I’m gonna say it: I love this song, and it’s in my top three tracks on The Rising.
Fans love to lavish the hate on this song–heck, even Bruce seems embarrassed by it (he only ever performed it once). But from the first listen, “Let’s Be Friends” hooked me with it’s summery, shimmery, feel-good R&B groove.
There’s no depth to “Let’s Be Friends.” It’s a seduction song, pure and simple, and the lyrics boil down to: stop pussyfooting and start carpe dieming:
I been watchin’ you a long time
Trying to figure out where and when
We been moving down that same line
Time is now maybe we could get skin to skin
Don’t know when this chance might come again
Good times got a way of comin’ to an end
Don’t know when this chance might come again
Good times got a way of slippin’ away
Let’s be friends, baby let’s be friends
I know we’re different, you and me
Got a different way of walkin’
The time has come to let the past be history
Yeah if we could just start talkin’
There’s a lot of talk going ’round you
Let them talk you know you’re the only one
There’s a lot of walls need tearing down
Together we could take them down one by one
It’s easy to speculate that Bruce wrote it about the early days of his and Patti’s relationship, but I believe he was just reaching for a sound, a groove, a feeling–and this is what came out.
I play this song any time I need a spirit lift. Even under the grayest of Seattle skies, “Let’s Be Friends” brings out the sun.
I honestly can’t fathom the criticism that “Let’s Be Friends” attracts, although I will readily admit that it is horribly out of place smack dab in the middle of The Rising. Seriously, Bruce? You’re such a perfectionist when you sequence and structure your albums, and you thought it was a good idea to include “Let’s Be Friends?” Yeah, “The Fuse” covers similar ground, but it’s set against a stark backdrop; and “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day” may be light pop, but it’s rooted in sadness. “Let’s Be Friends” is just flat-out inappropriate for that album, IMO. Shoulda saved it for Working on a Dream.
If you’re hoping (like me) to catch this song live, don’t hold your breath. Bruce has played it only once, at the tail end of The Rising Tour, and it was, um, rough:
Yeah, maybe this one is better kept to vinyl. But if the E Street Band ever plays a show on the beach, this is gonna be my request sign. Y’all will just have to deal.
Let’s Be Friends (Skin to Skin)
Recorded: 1999-2002
Released: The Rising (2002)
First performed: September 16, 2003 (Hartford, CT)
Last performed: September 16, 2003 (Hartford, CT)
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