As a Bruce fan
I must say, I'm quite annoyed these days. Not that I have anything to be annoyed about, far from it, and neither do any of the other millions of Bruce fans.
From the bellyaching that has been going on various sites, and from the feeling I get when I look at some forums, you would think that mr Springsteen has never done anything good after the age of 29 and that simply is not true.
Take the "Devils and Dust" album. On his forum (before it got shut down) there were quite a number of fans who were "disgusted", "upset", "annoyed" etc. about the use of the word 'fuck' in the song "Long time comin", and that the reference to anal sex ('two fifty up the ass she said') were inappropriate.
Then there were those who wanted Bruce killed, maimed, dismembered, or at least voiceless for his involvement in the "Vote for change" tour. Quite how they had managed to delude themselves for so many years that the Boss had republican sympathies is beyond me, but there you go. Their sense of betrayal was obvious, but telling the ultimate caring/political/working class singer to "shut up and sing" is a bit like telling a Polar Bear to stop being white because black is in fashion.
All the griping about past achievements aside ( and I AM a huge fan of the early music. The Wild, the Innocent, The E-street shuffle has grown on me tremendously), the fact of the matter is that there has never been a better time to be a Springsteen fan than right now.
I say that because
a) There is at least one record released every year, be it new material, old unreleased material, or old songs recorded by the man himself.
b) In the past 7 years, (1999-2006) I've been to 7 concerts. (2 reunion tour, 2 rising, and 3 seeger sessions for those of you keeping score). Now I know that's not a lot, but in the years 1981-1993, Bruce was in Norway 3 times.
c) The music is great! There is no way you will ever find an artist of Bruce's age that is consistently producing as much new material as he is. (Even U2 is getting stuck in a rut).
d) And finally, he is enjoying himself. I've seen a marked change in the way concerts go. There are more smiles, and the man himself seems to accept that for many of us he has been with us for as long as we can remember. For a lot of us, we grew up with Bruce.
Long may the reneissance continue. And don't listen to those who don't want to acknowledge the fact that Bruce is great. As my mother used to say... That means more for the rest of us.
From the bellyaching that has been going on various sites, and from the feeling I get when I look at some forums, you would think that mr Springsteen has never done anything good after the age of 29 and that simply is not true.
Take the "Devils and Dust" album. On his forum (before it got shut down) there were quite a number of fans who were "disgusted", "upset", "annoyed" etc. about the use of the word 'fuck' in the song "Long time comin", and that the reference to anal sex ('two fifty up the ass she said') were inappropriate.
Then there were those who wanted Bruce killed, maimed, dismembered, or at least voiceless for his involvement in the "Vote for change" tour. Quite how they had managed to delude themselves for so many years that the Boss had republican sympathies is beyond me, but there you go. Their sense of betrayal was obvious, but telling the ultimate caring/political/working class singer to "shut up and sing" is a bit like telling a Polar Bear to stop being white because black is in fashion.
All the griping about past achievements aside ( and I AM a huge fan of the early music. The Wild, the Innocent, The E-street shuffle has grown on me tremendously), the fact of the matter is that there has never been a better time to be a Springsteen fan than right now.
I say that because
a) There is at least one record released every year, be it new material, old unreleased material, or old songs recorded by the man himself.
b) In the past 7 years, (1999-2006) I've been to 7 concerts. (2 reunion tour, 2 rising, and 3 seeger sessions for those of you keeping score). Now I know that's not a lot, but in the years 1981-1993, Bruce was in Norway 3 times.
c) The music is great! There is no way you will ever find an artist of Bruce's age that is consistently producing as much new material as he is. (Even U2 is getting stuck in a rut).
d) And finally, he is enjoying himself. I've seen a marked change in the way concerts go. There are more smiles, and the man himself seems to accept that for many of us he has been with us for as long as we can remember. For a lot of us, we grew up with Bruce.
Long may the reneissance continue. And don't listen to those who don't want to acknowledge the fact that Bruce is great. As my mother used to say... That means more for the rest of us.
posted by skinke at 9:32 PM
2 Comments:
Well done here. Well done.
Adam
Haha, for a second I was thinking Bruce Willis.
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