Ah, the summer of 1971: a golden era for fans of the soul side of Bruce Springsteen.
I’m far too young to have caught The Bruce Springsteen Band live in concert (I was only three years old when they disbanded), but I seem to turn to those bootlegs whenever summer nears. Something about those warm, bluesy rock and soul arrangements feels appropriate for a lazy, sunny afternoon.
Today, we’ll take a listen to one of my favorite original songs from this period: “Natural Magic,” performed on at least three occasions but captured on tape only once–on July 29, 1971 at D’Scene in South Amboy, New Jersey.
“Natural Magic” may be an original Springsteen song, but it clearly owes a debt of influence to Van Morrison. We can clearly hear the similarities with “Crazy Love,” released the year prior.
“Natural Magic” doesn’t tread any new lyrical ground either–mountain high/water wide pairings weren’t exactly original ideas by that time.
I’d climb a mountain if you want me to
I’d swim the ocean just to get to you
I’d do most anything that you ask me to do
Don’t you know now darling, my loving’s for you
Oh but don’t take me for a fool
‘Cause it’d be the wrong thing to do
In the end it sure would be tragic
Because my baby’s natural magic
I’d steal the moon from the midnight sky
Sprinkle him with stardust and tie him in butterflies
I’d buy for you a sailing ship and I’d set out on the sea
All I ask of you, darling: you let me be free
And if that is too much to do
To keep my girl from singing the blues
In the end it sure would be tragic
Because my baby’s natural magic
And yet, despite wearing its influences on its sleeve, “Natural Magic” is sweet and charmingly earnest. Together with songs like “You Mean So Much to Me” (played just two songs prior that night) and “She’s Leaving,” “Natural Magic” represents the beginning of a soulfully romantic vein that Bruce would mine for many years to come.
Natural Magic
Never recorded
Never released
First performed: July 10, 1971 (Lincroft, NJ)
Last performed: July 29, 1971 (South Amboy, NJ)
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