Devils and Dust

   What's up everyone?
   Well, I'm back at school...err. Back to the grind of homework and such. Oh well, it was going to happen anyway. Today was just class, work, hung out with a few friends throughout the day and yup, that's pretty much it.
   Among the midst of all getting back into school, my music theory teacher said my little one line paino piece was really good! I don't know, that was cool to me. It sounded pretty cool on the paino!
   Anyway, yeah that was the highlight of my day I guess. Besides being a goofball in Spanish class haha. Oh, and I took pictures for one of my roommates movies I am going to be in. We shoot tomorrow so that should be fun!

   I also got to listen to an album today, and that would be Devils and Dust by Bruce Springsteen, released in 2005. Yet again, another style change, back to folk/acoustic driven music! Also, this album does not feature the E-Street Band. Still, it happens to be a really good album! It is not as solo acoustic as Nebraska and The Ghost of Tom Joad, having a few more instruments and not being as crowded, even though a few songs are pretty acoustic. But I would consider this a bit more acoustic rock like. He goes back to his big storytelling in this album, more about people's stuggle yet this one is less dark than the other two acoustic folk albums. It has a Western feel to it, which I really like. It also does deal with many different themes, such as a soldier's story, and deals a bit more with relationships between mothers and their children. This is a bit different from Springsteen, as he always seems to talk more about his relationship with his father. There was also a lot of shock from listeners from the song "Reno" which talks, in graphic detail, of a man rendering services from a prostitute. He then told listeners that the actual story was about a man who can't get over the loss of his wife, so much that even a prostitute couldn't make things any better, as you can tell from the last lines of the song and the dark mood of it all. It's a really cleaver but blunt song to me, I enjoy it. Anyway, this is definitely a good album to check out! My favorite songs: "Devils and Dust", "All The Way Home", "Reno", "Long Time Comin'", "Maria's Bed", "Silver Palomino", "Leah" and "All I'm Thinkin' About". I'll leave one of them down below as a video! So check it out! And one day, I want to be able to drive through the west listening to this album. Just a small little dream of mine, it seems peaceful!
    Oh yeah, and the CD I have (which I think they all are of this album) of Devils and Dust is a dual disc, so it has a back side to it. On this album, it contains a inside look into Springsteens writing and into some of the process of the album and his inspiration for it. It also has acoustic performances of five songs from the album. It's short but sweet. I like a bunch of things he says about writing songs. The two things that really stuck me are when he said he thinks the most interesting people (at least to write about) are people that have struggles inside of them. Something that eats them up, people with "devils and dust". I thought about this and I can agree with it very much. I also like how he said that if you don't write a song from the very center of your heart, it will eventually fall. His songs are very personal, and that's what attracts me to him as an artist. I can relate to him and what he sings about and when he sings about living in New Jersey, I get it. It's really quite something and he speaks to me. So yeah, check out this album!
    Well, that's all I got for tonight. Gonna go to sleep so I can get up somewhat early and take care of a few things before class. Hope everyone is well, and I'll be talkin' to you all later!

- The AR


Devils and Dust: