earrings than an old mall-rat slinging lattes at Starbucks.
28 January 2009, 9:03 amWoodwork:
What a tragic figure.
I recall that it was social/music critics like Dave Marsh and Lester Bangs that lionized Bruce as not only the Messiah (no doubt playing off of John Lennon’s rather rude analogy to Jesus) but a true class warrior. To me, Springsteen was, from time to time, little more than a three cord sissy with street cred, a penchant for the single life, and a leaden beat (even coping the name of his band to put an edge on it… “The East Street Bandâ€).
Born to Run was amazing. Perfect, really. But Born to Runs bravado evolved into The River’s bubbling melancholy. Nebraska was the end of that run and a desperate bid for American folk mythology and heady recognition (Springsteen has the mind of a precious folky even if his musical education and environment was to rock-out on a telecaster in leather pants).
Springsteen could never have written songs like “Under my Thumb,†“Honkytonk Woman†or “Brown Sugar†–being an asexual pussy– but I’ll bet he got a real woody (Guthrie) when he first got-high listening to the lyric pomposity of “Sympathy for the Devil.â€
Springsteen at his best sings the foibles of the middling man with passionate and empathetic transference. Every one of his great songs was a ramped-up if dogged lament. Whether played with power cords, a Hohner accordion, Hammond Organ or a Yamaha D-50. Thunder Road, Jungle Land, The River, Born in the USA, Tunnel of Love, Philadelphia, Missing. The one great exception was, to my mind, his greatest song: Rosalita.
Driver, you nailed it though: Tom Joad was the nadir of Bruce Springsteen, Rock-n-Roller. Though Testosterone depleted, Bruce still has a brand name and an aging following of bachelorettes and suits that love progressive brand names…like Starbucks…and Springsteen.
28 January 2009, 11:59 amdriver:
Agree about “Rosalita,” truly a brilliant piece. “The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle” is to me the quintessential Springsteen album, what it was all about. The grandiosity bounded into the music along with the Messiah complex in “Born to Run,” and man, that was all she wrote…..
“Spirit in the Night,” which I first heard on WMMR-FM, Philadelphia, back in ‘73 on Michael Tearson’s show, was the song that brought him to my attention, although at first listen I thought I was listening to Van Morrison. The seldom heard “The Fever” belongs high on his resume, too. Odd how someone like that can still be tragic, but you’re right, he is.
BTW, my pals The Clarks *OWN* “The River.”
The River – Clarks
28 January 2009, 12:30 pmWoodwork:
Can’t recall the song, but I do recall Van Morrison dissing Springsteen in song for ripping him off.
Think it was over Independence Day, from St Dominic’s and the song might have been Van’s “If you only knew” off “Sense of Wonder.” Can’t remember, now but he hit him for it.
28 January 2009, 12:55 pmStickerShock:
Funding Father, I’m not surprised about the cheapskate at Christmas behavior from Bruce & Patti. See this concert rider from a recent tour, where Bruce demands white linnen table cloths & incredibly specific food requests. http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/bruce/bruce1.html
I’m finding it funny that he & Patti want Beluga Caviar, candles with Votivo Forest scent (hate to think how many heads would roll if the wrong brand were supplied,) Kelloggs Low Fat Granola Bars (no raisins,) Bio-Chem Whey powder, assorted Stonyfield nonfat yougurts (no lemon,) and WestSoy nonfat plain soy milk. Yet for his kids’ room he demands bags of frozen chicken nuggets, TaterTots, and frozen pizza. It’s such a hoot!
I don’t begrudge the man a lovely home in Rumson — I’d live there, too, if I had the means. But he’s stiffed people in business deals, including a horse breeder who had to sue Bruce because he was refusing to pay the agreed upon price for his daughter’s new ride. You see, Bruce is now part of the tony pony crowd. His daughter will never know about life on the mean streets of Asbury Park. But he’ll continue making $$ singing about the horrible country that gave him incredible opportunities.
28 January 2009, 1:05 pmdriver:
Sticker…to think that the Tony Pony crowd used to be the Stone Pony crowd. For shame.
28 January 2009, 1:24 pmStickerShock:
From Stone Pony to Tony Pony…..good one, Driver!
28 January 2009, 3:14 pmroshke:
It looks like that was Clarence who wanted the caviar in his dressing room. Re: teacher gifts – don’t most private schools have explicit policies (which many parents ignore, anyway) against expensive gifts from parents? I know my kids’ schools, both private and public always did.
29 January 2009, 4:10 pmdriver:
Well, there is a difference in range between fancy handbags and nada. We’ve never given our kids’ teachers nada. It could be handmade sachets filled with lavender for the sock drawer, or a gift certificate to a restaurant, but nada?? Nunca!
But he does have a rep for being generous with donations to schools and veterans’ groups. And he does show that Human Touch, on occasion…he was very kind to a soldier friend of mine when he learned that he was in the audience at a concert near Ft. Bragg last year.
29 January 2009, 5:05 pmroshke:
At our schools parents are not allowed to give anything beyond something homemade to an individual teacher. We are, bowever, encouraged to donate to the school’s scholarship fund. Bruce has performed concerts at his kids’ school, so he’s definitely given back there. The horse thing happened because they put a 25,000 deposit on a horse for his daughter and signed a contract to buy the horse. After riding the horse a final time but before taking ownership , he had second thoughts because he felt it would not be a good fit for his daughter. Unclear as to whether the contract allowed them to back out under any circumstances, but I assume it did. The thing was settled for about 200K – the seller argued that the value of the horse was compromised by his public unwillingness to take the horse.
I will admit it, though – the guy can probably do no little or no wrong as far as I’m concerned!! I even forgave him for the fact that I lost my hearing for a good 20-30 minutes after one of his concerts a few years ago! We know someone who is originally from Asbury Park who got to know Bruce at the height of his fame – they played softball together. He says that he was always generous and considerate, has no ego, and is a very low key, unassuming kind of guy. Isn’t it interesting though – whether in politics or day to day life, for that matter, it’s easy to look for things you don’t like about someone and overlook those same characteristics in people you like, or agree with! Everyone does this- just human nature!
PS The same site reported Dick Cheney had to have all TVs in his suite pretuned to Fox News for his impending arrival !!! LOL, no surprise there!
29 January 2009, 7:36 pm