30. september 2020. 38 år siden Nebraska ble utgitt I 1980 ble albumet "The River" lansert og Bruce Springsteen tok verden med storm. Fra å være "verdenskjent" i USA ble Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band et av verdens mest populære band. Overalt hvor de turnerte ble de rost opp i skyene av musikkanmeldere og publikum knyttet dem til sitt musikk-hjerte. Med tre rockealbum på rad, "Born To Run", "Darkness On The Edge Of Town" og førstnevnte, forventet publikum en ny utgivelse i samme spor. Og det var nok et nytt rockealbum Bruce hadde i hodet da han tok med bandet i studio for å spille inn låtene som skulle bli det nye albumet.
Springsteen spilte inn låtene i sitt eget hjem
Låtene ble spilt inn, men Bruce fikk ikke den følelsen han hadde tenkt seg med de nye låtene. Det var noe som ikke helt stemte med den indre stemningen han hadde for de nye låtene. Han hadde klart å formidle dette uttrykket på de demolåtene han hadde spilt inn, men ble mer og mer frustrert da han ikke klarte å gjenskape dette med bandet. Til slutt ble løsningen så enkelt som rett og slett å bruke råopptakene som han hadde spilt inn hjemme på sin firespors båndopptaker.
Albumet fikk navnet "Nebraska" og inneholdt 10 fantastiske låter med kun Bruce Springsteen som trakterer instrumentene. "Nebraska" har senere fått kultstatus og regnes som en klassiker innen folk-rock sjangeren.
Screenshot fra videoen "Nebraska Live" Foto: Rune
Gjennom hele sin karriere har Bruce Springsteen vært kjent for å skrive sterke og meningsfylte tekster til sine låter. På albumet Nebraska er dette kanskje mer fremtredende enn på noen andre plater. Her får vi lyttere et dystert innblikk i amerikas skyggeside og hver sang på albumet er som en liten novelle.
Sangene på Nebraska forteller om livene til de som kjemper for å overleve i et hardt rammet økonomisk USA. Vi følger deres kamp gjennom tilværelsen og for å få endene til og møtes. Ved siden av den ordinære borgeren treffer vi også på kriminelle og massemordere i låtene.
På Nebraska er håp og frelse byttet bort med fortvilelse og desperasjon. Det er først på albumets siste spor "Reason To Believe" at man opplever at det kanskje likevel finnes et snev at håp i all elendigheten.
Nebraska (1982)
Albumet er også Springsteens mest myte-omspunne album. Det er en kjent sak at Bruce Springsteen har spilt inn dette albumet i studio med et fullt "E Street Band", men ikke en av disse versjonene har lekket ut som bootleg. Drømmen for mange Springsteen fans er at dette "albumet" vil bli utgitt på en fremtidig "Nebraska boks", ala det vi nå snart får med "The River" albumet.
Nebraska ble et mesterverk og Springsteen første akustiske album
Det ble aldri noen "Nebraska" turne, men Springsteen fremførte mange av disse låtene under "Born In The USA" turneen i 1984-85. Også under senere konserter har flere av låtene blitt fremført live og da veldig ofte akkompagnert av bandet. Disse fremførelsene kan gi oss et lite inntrykk av hvordan mange av låtene ville høres ut om de hadde blitt gitt som først planlagt.
Jeg har i videoen tatt lydklipp fra noen av mine favoritt live-fremførelser, av samtlige låter på albumet, og laget et lite resyme av "Nebraska".
Nebraska Live
Video: Rune
25. september 2020. Bruce Springsteen om innspillingen av “Letter to You”
I en fersk video forteller Bruce om hvem som er mottakeren av brevet i "Letter to You": The "You" in "Letter to You" is YOU!
Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band Reunite...
Videre forteller han kort om hvordan det var å spille inn albumet i sitt eget studio hjemme og litt av prosessen bak innspillingen. Studioet er plassert i den samme bygningen hvor garasjen er, hvor han har en flott samling med biler og motorsykler.
Han kommer også innom artister som han hører på for øyeblikket.
24. september 2020. Bruce Springsteen - Ghosts Den andre singlen fra albumet "Letter To You, som slippes den 23. oktober, ble sluppet i dag. Låten er "Ghost" og dette er en riktig godbit som igjen viser at Bruce fremdeles leverer varene på et skyhøyt nivå.
For de som elsker det Bruce gjorde på albumet "The River" (1890), vil ikke bli skuffet her. Denne kunne fint ha passet på nevnte album og har en skikkelig live-feeling over seg med et tett og fantastisk samspilt "E Street Band".
Fra Springsteens annonsering i går (23/9-20)
Videoen inneholder mange klipp fra Springsteens karriere og vi får også et kort klipp av Bruce Springsteen og "The Castiles" utenfor "Cafe Wha?" i New York. Det som er så spesielt med dette stedet er at det var her Bruce Springsteen for aller første gang spilte i New York. Det var i november 1966 da Bruce kun var 17 år gammel at hans første manager Tex Vinyard ordnet med en spillejobb for Bruce og bandet Castiles på Cafe Wha? Her spilte de 30 forestillinger frem til februar 1968.
Andre kjente artister som har spilt på dette stedet er blant andre Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Jerry Lewis, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Little Richard, The Everly Brothers og Chuck Berry. Så med andre ord et historisk sted som fortsatt er i drift.
