# Springsteen: I Just Don't Get It... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 11, 2003, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-i-just-dont-get-it/160524 "2003-03-11T09:00:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ave\_Minerva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@Ave\_Minerva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ave_Minerva)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-i-just-dont-get-it/160524/21 "2003-03-12T02:38:52Z")
He never did much for me either. I don’t have an intense dislike of his music, he was just never my cup of tea. ---
**Author:** ![Cholo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Cholo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cholo)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-i-just-dont-get-it/160524/22 "2003-03-12T04:24:59Z")
I don’t understand the appeal either. Never have. I’ll take Bob Dylan anyday of the week. ---
**Author:** ![Hazel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Hazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazel)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-i-just-dont-get-it/160524/23 "2003-03-12T04:40:53Z")
I like him. Early stuff, most recent stuff, whatever. I like him. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-i-just-dont-get-it/160524/24 "2003-03-12T20:18:33Z")
Don’t forget he wrote stuff like “Because the Night” made famous by Patti Smith, and even “Fire” done by the Pointer Sisters. At one point, he was the working class Jersey boy made good, but after a point, I found him to be a caricature of himself. Still like him though. Courtney Cox was featured in his Dancing in the Dark video, and he has one of the Sopranos playing guitar for him…odd. ---
**Author:** ![Florentine\_Pogen\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Florentine\_Pogen\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Florentine_Pogen_1)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-i-just-dont-get-it/160524/25 "2003-03-12T20:40:40Z")
Bruce is one of the greatest musicians ever. a) His lyrics are incredible. If you’d actually read them, you’d see he’s one of the best poets of this century. My dad actually quotes him often. I’ve heard people call him the second Dylan. b) Energy. There is so much energy in his music. Go see him live, please. It’ll convert you (it converted me). He’s a minister. Right in the middle of song and start telling a story as if he was preaching to a church. c) He is a working-class hero. That’s why he used to look like a vagabond. Just look at Cds “Born to Run” or “Nebraska”. There is so much emotion and meaning to that stuff. How many big bands are there these days? NONE. E-Street is the only “big” (large) rock band around, and they are fantastic. Bruce is an musical genious- they even used to play with a full brass section back in the day. Bruce and E-Street is by far the most fun, most exciting show in rock. You can just tell that the guys- Gary, Miami Steve, Clarence, Nils, Max, etc- they love this stuff. They put so much into every show. ---
**Author:** ![Florentine\_Pogen\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Florentine\_Pogen\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Florentine_Pogen_1)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-i-just-dont-get-it/160524/26 "2003-03-12T20:43:21Z")
Bruce is one of the greatest musicians _ever_. a) His lyrics are incredible. If you’d actually read them, you’d see he’s one of the best poets of this century. My dad actually quotes him often. I’ve heard people call him the second Dylan. b) Energy. There is so much energy in his music. Go see him live, please. It’ll convert you (it converted me). He’s a minister. Right in the middle of song and start telling a story as if he was preaching to a church. c) He is a working-class hero. That’s why he used to look like a vagabond. Just look at Cds “Born to Run” or “Nebraska”. There is so much emotion and meaning to that stuff. How many big bands are there these days? NONE. E-Street is the only “big” (large) rock band around, and they are fantastic. Bruce is an musical genious- they even used to play with a full brass section back in the day. Bruce and E-Street is by far the most fun, most exciting show in rock. You can just tell that the guys- Gary, Miami Steve, Clarence, Nils, Max, etc- they love this stuff. They put so much into every show. ---
**Author:** ![Florentine\_Pogen\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Florentine\_Pogen\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Florentine_Pogen_1)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-i-just-dont-get-it/160524/27 "2003-03-12T20:50:45Z")
My first double post! ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-i-just-dont-get-it/160524/28 "2003-03-12T21:30:30Z")
