What's your favorite song from Bruce Springsteen's The River?

That's not what that lyric is saying.

That lyric says -- you're so afraid of being somebody's fool-- of getting hurt or betrayed -- and so afraid of not seeming tough and cool, that you put on airs and project this toughness and keep yourself aloof and detached and maybe you have cheap one night stands and short affairs but nothing you commit to emotionally -- you walk tough, you walk cool, you use these cheap romances as a crutch -- but can you walk the line, can you face the real difficulty of real commitment, and not just put on an air of toughness and cool detachment to avoid the possible pain of getting hurt or being deceived by being someone's fool who you trusted?"

 

photos I took in '81






These were previously posted in another BS thread.

 

The River followed closely by Two Hearts

 

well said.

 

The Ties that Bind-My favorite Bruce song

 

Independence Day

Then everything else tied for second!

 

Drive All Night.

 

Title track

 

These 2 for me.

 

Yeah I recall the hype too, in little old Perth no less. I worked at a travel agent just down the road from a new (about a year old) FM radio station in Perth, 96fm and one day bumped into a radio jock at the local lunch bar. We got talking about the station and how FM was going to kill AM radio and the fact that 96fm was playing heaps of album tracks. The DJ asked who I liked and I said The Stones and Bruce Springsteen were my favourites.

Out of nowhere the dj mentioned that there was a new Springsteen album due soon. The River. Asked me if I’d like a cassette of it before it’s release. WOULD I?

When I picked it up weeks later, about two weeks prior to release, I played it non stop for about a month before I went and bought the vinyl.

It was THEN I discovered the opening track was The Ties that Bind. Because of space restrictions on the cassette, the DJ had started taping at Sherry Darling!

And then I discovered a hidden track... Wreck on the Highway wasn’t on the cassette either!!!

Double bonus!

 

Stolen Car. Eerily spooky. Roy Orbison meets Hank Williams. Probably his most ‘adult’ song to date, and the one that led to TOL and others.

 

Point Blank is a solid 5 star track. It's devastatingly sad in its chord progression and the lyrics so full of regret. Bruce was at the height of his powers, intense, delicate, living the story. 40 years on, amazing.

 

Point Blank was done live enough times in the '78 tour that by the time he recorded it as a master take it had completely jelled. I like the sound quality of this album and most audiophiles do not. This song is a good example of the nice clear sound that they were able to get.

 

My favorite Springsteen album.

I'll go with "Ramrod". The most downbeat party song I've ever heard. The narrator's weekend escape with his girl is just a ritual, like the rest of his drab life.

And if I'm the girl, I'd be very wary of that chapel in the pines. (It's a nice little hat tip to Lou Christie.)

 

Independence Day or Wreck On The Highway.

 

Anything but that godawful Drive All Night.

 

You really like your Bruce with the downer vibe. That's cool.

 

Point Blank

 

Maybe Point blank.

But there's plenty to choose...

 

I love this song. It's so uplifting

 

Yeah The River has a little something for every mood come to think of it.

 

Point Blank for me too. I have always found the title track to be a bit maudlin for my taste.

 

Hard not to say the title track (for the bridge alone), but I’ll go with Jackson Cage. Such a taut rocker. Like a jangly Clash.

 

Ramrod. Pure rock-n-roll.

 

I hardly never listen to The River anymore... The scrapped album "The Ties That Bind" is way better IMO.

Favourite song? The Price You Pay.