Springsteen og The Castiles i 1967 utenfor Cafe Wha?...
...og Rune i 2017 (50 år senere)
Foto: Aron
Det er bare å glede seg til vi igjen får oppleve konserter med Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - og jeg kan fint se for meg denne som åpningslåten på konsertene på den neste turneen.
"Ghosts" is about the beauty and joy of being in a band, and the pain of losing one another to illness and time. 'Ghosts' tries to speak to the spirit of the music itself, something none of us owns but can only discover and share together. In the E Street Band, it resides in our collective soul, powered by the heart.
- Bruce
"Ghosts"
Teksten til "Ghosts" I hear the sound of your guitar
Coming in from the mystic far
The stone and the gravel in your voice
Come in my dreams and I rejoice
It's your ghost moving through the night
Spirit filled with light
I need, need you by my side
Your love and I'm alive
I can feel the blood shiver in my bones
I'm alive and I'm out here on my own
I'm alive and I'm coming home
Old buckskin jacket you always wore
Hangs on the back of my bedroom door
Boots and the spurs you used to ride
Click down the hall but never arrive
It's just your ghost moving through the night
Spirit filled with light
I need, need you by my side
Your love and I'm alive
I can feel the blood shiver in my bones
I'm alive and I'm out here on my own
I'm alive and I'm coming home
Your old Fender Twin from Johnny's Music downtown
Still set on 10 to burn this house down
Count the band in then kick into overdrive
By the end of the set we leave no one alive
Ghosts running through the night
Our spirits filled with light
I need, need you by my side
Your love and I'm alive
I shoulder your Les Paul and finger the fretboard
I make my vows to those who've come before
I turn up the volume, let the spirits be my guide
Meet you brother and sister on the other side
I'm alive, I can feel the blood shiver in my bones
I'm alive and I'm out here on my own
I'm alive and I'm coming home
Yeah I'm coming home
One, two, one two three four
23. september 2020. Bruce Springsteen 71 år Etter å ha sett Bruce Springsteen live, under Bruce's opptreden på Harvard Square Theater i Cambridge den 9. mai i 1974, skrev Jon Landau en artikkel som inneholdt de udødelige ordene: "I saw rock and roll future and its name is Bruce Springsteen". Artikkelen ble publisert i avisen "The Real Paper" som ble utgitt i Boston. Året var 1974 og det var året før Bruce Springsteen virkelig slo igjennom med albumet "Born To Run", som var et være eller ikke være for Bruce.
Bruce Springsteen, 71 år den 23. september 2019 Videosnitt: Rune
I dag er det ikke vanskelig å se hvor rett Jon Landau hadde med sin artikkel. Gjennom snart fem tiår har Bruce Springsteen underholdt en hel verden med sin musikk og ikke minst legendariske konserter.
Alle som har opplevd sjefen live, enten sammen med The E Street Band, The Seeger Session Band, andre prosjekter som The Other Band eller solo, skjønner hvor enestående Bruce Springsteen er på scenen. Her snakker vi om en person som gir alt, kveld etter kveld etter kveld...
Bruce Springsteen i begynnelsen av karrieren
Bruce Springsteen har solgt mer enn 135 millioner album på verdensbasis, noe som rangerer han som en av tidenes mest selgende artister.
Bruce har vunnet flere priser og utnevnelser gjennom sin lange karriere. Han har blant annet vunnet Oscar statuetten, 20 Grammy’s, to Golden Globes og en Tony Award (for "Springsteen on Broadway").
Springsteen har også blitt innlemmet i både "Songwriters Hall of Fame" og "Rock And Roll Hall of Fame" i 1999, "Kennedy Center Honors" i 2009, "MusiCares person of the year" i 2013 og ikke minst "The Presidential Medal of Freedom" i 2016. Innspillingen av "Letter To You"
Så, det er ingen tvil om at bautaen, som i dag fyller 71 år, har satt dype spor i musikkhistoriens lange tidsløp. Heldigvis er ikke sagaen om Bruce Springsteen over. Neste måned kommer albumet "Letter To You", som er spilt inn live med "The E Street Band", og forhåpentligvis vil vi få oppleve Bruce og bandet live igjen når pandemien er under kontroll.
Bruce Springsteen fyller 71 år den 23. september 2019
Jeg lagde i fjor en hyllestvideo til Springsteens 70 års dag. Her har jeg samlet noen av de fineste sitatene av Bruce Springsteen selv og noen fra hans "venner", ispedd bilder og video fra hans lange karriere. Den er like aktuell i dag, selv ett år etter 70 års dagen, og tåler en visning til.
Videoen inneholder også et parti hvor man får et kronologisk innblikk i Springsteens lange karriere, fra fremførelsen av "Thundercrack" i 1973 og helt frem til "Tucson Train" i 2019.
Så, skru opp lyden og nyt Springsteen på sitt beste…
Happy 70th Birthday (video)
Video: Rune
18. september 2020. Live Vaults, The Live Archives (nr. 58)
Månedens "Live Vaults" utgivelse ble igjen sluppet to uker forsinket. Primært skyldes nok dette at singlen "Letter To You" ble sluppet i forrige uke.