Springsteen started sliding downhill with Born in the USA. The popularity of that album far exceeded its quality IMHO, and his work has drifted downward ever since. To understand why people rave over Springsteen, you really have to listen to his earlier work. **Born to Run** is a masterpiece, **Darkness on the Edge of Town** isn’t far behind, and **Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ** is an underappreciated gem. Somewhere along the line, Springsteen lost his way. He has a tendency toward monotone these days; the vocal gymnastics are gone.His lyrics aren’t what they were, either. Still, his mediocrity of late (MHO) can’t detract from the virtuosity of his early work. ---
**Author:** ![Frida\_s\_Boss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/49beb7/32.png) [@Frida\_s\_Boss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frida_s_Boss)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-i-just-dont-get-it/160524/29 "2003-03-14T22:08:12Z")
lets just hope some band comes out and saves us from the real corporate rock that is out ther now… pretty much everything out there right now is corporate except jam bands… and america cannot get enough of it… (corporate rock in the seventies got its name because of the stadium tours and large corporate sponsorship they got… and because they were heavily produced… but it was nothing compared to what happens today… at least bands back then could play instruments and sing) ---
**Author:** ![Fingolfin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eada6e/32.png) [@Fingolfin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fingolfin)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-i-just-dont-get-it/160524/30 "2003-03-14T22:22:42Z")
Great songwriter. Incredible backing band. Unbelievable live shows. **Tunnel of Love** is his best album IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-i-just-dont-get-it/160524/31 "2003-03-14T22:25:37Z")
**Fingoflin** may be the only person who has picked that album as Springsteen’s best. It’s good, but I’ve never heard anyone tab it as the best. Just what do you like about that album more than others? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-i-just-dont-get-it/160524/32 "2003-03-14T22:32:03Z")
Springsteen’s songs are very working-class, often melancholy–He reminds me of my father. And he sings real rock ‘n’ roll. Nothing against prog-rock, but this is the real stuff. If the OP _objects_ to a vagabond appearance, then that’s someone with _nothing in common with me._ ---
**Author:** ![Fingolfin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eada6e/32.png) [@Fingolfin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fingolfin)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-i-just-dont-get-it/160524/33 "2003-03-14T22:54:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BobT \* > \*\ ***Fingoflin** may be the only person who has picked that album as Springsteen’s best. It’s good, but I’ve never heard anyone tab it as the best. > > Just what do you like about that album more than others? \*\* No particular reason really. I just like the suit he wears on the cover. Hehe, just kidding. Several reasons: (1)The albums theme- A frank portrait of a marriage falling apart. (2)The sophisticated lyrics- I think he really matured as a lyricist on this album. These are not simply “Baby, you done me wrong” songs. These are complex songs about the outside forces that threaten relationships but about the internal demons that keep people uncertain of love, skeptical that they can ever truly touch another human being. It is an album about loneliness and solitude in the midst of what promised to be bliss. (3)The music- This album is vastly different from any other Springsteen album. It is a varied, modestly scaled, modern-sounding pop album! The album has wonderful arrangements, great hooks, haunting guitar work, and some really great vocals. (4)Sentimental Factor- I was in high school when album came out. Lots of good memories with this album playing in the background. Saw the show from this tour when the swung around my way. Still one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. (5)“Brilliant Disguise”- Still one of my favorite songs of all-time! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-i-just-dont-get-it/160524/34 "2003-03-15T00:24:42Z")
He is the master of his own unique sound. Unfortunatly, that sound is “Suck”. * * * Fagjunk Theology: Not just for sodomite propagandists anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_A\_Tame\_Lion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e36b37/32.png) [@Not\_A\_Tame\_Lion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_A_Tame_Lion)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-i-just-dont-get-it/160524/35 "2003-03-15T09:00:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fingolfin \* > \*\*Great songwriter. Incredible backing band. Unbelievable live shows. > > **Tunnel of Love** is his best album IMHO. \*\* Chalk up another vote for _Tunnel Of Love_ as his best album. I concur with most of the items listed in the previous post, particularly regarding the lyrics of the songs. Very eloquent, given what he was dealing with at the time. I think the points made by several folks, about the experience of seeing Bruce and the E Street Band live, are well taken; they provide a really great concert experience. If I had to sum it all up, I’d say the most appealing thing about Springsteen would have to be “sincerity”; what he presents in his songs seems to be a very honest portrayal of his thoughts and feelings. And it helps that those thoughts and feelings resonate with many of those who listen to the songs, particularly those of us born in his “area of influence” (in my case, in Philadelphia). ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-i-just-dont-get-it/160524/36 "2003-03-15T11:32:58Z")
