As the self-appointed Bard of the Boss, I must weigh in here. Agreed, Streets of Minneapolis is not Bruce's best work - but I see as a timely, sincere, thought - and donation provoking. And Trump hates it, so there is that.
As for The Rising: The story goes that in the days following 9/11, Springsteen was driving in - where else? - New Jersey with the top down. Whence stopped for a red light, a driver in the car astride recognized him and said "Bruce, we need you, man". Thus tasked, Bruce contacted producer Brendan O'Brien (known for work with Red Hot Chili Peppers, Black Crowes, AC/DC, Soundgarden, the Killers, Rage Against the Machine and more), said he wanted to work with him. Soon after convened the E Street Band to Atlanta, some ideas for songs in his pocket, and they got to work. I think the album is pretty good, particularly given the specific remit the recording carried and the dark material it dealt with.
I remember the concert you referenced. I was at home in suburban Portland, riveted to the TV, for the biggest collection of music stars since Live Aid, with no commercials, no emcee and very little production value. I loved it.
The show Bruce played in Minneapolis a couple days ago with Tom Morello was rock n roll protest, modern style, and it raised real money for the families of Renee Good & Alex Pretti. I'm okay with it.
Brad!! I was hoping for your comment! This week I read that 'Bruce we need you' story in two places. In the Carlin biography he's down at the shore looking out at where the Towers used to be. I expect something like the encounter did happen--those days were live and peeled wide open, and I feel like any one of his neighbors might've shouted it out. I also love that it's entered the myth--dude is nothing if not good at the mythic!
I feel a little churlish for saying anything against Streets of Minneapolis. It's timely, it's angry, and that's what we need. "Blood and bones and whistles and phones" is a great line. I watched video of the Tom Morello show and hearing it played alone with his guitar, instead of with the big lush band arrangement, really improved it, I thought. Great to see him out there making noise. The joy of a man following his convictions, leaning into the icon job, and fighting for what's right. Go Boss Go!
Agreed. The act of writing/releasing/perfoming the song > the song itself. I think this is ultimately true for The Rising as well, but the difference is that The Rising was celebreated (overhyped!) for its art as much or more than its act of condolence. But then that was also back when albums meant something, too!
Excellent. I’m a Springsteen megafan and self-described scholar. I couldn’t listen to “Streets of Minneapolis” the first time, just because it felt so capital-B Bruce. (Also, harking to “Streets of Philadelphia”… cmon man). That said, I’m glad the song exists. It’s important that it does. As you pointed out, it’ll be a historical artifact in a way that the Rising isn’t and can’t be.
Glad you dug it! Agreed the ‘streets’ callback felt a little hamfisted. It’s grewat to see the man fighting, and someone of his stature being explicit as hell about what’s going on when so much of the American elite and saying much at all. I do think that The Rising has turned, slowly, into more of a historiucal artifact, though. I get nostalgia from it now more than enjoyment. Whereas despite all its classic midcentury car bullshit Darkness on the Edge of Town is eternal
I lived in NJ for 25 years, for much of it not far from Asbury Park, and I was there during 9/11. It threw me into the deepest depression of my life, because of the event, sure, but mostly because I feared it would lead us to where we are today, with a whole generation that's never boarded a plane without taking their shoes off.
Hi John! Must've been wild to be so close. Your fears have certianly been justified. I still think there is not enough discourse in American life about 9/11 as our monster before/after moment as a nation, and the beginning of the tailspin we're living through (and wiating through, in socks, in the security line.)
Good stuff. I very much related to the footnotes. Maybe someday I’ll check out The Streets of Minneapolis, but not today. All of that struggle in the U.S. is hard to process from here in China. However, the older stuff brings back lots of strange memories. Looking back at the Rising reminds me that since I can remember, I’ve heard the song “The Rising” as a not-yet-but-certainly-someday rewritten version that will be an ad for a U.S. cellular network where the Boss songs “Come on up for Verizon.” (AI can do it great I’m sure.) Our school started senior internships on September 11, 2001. I was at the local newspaper (they were busy), and my brother was at a local radio station. Very quickly they got a list from corporate that was songs you couldn’t play. The one I remember was “Freefalling” Tom Petty. The comedian Dan Soder has a great bit about how wrong the 2001 remix of the Enrique Inglesias song “Hero” for a 9/11 tribute was. I guess focusing on the strangeness and the comedy is a strategy to help the mind deal with these things.
