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DANCING IN THE DARK
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.
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1984
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2
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[Q]
Bruce Springsteen: "He (producer Landau) suggested we didn't have a single. [So] I wrote 'Dancing in the Dark.' It went as far in the direction of pop music as I wanted to go � and probably a little farther." (Rolling Stone)
Steve Van Zandt: "It was much, much, much more produced. I didn't like that song when I first heard it. Much later I learned to like it." (Rolling Stone)
**KILL ME**
[P]
(Bruce Springsteen)
Bruce Springsteen � lead vocals, lead guitar, acoustic guitar
Steven Van Zandt � acoustic guitar, mandolin, harmony vocals
Garry Tallent � bass, background vocals
Max Weinberg � drums, background vocals
Roy Bittan � piano, synthesizer, background vocals
Clarence Clemons � saxophone, percussion, background vocals
Danny Federici � organ, glockenspiel
Produced: Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt
Engineered: Toby Scott
Mixed: Bob Clearmountain
Recorded at: The Hit Factory, New York, New York, USA, Feb 14, 1984
**KILL ME**
W S
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BORN TO RUN
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.
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1975
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23
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[Q]
Bruce Springsteen: "I don't know if it's my best, but it surprises me how I know so much about what my life was about at that time. ..... When I wrote it, it was about a guy and a girl that wanted to run and keep on running. As I got older, I realized how much that was me, and how much I didn't want it to end up being me. ..... If 'Born to Run' said, 'I want this' - whether it was individual freedom, home, friendship, love or the search for something better - fifteen years down the line you understand much clearer what those things are and what they cost. And their importance. And that's growin' up!"
(1988:on tour)
Bruce Springsteen: "I wanted to make the greatest rock record that I'd ever heard. I wanted it to sound enormous, to grab you by your throat and insist that you take that ride, insist that you pay attention � not just to the music, but to life, to being alive." (Rolling Stone)
Ernest "Boom" Carter: "We went through a lot of different ways of playing it. I became a pretty good dart player, pool player, hanging out in that studio." Springsteen hit his target, ending up with a brash, careening masterpiece that became his signature anthem. At age 64, he's still able to infuse passion and meaning when he plays it with the E Street Band under blazing house lights. It was a record of enormous longing, and those emotions and desires never leave you. You're dead when that leaves you. The song transcends your age and continues to speak to that part of you that is both exhilarated and frightened about what tomorrow brings. It will always do that � that's how it was built." (Rolling Stone)
**KILL ME**
[P]
(Bruce Springsteen)
Bruce Springsteen � lead vocals, electric/acoustic guitars
Garry Tallent � bass
Ernest "Boom" Carter � drums
David Sancious � piano, Fender Rhodes electric piano, synthesizer
Danny Federici � Hammond organ, glockenspiel
Clarence Clemons � tenor saxophone
Uncredited - tambourines, strings, brass
Produced: Bruce Springsteen, Mike Appel
Engineered: Louis Lahav
Recorded at: 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, New York, USA, August 6, 1974
**KILL ME**
W S
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BORN IN THE U.S.A.
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.
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1984
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9
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[Q]
Bruce Springsteen: "The first time you do a song, you think that's the only way. 'Born in the USA' began as a song for 'Nebraska,' the acoustic version that's on 'Tracks.' A week or so later, I realized it could be a big rock song, so we eventually did it with the band. Then it comes out, people interpret and misinterpret it, then I start to think of it as a 'G.I. Blues' type of song, so I do it in a blues version. Then it gets some Eastern tonalities, from the 12-string, and you get to the version here." (2001:N.Y.Daily News )
Bruce Springsteen: "We just kinda did it off the cuff. I never taught it to the band. I went in and said, 'Roy, get this riff.' And he just pulled out that sound, played the riff on the synthesizer. We played it two times, and our second take is on the rec�ord. That's why the guys are really on the edge.?.?.?.?To me, [Max Weinberg] was right up there with the best of them on that song. There was no arrangement. I said, 'When I stop, keep the drums going.' That thing in the end with all the drums, that just kinda happened." (Rolling Stone)
**KILL ME**
[P]
(Bruce Springsteen)
Bruce Springsteen � lead vocals, lead guitar, acoustic guitar
Steven Van Zandt � acoustic guitar, mandolin, harmony vocals
Garry Tallent � bass guitar, background vocals
Max Weinberg � drums, background vocals
Roy Bittan � piano, synthesizer, background vocals
Clarence Clemons � saxophone, percussion, background vocals
Danny Federici � organ, glockenspiel, piano
Produced: Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt
Engineered: Bill Scheniman, oby Scott
Mixed: Bob Clearmountain
Recorded at: The Power Station, New York, New York, USA, Apr 27-28, May 3, 1982
**KILL ME**
W S A Y S
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HUNGRY HEART
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.