Den tredje konserten fra Brendan Byrne Arena (6/8-1984)
Konsertopptaket er den 58. utgivelsen i rekken og inneholder igjen en konsert fra "Born In The USA" turneen. Dette er den fjerde utgivelsen fra denne turneen og faktisk den tredje fra samme arena - Brendan Byrne Arena. Det skiller kun 15 dager mellom disse tre konsertene. Mens vi tidligere har fått konsertene fra den 5. og 20. august i 1984, kommer dagens utgivelse fra den 6. august.
10 konserter på rad i Brendan Byrne Arena
Hele 10 konserter ble spilt etter hverandre på et fullsatt Brendan Byrne Arena i august 1984.
Den fjerde utgivelsen fra "Born In The USA" turneen, er konserten fra Los Angeles den 27. september 1985.
"Spirit In The Night" fikk sin turne debut. Låtene “Nebraska” og "No Surrender" fra denne konserten, ble benyttet på live boksen "Live 1975-84", som ble utgitt i 1986. "Trapped", fra denne konserten, har blitt ugitt på "USA For Africa" i 1985 og senere på "The Essential" - bonus CD i 2003.
"Street Fighting Man" (6/8-1984)
Boasting eight changes from the previously released first night of the ten-show Brendan Byrne ’84 stand, 8/6/84 delivers a fresh perspective on the Born In The U.S.A. tour arena leg. The Nebraska mini-set features "Atlantic City", plus the first 1984-85 versions of "Nebraska" and "Open All Night" in the Archive series, the latter introduced with the classic "Son, you’re in a lot of trouble" story. The same for new additions "Fire" and "Racing In The Street," along with encore performances of "I’m A Rocker" and Bruce’s highly charged and relevant as ever cover of the Rolling Stones’ classic, "Street Fighting Man".
~NUGSNET
Låtene fra utgivelsen: 01. Born in the USA
02. Out in the Street
03. Spirit in the Night
04. Atlantic City
05. Open All Night
06. Nebraska
07. Trapped
08. Prove It All Night
09. Glory Days
10. The Promised Land
11. Used Cars
12. My Hometown
13. Badlands
14. Thunder Road
15. Cadillac Ranch
16. Hungry Heart
17. Dancing in the Dark
18. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
19. No Surrender
20. Because the Night
21. Pink Cadillac
22. Fire
23. Bobby Jean
24. Racing in the Street
25. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
26. I'm a Rocker
27. Jungleland
28. Born to Run
29. Street Fighting Man
30. Twist and Shout
Oversikt over offisielle live utgivelser fra arkivet (18/9-2020) Les mer om Live Vaultsher.
17. september 2020.
From My Home to Yours #12 (16/9-2020)
Den tolvte utgaven av "From My Home to Yours" har fått navnet "Summers End". Gårsdagens radiosending kan sees som en fortsettelse på den 8. sendingen fra 15. juli, som har fått navnet "Summertime, Summertime".
Nå er sommeren over og flere av kveldens låter hadde nettopp dette som tema.
For første gang ble det ikke spilt noen låter fra Bruce’s egen katalog.
Under programmet, delte Bruce egne minner fra sin egen fortid og leste utdrag fra blant annet Stanley Kunitz's "End of Summer".
Nattens sending var den tolvte i rekken
Etter første låt var spilt, som var The Beach Boys' "Caroline, No", åpnet Bruce radioshowet med disse ordene: "E Street Nation, fans, friends, back-to-schoolers, and listeners from coast to coast: welcome to our end-of-summer spectacular!
It is always a bittersweet time of year, but it is my favorite season: September and October, locals' summer. Our Shore summer guests have headed home, and the beaches, boardwalks, and sea are ours. A blissful six weeks of summer weather. Dry air, west winds, good waves, and warm fires await." Kveldens spilleliste: 01. The Beach Boys - "Caroline No"
02. The Doors - "Summer's Almost Gone"
03. The Chantels - "Summer's Love"
04. [Dikt lesning] Stanley Kunitz's "End of Summer" (excerpt)
05. Peter Wolf with Neko Case - "The Green Fields of Summer"
06. Afghan Whigs - "Summer's Kiss"
07. The Motels - "Suddenly Last Summer"
08. The Drifters - "I've Got Sand in My Shoes"
09. Instrumental interlude: Beck - "Phase + Turn Away"
10. Iain Archer - "Summer Jets"
11. R.E.M. - "Summer Turns to High"
12. Instrumental interlude:
13. Beck - "Morning"
14. John Prine - "Summer's End"
15. Instrumental interlude: Michael Andrews - "A Long Summer Since Passed"
16. Van Morrison - "These Are the Days"
17. The Beach Boys - "Think About the Days"
18. The Beach Boys - "Summer's Gone"
19. Instrumental interlude:
20. Frank Sinatra - "Summer Wind"
Springsteens radiosending, ord for ord med sangene som ble spilt:
"Caroline, No," The Beach Boys
"Hello, hello, E Street Nation. Fans, friends, back-to-schoolers, and listeners from coast to coast. Welcome to our end-of-summer spectacular. It is always a bittersweet time of year, but it is my favorite season. September and October: Locals’ summer. Our Shore summer guests have headed home and the beaches, boardwalks and sea are ours. A blissful six weeks of summer weather. Dry air, west winds, good waves and warm fires await.
"This is Vol. 12 of ‘From My Home to Yours,’ titled ‘Summer’s End.’
"Here is the Lizard King, Jim Morrison, and the Doors, with ‘Summer’s Almost Gone.'"
