Often derided if it’s remembered at all, “The Angel” deserves greater appreciation for its craft and early, tentative steps towards Bruce’s signature song.
Author:
Ken Rosen (2066)
Ferocious in concert, limp on vinyl, “Lost in the Flood” is nevertheless a lyrically brilliant piece of work.
Lyrically slight and melodically malleable, “Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street” is an early songwriting exercise that improbably became a fan favorite.
Widely considered to be Bruce’s worst song, “Mary Queen of Arkansas” shows flashes of brilliance and unappreciated layers of depth.
The dazzling and dizzying track that kicked off Springsteen’s fifty-year recording career and burned his rhyming dictionary to cinders
Bruce took inspiration from Pete Seeger’s 1966 anti-war protest song and a Civil War classic and forged a heartfelt song of his own.
Bruce’s version of Blind Alfred Reed’s original protest song draws on a 1970 arrangement by Ry Cooder and a 2005 natural disaster for inspiration.
Buried away on the bonus DVD that accompanied the original Seeger Sessions album release, Bruce’s arrangement of “How Can I Keep From Singing” was too beautiful to keep hidden away for long. Listen to beautiful choral performances inside.