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1980
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5
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[Q]
Bruce Springsteen: "My first real top 10 smash. I guess my real entrance into the pop mainstream. I met The Ramones in Ashbury Park and Joey asked me to write a song for 'em. I went home that night and wrote this. I played it for Jon Landau and earning his money he advised me to keep it." (Greatest Hits, Inc liner notes)
Bruce Springsteen: "I saw the Ramones in Asbury Park, and we were talking for a while and I was like, �Man I�ve got to write the Ramones a song.� So I went home and I sat at my table and I wrote it in about the time it took me to sing it. I brought it in and we went to make a demo for it or I played it for [Johnny Ramone], and he said, �Nah, you better keep that one.� He was right about that. It did pretty well."
**KILL ME**
[I]
When Springsteen met Joey Ramone in Asbury Park, New Jersey, Ramone asked him to write a song for The Ramones. Springsteen composed "Hungry Heart" that night, but decided to keep it for himself on the advice of his producer and manager, Jon Landau. The title is drawn from a line in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's famous poem "Ulysses": "For always roaming with a hungry heart". (Wikipedia)
This song explores a man's wanderlust contrasted with his desire for a stable family life. (Songfacts)
**KILL ME**
[P]
(Bruce Springsteen)
Bruce Springsteen � lead vocals, electric/acoustic guitars, 12-string electric guitar, ......... harmonica, percussion
Steven Van Zandt � rhythm electric/acoustic guitar, harmony/backing vocals
Garry Tallent � bass
Max Weinberg � drums, percussion
Roy Bittan � piano, background vocals
Clarence Clemons � tenor/baritone saxophone, percussion, backing vocals
Danny Federici � organ, glockenspiel
Howard Kaylan � harmony vocals
Mark Volman � harmony vocals
Produced: Jon Landau, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt
Engineered: Neil Dorfsman
Mixed: Bob Clearmountain
Recorded at: The Power Station, New York, New York, USA, June 14,21; Sep 5, 1979
**KILL ME**
W S
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MY HOMETOWN
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.
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1985
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6
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[Q]
Bruce Springsteen: "The marriage between a community and a company is a special thing that involves a special trust. What do you do after ten years or 20 years, you wake up in the morning and see your livelihood sailing away from you, leaving you standing on the dock? What happens when the jobs go away and the people remain? What goes unmeasured is the price that unemployment inflicts on people's families, on their marriages, on the single mothers out there trying to raise their kids on their own. The 3M company: it's their money, it's their plant. But it's the 3M workers' jobs. I'm here to say that I think that after 25 years of service from a community, there is a debt owed to the 3M workers and to my hometown." (1986:benefit show concert, Stone Pony, in Asbury Park, New Jersey)
**KILL ME**
[I]
The song�s lyrics begin with the speaker�s memories of his father instilling pride in the family�s hometown. While it first appears that the song will be a nostalgic look at the speaker�s childhood, the song then goes on to describe the racial violence and economic depression that the speaker witnessed as an adolescent and middle-aged man. The song concludes with the speaker�s reluctant proclamation that he plans to move his family out of the town, but not without first taking HIS son on a drive and expressing the same community pride that was instilled in him by his father. (Wikipedia)
This song is about Springsteen's experiences growing up in Freehold, New Jersey, his hometown. The lyrics are a bleak portrait of life for the working class in the Reagan era, as many small towns fell apart. It helped earn Springsteen the reputation as a voice for the common man. (Songfacts)
**KILL ME**
[P]
(Bruce Springsteen)
Bruce Springsteen � lead vocals, lead guitar, acoustic guitar
Steven Van Zandt � acoustic guitar, mandolin, harmony vocals
Garry Tallent � bass, background vocals
Max Weinberg � drums, background vocals
Roy Bittan � piano, synthesizer, background vocals
Clarence Clemons � saxophone, percussion, background vocals
Danny Federici � organ, glockenspiel
Ruth Davis � background vocals
Produced: Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt
Engineered: Toby Scott
Mixed: Bob Clearmountain
Recorded at: The Hit Factory, New York, New York, USA, June 29, 1983
**KILL ME**
W S
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STREETS OF PHILIDELPHIA
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.
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1994
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9
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[Q]
Bruce Springsteen: "I had a very close friend who had a sarcoma cancer and died right around that time. For me, it was a very devastating experience, being close to illness of that magnitude. I had never experienced what it calls on or asks of the people around the person who is so ill. Part of that experience ended up in the song.
You caught a particular isolation that many gay AIDS patients experience. When there are walls between people and there is a lack of acceptance, you can reach for that particular kind of communion: "receive me, brother" is the lyric in the last verse.