"Summer’s Almost Gone," The Doors
"‘When summer’s gone, where will we be?’ One of my favorite Doors songs. Coming up, this is The Chantels, with some raw, sexy late summer doo-wop: ‘Summer’s Love.'"
"Summer’s Love," The Chantels
"The end of summer stirs so many conflicting feelings. It’s the season whose end is most pronounced. It is truly the end of something wonderful, and the beginning of something new: fall with its fair days, dry winds, and unknownness.
"Blue poured into summer blue,
A hawk broke from his cloudless tower,
The roof of the silo blazed, and I knew
That part of my life was over.
"That’s an excerpt from ‘End of Summer,’ by Stanley Kunitz."
"The Green Fields of Summer," Peter Wolf and Neko Case
"I don’t know if you’ve gotten any of Pete’s post-J. Geils albums, but they are uniformly brilliant, and I’d hustle to add them to my record collection. All right. Shakespeare, Othello’s last words to Desdemona:
"I kissed thee ere I killed thee. No way but this,
Killing myself, to die upon a kiss.
"I think I stole that for ‘Born to Run.'"
"Summer’s Kiss," Afghan Whigs
"Love the Afghan Whigs. Coming up: Tennessee Williams-titled 1983 hit of past summer longing, and the noir stylings of Martha Davis & the Motels, with ‘Suddenly Last Summer.’ "
"Suddenly Last Summer," Martha & the Motels
"Love that song. Man, all I remember was coming home from the beach with my folks with sand everywhere. Sand in my pants, sand all over the car, sand in all your toys, sand in your ears, sand in your hair. This is The Drifters, with ‘I’ve Got Sand in My Shoes,’ which was an answer record, by the way, to ‘Under the Boardwalk,’ which was an answer record to ‘Up on the Roof.’ A perfect summer triplicate."
"I’ve Got Sand in My Shoes," The Drifters
"In 1990, just after my 40th birthday, at end of summer, my friends and I would motorcycle across the Mojave. I always found something endlessly reassuring and comforting in all the nothingness of the desert. My mind at ease, we’d ride for days on state roads with nothing but Four Corner desert towns at 100-mile intervals, to break our hejira, my travels. With eternity laid out before you, you’d ride under a sun so blistering you had to cover every inch of exposed skin. With long-sleeve blue jean shirts, full jeans, gloves, wet bandannas covering our faces, we’d ride till dark and then bunk in roadside motels, sitting outside of our rooms, nursing beers, rehashing the day’s ride, listening to some music. Just there in the company of the smoldering heat, and a few other travelers with their own reasons for being on these deserted back roads.
"The next morning, we’d watch Air Force jets heading for desert test ranges, leaving six-string vapor trails across the September Mojave sky. We’d bungee our backpacks to our bikes, soak our bandannas in the sink, tie one around your neck, the other over your nose and mouth, fire up some thunder and, ready to go, ride straight into the futureless sky."
"Summer Jets," Iain Archer
"A hejira is an exodus or migration (referring to) Mohammed’s departure from Mecca to Medina in A.D. 622. And that was ‘Summer Jets,’ by Iain Archer. Now we’ve got ‘Summer Turns to High.’ This is R.E.M.’s beautiful tribute to Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys."
"Summer Turns to High," R.E.M.
"The end of summer always felt like a small death. Back to school, locked behind a desk as the streets were still warm and basking in the freedom of the September summer sun. But come Labor Day, it was as if folks just flipped the switch. They seemed determined to deny the late summer paradise of empty beaches and perfect days, thriving at their most beautifully seductive, outside the windows of their offices, factories and schools.
"That was something I was never able to do. And these were the days when that loss ached at me. Unfinished summer business, lost love affairs, unrequited summer crushes, girls still waiting on quiet corners for summer boyfriends. All of this hovered over me like the pungent scent of sun tan oil on the tanned, unfamiliar skin of all of those out-of-state girls, who’ve now returned to school, and mom and pop, and chilly days and nights, and who’ve put you away, with all the other townies, in a box labeled ‘Summer.'"
"Morning," Beck
"This is John Prine, a national treasure who we tragically lost to COVID. This is his beautiful ‘Summer’s End.'"
"Summer’s End," John Prine
"By 4 on the beach, the weekend after Labor Day, there is a thin, drifting coolness in the air. The sun will soon be marking its late-summer-season descent over the peaked beach cottages at Manasquan. My sister Ginny and I are wrapped, fully burka-like, in beach towels, changing from our bathing suits into our pajamas for one last feature at the drive-in before the beginning of school, and the end of all that is good. My mother is nearby, standing guard, as we reach out and hand her sand-filled swimsuits that, as we are growing now, we may never see again. We grab hot dogs and ice cream for dinner at Carlson’s Corner, we watch burly men pull in striped bass and fluke off the Manasquan jetty, and we chase each other around the pavilion where, today, the ghost of my beautiful grandmother sits, enjoying the late summer ocean breeze. And then we’re all packed in the car, heading off to the Shore Drive-In.
"By dusk, Ginny and I are ‘neath the arc of the huge screen in the playground below with a dozen or more other kids, holding onto the roundabout until we become uncorked, spinning off in a dizzying trance. Then dusk, and here come the cartoons, classic Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny, and it’s a run back to the car as we hear my dad leaning on the car horn, egging on the main feature. The screen clock starts clicking down, 10 minutes for snacks and bathrooms before the show starts. And it’s on.