Hi John! Now I am never not going to hear Come on Up for Verizon, thank you sir. Crazy how live that day still feels. I was at a local newspaper that day, too. I remember the mix of duty and utter bewilderment. I'd forgotten that about the shadow ban on Free Fallin! This feels so quaint now. TP's Won't Back Down at the 9/11 concert has always stuck with me. Streets of Minneapolis serves its purpose well enough. A friend pointed out that it's not Neil Young's Ohio, we won't still be playing it in forty years. I suspect my own meh feeling about it comes from my distance from the US, too. But it's the punch we need now.
I confess that I've never been a Bruce fan. Sure, I can get down with some of the classics, but in general I don't place him in my rotation. Of course he will always be one of the greats despite this commentors opinion, and I do love how much he gets under the skin of wannabe authoritarian man-babies everywhere.
Hi Tim! Thanks for reading. Fans like me tend to think of him as most universal than he actually is. I am always a little surprised when some other white dude my age is like, 'nah, not my thing.' I shouldn't be! His work is pretty uneven. The Rising was the last one that mattered, frankly, and as said above it's not that great! But I grew up on Born in the USA, and I love it on a childhood pre-critical level I can't even explain. Darkness on the Edge of Town is the masterpiece, Nebraska too but you can't pump your fist to Nebraska. But I'm rambling on. Proud to see him out there doing the work. He wrote Streets of Minneapolis on mad deadline and flew there and sang it loud. We need that. We're gonna need more before it's through!
Hi Marty! Yes, seems like a crowded year a-comin.' Seriously hadn't thought much about 9/11 in a while until Streets came out. Going back there feels like some sci-fi movie where the past is always the present, eternally relived. It's distant but not aging, a bright fork in the road. I'll definitely checkout Zuckoff's book, thanks!
As the self-appointed Bard of the Boss, I must weigh in here. Agreed, Streets of Minneapolis is not Bruce's best work - but I see as a timely, sincere, thought - and donation provoking. And Trump hates it, so there is that.
As for The Rising: The story goes that in the days following 9/11, Springsteen was driving in - where else? - New Jersey with the top down. Whence stopped for a red light, a driver in the car astride recognized him and said "Bruce, we need you, man". Thus tasked, Bruce contacted producer Brendan O'Brien (known for work with Red Hot Chili Peppers, Black Crowes, AC/DC, Soundgarden, the Killers, Rage Against the Machine and more), said he wanted to work with him. Soon after convened the E Street Band to Atlanta, some ideas for songs in his pocket, and they got to work. I think the album is pretty good, particularly given the specific remit the recording carried and the dark material it dealt with.
I remember the concert you referenced. I was at home in suburban Portland, riveted to the TV, for the biggest collection of music stars since Live Aid, with no commercials, no emcee and very little production value. I loved it.
The show Bruce played in Minneapolis a couple days ago with Tom Morello was rock n roll protest, modern style, and it raised real money for the families of Renee Good & Alex Pretti. I'm okay with it.
Brad!! I was hoping for your comment! This week I read that 'Bruce we need you' story in two places. In the Carlin biography he's down at the shore looking out at where the Towers used to be. I expect something like the encounter did happen--those days were live and peeled wide open, and I feel like any one of his neighbors might've shouted it out. I also love that it's entered the myth--dude is nothing if not good at the mythic!
I feel a little churlish for saying anything against Streets of Minneapolis. It's timely, it's angry, and that's what we need. "Blood and bones and whistles and phones" is a great line. I watched video of the Tom Morello show and hearing it played alone with his guitar, instead of with the big lush band arrangement, really improved it, I thought. Great to see him out there making noise. The joy of a man following his convictions, leaning into the icon job, and fighting for what's right. Go Boss Go!
FWIW, I have also dug in my heels and refused to watch the videos. Knowing (in words) what happened is more than sufficiently hideous.
Amen. We have enough horror in the world already.
Just like the Rising album—which has some great tracks—Streets of Minneapolis may not be Bruce’s best, just his most important.
Agreed. The act of writing/releasing/perfoming the song > the song itself. I think this is ultimately true for The Rising as well, but the difference is that The Rising was celebreated (overhyped!) for its art as much or more than its act of condolence. But then that was also back when albums meant something, too!