That's all anybody's asking for-basically some sort of acceptance and to not be left alone. There was a certain spiritual stillness that I wanted to try to capture. Then I just tried to send in a human voice, as human a voice as I possibly could. I wanted you to be in somebody's head, hearing their thoughts-somebody who was on the cusp of death but still experiencing the feeling of being very alive." (1996:The Advocate)
Bruce Springsteen: "I've never written specifically for a picture, because it tends to be a difficult way to write. You don't just pick a topic and write a song about it. He [Jonathan Demme] gave me an idea emotionally of what he was looking for, and I said, "Well I'm not very good at doing that. I don't think I can write in that fashion". But I took a swing at it and sent him the best that I had, and hoped that he liked it.
He [Demme] sent me the piece of the film that's at the top of the picture. It opens up and you're inside this person's head, and you have the rare opportunity to get acquainted with the character and the circumstances before the movie actually starts. So the song is very internal, the voice of the song is someone's thoughts, the person is almost telling the story to themselves.
The scenes he sent me were of kids playing, people on the street, people walking, just daily life. So the idea was to contrast how this person was in a life and death struggle with all these images of life -- fire engines, people at the bakery. I felt the juxtaposition might work. I thought the sound was 'wide'. It moved slowly. The music was meant to feel like an orchestra. It seemed to go well with the images he sent me."
[Written from point of view of character]"I tried to do that, but at the same time make it more general emotionally. The song could be about a lot of things -- the spiritual, how your soul feels, how everybody's felt, hopefully, like these characters at some point. I wanted it to be read a few different ways." (1994:Mojo)
**KILL ME**
W S
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BRILLIANT DISGUISE
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.
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1987
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5
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[Q]
Bruce Springsteen: "I guess it sounds like a song of betrayal - who's that person sleeping next to me, who am I? Do I know enough about myself to be honest with that person? But a funny thing happens: songs shift their meanings when you sing them, they shift their meanings in time, they shift their meanings with who you sing them with. When you sing this song with someone you love, it turns into something else." (2005:Storytellers)
**KILL ME**
[I]
The lyrics of "Brilliant Disguise" represent a confession of self-doubt on the part of the singer. The emotions expressed in the song include confusion, jealousy and anxiety about whether the singer's wife has become a stranger to him. The song deals with the masks people wear and the bitterness that can ensue when we realize the darkness that may lie behind those masks. The analogies to Springsteen's personal life at the time are evident: he had recently married then-model and actress Julianne Phillips, and the two would divorce in 1988. The references to marital problems are quite direct. (Wikipedia)
**KILL ME**
[P]
(Bruce Springsteen)
Bruce Springsteen � lead/backing vocals, guitar, mandolin, bass, keyboards, ..... harmonica, percussion, drum machines
Roy Bittan � piano
Danny Federici � organ
Max Weinberg � drums
Produced: Jon Landau, Bruce Springsteen, Chuck Plotkin
Engineered: Roger Talkov
Mixed: Bob Clearmountain
Recorded: Thrill Hill East (Springsteen's home studio), Apr 1987
**KILL ME**
W S
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GLORY DAYS
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.
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1985
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5
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[Q]
Bruce Springsteen: "The first verse actually happened, the second verse mostly happened, the third verse, of course, is happening now." ()
Bruce Springsteen: "I wanted to get a merry-go-round organ sound, like a roller rink. That's a happy sound." (Rolling Stone)
Steven Van Zandt: "Occasionally, you need some comic relief." (Rolling Stone)
**KILL ME**
[I]
Originally, "Glory Days" had a downcast verse about Springsteen's dad, who "ain't never had glory days" � but Bruce removed it, preserving the song's light tone of wry nostalgia. (Rolling Stone)
**KILL ME**
[P]
(Bruce Springsteen)
Bruce Springsteen � lead vocals, lead guitar, acoustic guitar
Steven Van Zandt � acoustic guitar, mandolin, harmony vocals
Garry Tallent � bass guitar, background vocals
Max Weinberg � drums, background vocals
Roy Bittan � piano, synthesizer, background vocals
Clarence Clemons � saxophone, percussion, background vocals
Danny Federici � organ, glockenspiel
Produced: Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt
Engineered: Toby Scott
Mixed: Bob Clearmountain
Recorded at: The Power Station, New York, New York, USA, Apr 27-28, May 5, 1982
**KILL ME**
W S
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THE RISING
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.
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2002
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52
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[Q]
Bruce Springsteen: ""What happened last September (9/11) was a very natural thing to write about, and there were a lot of obviously inspirational things happening at the time. You're trying to contextualise the event for yourself. I think that's where it starts. It starts with you trying to do it for yourself, and then in the process, because I learnt the language of songwriting and music, I try to communicate and hopefully do it for other people. I'm just doing something that's useful for me, and then hopefully in some fashion it's gonna be useful and will provide some service to my audience."" (2002:Uncut)
**KILL ME**
[Q]
(Bruce Springsteen)
Produced:
Engineered:
Recorded at:
**KILL ME**
W S
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SECRET GARDEN
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.