"Tonight, we’ll see just one film, something my parents wanted to see called ‘Blonde in a White Convertible,’ that has my mother telling us, ‘Don’t look, don’t look,’ at certain adult scenes. And then it’s an early ride home. About halfway back, on a pitch black Route 33, slightly past the recently defunct Cowboy City theme park, where, at one time, you could see a cheeseball shootout on Main Street, any weekend afternoon, a young buck comes bolting out of the wooden Earle Naval Ammunition Depot on the right side of the highway and leaps over the hood of the car, its body filling the entire windshield, its left eye shiny with blood, animal spirits and fear, and we are only measurable inches away from eternity before he miraculously disappears into the woods, a late summer spirit on the far side of the highway.
"The car is in an uproar. We have crossed paths with wild, feral magic. Summer is over."
"These Are the Days," Van Morrison
"That was the maestro, Van Morrison, with ‘These Are the Days.’ What would summer be without Brian Wilson? This is The Beach Boys: ‘Think About the Days’ and ‘Summer’s Gone.'"
"Think About the Days," The Beach Boys
"Summer’s Gone," The Beach Boys"
"That’s our show for today, folks, and for the summer of 2020. And what a summer it’s been. I hope you took your summer pleasures where you could find them, and will look forward to a better 2021. Until we meet again, treat yourself to one more late-summer swim, another grilled hamburger and French fries, and if the ice cream man is still running through your neighborhood, pick one up for me. Soft vanilla dipped in chocolate, please. As for me, I’m going for an ocean swim right now, so until we meet again, stay strong, stay smart, stay healthy, stay safe, stay summer. And I’ll see you on the beach."
"Summer Wind," Frank Sinatra
11. september 2020. Springsteen med tale til førstårs studenter (10/9-20)
Forrige kveld holdt Bruce Springsteen en videotale til årets første-års studenter av 2004-kullet ved Boston College. Dette var en del av «First Year Academic Convocation», og Bruce Springsteen deltok også på seansen med spørrerunden etter talene.
Som forberedelse til arrangementet mottok alle førsteårsstudenter en e-kopi av Springsteens selvbiografi «Born To Run».
Årets program for Academic Convocation
Opprinnelig var velkomstseremonien planlagt å finne sted på Silvio O. Conte Forum, men på grunn av COVID 19 ble hele arrangementet arrangert virtuelt. Springsteen selv var hjemme og deltok live ved hjelp webkamera.
Hele arrangementet, som ble streamet live
Her er Springsteens ord for kvelden. “Hello! Greetings, Boston College incoming class of 2024. If you completed your assignment and read my book, you will know I got into rock ‘n’ roll for the sex, the drugs, and the sex. Uh, wait a minute, that’s the wrong speech. Only joking. Let’s start again. All right.
“Hi. I wish we could have all been together tonight, but as you know, circumstances don’t allow. Now I, like you, have a high school diploma. But I am 70 years old. And I do not, and will never have, a college degree. I’ve grown up in the music business, which is filled with many odd and unusual creatures, and one learns experientially, not from the book. In my business, you graduate, as the cliché has it, from the school of hard knocks. That’s your degree. I lived that. It has its merits. But overall, I regret missing out on college. It’s going to be unforgettable and the ride of your life. My son, who graduated from this very institution, told me so.
“You will spend your next four years living in a place where the life of the mind is paramount. The life of the mind is a beautiful thing. Along with your spiritual life, it’s the apotheosis of human experience. Take pleasure in your body, and your physical life, and your youth. Don’t waste it, because aches and pains are coming. But here in this place, you will not neglect the life of your mind.
“I missed that my first time around, and I had to do my best to make it up on my own. I had to seek my teachers, and my mentors, in libraries, and on the street. It worked, but I was not able to immerse myself in a place entirely dedicated to learning, and I wish that I had.
“What you’re about to embark upon will be the greatest adventure of your young life. You can waste it, you can half-ass your way through it, or you can absorb every minute of what you’re experiencing and come out on the other end an individual of expanded vision, of intellectual vigor, of spiritual character and grace, fully prepared to meet the world on its own terms. To be young in this beautiful and accommodating city, and to be engaged in the life of this school, is a great privilege.
“Now, we are currently in the midst of an historic experience. On our watch, they shut down the United States of America, and the world, for the past half year. You are the first coron-ial generation. You are already wizened by this experience, so appreciate the underappreciated. Sporting events. Getting together with your friends. Concerts — remember those? Well, we will soon look to you for answers, for a safer and better world.
“So where do you start?
“Satisfying work. Spend your energy doing and studying something that inspires you and that you love. You will never regret it. At your age, I was making 15 bucks a night playing in a little bar in Asbury Park, and I loved every minute of it, because I loved what I was doing. Work that satisfies, and inspires. It’s one of the most important aspects of a fulfilling life. Money, it’s great. But alone, it ain’t gonna do it. Everybody wants to do well. But don’t just do well, as they say, do good. Choose something that makes you happy. That makes you want to get up and go to work in the morning, and allows you to rest easy at night. Then find out where and how you can give back, because you’re gonna always get more than you give.