Excellent. I’m a Springsteen megafan and self-described scholar. I couldn’t listen to “Streets of Minneapolis” the first time, just because it felt so capital-B Bruce. (Also, harking to “Streets of Philadelphia”… cmon man). That said, I’m glad the song exists. It’s important that it does. As you pointed out, it’ll be a historical artifact in a way that the Rising isn’t and can’t be.
Glad you dug it! Agreed the ‘streets’ callback felt a little hamfisted. It’s grewat to see the man fighting, and someone of his stature being explicit as hell about what’s going on when so much of the American elite and saying much at all. I do think that The Rising has turned, slowly, into more of a historiucal artifact, though. I get nostalgia from it now more than enjoyment. Whereas despite all its classic midcentury car bullshit Darkness on the Edge of Town is eternal
Thanks Dan,
I lived in NJ for 25 years, for much of it not far from Asbury Park, and I was there during 9/11. It threw me into the deepest depression of my life, because of the event, sure, but mostly because I feared it would lead us to where we are today, with a whole generation that's never boarded a plane without taking their shoes off.
Hi John! Must've been wild to be so close. Your fears have certianly been justified. I still think there is not enough discourse in American life about 9/11 as our monster before/after moment as a nation, and the beginning of the tailspin we're living through (and wiating through, in socks, in the security line.)
Good stuff. I very much related to the footnotes. Maybe someday I’ll check out The Streets of Minneapolis, but not today. All of that struggle in the U.S. is hard to process from here in China. However, the older stuff brings back lots of strange memories. Looking back at the Rising reminds me that since I can remember, I’ve heard the song “The Rising” as a not-yet-but-certainly-someday rewritten version that will be an ad for a U.S. cellular network where the Boss songs “Come on up for Verizon.” (AI can do it great I’m sure.) Our school started senior internships on September 11, 2001. I was at the local newspaper (they were busy), and my brother was at a local radio station. Very quickly they got a list from corporate that was songs you couldn’t play. The one I remember was “Freefalling” Tom Petty. The comedian Dan Soder has a great bit about how wrong the 2001 remix of the Enrique Inglesias song “Hero” for a 9/11 tribute was. I guess focusing on the strangeness and the comedy is a strategy to help the mind deal with these things.
Hi John! Now I am never not going to hear Come on Up for Verizon, thank you sir. Crazy how live that day still feels. I was at a local newspaper that day, too. I remember the mix of duty and utter bewilderment. I'd forgotten that about the shadow ban on Free Fallin! This feels so quaint now. TP's Won't Back Down at the 9/11 concert has always stuck with me. Streets of Minneapolis serves its purpose well enough. A friend pointed out that it's not Neil Young's Ohio, we won't still be playing it in forty years. I suspect my own meh feeling about it comes from my distance from the US, too. But it's the punch we need now.
I confess that I've never been a Bruce fan. Sure, I can get down with some of the classics, but in general I don't place him in my rotation. Of course he will always be one of the greats despite this commentors opinion, and I do love how much he gets under the skin of wannabe authoritarian man-babies everywhere.
Hi Tim! Thanks for reading. Fans like me tend to think of him as most universal than he actually is. I am always a little surprised when some other white dude my age is like, 'nah, not my thing.' I shouldn't be! His work is pretty uneven. The Rising was the last one that mattered, frankly, and as said above it's not that great! But I grew up on Born in the USA, and I love it on a childhood pre-critical level I can't even explain. Darkness on the Edge of Town is the masterpiece, Nebraska too but you can't pump your fist to Nebraska. But I'm rambling on. Proud to see him out there doing the work. He wrote Streets of Minneapolis on mad deadline and flew there and sang it loud. We need that. We're gonna need more before it's through!
Hang in there down in the 'rapa Dan, there's a whole lot more shit to come this in this year, the worst of the Chinese horoscope - Fire Horse.
In a more pragmatic sense, I highly recommend "One Day in September
Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11" - Mitchell Zuckoff, if you haven't read it. Outstanding minute by minute detailing of many, many personal accounts.
Hi Marty! Yes, seems like a crowded year a-comin.' Seriously hadn't thought much about 9/11 in a while until Streets came out. Going back there feels like some sci-fi movie where the past is always the present, eternally relived. It's distant but not aging, a bright fork in the road. I'll definitely checkout Zuckoff's book, thanks!