Overheard at the Counter: Why Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" is Not a 10/10 Album

Why Born to Run is not a 10/10 album.

First, let me start by saying what a 10/10 album is in my book:

Each song is great, and the track listing makes a greater unified whole (basically, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts).

Second, my approach to music in general is that it has to be both interesting AND melodic.

That said: let me go, song by song (and I’ve re-listened to this album just now to make sure it was all fresh in my ears).

Thunder Road – great song, piano start, with adding instruments build up.

But this effect was done much better by Stones on “Can’t Always Get” and by Bob Segar.  Guitars sound a bit too thin.   

Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out – got a nice groove, but this song sounds like it would be better if done by Steely Dan.   Vocals are annoying.

Night – Sounds like a Jim Steinman tune done sloppily.

Backstreets – Tempo too fast.  This song would be improved by slowing it down and making it darker.   Vocals still screechy.  

Born to Run – the hit tune from the album, and rightly so.  This is the track where the production and the performance all come together.   I would have added some acoustic guitars to fill out the mix, but that’s just me being a lifelong Who fan.

She’s the One – everything about this song has already been done in other songs on this same album.  This could have been cut from the whole disc.

Meeting Across the River – musicianship is great, and the production really works on this.  Again, though, his vocals make it sound somewhat ridiculous.  Should be more subdued, or even half-spoken (like Tom Waits)

Jungleland – Like Born to Run, this is one in which the production really works.   This is anthemic at its best.  Fun and over the top.  Great song.  (again, the Who fan in me just hears the Who in this song).

So … basically, I never said it was a horrible album.  Like my review of “Born in the USA” – the songs are solid: great lyrics, musical structure is sound.  The songs are great.  The issue is with the production.  Not every song needs to be hit with a sledgehammer.  A lot of Springsteen’s tunes get stronger whenever you strip them down to basic elements and slow the tempo.  If this was done on half the tracks, then the rockers (title track, Thunder Road, and Jungleland) would sound even better.

Overheard at Table 4: Russian Soldiers AKA ...

"Oh, don't call them baby-killers! That's mean!"

"Did they kill babies?"

"Well ... yes."

"Then they're baby-killers."

Overheard at Table 1: Feed the Hungry

"Jesus says we should love others the way we love ourselves."

            "So what's that mean exactly?"

"When you're hungry, what do you do?"

            "Get myself something to eat."

"When someone else is hungry, what should you do then?"

            "Tell 'em to get themselves something to eat."

*sigh*  "What if they don't have any money?"

            "Tell 'em to get a job."

"And what if they can't get a job?"

            "Then they probably brought it upon themselves.  God says you reap what you sew, right?"

"Yes, you do.  Yes, you surely do."

Overheard at Booth 4: A Short Psalm

A Short Psalm

Oh Lord I cry in my distress
My voice calling from the wilderness
Lord, please fill my emptiness
With the sound of Your presence

Señor, lleve en mí
Tu voz, asi que pudeo oírTe.
Porqué no puedo oírTe,
el ruido de mundo está tan poderoso
tan fuerte
so loud.

Tengo qu callarme
pero no puedo 
sin Tí
No puedo
sin Tí

MR
2022-0312

Overheard at Table 4: A Few Horrorprompts

 

2022-0306

#horrorprompt 584 From Beneath You

 

You are sitting in your chair

at dinner time

with your wife, your children, then,

suddenly, from beneath you

hands and arms burst from the floor,

grab you, drag you down,

 

you scream,

 

your family continues eating.

 

 

 

2022-0306

#horrorprompt 582 Earth

 

The Earth,

a dull dead

husk of ruin,

 

and your fellow human beings

continue lethargic in their

inveterate desiccation,

 

their spiritual decay

is the crumbling of this clay.

 

 

2022-0306

#horrorprompt 581 Tired

 

She was tired, so tired,

but she couldn’t stop.

 

The thing behind her,

in the shadows, in the dark,

the thing was not tired.

 

Do

not

stop,

 

but her heart,

her muscles, her

bones,

she fell,

she shattered,

 

the untired thing

feasted.

 

 

2022-0306

#horrorprompt 579 Lull

 

When there was a lull in the fighting,

Jerry turned to Zack, saying,

“If we can just hold out to morning.”

 

No answer.

Jerry looked, saw Zack’s half-gone

face, burnt hair, the blood

 

had been congealed for hours.

 

Overheard at Table 2: Seedpods

Seedpods

we didn't notice them at first.
seedpods.
on buses,
at train stations,
streetlamps,
in grocery carts.

then, a noise, like locusts hum
that filled the sky,
and all the seedpods broke
open at once, and all the 
babies,
so hungry.




MR
2022-0313

(possibly written while on vacation in El Salvador)

Overheard at Booth 4: Birraporretti's

Birraporetti's

walked in without reservations, which was a bit of an issue.  still, it was before the rush, so they were able to get us a table within 5 minutes (even if it was the table for two right in front of the host station, where all those with reservations stood around staring at us while we ate)

the food was well-worth that price as well, and for being downtown Houston and for being in the times of great inflation, the prices were not exorbitant.   we shared the mushroom caps appetizers, which were very delicious, with the perfect blend of cheeses.  my wife had the personal pizza and I had the crab cakes, which were done to delicate perfection with a flavor that was so wonderfully seasoned that it was a simple joy to eat them.

definitely a place to make a reservation, so that you can have a quiet table to enjoy your meal, away from having to hear some lady ask the hostess if they were short staffed.  

the hostess, not skipping a beat, replied, "no ma'am, we are fully staffed.  we're just short on tables."