The Year 2019 in Music

Matt Lynn Digital began reviewing music in 2019, in part motivated by the guest post offered by friend of the blog Cobra in June. Today’s post is a walk down memory lane for posts more musically inclined through the year, whether they be album reviews or book reviews.

The year in music officially began for us with the book review of Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s Unmasked: A Memoir on January 5th. Folks interested in a more classical music sound infused with rock and roll, the 1960s, or Phantom of the Opera will appreciate this autobiographical look into the early career of Lloyd Webber.

(Andrew Lloyd Webber and the autobiographical Unmasked: A Memoir was reviewed in January).

Fans of Bruce Springsteen will enjoy that we took three looks into the career of the boss this year, beginning with the autobiography of Born to Run on March 20th. We added the album review of arguably the best album of his career, with a look into the album Born to Run on July 27th. We then looked into his Springsteen‘s tribute to September 11th, 2001 with The Rising on September 11th.

(Bruce Springsteen and the autobiography Born to Run was a courageous and revealing look into the boss. We reviewed the book in March).

Cobra offered us an album review of Southeastern by Jason Isbell on June 17th. Many a country music fan will enjoy this selection.

(Jason Isbell and the album Southeastern was guest reviewed by Cobra in June).

Arguably the most popular musicians of the 20th century, if without a doubt the 1960s, was the band from Liverpool named The Beatles. Abbey Road was originally published 50-years ago this year, and still holds up as a playful mixture of the personality of songwriters John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

(Abbey Road by The Beatles was playful album showcasing the personalities of Paul McCartney and John Lennon. Our review was published in August).

Earning the moniker the King of Pop, the breakthrough album for many in Michael Jackson‘s solo career was the album Thriller. We looked into the album in October, as that album in many ways feels like autumn for us. That Paul McCartney of The Beatles was a contributor to a song on the album is gravy for us.

(Thriller by Michael Jackson included songs like Beat It, Billy Jean and Human Nature, in addition to the self-titled mega hit song named Thriller. Our review was published in October).

Our next musical look came with the self-titled album The Cars by The Cars in November. Perhaps the best single example of the album oriented radio model that was big in the 1970s, we were happy to see the band inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame before Ric Ocasek‘s death earlier this year.

(The Cars by The Cars launched a new wave of Rock & Roll when released in 1978. Our review was published in November).

Our final musical post touched on a more jazzy, crooner approach to Christmas music with Harry Connick Jr.‘s When My Heart Finds Christmas in December. Introducing new music and new interpretations of known classics, the album offered a much appreciated offering for the season.

(When My Heart Finds Christmas by Harry Connick Jr. offers an enjoyable jazz infusion into the holiday season. Our review was published in December).

This look into the musical blogs of Matt Lynn Digital has offered a smattering of the year 2019 from our corner. It has been my pleasure walking down this memory lane over time. Know that you are getting to know us through our tastes, and the joy we’ve taken in the music produced by those we’ve highlighted through this year.

Matt – Saturday, December 28, 2019

 

 

Bruce Springsteen and the album ‘Born to Run’

Bruce Springsteen has long been a critical favorite in the music world.  He first came onto the scene in 1973, beginning with Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. and The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle, for which Springsteen penned and sung both, reflecting a folk rock, soul, and rhythm-and-blues influences. Fans of Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and Stax Records would be comfortable here.  In August 2002, I would see Springsteen play with the E Street Band for the first time, as Bruce and the band came to my hometown.

A March of 2012 readers poll in Rolling Stone magazine revealed a top ten listing of favorite Springsteen albums, with Born To Run earning top billing.  The album chronicles Springsteen’s foray from modest suburban musician with players to match to professional, big music sounds in what would be third, make-or-break album. As he would for a full career, Springsteen again wrote the songs. He would bid farewell to a romanticized teenage street life with warmth and humor that gave way to bitterness.

(The album Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen).

Born To Run starts off with “Thunder Road,” a desperate love song about Mary, her boyfriend, and their last chance at making something real.  The song itself is named for the Robert Mitchum film Thunder Road (1958), which Springsteen never saw, and references the Roy Orbison song Only The Lonely.

While the title phrase is not used until mid-song, the slow introduction of the song with Roy Bittan‘s quiet piano and Springsteen’s harmonica. As mentioned in the documentary Wings for Wheels: The Making of ‘Born to Run’ (2005), that slow start is a welcoming for the album and song. The tenor saxophone of Clarence Clemons and Fender Rhodes of Bittan in duet to close the song is magic.

The album then leads into “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” a song about the formation of the E Street Band. The song’s title or meaning never really become clear, though Springsteen himself is the clear protagonist in bringing the band together, as well as bringing long-time band (and now deceased) saxophonist Clarence Clemons into the fold.  Steven Van Zandt is credited with the idea leading to the opening horn introduction’s composition.

“Night” is a song for it’s exciting, romantic quality of blue collar workers seeking the escape of drag racing after work while searching for love. The song is played using Phil Spector‘s Wall of Sound technique, and previews the song Born To Run later on this album by getting using a blue collar protagonist.

“Backstreets” has been interpreted in two main ways. In his biography Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen states the song is about a broken friendship. The other interpretation, given the gender ambiguous name Terry, interprets the song as depicting a homosexual relationship. The representation as an intense, platonic, and faded friendship between two men is where my vote on meaning rests.

“Born To Run” is a love letter written in song form to a girl named Wendy, with the passion of love coupled with the passion to get out of Monmouth, New Jersey. The blue collar desire of leaving the realities of life behind are full blown on sale in this homage to hot rod racing, the craving for passion and girls, and the seeking of relief. This song lands at the 21st greatest song on a 2011 Rolling Stone magazine listing of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

“She’s the One” gives us the rock staple of an intensely felt attraction to a cold-hearted woman who causes massive emotional turmoil for her lover. The reality of his lover’s lies are apparent to the protagonist singer, though he craves love so much that he cannot accept the logic his heart simply knows cannot be real. The song is reminiscent of the rhythm-and-blues beat of Bo Diddley, which really resonates for us.

Meeting Across the River might not seem to fit among the other music of the Born To Run album, owing to the soft, haunting trumpet of Randy Becker and double bass from jazz veteran Richard Davis.  The lyrical song faces a reality low-level criminality while bridging the listener from She’s the One to Jungleland. The singer asks Eddie for the money to get into New York City from New Jersey, with consequences of failure from his girlfriend hanging in the balance after hocking his girlfriend’s radio. Whether after a drug deal or a theft isn’t clear from the song, the singer thinks the promise of a payday from his criminality are enough to make his girlfriend stay.

The album closes with the pessimistic “Jungleland,” which begins like much of the remainder of the album with a sense of despair and defeat. Having Rat again drive a car across the state line from New Jersey to New York to meet a presumably pregnant lady, aiming for romance with the consequences of previous acts looming large. Rat’s criminal conflicts with police share further despair, finally coming to climax after the saxophone solo with death of Rat’s dreams of love and life as gunned down in a tunnel. The slow, methodical tempo of the song makes Jungleland a frequent pairing with Meeting Across the River in concert.

Born To Run is a clear fan favorite of Bruce Springsteen, whether solo, with the E Street Band, or in other permutations Springsteen has taken through his career. Born in the U.S.A. is the larger commercial success for Bruce Springsteen, though Born To Run remains the fan favorite.  The album is approachable, accessible, and consistently blue collar in perspective. The album resonates for me, still, with the album having been released roughly seven months after my birth.

Matt – Saturday, July 27, 2019