Well, hello there!
I don’t write these updates very often (the last one was six months ago) since this isn’t really a news site, but there’s enough happening in the Springsteen world these days that I thought it was worth doing a brief recap in case you’ve missed any of it.
The big news, of course, is that we have a brand new Bruce Springsteen song, with an album on the way! “Letter to You” dropped yesterday morning in two versions: a four-minute video and a five-minute audio. You can find the audio on your favorite streaming service; here’s the video for those who haven’t had the pleasure yet.
“Letter to You” serves as the title track for its album, coming our way on October 23rd. You can pre-order it now from wherever you like to get your music.
The album features nine new tracks along with three new versions of ancient, unreleased Springsteen songs from the early 1970s: “Janey Needs a Shooter,” “If I Was the Priest,” and “Song for Orphans.” I’ve actually written at length on each of them in the past via my Roll of the Dice series, so if you’d like to get familiar with the songs and their history before comparing with Bruce’s new versions, click those links to read and listen.
As for the nine new tracks, the answer to the question I’ve received from many of you over the past 24 hours is: yes, I will be adding Roll of the Dice entries for the new album. However, as many of you know, I don’t choose the order of the songs I write about–I let a random number generator do that for me (hence the name of the series: Roll of the Dice).
So given that I’ve just added nine new entries to the 644 songs I’ve yet to write about (according to my master tracking spreadsheet), that means on average there should be a Roll of the Dice essay for a Letter to You track about once every 54 days. Bruce may even have his next, next album out before I get through this coming-soon one.
(Side Note #1: If you’re new to this blog, I’m about three years into a five-year daily mission to chronicle every song Bruce Springsteen has ever recorded, covered, shelved, given away, or otherwise had some involvement with. Today is Day 981.)
(Side Note #2: Speaking of five-year missions, friend of the blog and veteran podcaster Jesse Jackson celebrated the fifth anniversary of his outstanding Set Lusting Bruce podcast this week. In these times when we’re not able to forge or re-kindle friendships at live shows, SLB introduces Springsteen fans to each other by shining the spotlight on Bruce’s audience rather than his work. It’s brilliant in both concept and execution and one of my favorite podcasts.
I wrote a piece for Backstreets earlier this week on the actual anniversary date–if you missed it, check it out here, but more importantly: reach out to Jesse if you’d like to share your story on-air.)
Okay, back to Bruce:
While the lead story yesterday was certainly the new music, Bruce also made a notable public appearance that may have been lost in the flood of album excitement.
Bruce delivered the convocation address to the Boston College incoming class of 2024 and took Q&A from the students. Bruce was as inspiring, thoughtful, honest, funny, and wise in his comments as you’d expect, and the entire program is well worth watching. The college was kind enough to livestream it for all to enjoy, and since I’m not certain how long it will remain on YouTube, here’s Bruce’s segment of the evening for your viewing pleasure and preservation.
Finally, no discussion of recent Springsteen events would be complete without noting Bruce’s wonderful under-the-radar bi-weekly Sirius XM radio show, From My Home to Yours.
From My Home to Yours is a thematic, episodic sequel of sorts to Springsteen on Broadway. Each episode is filled with music personally curated by Bruce, narrated and punctuated with personal recitations, reminiscences, and revelations.
I can’t recommend it highly enough: if you’re a Springsteen fan, you need to listen to these shows. Your musical knowledge and appreciation will expand and your insight will deepen. You will laugh, you will weep, and you will find yourself blocking your calendar on alternate Wednesdays to join E Street Nation in a communal listening experience.
If you’ve missed any or all of the episodes to date, you can find them here. You’ll need to be a Sirius XM subscriber (at least via their free trial offer), but for my money, the monthly fee is well worth it even if these 3-4 hours monthly are all you listen to. (Recently, other global radio networks have begun airing the series–check your local stations and listings if you’re outside the U.S.)
That’s it for this update–other than to say once again, thank you. Whether you’re just stopping by or whether you’ve been kind enough to welcome me into your e-mail inbox every day, I appreciate having the company of fellow Springsteen fans during this odyssey.
More to come.
Thank you Ken. You do a terrific job. I look forward to every post. I’ve learned a lot (even though I grew up in AP and have been an avid fan since 1974).
Ken you ROCK. I also look forward to both blogs everyday. I’m going to write Jesse and tell him of a few experiences.i think I have a few😎. From video to meeting to my east german friend that literally helped bring down the wall. Anyway keep rocking and thank you again