![]() , 1984’s million-selling, seven top-ten-hits album that turned Springsteen into an international superstar. Then, of course, there’s Born in the U.S.A. On those records, the characters were yearning for escape, looking for a way out, trying to make sense of their lives. Yet just two years later, when he produced 1975’s Born to Run - and later, 1978’s Darkness on the Edge of Town - Springsteen knew who and what he wanted to write about. While on tour in 2015, Springsteen would describe his first four albums as “outsider records.” Greetings From Asbury Park and The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle, from 1973, were full of tales of Jersey Shore legends and had strong moments, but were musically and lyrically unfocused, the work of a young songwriter trying to find his voice. Just as important, he’s exalted the “the majesty, the mystery, the ministry - of rock and roll!” as he used to declare onstage, capturing the heat and joy of a busy dance floor on a Saturday night, and his wholehearted belief in rock music as nothing less than a genuine force of liberation. He has explored the dark side of the American dream, broken promises, and the possibilities of salvation and redemption. The themes and characters he established on that song formed the basis of his work and persona, and for the past 43 years he’s continued to write about love, faith, hope, struggle, meaning, and identity. That’s when he finally figured out how to combine the crackle and power of the epic songs he wrote with the skill of compression, distilling the energy into a brisk 4:31 without losing impact.įiguring out how to make “Born to Run” work affected Springsteen’s songwriting process not only for the rest of the album of the same name, but for the rest of his career. It took Springsteen six months to turn that phrase, “Born to Run,” into a song, and it was a watershed moment for his work: the first time he wrote a song with the studio in mind rather than how it would sound onstage. In 1974, a random phrase popped into Bruce Springsteen’s head as he was writing, one that seemed to match the music he was hearing in his mind. There’s obviously more than one reason to go out to a bar to drink - and we mean other than looking for the next love of your life.This article was originally published in 2016 and has been updated to reflect Springsteen’s latest work, now including 2020’s Letter to You. ![]() And usually, it has a lot to do with the music. Anyone with a pulse knows that a DJ can make or break your time at the bar a couple of lackluster songs in a row and you’re out the door.īut then there are the songs that make us throw our hands up in the air (Miley Cyrus style) as if we’ve never heard a song before in our lives the songs that, when fueled by liquor, sound that much better than they do sober. And while country-phobes may detest hearing a Garth Brooks song, and low-key drinkers hate the inevitable "Shots" tune that rings through every nightclub, the power of a good beat and catchy songs can’t be denied. Wired wrote on a study, published by musicologist Allison Bawley, last year: In fact, researchers have actually determined the best "sing-along" songs are based on vocalists, beats, and atmospheres. "A prominent feature among the songs was a male vocalist with a loud, clear high-chest voice, without many vocal embellishments. Pawley suggested that singing along to these songs promotes a kind of ‘neotribal bonding’ among participants. As for why female vocalists’ songs weren’t popular, Pawley speculated that, whereas women will happily sing along to men, men may feel that voicing a woman’s words threatens their masculinity. “More important than a song’s musical characteristics, though, was the context in which it was played. The most favorable conditions for sing-alongs were bigger venues with younger crowds, especially on weekends. Not surprisingly, these are all conditions associated with an atmosphere of revelry. Most of the songs had been chart-toppers at some point, so familiarity was likely also a factor." Younger people are also more likely to be single, and ‘when you’re single there’s an added goal’ to singing, Pawley said.
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