The Springsteen Single
And here’s where I take the risk I accuse Springsteen of refusing to take below. What I wrote about the Boss’s single ain’t bad, but it doesn’t pop, it doesn’t zing. But the P.S. positively rocks. So I’m gonna put it first:
P.S. Watch this clip of Jackson Browne singing a newly-written protest song at Zuccotti Park a couple of months back, it’s everything "We Take Care Of Our Own" is not, it’s simple, it’s honest, you get it the first time through. It’s imperfect, but it’s got an elusive magic, when Jackson sings "Come on, come on, come on" you’re hooked and when they go back into the groove you’re riding shotgun, you’re on the bus. It’s not about perfection, it’s about catching lightning in a bottle. And Jackson’s protest song is the best one I’ve heard from the Occupy Wall Street camp, and he only finished it the night before and is reading the lyrics and is playing it acoustically with Dawes. But Jackson has refused to release this as an MP3, to promote it, to take a chance, probably for fear of nothing happening, or knowing the man because he’s unhappy it’s not perfect, but nothing ever is. Beauty is always just a bit off. Don’t polish what is great. And this song is just about there, listen:
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"The Springsteen Single"
It sucks.
But it doesn’t matter.
I’ve got sympathy for the Boss and the rest of the classic rockers. They’re afraid. Used to be they brought tablets down from the mountaintop, we were all fascinated and paid attention. Now these stars are just grist for the mill, their output is for fans only, gets no radio play to speak of and is instantly forgotten.
I’m gonna get reams of hate mail. Because these New Jerseyites, both honorary and real, have an investment in Bruce. He centers their lives, in the same way Jon Bon Jovi does for a younger generation. But that does not make any of their new music good.
But they can’t take a risk.
Bruce Springsteen should fire the E Street Band.
But his audience won’t let him.
It’s like being beholden to your parents who want you to be a doctor or a lawyer, who won’t let you be yourself. He got rid of the band once and the audience freaked and Springsteen blinked and he’s been irrelevant ever since, worried about giving us what he thinks we want as opposed to what we need, and that’s artistic death. It’s only when you take chances that you’re relevant. And any artist will tell you you can’t predict success. What I mean is you never know what will catch fire with the audience, blow you up.
But you do know what’s great.
Bruce Springsteen knows "We Take Care Of Our Own" is not great. How do I know? This is the guy who got his creative juices flowing with "Human Touch" and went on to make the better "Lucky Town". That’s the dirty little secret of being creative. You know what is A+ work. But it comes so rarely.
And there are many ways to get in the zone. Usually by starting, woodshedding, getting your chops up. And if you deign to play your material for others, make sure they’re critical, living in an echo chamber does you no good, it’s like evangelicals outside the church. If you want to live in a cult, so be it. But if you want to grow, you’ve got to get people’s attention, and you do this by being superior. And "We Take Care Of Our Own" is not. It’s so-so. Probably good live. But the chorus is so wimpy, it sounds like one of the Boss’s kids wrote it. And the whole band crammed into an MP3… That retro/AM sound worked when we all had great stereo systems and could hearken back to that one speaker sound, but now that’s all people have got, and Bruce has to either go for clarity or strip some of it out. He’s got a veritable orchestra on this record and it all ends up sounding like noise.
I’m disappointed. My expectations were not high, but this happens again and again with the old acts. Because they’ve got nothing on the line. Take away Bruce’s money, make him go on the road in clubs and he’d never deliver stuff like this. He’d will better material.
Jon Landau was a good sounding board thirty five years ago, but somewhere along the line, the management team lost the plot. They just won’t stand up to Bruce and say no go. Hell, the touring numbers wouldn’t change a bit if this record didn’t even come out, it only sullies Springsteen’s image.
But it doesn’t matter. Springsteen’s a sideshow. To the degree he mattered, it’s only in people’s memories now.
There are no chances taken in "We Take Care Of Our Own". It’s the same old same old, just not as good.
Maybe Bruce just ain’t got it anymore. Maybe he’s not hungry, maybe he’s lost the muse.
But when is the media gonna blow the whistle instead of being complicit in hyping this crock that no one really cares about?
I don’t expect Van Halen to test any limits. You go to a steak house, you just want to make sure they use good meat and cook it right. But Springsteen was always different, not exactly a French restaurant, more like one of those holes in the wall on "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives". A place you went and got your taste buds kicking, somewhere you dragged your friends to, to let them share the joy.
No one’s gonna share "We Take Care Of Our Own". I’m sorry the Big Man died, but when is Springsteen gonna throw off the legend and try something different? He did it with "Nebraska", even with his acoustic stuff in the nineties. But now he’s on retreads.
It’s like watching Michael Jordan play in his sunset years. When he’d lost a step and couldn’t jump. But sports depend on the body, music depends on the mind. There’s no overt reason why Bruce can’t deliver the fast ball once again. I’m waiting…
