His imaginatively named and even more imaginatively purchased Greatest Hits.
Or Spruce Windscreen as I sometimes refer to him. I think that might be a (Timmy) Malletism.
"The Boss" is one of those artists about which I have decidedly mixed feelings. It's worth noting that all eighteen tracks on this CD are written - words and music - by him, so the assessment has to include his writing talents as well as his singing talents.
I don't especially like his voice. Not that I dislike it. It's just not a voice I would want to hear sing the Argos Catalogue.
None of the tunes are special; musically, the songs are just variations on a few chords.
I've never seen him live - let's face it, exactly who have I seen live.
So I guess the conclusion is that this is a mediocre, eminently forgettable album.
And yet and yet, I do like it so very much. Some tracks really stand out. A few are neither here nor there. I actually knew the Frankie goes to Hollywood version of Born to Run before I knew Bruce's. I first alerted myself to him when Dancing in the Dark was riding high in the charts, back in the days when the singles charts had some meaning. I imagine if any proper Springsteen fans are reading they'll be shuddering a that. But, so what. I do like that song very much.
I enjoy Thunder Road, Hungry Heart, Born in the USA, My Hometown, Glory Days, and Streets of Philadelphia. Each one of these songs is far better than any of the elements I refer to above. It would be interesting to hear some of them performed by someone who can sing, with some musicians who can really play.
The River is most definitely a song that I have to single out as being one of the special ones. Perhaps when I have played my entire record collection and completed this ridiculous roject, I may look back over it and list my Top Hundred, or some such. Well, note to my future self - include The River. It is a ballad, in the very best tradition of classic ballads.
I come from down in the valley
where mister when you're young
They bring you up to do like your daddy done
Me and Mary we met in high school
when she was just seventeen
We'd ride out of that valley down to where the fields were green
We'd go down to the river
And into the river we'd dive
Oh down to the river we'd ride
Then I got Mary pregnant
and man that was all she wrote
And for my nineteenth birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat
We went down to the courthouse
and the judge put it all to rest
No wedding day smiles no walk down the aisle
No flowers no wedding dress
That night we went down to the river
And into the river we'd dive
Oh down to the river we did ride
I got a job working construction for the Johnstown Company
But lately there ain't been much work on account of the economy
Now all them things that seemed so important
Well mister they vanished right into the air
Now I just act like I don't remember
Mary acts like she don't care
But I remember us riding in my brother's car
Her body tan and wet down at the reservoir
At night on them banks I'd lie awake
And pull her close just to feel each breath she'd take
Now those memories come back to haunt me
they haunt me like a curse
Is a dream a lie if it don't come true
Or is it something worse
that sends me down to the river
though I know the river is dry
That sends me down to the river tonight
Down to the river
my baby and I
Oh down to the river we ride
