♥️
this video of bruce springsteen doing the promised land
I'm, very loudly, from New Jersey. So I've always been more than aware of Bruce and what he means to music, America, and NJ. But I can't say I always "got" it. As a kid and teen he was mostly just music my parents listened to while they drank with their friends. But this (linked) video came out when I was like a freshman in college and I remember coming across it and everything clicked. Maybe it was because it coincided with the first time I was ever really away from home, but it really unlocked the boss for me. Something heartbreaking and honest about him believing so earnestly and helplessly in an America that has never existed but you can only hope one day will happen. also being 20 and hearing "If I could take this moment into my hands. I ain't a boy, no I'm a man" is too perfect.
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@will
STAFF
Feb 8, 2024
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@larryluggage
the song that made bruce "click" for me. Plus, I live near the "utah desert" so I can't not blast this track when "driving all night chasing some mirage"
Feb 9, 2024
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@slowlytyped
“Something heartbreaking and honest about him believing so earnestly and helplessly in an America that has never existed but you can only hope one day will happen.“ Amen. Acoustic Springsteen will never fail to make me cry for this reason. no drinks necessary! Nebraska is unreal for this reason, too.
Feb 9, 2024
1
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@hiimhunt
Fr. He’s actually so awesome and I think a large portion of his older fan base doesnt really understand the stuff he stands for in his music
Feb 8, 2024
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@delma_and_louise
ok why am i crying
Feb 8, 2024
1
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@brendog
[from nj] Also a late learner on bruce. i was put off by my uncle’s girlfriend at the time. her ringtone was full volume born to run and somehow she also set it up so her phone flashlight strobes when getting a call
Feb 8, 2024
2

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seeing dad rock as a gateway to philosophical musings
Specifically "Canola Fields" by James McMurtry. I feel like the older I get, the more this sort of songwriting resonates. It's impossible to escape. Even if you're not a dad yet, the dad rock finds you. Be warned. Anyway, one of the lines is so simple, yet poignant, and, to me, that's the true hallmark of good songwriting. The line: "cashing in on a thirty year crush, you can't be young and do that". It reorients aging in a way that really struck me. Smashing together the childish and the mature and flipping the usual loss/gain calculus. Showing that just as there are certain things unrecoverable to the old (that humming freshness of youth!), there are also things that are incomprehensible to the young. It's a dialectic, and romance and beauty come in many forms.
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@ruffianbandwidth
Mar 4, 2024

Top Recs from @will

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School made us think reading is a holy act. It is not. Its just something to do. Like watching a movie or sports. You aren’t going to be tested by anyone. Read high. Read drunk. Read 2 pages. Read half awake. Remember nothing or just some of it. It really doesn’t matter
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ugly/normal/weird-looking people in music
I feel like growing up every band or musician besides super huge pop stars was just normal looking. Not weird in a cool way and not perfectly curated. Just actually weird or actually normal. I miss that. Everyone is too hot now. To quote Silver Jews, "What's with all the handsome grandsons In these rock band magazines? What have they done with the fat ones? The bald and the goateed?" We need more normals in music.
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