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1995
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63
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W S
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I'M GOIN' DOWN
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.
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1985
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9
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[Q]
Bruce Springsteen: "[First] you're making love to 'em all the time, three or four times a day. Then you come back a little bit later, and, uh-oh ... it's like 'Are you gonna make love to me tonight, or are we gonna wait for the full moon again', y'know?" (1984:concert introductions)
Bruce Springsteen: "one of my more insightful songs about men and women." (concert introductions)
Bruce Springsteen: "It was either this or 'Pink Cadillac." (concert introductions)
**KILL ME**
[I]
Springsteen introduced the song by describing the diminishing intimacy and sexual activity that can occur over the course of a romantic relationship. (Wikipedia)
**KILL ME**
[P]
(Bruce Springsteen)
Bruce Springsteen � lead vocals, lead guitar, acoustic guitar
Steven Van Zandt � acoustic guitar, mandolin, harmony vocals
Garry Tallent � bass guitar, background vocals
Max Weinberg � drums, background vocals
Roy Bittan � piano, synthesizer, background vocals
Clarence Clemons � saxophone, percussion, background vocals
Danny Federici � organ, glockenspiel
Produced: Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt
Engineered: Toby Scott
Mixed: Bob Clearmountain
Recorded at: The Power Station, New York, New York, USA, May 12-13, 1982
**KILL ME**
W
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PROVE IT ALL NIGHT
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.
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1978
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33
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|
[Q]
Bruce Springsteen: "He was just talking about how?.?.?.?all your life you gotta prove something to somebody. He says, 'I gotta go home, I gotta prove it to my wife � I come to work, I gotta prove it to my boss.'" (1978:concert audience)
**KILL ME**
W
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COVER ME
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.
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1984
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7
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[I]
The song was recorded in January 1982, during the first wave of the Born in the U.S.A. sessions. At the time, the song was originally suggested for Donna Summer, but rejected by Jon Landau in favor of "Protection" (another song written by Springsteen). (Wikipedia)
**KILL ME**
[P]
(Bruce Springsteen)
Bruce Springsteen � lead vocals, lead guitar, acoustic guitar
Steven Van Zandt � acoustic guitar, mandolin, harmony vocals
Garry Tallent � bass, background vocals
Max Weinberg � drums, background vocals
Roy Bittan � piano, synthesizer, background vocals
Clarence Clemons � saxophone, percussion, background vocals
Danny Federici � organ, glockenspiel
Richie "La Bamba" Rosenberg � background vocals
Produced: Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt
Engineered: Toby Scott
Mixed: Bob Clearmountain
Recorded at: The Hit Factory, New York, New York, USA, January 25, 1982
**KILL ME**
W S
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WE TAKE CARE OF OUR OWN
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.
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2012
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106
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[I]
The lyrics express Springsteen's frustration that�after several years of economic hard times�people are less willing to help each other. The narrator asks where he can find merciful hearts or work to set his hands and soul free and makes references to Hurricane Katrina. However, the refrain strikes a more optimistic (or ironic depending on listener interpretation) note that "Wherever this flag is flown/We take care of our own." NPR's Ann Powers describes the song as "a bitter anthem" and states that on this song, as with "Born in the U.S.A.," "Glory Days", and 2008's "Girls in Their Summer Clothes," "Springsteen brings out big emotions and then demands we drop the delusions that often accompany them." (Wikipedia)
**KILL ME**
W
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HUMAN TOUCH
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,
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1992
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16
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W S
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BADLANDS
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.
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1978
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42
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[Q]
Bruce Springsteen: "I came up with titles, and I went in search of songs that would deserve the title. Badlands' � that's a great title, but it would be easy to blow it! But I kept writing, and I kept writing, and I kept writing and writing until I had a song that I felt deserved that title." (Rolling Stone)
**KILL ME**
W S
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TUNNEL OF LOVE
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.
