Born in the U.S.A. - Springsteen, Bruce (CD 1984)

Like, you are reading a gnarly review for the 80's Fer Shur! W/O hosted by Lisa_J. So don t have a cow if you find the product cheesy! Recently celebrating her 36th birthday, she strolled back into 80 s ville. Feel free to schmooze the hostess by crashing this awesome w/o.


BRUCE, the totally tubular stud
Springsteen first made himself known in the 1970 s. In 1973, his first album Greetings From Asbury Park, New Jersey, the awesome Bruce has been non-stop ever since. That is, until the E Street Band drifted apart. Just starting out, Springsteen was a member of a few New Jersey based bands before he recorded the first album. The first album, did not have the popularity that was hoped for along with the second album, The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle. But Springsteen s music was developing non-the-less. That is the reason that by 1975, the Springsteen name was becoming a big one, thankful to his classic Born To Run album. Because of bogus legal problems, we did not see a fourth album until a few years later...Darkness On The Edge Of Town.

1980 - The River
1982 - Nebraska
1984 - Born In The U.S.A.
1986 - Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band Live 1975-1985
1987 - Tunnel Of Love
1988 - Chimes Of Freedom
1992 - Human Touch
1992 - Lucky Town
1992 - Bruce Springsteen In Concert
1995 - The Ghost Of Tom Joad
1995 - Greatest Hits
1998 - Tracks
1999 - 18 Tracks
2001 - Live in NYC
2002 - The Rising

Born In The U.S.A. was fresh, immensely popular, went platinum seven times over, and included several top ten hits, including Born In The U.S.A. , Cover Me , Glory Days , My Hometown , I m On Fire , I m Going Down , and Dancing In The Dark.


TRACK LISTING
Born In The U.S.A...(4:39)
I m ten years burning down the road. Nowhere to run, ain t got nowhere to go.
The title track that took a beating, when the former President (Reagan) misunderstood the lyrics. It is about a man who was born in this great country but got into a little trouble and got sent into the military to be reformed. His brother also fought in the military but he didn t make it through the war. But this singer has something that he is fighting for.

Cover Me...(3:26)
Well, I m looking for a lover who will come on in and cover me.
A man looking for someone to share his life with and help him block out the rest of the crazy world.

Darlington County...(4:48)
Hey little girl, standing on the corner. Today s your lucky day for sure all right.
Two friends driving down from New York into Darlington County to pick up a girl. Guys have a lot of money and are looking for someone to spend it on.

Working On The Highway...(3:12)
Someday Mister, I m going to lead a better life than this.
A flagger that works on the highway, dreaming of a better life. Meets a girl, takes her away, but then gets arrested and sent to jail. So he s back to working on the highway, as part of a chain gang this time around.

Downbound Train...(3:35)
Last night I heard your voice. You were crying, crying. You were so alone.
A man whose life has made a turn for the worst. Lost both his job and his girl. Feels like his life is getting worse everyday. Not my favorite song on the CD.

I m On Fire...(2:36)
I got a bad desire. I m on fire.
A man on fire for a girl who will not leave her daddy. He promises that he could do more for her than her daddy can. One the best songs on this CD, even though it is a little on the short side.

No Surrender...(4:00)
We made a promise we swore we d always remember. No retreat, baby no surrender.
Two boys cutting school together who vowed to be blood brothers for all times. Remembering those days while the war rages on.

Bobby Jean...(3:46)
Your mother said you went away. She said there was nothing that I could have done.
A young man who never got to say goodbye to his friend. A friend that left town without telling him, the only person that ever understood him for who he was.

I m Going Down...(3:29)
I pull you close, but when we kiss I can feel a doubt.
A young love that has gone sour. The man is starting to have doubts about the relationship when the girl starts turning drifting away.

Glory Days...(4:15)
Glory days, well they ll pass you by.
This song is about how life goes on when you least expect it. You may not always be as popular as you once used to be. Life goes on whether you want it to or not, sometimes in the direction you least expect it to. Another one of those popular songs that seems to always remind me of Bruce.

Dancing In The Dark...(4:01)
You can t start a fire. You can t start a fire, without a spark.
A man who is just tired of his life and doesn t know what to do about it. He has the desire too change, but has no help.

My Hometown...(4:33)
Last night I sat him up, behind the wheel and said, son take a good look around, this is your hometown.
A child growing up in a town with his father who seems to take pride in their hometown. That same child grows up and has a family of his own. Unfortunately the man cannot show the same pride in his hometown that his father once did because of the problems between the black and white citizens and how the community has just shut done. The man thinking about getting his family out of his hometown. Definitely a classic and my favorite on the CD, My Hometown is heartbreaking and thoughtful.


Vocals: Bruce Springsteen
Saxophone: Clarence Clemons
Guitar: Steven Van Zandt
Guitar: Nils Lofgren
Drums: Max Weinburg
Keyboards: Danny Frederici
Bass: Gary Tallent
Guitar and Background Vocals: Patti Scialfa



MY THOUGHTS
Springsteen is one of the favorite performers that my family has. When the music discussion comes up, Bruce is the only musician that we can actually all say that we enjoy...my oldest brother and I being the die-hard fans. When we heard that Springsteen was going on tour again, we were both spazzing out. We both thought it was like, totally bogus when the Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale concert dates coming up were sold out within a half hour of the tickets going on sale.

This performer has definitely created a radical style all his own. I don t even know what to call it. It s kind of rock, rhythm & blues and pop all mixed into one unique style. His material on each album seems to jump from one spectrum to the next, being emotional and introspective one minute, and them upbeat and lively the next. Like, you just never know what to expect from him. Springsteen is also one of the most enthusiastic and hard-working performers that I have come across in concert. Some of the songs on the Born In The U.S.A. CD are a bit dated, as you can tell by some of the background music that is played. You can almost transport yourself back to the 80 s, fer shur.

Like, in my opinion, Born In The U.S.A. was not one of Springsteen s best albums, but certainly was one of his best selling. This album stayed on the top charts for over 2 years and sold over 12 million copies. Overall, I have enjoyed all of Springsteen s career, with and without the E Street Band. But I guess I will have to veg out at home listening to my CD s since the concert is sold out. What a major bum o-rama!

~ All music written by Bruce Springsteen.
~ Performed by The E Street Band.
~ Produced by Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin, Steve Van Zandt.


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