Confessions of a Fanboy

So, last night I was a bit down in the dumps and I had trouble rolling my big ass out of bed and getting started this morning. The truth is, I’m not a morning person. Ever. Today was a little tougher to get started than most.

Once I got up and started moving and getting ready for my day, I started making the most important decision of every morning: do I want to take a CD with me to listen to in the car, or do I want to listen to ESPN Radio and wait for music until I get to work and can rock the iPod. Knowing I was on fumes and in need of a kickstart, I decided a CD was necessary. That gave way to another important decision: what to bring? Which album would give me the right kick start?

Some of you will remember that when in a situation not too dissimilar from this a couple weeks ago, I reached for Bruce Springsteen’s classic “Born to Run. I remembered that, and thought once again that album might be up to the task. What I also remembered as I plucked the CD from the 30th Anniversary package is that I’d written something up on the album for a series I’ve been meaning to introduce here on the site. Synergy. Born to Run is the right album for the right time on so many levels.

The name of this series is The Deserted Island Collection, a concept that should be pretty self-explanatory. I’m sure we’ve all played the game where we’ve had to discuss who or what we might bring with us were we to be stranded on a deserted island. One variant of that is to name the album or albums you might bring with you should you be in that situation. For me, Born to Run is one of those albums.

Here’s why:

What do you say about a 30-year old album that has reached legendary status? Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band are in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Born to Run has more than a little to do with that. Born to Run is the rock on which the Gospel of Springsteen is built. Fans might like other Springsteen albums better but no one can deny how important this album was to his career and is to his legacy.

A lot of Springsteen-ologists have waxed poetic about the virtues of this album and done so in a manner that would put my tiny tribute to shame. I am not going to spend time trying to convince anyone that the album is great. It is. That discussion was laid to rest decades ago. Instead, I want to talk about why this album moves me.

Born to Run is teenagers and youth. The youth of today might not be listening to Springsteen anymore but they have not changed that much. Cars are still independence. Dreams are still big. Life is still dramatic and adventures are epic. Every decision is filtered first through the emotional lens. Love still feels like a matter of life and death. Patience is no virtue because every moment is filled with potential and possibility. Defining moments or breaking points are a heartbeat away.

They are not exactly kids, the characters in these eight songs. They have the hopes and dreams of the young but are old enough and experienced enough to see pitfalls and obstacles between them and those dreams. The invincibility of youth is still in tact but it is beginning to fray at the edges. Desperation is setting in.

Every note in every song tells us these kids believe they think this might be their last chance for salvation. The music and the vocals match the intensity and drama of the lyrics. The desperation is palpable. Some of these people are going to find redemption and glory and freedom and all the things their dreams are made of. Most of them will not. That realization is just beginning to take shape in their minds. These eight songs play like eight scenes from a movie or eight scenes from eight different movies. There are characters and scenes and actions and dialog. Some of today’s directors might do well to include some of those things in their movies!

Not every song on the album deals with themes of teenage rebellion, youthful hopes and fears, or escape and freedom. Those themes permeate the album because of Springsteen’s vocals. The youth and vitality in his voice is undeniable. There are moments when it sounds like he is trying to sound wise beyond his years and experience. He almost pulls it off but cannot quite escape the youthful exuberance in his soul. The earnestness makes the album all the more endearing.

The last verse of “Born to Run” might be my favorite moment on the album lyrically, sonically, musically, and spiritually. The song opens with such a bang you would think it impossible for there to be any room for it to climb the ladder. It defies explanation. When that part of the song plays I just have to stop what I am doing and listen. It might not be chic or imaginative to say “Thunder Road” and “Born to Run” are my favorite songs on the album, but they are. These songs are classics because they really do matter and are nearly perfect. I love them and understand why people who have seen Springsteen in concert dozens of times never tire of hearing them.

What I also love about this record, in comparison to his excellent first two, is that Springsteen’s rock-and-roller image starts to emerge. There is still plenty of the sensitive singer/songwriter, but songs like “Night” and “She’s the One” are among the best and earliest signs that he spent as much time listening to Chuck Berry as he had to Bob Dylan. How many songs about the saving power of rock and roll has Paul Stanley written? Springsteen may have never painted his face, but he’s sold that same idea directly and indirectly in songs as well. I prefer Springsteen’s form of salvation to Stanley’s, but I think you get the idea.

I leave you with one final thought: I still do not know what a “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” is. My whole life I have never known. I still don’t. If I am ever stranded on a desert island, I can see myself trying to solve that mystery.

I would want Born to Run with me if I were ever stranded on a desert island because its explosiveness alone would propel me all the way back home.

Filed under: Tags: Bruce Springsteen, The Deserted Island Collection