Roll of the Dice: Vibes Man

Someday the dice will assign me “New York City Serenade” to write about, and we’ll go to town on it. It’s fitting that “Vibes Man” gets the Roll of the Dice treatment first, however, because as we’re about to see, the story of “New York City Serenade” begins with (and largely derives from) this early demo.

Throughout the first half of 1973, while Bruce was touring behind his first album, he frequently performed a work-in-progress “New York Song” (which we’ll also cover here someday). When Bruce’s second album dropped toward the end of the year with a song called “New York City Serenade,” fans (such few as there were back then) might have expected to hear a polished version of the “New York Song” they’d been hearing evolve on stage.

But while “New York City Serenade” certainly traces its lineage in part to “New York Song,” the earlier prototype is dramatically different than the final product.

“New York City Serenade” features characters and scenes not even hinted at in “New York Song.” Where did they come from?

As it turns out, they came from “Vibes Man.”

All the while he was performing “New York Song” on stage, Bruce had been working on another song with some familiar lyrics. In early 1973 (shortly after the release of Greetings From Asbury Park), he recorded it in the studio, accompanying himself on the piano.

Let’s take a listen:

Bruce’s lyrics for “Vibes Man” are so very close to what would become “New York City Serenade” that I’ll save my line-by-line analysis for that future essay.

But there are a couple of differences that bear mention–the first of which is the “fish lady verse.” Besides the change from third person to second person narration (which places the singer more immediately in the action), there’s that stunning second couplet:

Fish lady, don’t you bait those tenement walls
Don’t take corner boys, because they’re too easy
You were born black and blue
You didn’t have to wait for somebody to hit you

That’s a terrific (if disturbing) metaphor, and I’m genuinely surprised that Bruce never found a home for it another song. (Why he even dropped it for “New York City Serenade” is a mystery.)

The other part of the song that interests me is the extended “she won’t take the train” passage that concludes the song. In “New York City Serenade,” the night train seems metaphorical–an invitation for Fish Lady to leave behind her daily grind and embrace the night.

But in “Vibes Man” the train is more literal–it’s the train that would take Fish Lady to the narrator’s home (and presumably bed) if she’d only take it. The tracks, however, are as metaphorical as ever.

Won’t you come home with me?
Won’t you come home with me?
But no, ’cause she won’t take a train
Oh, she won’t take that train
She won’t take a train
No, she won’t take that train
She won’t take a train
Oh, no, she won’t take that train
Lord, she won’t take a train
Oh, ah, no, she won’t take that train
You won’t take the train
She won’t take the train
Cause she’s afraid those tracks are gonna slow her down
And when she turns around
I’m gonna be gone like the notes in any man’s song

But oh, that last line: as gorgeous as the music is that accompanies its replacement line (“So long… sometimes you just gotta walk on”), Bruce’s first attempt above was much stronger.

Musically, “Vibes Man” can’t hold a candle to “New York City Serenade.” The latter song holds up even in today’s Western Stars era as one of Bruce’s lushest, most artistically arranged songs.

But lyrically, it reflects Bruce’s rapidly developing songwriting skill and provides keen insight into his not-too-distant future classic.

Vibes Man
Recorded: February 1973 (demo)
Never released
Never performed

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