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1987
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9
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[Q]
Bruce Springsteen: "There's a world of love there, and there's a world of fear, too.?.?.?.?Very often that fear feels a lot realer and certainly more urgent than the feeling of love." (Rolling Stone)
**KILL ME**
[I]
The song uses a fairground funhouse ride as a metaphor for marriage. The relationship described in the song has three principals - the singer, his wife, and all the things they are scared of. The singer feels that marriage should be simple ("man meets woman and they fall in love"), but recognizes that along the way the ride can become difficult and unpredictable. The characters in the song laugh when they see each other in the funhouse mirrors, but it is not clear if they are laughing out of humor, or laughing at each other in derision. The song notes that it is all too easy for two people to lose each other on the "funhouse ride" of marriage. (Wikipedia)
**KILL ME**
[P]
(Bruce Springsteen)
Bruce Springsteen � lead/backing vocals, guitar, mandolin, bass, keyboards, ..... harmonica, percussion, drum machines
Roy Bittan � piano
Nils Lofgren � guitar solo
Max Weinberg � drums
Patti Scialfa � backing vocals
Produced: Jon Landau, Bruce Springsteen, Chuck Plotkin
Engineered: Roger Talkov
Mixed: Bob Clearmountain
Recorded: Thrill Hill East (Springsteen's home studio), Apr 1987
**KILL ME**
W S
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WORKING ON A DREAM
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.
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2008
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95
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[Q]
Bruce Springsteen: "Obama's a unique figure in history. The fundamental American-ness of his story and the fact that he represents for many, many people an image and a view of the country that felt like it was so long missing in action. His election was an incredible moment for someone who seemed to carry, both seriously, and... not, not lightly but without great burden, enormous parts of American history with him. Enormous and painful parts.
Somebody who can reckon with the past, who can live with the past in the present, and move towards the future - that's fabulous. And for the country to recognise that was a wonderful moment. This place we've been talking about, singing about... it's alive. It isn't dead. It exists. That dynamic in my life has been a big part of staying alive. Staying present. Not fucking it up too bad at any given time. But it's a day-to-day experience. There's always tomorrow and, hopefully, you can use the word 'hopefully' now. You can live here, and use the word 'hopefully'. So that's pretty nice." (2009:The Guardian)
**KILL ME**
[P]
(Bruce Springsteen)
Bruce Springsteen � lead vocals, guitars, harmonica, keyboards, percussion, glockenspiel
Roy Bittan � piano, organ, accordion
Clarence Clemons � saxophone, backing vocals
Danny Federici � organ
Nils Lofgren � guitars, vocals
Garry Tallent � bass
Steven Van Zandt � guitars, backing vocals
Max Weinberg � drums
Soozie Tyrell � violin, backing vocals
Patti Scialfa � backing vocals
Produced: Brendan O'Brien
Engineered: Toby Scott, Tom Syrowski
Recorded:
**KILL ME**
W S
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I'M ON FIRE
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.
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1985
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6
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[I]
"I'm on Fire" was recorded in February 1982 during the first wave of Born in the U.S.A. sessions. This took place in impromptu fashion when Springsteen started making up a slow tune on guitar for some lyrics he had, some of which had been written for "Spanish Eyes", which would later surface on The Promise, and drummer Max Weinberg and keyboardist Roy Bittan, hearing it for the first time, created an accompaniment on the spot. (Wikipedia)
The song is about a man who wakes up with night sweats lusting for a woman - he feels like he's on fire when he suddenly awakes. (Songfacts)
**KILL ME**
[P]
(Bruce Springsteen)
Bruce Springsteen � lead vocals, lead guitar, acoustic guitar
Steven Van Zandt � acoustic guitar, mandolin, harmony vocals
Garry Tallent � bass guitar, background vocals
Max Weinberg � drums, background vocals
Roy Bittan � piano, synthesizer, background vocals
Clarence Clemons � saxophone, percussion, background vocals
Danny Federici � organ, glockenspiel
Produced: Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt
Engineered: Toby Scott
Mixed: Bob Clearmountain
Recorded at: The Power Station, New York, New York, USA, May 11, 1982
**KILL ME**
W S
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FADE AWAY
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.
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1981
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20
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[I]
Rock author Jimmy Guterman wrote that "Fade Away" is "certainly among his most pessimistic and helpless depictions of life and love gone wrong." (Wikipedia)
**KILL ME**
[P]
(Bruce Springsteen)
Bruce Springsteen � lead vocals, electric/acoustic guitars, 12-string electric guitar, ......... harmonica, percussion
Steven Van Zandt � rhythm electric/acoustic guitar, harmony/backing vocals
Garry Tallent � bass
Max Weinberg � drums, percussion
Roy Bittan � piano, background vocals
Clarence Clemons � tenor/baritone saxophone, percussion, backing vocals
Danny Federici � organ, glockenspiel
Produced: Jon Landau, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt
Engineered: Neil Dorfsman
Mixed: Bob Clearmountain
Recorded at: The Power Station, New York, New York, USA, Mar 9,15-17, Apr 9,29, 1980
**KILL ME**
W
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ONE STEP UP
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.