“2) Relationships. You’ve got to learn how to love and how to let yourself be loved. This is essential to the health of your soul. That is how you will prove yourself of value to your community, your family, your partner. Find your place in their lives, and find out how to thrive there. Find out who you are. As Socrates supposedly said, ‘The unexamined life is not worth living.’ Express your emotions, share your inner life, and be emotionally generous with your friends and your partner. All of these things will make you a stronger presence in your community, and will allow you to give more of yourself freely and lovingly. This will make you happy.
“Learn how to be an informed, active and engaged citizen. Your country needs you. Your vision, your energy and your love. Yes, your love. Love your country, but never fail to be critical when it comes to your country’s living up to your and its ideals. Listen to the voices calling you from our founding documents and keep faith with them. And vote. Vote, vote, vote. Only half of all Americans vote. It’s a sin. Voting is an enormous privilege, and one of our most sacred rights as citizens. You can change the course of history. The 2000 election was decided by 500 votes or less.
“We’ve recently seen how fragile our democracy can be. You stand sentry at the door of a free nation. We need your judgment, we need your vigilance and your commitment to a greater America, the America that we carry in our hearts.
“Now the American experiment, just as you are today, is an unfulfilled promise. The distance between the American dream and our American reality remains greater than ever. It will soon be in the hands of your generation, to do your damnedest to make up and heal that divide. That’s a lot to ask. But that’s what it means, if you’ll excuse me, to be born in the U.S.A.
“Last but not least, heal thyself. We all come into this world in trauma. The first thing that happens is we’re thrown out of our motherly home. And the first thing we do is cry. We don’t come out laughing.
“There will be plenty of laughter to come. And love. Love is all there is. Love your neighbors, love your friends, love your family, love your partner. And love yourself. Good luck. Enjoy the ride.”
-------------------------------------------------- The Rising (9/11 remix) - 19 år siden i dag Terrorangrepet den 11. september i 2001 er det mest omfattende terroranslag i USAs historie, både når det gjelder materielle skader og antall drepte. Fire sivile fly ble kapret av aktivister fra Al-Qaida på selvmordsoppdrag. To av dem ble med få minutters mellomrom styrtet inn i Verdens handelssenter (World Trade Center) i New York. Et tredje fly ble styrtet inn i forsvarsdepartementets hovedkvarter The Pentagon i Washington, D.C. Det fjerde og siste flyet gikk i bakken i Pennsylvania.
I tillegg til 19 kaprere, døde 2973 personer i terrorangrepet, derav alle 246 ombord på flyene, 2602 i tårnene og på bakken i Verdens Handelssenter og 125 i Pentagon. I tillegg er 24 personer fortsatt meldt savnet. Blant de døde er 343 brannkonstabler, 23 politimenn og 37 ansatt ved New Yorks havnevesen.
11. september 2001 - et av tidenes største terrorangrep
I etterkant av terroraksjonene i USA den 11. september 2001, skrev Bruce Springsteen låtene som skulle bli til albumet "The Rising" - som ble utgitt i 2002.
Temaet på dette albumet er terror i alle mulige innfallsvinkler. Vi følger personer som ofrer seg selv for å hjelpe andre og som lider store kvaler på grunn av tapet av sine nærmeste. Vi får også oppleve at de igjen begynner å se håpet etter tragedien som har truffet dem.
Alt i alt er "The Rising" en plate som forteller oss at det finnes håp og glede etter slike forferdelige hendelser og at man kan komme styrket ut etter bunnløs fortvilelse.
The Rising (9/11 remix)
I et spesialredigert radioprogram med Mike Sharp, fra "The LA Radio Studio", og Dave Marsh får vi høre Dave's analyse av hver enkelt låt på albumet "The Rising". Dette programmet ble først sendt i sin helhet rett etter albumet ble sluppet på markedet i 2002.
Nå kan man høre dette spesialredigerte programmet i sin helhet og man kan også laste ned programmet i tre deler ved å gå inn på LA Radio Studio.
10. september 2020. "Letter To You" - nytt album den 23. oktober 2020
Etter over ett år med spekulasjoner om et nytt album, har vi i dag fått den første smakebiten fra det kommende albumet, som har fått tittelen «Letter To You».
Det er også tittelsporet som i dag er tilgjengelig som albumet første single.
"Letter To You", slippes 23. oktober
Albumet vil bli sluppet den 23. oktober og inneholder 12 sanger og varer i 58 minutter.
Samtlige medlemmer i The E Street Band deltar på albumet, som er spilt inn live i Bruce Springsteens hjemmestudio, og innspillingen tok kun fem dager å gjennomføre.
"I love the emotional nature of 'Letter To You, and I love the sound of the E Street Band playing completely live in the studio, in a way we’ve never done before, and with no overdubs. We made the album in only five days, and it turned out to be one of the greatest recording experiences I’ve ever had."
~Bruce Springsteen
Springsteens utgir sitt 20. album 23. oktober
"Letter To You" er produsert av Ron Aniello med Bruce Springsteen og mikset av Bob Clearmountain og mastret av Bob Ludwig.
Mye tyder også på at det kommer en "konsert film" fra live-innspillingen, noe som igjen tyder på at vi vil få muligheten til å sette på storskjerm - les kino.
