While driving to work today, I was listening to the SIRIUS Springsteen station, and since I'm in the mood of listing songs, I decided to list some bruce tunes.
There will be 2 categories of 10 songs each: The 10 best, the ten worst.
I'm taking into consideration most of his tunes. I don't have Devils and Dust, so that's out. Any rarities will also likely be out. Also, I'm trying to mix it up. Obviously, almost every track on Born to Run could be in the top 10, but I won't do that.
I'm sure I'll be ripped for some of my picks, but that's how it goes.
THE 10 BEST
1. Born to Run. An obvious pick, I know, but this tune is what he's always been about (overcoming all sorts of crap, chicks, cars & Jersey).
2. Rosalita (Come out Tonight). A classic. Not much else to say.
3. Thunder Road. Crank this baby up while your driving down the Garden State Parkway. Nothing beats it.
4. Streets of Philadelphia. Tremendous song. Really captures the desperation Tom Hanks portrays in the film.
5. Prove it All Night. To me, it's his best tune on Darkness. Great intro. Great guitar/sax solos.
6. Sherry Darling. Bruce as his partying best. Also shows off his sense of humor.
7. Lost in the Flood. The sleeper of the group. It's intense, it's hard core. It's early Bruce in a nutshell.
8. Point Blank. An amazing song. Haunting piano is great. Also, I messed around with a dame in college while this played on a continuous loop. That could be affecting my decision.
9. Santa Claus is Coming to Town. I know I'll get ripped for this choice, but let's face it, it's a Bruce classic.
10. Atlantic City. Bruce sings about another boardwalk in Jersey for once with awesome results.
OK. Now it could get nasty
THE 10 WORST
1. Mary Queen of Arkansas. Hard to believe the same dude that wrote the above 10 banged this one out.
2. The Angel. Hard to believe he put 1 & 2 on the same album and it's still a great disc.
3. The Big Muddy. Perhaps his best B&B song (bathroom and beer) during a concert.
4. American Skin. The cops werent' walking out of his concerts because they were pissed about the song, it's because the song blows.
5. Dancing in the Dark. A pop piece of crap with weak keyboard riff.
6. Man's Job. SOng is bad enough, but the backup singing at the end is the final insult on this waste of vinyl.
7. My Hometown. What a sappy piece of junk.
8. Merry Christmas Baby. Imagine seeing Bruce in concert, Clarence comes out in the Santa suit and he plays this instead of Santa Coming to Town. Can you say REFUND.
9. I wanna marry you. OK Bruce, you wanna marry her. How many times do you have to say it?
10. Secret Garden. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
That's it for now. Rip away. I can take it.
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3 comments:
Cat,
Great post. I think you are on the money with most of it.
Atlantic City would be by No. 1, probably followed in some sort of order that looks like this:
2. Racin' In The Street
3. Thunder Road
4. Streets of Philadelphia
5. I have a soft spot for 10th Avenue Freeze Out
6. Rosalita
7. Brilliant Disguise
8. My City of Ruins
9. Ghost of Tom Joad
10. Jungleland
Stolen Car and The River both deserve honorable mention, along with Prove It All Night and The Promised Land.
I wouldn't rip you at all for Santa Claus is Coming To Town. Bottom line is I enjoy listening to it at all times of year.
The worst?
I think you nailed it.
1. Mary Queen of Arkansas
2. Secret Garden
3. 57 Channels and Nothing's On
4. Mansion On The Hill
5. Into The Fire
6. Downbound Train
7. The Big Muddy
8. Pony Boy
9. Reno
10. Linda Let Me Be The One
I think it's safe to say, you could fill out the Worst 10 with just stuff from Lucky Town/Human Touch.
57 Channels is awful, but I heard Man's Job the other day and realized it was pure stench.
Another tune I nearly put in the bottom 10 was Mary's Place. I see it as his failed attempt to create another Rosalita-type tune.
I kinda like Pony Boy since that's a tune my mom always sang to me as a kid. I also kinda like Downbound Train.
Nice work, though.
Downbound Train is a guilty pleasure of mine, but objectively speaking, it's gotta be on the list.
I mean, the dude has three jobs in three verses. C'mon.
I like Mary's Place, but I can understand your dissent. The biggest problem, to me, is that there's already a feel-good sing-along on the album, and that's Waitin' On A Sunny Day.
Both are OK, but having both on the same album is going overboard.
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