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1988
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13
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[I]
Like several other songs on the album, the song reflects the impending breakup of the marriage between Springsteen and then-wife Julianne Phillips. The song begins by describing a house with a broken furnace and a car that doesn't start, which serve as metaphors for the couple's relationship. Similar metaphors in the song are a bird that won't sing and church bells that won't ring for a new bride-to-be. Although the couple has been together for some time, they haven't learned from their experiences and continue to fight and slam doors. The lyrics refer to the couple's relationship as their "dirty little war." Finally, the singer finds himself at a bar wondering whether to hook up with another woman there, while remembering a dream he had the night before about dancing with his wife, with the dance poignantly echoing the song's title (one step up and two steps back). The singer is self-aware enough to recognize his share of responsibility for the couple's difficulties. (Wikipedia)
**KILL ME**
[P]
(Bruce Springsteen)
Bruce Springsteen � lead/backing vocals, guitar, mandolin, bass, keyboards, ..... harmonica, percussion, drum machines
Patti Scialfa � backing vocals
Produced: Jon Landau, Bruce Springsteen, Chuck Plotkin
Engineered: Roger Talkov
Mixed: Bob Clearmountain
Recorded: Thrill Hill East (Springsteen's home studio), Apr 1987
**KILL ME**
W S
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BETTER DAYS
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.
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1992
|
--
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[Q]
Bruce Springsteen: "With a young son and about to get married (for the last time) I was feelin' like a happy guy who has his rough days rather than vice versa."
**KILL ME**
S
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PINK CADILLAC
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.
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1985
|
--
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[Q]
Bruce Springsteen: "This is a song about the conflict between worldly things and spiritual health, between desires of the flesh and spiritual ecstasy." (Onstage in concert)
**KILL ME**
[I]
Springsteen originally wrote "Pink Cadillac" as "Love Is a Dangerous Thing" in December 1981; this version was lyrically distinct from the eventual "Pink Cadillac" except for the line "Eve tempted Adam with an apple", which Springsteen decided to make the basis for a more lighthearted lyric. The first lyrics Springsteen wrote for "Pink Cadillac" were: "They say Eve tempted Adam with an apple but man I ain't going for that/ I know it was her pink Cadillac". The auto imagery was inspired by Elvis Presley's 1954 rendition of "Baby Let's Play House" in which Presley replaced the original lyric: "You may get religion" with: "You may have a pink Cadillac", a reference to the custom painted Cadillac that was then Presley's touring vehicle. (Wikipedia)
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[P]
(Bruce Springsteen)
Bruce Springsteen � lead vocals, lead guitar, acoustic guitar
Steven Van Zandt � acoustic guitar, mandolin, harmony vocals
Garry Tallent � bass, background vocals
Max Weinberg � drums, background vocals
Roy Bittan � piano, synthesizer, background vocals
Clarence Clemons � saxophone, percussion, background vocals
Danny Federici � organ, glockenspiel
Produced: Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt
Engineered: Toby Scott
Mixed: Bob Clearmountain
Recorded at: The Hit Factory, New York, New York, USA, May 31, 1983
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MURDER INCORPORATED
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.
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1995
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(14)
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[I]
The title was taken from a 1960 movie starring Peter Falk. (Songfacts)
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THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD
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1995
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--
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[Q]
Bruce Springsteen: "It was about re-finding that place in myself. That's really how the song 'Tom Joad' came about. I was interested in reconnecting to those things and reconnecting to the part of myself that had written about them." (Rolling Stone)
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DEVILS & DUST
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2005
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72
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[Q]
Bruce Springsteen: "It is basically a song about a soldier's point of view. But it kind of opens up to a lot of other interpretations. It picks up a little instrumental beef as it goes." (Rolling Stone)
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[I]
The song tells the story of a troubled American soldier who is presumably serving in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The soldier questions his role and struggles to find guidance in his mission, all the while wary of the changes he is undergoing. Unsure of whom to trust in a time of tremendous moral ambiguity, the narrator's reliance upon God is tested when he sees his comrade and fellow soldier, Bobbie, dying in "a field of blood and stone." As the song concludes, the soldier maintains that he "wants to take a righteous stand" and will continue to search for a morally correct solution. It is thus not an anti-war song in a conventional sense. The line "I got God on my side" might be a reference to Bob Dylan's classic anti-war song "With God on Our Side". (Wikipedia)
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DEATH TO MY HOMETOWN
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2012
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--
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[I]