Albumet inneholder disse 12 låtene:
01. One Minute You’re Here
02. Letter to You
03. Burnin Train
04. Janey Needs a Shooter
05. Last Man Standing
06. The Power of Prayer
07. House of a Thousand Guitars
08. Rainmaker
09. If I Was the Priest
10. Ghosts
11. Song for Orphans
12. I’ll See You in My Dreams
"Letter To You"
Versjonen i musikkvideoen er ca. ett minutt kortere enn albumversjonen, som har en forlenget gitar-outtro på slutten.
Tre av låtene er gamle Springsteen låter og spenner seg opprinnelig fra tidlig 70-tallet. Disse er ikke utgitt på tidligere studioalbum. Selv om låtene opprinnelig ble skrevet på 70-tallet, er nok disse spilt inn i en ny E Street Band sound og sikkert gjort om en del.
De tre låtene er "Janey Needs a Shooter" (1972), "If I Was the Priest" (1972) og "Song for Orphans" (1971).
Fra bilde-sesjonen som er brukt på plateomslaget
Teksten til "Letter To You" 'Neath a crowd of mongrel trees
I pulled that bothersome thread
Got down on my knees
Grabbed my pen and bowed my head
Tried to summon all that my heart finds true
And send it in my letter to you
Things I found out through hard times and good
I wrote 'em all out in ink and blood
Dug deep in my soul and signed my name true
And sent it in my letter to you
In my letter to you
I took all my fears and doubts
In my letter to you
All the hard things I found out
In my letter to you
All that I've found true
And I sent it in my letter to you
I took all the sunshine and rain
All my happiness and all my pain
The dark evening stars
And the morning sky of blue
And I sent it in my letter to you
And I sent it in my letter to you
In my letter to you
I took all my fears and doubts
In my letter to you
All the hard things that I found out
In my letter to you
All that I found true
And I sent it in my letter to you
I sent it in my letter to you
3. september 2020. From My Home to Yours #11 (2/9-2020)
Den ellevte utgaven av "From My Home to Yours" omhandlet Labour Day (arbeidernes hverdag).
Bruce Springsteen åpnet radioshowet med disse ordene: "Greetings, E Street Nation, friends, fans and listeners from coast to coast. Welcome to our Labor Day extravaganza. Today we are celebrating the American working man and woman, all the folks that keep our world spinning round and round. We opened with 'Fanfare for the Common Man' by Aaron Copland. Now this is The Great One, reminding us, one way or another, we're all working for the man."
Nattens sending var den ellevte i rekken
Temaene for de utvalgte 19. Låtene var altså arbeidervilkår og ikke minst hvordan mange har mistet jobbene etter pandemien som pågår. Det ble presentert seks Springsteen låter. To av disse ble fremført av andre artister: Joe Ely med "Working on the Highway" og Rage Against the Machine med "The Ghost of Tom Joad". Ellers ble "Youngstown" fremført i tillegg til tre live-opptak av "Joe Hill", "Clampton" og "Badlands".
Låtene og diktene som ble fremført: 01. Aaron Copland - "Fanfare for the Common Man"
02. Roy Orbison - "Workin' for the Man"
03. Joe Ely - "Working on the Highway"
04. Mick Flavin - "Working Woman"
05. Jimmy Tingle - "Labor Day"
06. (Dikt lesning) Langston Hughes's "Steel Mills"
07. Bruce Springsteen - "Youngstown"
08. Woody Guthrie - "Union Maid"
09. Hazel Dickens - "Rebel Girl"
10. (Dikt lesning) Joe Hill's "My Last Will"
11. Bruce Springsteen - "Joe Hill" (live in Tampa, FL, 5/1/14)
12. Public Enemy - "Fight the Power"
13. Bruce Springsteen - "Clampdown" (live in Sunrise, FL, 4/29/14)
14. Bruce Springsteen - "Badlands" (live in Tempe, AZ, 11/5/80)
15. (Dikt lesning) Philip Levine's "What Work Is"
16. Rage Against the Machine - "The Ghost of Tom Joad"
17. Donna Summer - "She Works Hard for the Money"
18. Valerie June - "Workin' Woman Blues"
19. Patti Smith - "Piss Factory"
20. John Mellencamp - "Pink Houses"
21. Peter Gabriel - "Don't Give Up"
22. Bob Seger - "Like a Rock"
23. Instrumental interlude: Ola Gjello - "Crystal Sky"
24. (Dikt lesning) Walt Whitman's "I Hear America Singing"
Springsteens radioshow, ord for ord:
“Greetings, E Street Nation, friends, fans and listeners from coast to coast. Welcome to our Labor Day extravaganza. Today we are celebrating the American working man and woman, all the folks that keep our world spinning round and round. We opened with ‘Fanfare for the Common Man’ by Aaron Copland. Now this is The Great One, reminding us, one way or another, we’re all workin’ for the man.”
“Working for the Man,” Roy Orbison
“Working on the Highway,” Joe Ely
“That was a great friend of mine, Joe Ely, the fabulous singer-songwriter-rocker out of Texas, with ‘Working on the Highway.’ And before that, of course, The Voice, The Great One, Roy Orbison, with ‘Working for the Man.’ Let’s send one to the working women out there.”
“Working Woman,” Mick Flavin
(Springsteen plays a comedy bit about Labor Day by Jimmy Tingle.)
“The mills
That grind and grind,
That grind out new steel
And grind away the lives
Of men, —
In the sunset
Their stacks
Are great black silhouettes
Against the sky.
