After the release of
\nThe River<\/i>, Bruce Springsteen had a lot going for him. His
\nprevious three albums had been successes, the hits were starting to
\npile up, and the question became, what would the Boss do next? The
\nanswer: ditch the E Street Band and record an acoustic, bleak and
\ndepressing album the likes of which he had never attempted
\nbefore.<\/p>\n
The power of Springsteen’s music has always come from his
\nability to weave intense narratives, much like Dylan. Often times
\nhowever, the story would get lost in the “Springsteen experience.”
\nAlbums like
\nBorn To Run<\/i> and
\nGreetings From Asbury Park N.J.<\/i> featured great songwriting,
\nbut the sound of the records could overshadow them. Here on
\nNebraska<\/i>, in chilling detail, there is nothing else but
\nthese tales of isolation and loneliness. Yet hope springs eternal,
\nand this is also true of
\nNebraska<\/i>.<\/p>\n
The opening title track tells the story of Charlie Starkweather,
\na murderer of the worst degree. There is no condemnation, no
\npreaching from the pulpit that rock and roll has a tendency to be,
\nthere is simply the story of a man who is faced with “that great
\nvoid,” and who wants his baby “sittin’ right there on my lap.”
\nWithout a doubt, “Nebraska” ranks up there as one of the most
\npowerful lyrics Springsteen has written.<\/p>\n
However, the title track is not the only song dealing with the
\nlaw. “Johnny 99,” “State Trooper” and “Highway Trooper” all deal
\nwith authority in some way, and how some rebel against it. The
\nlatter track tells the story of two brothers, one of whom is a
\npolice officer. Throughout the course of their lives, the officer
\nturns the other cheek in regards to his brother’s actions. However,
\none night gets out of hand, and the officer ends up chasing his
\nbrother to the Canadian border, where he “pulled over the side of
\nthe highway and watched his taillights disappear.” In the end, as
\nthe character himself says, “Nothin’ feels better than blood on
\nblood.”<\/p>\n
Much of the talk so far has been about what Springsteen has to
\nsay, more than how he says it. The simple reality is this album
\nwould have been a failure if it had been presented in any other
\nfashion. Instead of hearing Clarence Clemons blasting away on the
\nsax, or Max Weinberg pounding away on the drums, the listener has
\njust a man and his guitar. With each track, Springsteen jumps into
\neach character’s skin and becomes them. One can hear the heartbreak
\nduring “My Father’s House,” or in direct contrast the joy that is
\ncontained within “Open All Night,” or the primal rage screamed in
\n“State Trooper.” The tracks on
\nNebraska<\/i> say more to me as a feeling human than any other
\nSpringsteen album save perhaps
\nThe Rising<\/i>.<\/p>\n
However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The very
\nlast track, “Reason To Believe,” highlights all the toils and
\ntroubles people go through in life, yet at “the end of every
\nhard-earned day people find some reason to believe.”
\nNebraska<\/i> at first listen may seem to imply that there is no
\nhope, and at times it is hard to get over the apparent
\nmeaninglessness Springsteen attributes to the lives of his
\ncharacters, but in the end I can’t help but think Bruce
\nintentionally placed this track as the album’s closer. The greatest
\nstatement
\nNebraska<\/i> makes is that people go on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":25699,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5832],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-38327","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-bruce-springsteen","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38327"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38327"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}