The song is an allegorical protest song concerning the causes and fallout of the 2008 economic crisis. Springsteen uses archaic imagery to show how "death" came to his hometown not by war, but by allegedly reckless economic practices. He also references the lack of accountability for the practices by bankers that allegedly lead to the crisis. (Wikipedia)
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57 CHANNELS (And Nothin' On)
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,
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1992
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68
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[I]
Springsteen used the image of the cable channels to imply that material goods and luxury items do not buy happiness. It came out at a time when cable companies were offering a seemingly endless choice of channels. (Songfacts)
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TENTH AVENUE FREEZE-OUT
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1975
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83
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[Q]
Bruce Springsteen: "I still have no idea. But it's important." (2005:Rolling Stone)
[I]
The song tells the story of the formation of the E Street Band. ..... The song's protagonist, "Bad Scooter", is a pseudonym for Springsteen himself (as indicated by the initials they share). In the third verse, "Big Man joined the band" refers to the now deceased Clarence Clemons, the band's long-time saxophonist. (Wikipedia)
[P]
(Bruce Springsteen)
Bruce Springsteen � electric guitar, vocals
Garry Tallent � bass
Max Weinberg � drums
Roy Bittan � piano
Clarence Clemons � tenor saxophone
Randy Brecker � trumpet, flugelhorn
Michael Brecker � tenor saxophone
Dave Sanborn � baritone saxophone
Wayne Andre � trombone
Produced: Bruce Springsteen, Mike Appel, Jon Landau
Engineered: Jimmy Iovine
Recorded at: The Record Plant, New York, New York, USA, May 1975
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ATLANTIC CITY
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1982
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(10)
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BLINDED BY THE LIGHT
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1973
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[Q]
Bruce Springsteen: "I wanted to get blinded by the light, I wanted to do things I hadn't done, see things I hadn't seen." (Rolling Stone)
Bruce Springsteen: (written with) "a rhyming dictionary in one hand and a notebook in the other" (Rolling Stone)
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[I]
The song came about when Columbia president Clive Davis, upon listening to an early version of Greetings from Asbury Park N.J., felt the album lacked a potential single. Springsteen wrote this and "Spirit in the Night" in response. According to Springsteen, the song came about from going through a rhyming dictionary in search of appropriate words. The first line of the song, "Madman drummers, bummers, and Indians in the summers with a teenage diplomat" is autobiographical�"Madman drummers" is a reference to drummer Vini Lopez, known as "Mad Man" (later changed to "Mad Dog"); "Indians in the summer" refers to the name of Springsteen's old Little League team; "teenage diplomat" refers to himself. The remainder of the song tells of many unrelated events, with the refrain of "Blinded by the light, cut loose like a deuce, another runner in the night".
"Blinded by the Light" is a song written and originally recorded by Bruce Springsteen, although it is mostly known by its 1977 #1 hit version recorded by Manfred Mann's Earth Band. (Wikipedia)
**KILL ME**
[P]
(Bruce Springsteen)
Bruce Springsteen � vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards
Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez � drums, backing vocals
Clarence Clemons � saxophone, backing vocals
Harold Wheeler � piano
Produced: Mike Appel, Jim Cretecos
Engineered: ??
Recorded at: 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, New York, USA, 1972
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SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT
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1973
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--
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RADIO NOWHERE
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2007
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102
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[Q]
Bruce Springsteen: "It's an end-of-the-world scenario - he's seeing the apocalypse. All communications are down. That's my business, that's what it's all about - trying to connect to you. It comes down to trying to make people happy, feel less lonely, but also being a conduit for a dialogue about the events of the day, the issues that impact people's lives, personal and social and political and religious. That's how I always saw the job of our band." (2007:Rolling Stone)
Bruce Springsteen: "I have something to say not just to your dad or your older brother. I have something to say to you, if you're 15 or 16 years old, about right now." (Rolling Stone)
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[I]
"Radio Nowhere" rides waves of guitar noise in a place of isolation and hunger. Its desperate energy locked into feelings of Bush-era helplessness and rage. (Rolling Stone)
Springsteen's 1990s twang reasserts itself in the first verses of the down-mixed vocal line. "Radio Nowhere"'s lyrical themes address alienation and a desire for musical and social connection, a theme similar to some of his previous work. Springsteen's lyrics appear to intentionally and repeatedly allude to his previous songs, an important artistic tradition in poetry and songwriting, continuing and reconnecting the artist's chosen themes they wish to emphasize. (Wikipedia)
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[P]
(Bruce Springsteen)
Bruce Springsteen - lead vocals
Nils Lofgren - guitar
Garry Tallent - bass
Max Weinberg - drums
Clarence Clemons - saxophone, background vocals
Steven Van Zandt -background vocals
Patti Scialfa - background vocals
Produced: Brendan O'Brien
Engineered: ??
