The Boss

      Well, it's been a few days. Hope everyone is doing fine and dandy! I've had a good week/relaxing weekend, so can't really complain here! There's quite a lot to catch up on, so this is going to be a two part blog, the firs part going up now and the second going up later tonight! So for this blog, I'm going to concentrate on saying my final thoughts and review (for now) of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, as in my last post, we have reached his most recent album to date, Working On A Dream.

      First of all, I hope everyone enjoyed going though Bruce's studio album discography with me! It has been a blast going through his history again, and I hope I introduced you to a little bit of "The Boss", The E Street Band, and all their greatness!
     So for future reference, along with the other stuff I write on here, I'm going to go through studio album discography of bands and such, along with the music videos and all, and my reviews. Through my years, I have built up a pretty big CD collection (and it always grows) so I'll always have a band to talk about or feature. Of course, I take suggestions on what bands I should also check out, or albums! So recommend away! So yeah, for the previous few weeks, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have been the ones featured. But alas, until they come out with another album, we will end here for now!

      So why did I pick Bruce Springsteen to feature first? Well, one reason is the New Jersey connection. If you don't know that he is from New Jersey by now, then *slap*. Bruce was born in Long Branch, and grew up in the Freehold Borough, not too far from Asbury Park on the Jersey shore. He now lives in Rumson, New Jersey.
      I was also raised in New Jersey, so I can relate to his music. Even if you don't live/are not from New Jersey, you can listen to this music and get a feel for the culture there and such. And you also get a feel for something Bruce was very important for: The Jersey Shore Sound
     As far as I'm concerned, we have our own music scene in New Jersey. So who comes from New Jersey? Well, let's see, Bon Jovi, My Chemical Romance, of course Bruce, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Frankie Valli and the Four Season and more! Of course, some have more of a "jersey shore sound" than others, but it is still a very important part to the history of music.

     Bruce has always had a bit of Jersey in his music, but I think it's most prominent in his earlier work, such as Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.; The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle; Born To Run and Darkness On The Edge Of Town. What's important is that these show his roots, which, when you listen to later stuff, you can hear the sound still very much in the music. It's hard for me to explain really what the Jersey Shore sound, or the New Jersey sound, is in it, maybe it's the boardwalk style, the street style, the struggle style, but it always has that sound of old school rock and roll to it! Maybe that's it. Maybe it sounds like the roots of rock and roll. Actually while I look it up now, it says on wikipedia that it is "a mixing of pre-Beatles rock and roll, R&B, doo-wop, and the urban culture of the mid-Atlantic states". Now that I read that, it does make sense, good way to describe it, but I would also really emphizise "urban culture of the mid-Atlantic states". I think this may be another reason why I really like it so much, it does really ring a bell with the culture of what I grew up with, as I grew up and spent a lot of time around working class environments and suburbia. I also grew up ten miles outside of NYC, in North Jersey, and a lot of it is urban. All this comes out in Bruce's lyrics a lot, wheather it be about struggles of working class, walking along streets, or just being happy with the essentials of happiness: emotion, love, and hope. Even when we are stuggling to pay the bills or just to get through those endless shifts at work (like me at Holsten's at times haha), at least you have, well, you. It's about loving the little things, which I have come to realize makes life all the more great. Bruce's music is music that we can relate to and that can (and has) brought many people hope and a feeling of not being alone. It's done that for me as well. When I was having a down day and felt trapped in my little hometown in New Jersey, I could drive around, listen to Bruce, and get myself in a good mood. Many of the drives I took to work were drives with Bruce music blasting on my 20-25 minute commute, and I would always hum them while I cleaned dishes, or cooked food, or served people at the counter and I could say "yup, that's me right now" as I did it, refering to a Bruce song. Alas, working in a very "New Jersey"ish diner, I grew somewhat fond of it in my own way.

      That's the other thing. Bruce and the band really make you appreciate the working class people. The people who do the jobs that we think aren't so glamourous. Well, SOMEBODY'S got to do them. It also makes you appreciate your life a little more. Some of us are so lucky to be able to have luxuries such as IPhones, fancy cars, fancy clothes and such. Yet, some of us are working a job/jobs for pretty long hours just to pay the bills, have food and a home, feed a family, and save up for other things and have the luxury of nothing but dreaming. A vacation may be walking around in the streets, which in all honesty, I enjoy doing as well. Now, I can't say that I don't have it good, because I do. I go to school, I'm not loaded but I'm comfortable (at least most of the time), and I have many oppurtunities. But I'm by no means rich and I grew up in a middle class house and my dad and I try to save money, but we are happy. I did, however, know and do now know many people who had to work for what they have, and that meant (in some cases) working three jobs. Yet, these people were happy. And it clicked with me, that their stories and Bruce's music and my own dreams are what made me appreciate where I am from and that's why I'm happy with where I am at right now. That's also why I like going on long walks, just sitting and watching (now) the Chicago skyline and (back in New Jersey) driving around New Jersey and occasionally driving into NYC (though I usually take the bus). It took me a long time to appreciate New Jersey, as I used to HATE it with a passion, as many people knew. But, as I was here in Chicago, and as I listened to more Bruce Springsteen and thought about it more, I have come to really appreciate it and like it. It's not my FAVORITE place in the world, but I'm actually quite excited to go back for a week or so this summer!

      So in conclusion of all this, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are lengendary and a big part of today's rock and roll and New Jersey culture! They are just amazing and are the definition of modern rock and roll! I hope you will go out on your own and listen to some of his music, as you can see a bit of what New Jersey is all about. And as I have said before, those who think New Jersey is just like "Jersey Shore", I'm afraid you are wrong. I think that's why I hate it so much (as do many people I have talked to in New Jersey), it's a misinterpretation of New Jersey and it's not what New Jersey it all about. Sure, we have quite a few guidos/guidettes that annoy the crap out of us, but not many of us go clubbing every night/have the time to do it and it fails to capture any of Jersey's working class culture or rock and roll history as well as the hope we have living there, wheather it be from faith, dreams, or music. Sorry Jersey Shore, but you are a fail. (p.s., I don't live too too far from where those idiots live on the shore, Seaside Heights).

    So I hope you enjoyed going through Bruce's history with me and I will feature another band very shortly. But I hope everyone enjoyed hangin with Bruce for awhile, and I hope you enjoyed some of the songs I posted! There is really none other like Bruce Springsteen and the Legendary E Street Band. I have seen them three times back home in NJ, and seeing them live is an experience! They all have such energy and character, it's a must see show at least once in your life. If you want to check out a recent concert video of his, check out London Calling: Live In Hyde Park which is from his most recent tour. It is pretty much a full concert video and it does a good job capturing their energy, though there is nothing like actually being at one of their concerts! But that should give you a good taste for them.
    Well, there is so much more I could say about Bruce, but I will leave it there for now! Here's to the Boss and the Legendary E Street Band! Baby, we were born to run!

  -AR