Hey, I [_get_ Springsteen. Everything about him. The wild rock n roll, born to run, stay and rot or leave and burn attitude, the American storyteller bit, I get everything about him. But I just don’t like him. The Rising is a shit album. His old stuff is boring old rock n roll when so many other people were doing much more ineresting things. Born in the USA was 70s rock when the 80s had thrown up punk, post-punk, the madchester scene, hip-hop, house, indie rock, the beginnings of emo, techno and electro. So yeah, I get Springsteen. Doesn’t mean I like him. ---
**Author:** ![FallenAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-i-just-dont-get-it/160524/37 "2003-03-15T13:20:09Z")
I’ve been a Springsteen fan ever since I first heard Greetings From Asbury Park, which would have been when I was about 4 years old. Obviously, I didn’t GET a lot the stuff, but I liked him. As I got older and learned what a brilliant lyric poet Bruce is, he became (and remains) one of my favorite musicians. That being said, I spent about 15 years pissed off at him. There was no reason whatsoever to acknowledge the existence of any Bruce Springsteen recording after Tunnel of Love. I always liked that he was experimental, particularly since that experimentation yielded the most depressing album in the history of music. I still can’t listent to Nebraska all the way through in one sitting, and not at all if I’ve had anything to drink. After tunnel, though, he experimented with turning himself in Woody Guthrie, whom I’ve never liked. Tom Joad was, possibly, the worst album of the 90s. I say this knowing full well that Nirvana (worst band EVER) released most of their stuff that same decade. Lucky Town. Human Touch. Godawful, but still not as bad as Tom Joad. I thought it was perfect when Rage Against the Machine covered the title track. Halfwit Steinbeck drivel screeched by the most pretentious band in existence after U2. Then came the Rising. It was good. It was solid. It was poetic and tragic and filled with double edged imagery that evoked wry smiles and barely stifled tears. My musical hero was back, and I was enthralled. I haven’t changed my mind yet, and the fact that there is a substantial portion of his work that I loathe makes me appreciate him and his good efforts all the more. Man, I’m tired. Does it show in this post? ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-i-just-dont-get-it/160524/38 "2003-03-17T13:39:12Z")
I confess his vagabon appearance has nothing to do with musical talents. But, I was trying to describe the whole “package” of Springsteen. Many artists evolve, but I don’t see any evolution in his music. I have to agree that, as some suggested, “Tunnel of Love” was ultimately the beginning of the end for many of his fans. He actually put out two albums at the same time, thereby dividing his weak talents into even weaker talents! As if **THIS** wasn’t a move under what SD Posters are calling yielding to corporate rock??? I forget the name of that second album, and I bet you loyal Bruce fans have forgotten it, too! Basically, everything from “Tunnel of Love” onwards has been even more drab than his earlier works. And, while I agree he writes for the working man, how can anyone even think of quoting from his lyrics as words of wisdom other than possibly learning not to get Jamie pregnant? (i.e.: the lessons learned from off the bathroom walls.) Also, someone suggested Bruce and his band have been the sole longest-lasting RnR band. I disagree. At one point, he fired the entire E Street Band…including Clarence Clemens…and then Bruce came crawling back to them (I can only hope) begging them to reunite. In short, to me, Bruce proves how an electric guitar can make anyone sound like a rock star. But, the joke’s gone too far… Sorry if my words offend… - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-i-just-dont-get-it/160524/39 "2003-03-17T14:13:23Z")
Springsteen’s okay. But he can’t hold a candle to _Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes_. I don’t know SJ&TAPJ from my left buttcheek, but I think their name is funny. Also Lonesome George (Thorogood) and the Delaware Destroyers. Where do they come up with these? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-i-just-dont-get-it/160524.md?page=1)