Recorded at: 2007
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4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (Sandy)
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1973
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--
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[I]
It�s the story of a young man who is trying his best to get out of Asbury Park. He�s telling Sandy about all of the characters that they all know around town and what they�re doing right now, how they�re never going to win. He also knows that, if he leaves, he may never see Sandy again. That�s why he ends the song with �You oughta quit this scene, too.� He desperately wants her to come with him. Deep down, though, he knows that they�re both a part of this world and, even if he leaves, he�ll still be a part of it. (Professor Wagstaff)
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ROSILITA (Come Out Tonight)
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1975
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--
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FIRE
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1987
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46
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[Q]
Bruce Springsteen: ""I sent Elvis a demo of it but he died August 16, 1977 before it arrived."
[I]
Bruce Springsteen envisioned "Fire" as a song which could be recorded by his idol Elvis Presley, the song being written during the period after Springsteen had seen Presley live at a May 28, 1977 concert at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. Springsteen did complete a studio recording of "Fire" which was one of 52 tracks at least partially recorded which did not make the cut for Springsteen's June 2, 1978 album release Darkness on the Edge of Town: these tracks were omitted on the grounds of inconsistency with Springsteen's ultimate thematic vision for that album. Springsteen's manager Jon Landau has speculated Springsteen had a special concern that, if included on Darkness on the Edge of Town, "Fire" would be Columbia Records' single of choice despite being non-representative of the overall album. Springsteen's disinterest in showcasing "Fire" on Darkness on the Edge of Town reportedly did not preclude his being upset when The Pointer Sisters recorded a version of "Fire" which reached #2 in January 1979, easily besting all of Springsteen's own single releases to that point which had all had Top 20 shortfalls. On the 1986 Springsteen concert album Live/1975-85 "Fire" is represented by a December 16, 1978 performance at Winterland in San Francisco, the track being heavily edited to eliminate Springsteen's on-stage vocal hijinks. Issued as a single. (Wikipedia)
**KILL ME**
[P]
(Bruce Springsteen)
Bruce Springsteen � vocals, electric guitar, harmonica, acoustic guitar
Steve Van Zandt � electric guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
Garry Tallent � bass guitar, backing vocals
Max Weinberg � drums
Roy Bittan � piano, synthesizer, backing vocals
Clarence Clemons � saxophone, percussion, backing vocals
Danny Federici � organ, accordion, glockenspiel, piano, synthesizer, backing vocals
Produced: Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin, Bruce Springsteen
Engineered: Toby Scott, Bruce Jackson
Recorded at: (live) Winterland, San Francisco, California, USA, Dec. 16, 1978
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THE WRESTLER
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2008
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120
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GIRLS IN THIER SUMMER CLOTHES
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2008
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95
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[Q]
Bruce Springsteen: "Things been a little tight, but I know they're gonna turn my way": "I think people listening to that know who that guy is. I was interested in having a song where you get this classic image of a late summer, light on, in a small American town, and it's perfect in a way that only occurs in pop songs - when the air is just right, where the sun's sitting a certain way. And I subvert that at the end of the record with 'Long Walk Home.'" (2007:Sunday Times )
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[I]
melancholic lyrics about aging amid youthful beauty (Rolling Stone)
�Girls in their Summer Clothes,� is as close to a tribute as Springsteen will ever get to those classic AM radio 1960�s summer pop songs that filled the air waves and cemented a lifetime of memories for the millions growing up during that time period. (ClassicRockHistory.com)
**KILL ME**
[P]
(Bruce Springsteen)
Bruce Springsteen � lead/backing vocals, guitars, pump organ, harmonica, ......synthesizer, glockenspiel, percussion
Steven Van Zandt � guitars, mandolin, backing vocals
Nils Lofgren � guitars, backing vocals
Garry Tallent � bass guitar
Max Weinberg � drums
Roy Bittan � piano, organ
Clarence Clemons � saxophone, backing vocals
Danny Federici � organ, keyboards
Patti Scialfa � backing vocals
Patrick Warren � Chamberlin, tack piano
Kenn Wagner � violin
Jay Christy � violin
Justin Bruns � violin
William Pu � violin
Cristopher Pulgram � violin
John Meisner � violin
Olga Shpitko � violin
Sheela Lyengar � violin
Tania Maxwell Clements � viola
Amy Chang � viola
Lachlan McBane � viola
Karen Freer � cello
Daniel Laufer � cello
Charae Kruege � cello
Produced: Brendan O'Brien
Recorded at: Southern Tracks Recording Studio, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 2007
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WAITIN' ON A SUNNY DAY
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2003
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--
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LUCKY TOWN
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1992
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--
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[I]
The understated title track was a moving celebration of hard-won romantic salvation. ..... The calmly rocking tone of "Lucky Town" fit Springsteen's mood. (Rolling Stone)
**KILL ME**
[P]
(Bruce Springsteen)
Bruce Springsteen � lead vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass, harmonica, percussion
Gary Mallaber � drums
Produced: Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin
Engineered: ??
Recorded at: Thrill Hill Recording and A&M Studios
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