I have been
to many great concerts, but large stadium shows pose some challenges. U2 excel
with their oversized highly visual show, but Bruce Springsteen is still the
Boss. He manages to form an intimacy but with an epic landscape, where every
night seems special and life-affirming, as he pushes himself and his band for over
three hours.
By 1975 he
was under pressure, as his first two album had been good, but sold poorly. He
designed an ambitious homage to Phil Spector's Wall of Sound, with vignettes of
youth, love and redemption.
The opener "Thunder
Road" builds on the key Springsteen components - a young guy, a car and a
girl named Mary (he is a good Catholic). Starting life as a different song
featuring Chrissie or Angelina,
and written on a piano not guitar, he repurposed as an introduction to his new
era (the title comes from a Robert Mitchum film).
It begins quietly
with piano and the forlorn harmonica (again, always a great sound), as he evocatively
introduces the girl "The screen door slams / Mary's dress waves". He describes himself by name checking an idol
"Roy Orbison singing for the
lonely / Hey, that's me and I want you only".
She "ain't a beauty but, hey, you're alright"
(what a compliment), but then he admits he is no hero either. He invites her on
a magical trip in his car, the American dream of open roads, and "let the wind blow back your hair".
She has
rejected many before, but they are both getting older now, so this may be their
last shot at happiness together. The final line "It's a town full of
losers, I'm pulling out of here to win" would be echoed through "Born
To Run".
A well-written
depiction, with a novelist's eye for detail, is supplemented with the growing
power of his E-street band. Finally they let loose in the instrumental
coda, the guitars, drums, piano are overwhelmed Clarence Clemons' mighty saxophone.
"Thunder
Road" is a Springsteen classic, an epic tale, and a mainstay of concerts. A glorious moment of youth.
Hear Now - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdhkaPZtQF4
Hear Next -
Born To Run returns his classic,
vignettes of love and life.
** The book of "Song from a Quarantine" is now available on all Amazon sites in paperback and ebook formats - https://tinyurl.com/y43mbr2b