In the dawn
They belch red fire.
The mills, —
Grinding out new steel.
“Grinding out new steel. That’s Langston Hughes.”
“Youngstown,” Bruce Springsteen
“Union Maid,” Woody Guthrie
“Rebel Girl,” Hazel Dickens
” ‘Rebel Girl.’ Dudley Connell, Hazel Dickens and Tom Adams. Song by Joe Hill. And before that, ‘Union Maid,’ with Woody Guthrie.
“Now born in 1879, Joe Hill was a Swedish-American labor activist and a member of the Industrial Workers of the World, better known as The Wobblies. He was dubiously convicted of a murder, and executed by firing squad on Nov. 19, 1915, at Utah’s Sugar House Prison. This was his Last Will and Testament:
“My will is easy to decide,
For there is nothing to divide
My kin don’t need to fuss and moan —
Moss does not cling to a rolling stone
My body? — Oh! —If I could choose
I would want to ashes it reduce,
And let the merry breezes blow
My dust to where some flowers grow
Perhaps some fading flower then
Would come to life and bloom again
This is my last and final will. —
Good luck to all of you,
— Joe Hill”
“Joe Hill,” Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
“Fight the Power,” Public Enemy
“Clampdown,” Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, featuring Tom Morello
“Badlands,” Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
“That is ‘Badlands,’ live at Arizona State University, November 1980, the night after Ronald Reagan was elected president. Before that, The Clash’s ‘Clampdown’ as performed by yours truly with Tom Morello and the E Street Band in Sunrise, Fla., April 29, 2014. And previous to that, the all-time classic ‘Fight the Power,’ by Public Enemy.
“We stand in the rain in a long line
waiting at Ford Highland Park. For work.
You know what work is — if you’re
old enough to read this you know what
work is, although you may not do it.
Forget you. This is about waiting,
shifting from one foot to another.
Feeling the light rain falling like mist
into your hair, blurring your vision
until you think you see your own brother
ahead of you, maybe ten places.
You rub your glasses with your fingers,
and of course it’s someone else’s brother,
narrower across the shoulders than
yours but with the same sad slouch, the grin
that does not hide the stubbornness,
the sad refusal to give in to
rain, to the hours of wasted waiting,
to the knowledge that somewhere ahead
a man is waiting who will say, ‘No,
we’re not hiring today,’ for any
reason he wants. You love your brother,
now suddenly you can hardly stand
the love flooding you for your brother,
who’s not beside you or behind or
ahead because he’s home trying to
sleep off a miserable night shift
at Cadillac so he can get up
before noon to study his German.
Works eight hours a night so he can sing
Wagner, the opera you hate most,
the worst music ever invented.
How long has it been since you told him
you loved him, held his wide shoulders,
opened your eyes wide and said those words,
and maybe kissed his cheek? You’ve never
done something so simple, so obvious,
not because you’re too young or too dumb,
not because you’re jealous or even mean
or incapable of crying in
the presence of another man, no,
just because you don’t know what work is.”
“The Ghost of Tom Joad,” Rage Against the Machine
“That is ‘The Ghost of Tom Joad,’ by Rage Against the Machine. And prior to that, ‘What Work Is,’ by poet Philip Levine. And this is the Queen of Disco, Donna Summer.”
“She Works Hard for the Money,” Donna Summer
“I had the pleasure of writing a song and doing a session with Donna and Quincy Jones in the mid-’80s. She was absolutely lovely. I originally wrote ‘Cover Me’ for her, and then Mr. Landau heard it and, doing his duty as my manager, advised me to keep it. So I wrote a song, ‘Protection,’ for her, and recorded it with her. Good, but no ‘Cover Me.’ ”
“Workin’ Woman Blues,” Valerie June
“Piss Factory,” Patti Smith
“All right, that’s ‘Piss Factory’ from 1974, by my beautiful friend Patti Smith and Richard Sohl. One of the best songs about factory work I’ve ever heard. And now, from my man John Mellencamp, terrific American songwriter, this is ‘Pink Houses.’ ”
“This Labor Day, we have to pause and to think of the millions of Americans who have been displaced and left jobless by the coronavirus. There is little as painful as to be without productive work. So for this Labor Day, we send our prayers up for a healthy working nation, in the coming days, months and years ahead.”
“Don’t Give Up,” Peter Gabriel, featuring Kate Bush
“Like a Rock,” Bob Seger
“I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,
Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,
The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck,
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands,
The wood-cutter’s song, the ploughboy’s on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown,
The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing,
Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,
The day what belongs to the day — at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.
— Walt Whitman.
“That’s our show for today, folks. Until we meet again, stay strong, stay healthy, stay safe, and have a wonderful Labor Day.”
1. september 2020. All the songs - The Story Behind Every Track
Denne høsten slippes boken "Bruce Springsteen: All the songs - The Story Behind Every Track".
Boken er gitt ut av Octupus/Hachete og inneholder 672 sider. Boken tar for seg så og si samtlige låter som Springsteen har utgitt, sortert kronologisk, og spenner seg fra debutalbumet "Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J." til "Western Stars".
All the songs - The Story Behind Every Track
Klikk her for å se et utdrag på 16 sider fra boken.
Boken kan sammenlignes med Brian Hiatt's bok "Bruce Springsteen: The Stories Behind the Songs", som ble utgitt i fjor.
