Atlantic City - The Hold Steady - War Child: Heroes Vol I - 2009

The Hold Steady try an interesting approach to covering a song that, if you read my previous entry you'll know, I find near impossible to improve upon. They take what The Boss did with a guitar, harmonica and one hell of a killer hook...and perform it as if the song had been on Born In The USA with the full E-Street Band backing it up. There's the tinkling piano, the harmonic squelling guitar solo, the Jersey Shore sax that may very well be played by the Big Man, the female background singer to hammer home that hook, and synchopated stop to a chanted chorus before a big kick back in.

I may have my issues with The Hold Steady, and I certainly don't prefer this version, but I have to give them credit for turning what sounded dull on paper into a solid reinterpretation. Well played boys, well played.

Atlantic City - Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska - 1982

Well, I'm going to take a small detour before giving you all the third punched in the face story, mostly because I need to talk about this song...

Springsteen, when he is at his best (Which he unquestionably is in this song), captures the frustration of being stuck in a working class life while tormented by bigger ambitions. He's most remembered for his moments of triumphant catharsis through escape ("Tramps like us, baby we were born to run!" "This town's full of losers, and I'm pulling out of here to win!") but the real drama comes from the sense that those escapes are false hopes and dead ends. His characters are doomed Calvinist, already damned from birth and the protagonist of this song is no different.

If anything his plight is worse, he holds no false hope of redemption. He knows the choice he makes when says "last night I met this guy and I'm going to do a little favor for him" will bring no redemption, only temporary relief before a greater hell.

Springsteen was always a great admirer of Dylan, and the entirety of the Nebraska is an attempt to wed the sonic sensibilities of a pre-electric Dylan to the Jersey Shore narratives (along with a healthy dose of Charlie Starkweather) for which the Boss was already quite famous by 82. The strategy doesn't always work, some of the songs can seem overly sparse, and other meandering...but when it does work, it is amazing...

Adam Raised a Cain - Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town - 1978

And The Boss finally rears his head.

You don't often hear people claim that Bruce is a predecessor to shoegaze, but I do think the crazy trill picked guitar line that runs through this song is more or less one delay pedal away from being Slowdive's favorite trick.

Also, and I realize this my generations equivalent of the "the Beatles were heavily influenced by the Monkeys" statement, but I like this song cause it sounds like Eddie and the Cruisers.