Roll of the Dice: Gotta Get That Feeling

Sometimes Bruce strikes gold when he grafts modern elements onto decades-old backing tracks, but sometimes he falls just a tad short, and “Gotta Get That Feeling” is one of those times.

Let’s say he struck silver.

The song itself is a great one. Clearly intended as a Phil Spector/girl group homage (Bruce had recorded with Ronnie Spector only a few months prior), Bruce makes his inspiration known before we’re even three seconds into the song.

It’s hard to know whether that “Be My Baby“-esque introduction is recent or vintage, but given its absence from the bootlegged track that circulated many years before Bruce officially released his song on The Promise, it may be a more modern addition. Compare for yourself:

Now that we’ve heard both tracks, it’s obvious that Bruce enhanced his original backing track for “Gotta Get That Feeling” for its 2010 release (it does appear to be the same track underneath) far beyond its percussion: for one thing, there’s a wonderful sax solo from Clarence  and an entire horn section that brings the song to lush, romantic life.

But that’s also the problem, because Bruce’s modern vocals are just a bit sterile for that glorious backing track. I’m not one to fault Bruce for re-recording vocals, especially when the original one isn’t quite complete; and I much prefer when he re-records the entire vocal rather than doing patchwork.

But from its title through its lyrics, “Gotta Get That Feeling” demands a desperation and yearning that’s missing from Bruce’s 2010 vocals but very, very present in his original 1977 version. Even in the very early work-in-progress below from early August, we can hear a passion that’s absent from the officially released track. The difference is most pronounced, though, in the final verse of the official track and the outtake version above.

Bruce may have re-recorded his vocal for the official release, but his lyrics closely match the 1977 outtake. He tightened some lines and softened some others (the original version has too much “I” and not enough “we”), but substantively the song is unchanged.

“Gotta Get That Feeling” is lyrically light (the entire song only has ten unique lines), but it’s supposed to be. It’s about the best kind of romance: the kind that hasn’t quite started yet but is on the verge of it.

Yeah girl, now won’t you come on out tonight
Yeah girl, where the stars are shining bright
Gotta get that feeling, yeah we gotta get that feeling 
Back again, yeah back again

Tonight, you know there’s something in the air
Tonight, we ain’t got money but we don’t care
Just gotta get that feeling, yeah I wanna get that feeling
Before the night is through I want you to get that feeling too

Hold me in your arms, the night will take care of us
Come the rain or the storm love will be there with us

Tonight, you know there’s something in the air
Tonight, we ain’t got money but we don’t care
We just gotta get that feeling, yeah we gotta get that feeling 
Back again, yeah back again

With its “sha la la’s” and call-and-response chorus, “Gotta Get That Feeling” is a love letter to the girl groups of the sixties. It’s glorious and romantic, the kind of song you’re supposed to feel rather than just listen to.

Its only sin was zigging when Bruce was in a zagging mood. Bruce was tacking toward Darkness at the Edge of Town at the time, and “Gotta Get That Feeling” would have worked terribly on that album.

Thirty-three years down the road, though, Bruce was finally ready to release his might-have-been album. Serving as the second track of a double-album (immediately following the alternate arrangement of “Racing in the Street” that serves as the nexus between Darkness and The Promise), “Gotta Get That Feeling” opens a window into The Promise and floods it with sunlight. From that point forward, The Promise is as bright as Darkness is… well, dark.

“Gotta Get That Feeling” might have made a late arrival, but it’s at least earned a trio of live performances, which is considerably more than most of the tracks on The Promise have seen. Only two of the three were captured for posterity, but at least they were captured in terrific quality.

Bruce debuted “Gotta Get That Feeling” at his “Carousel concert” in 2010, best remembered now as Clarence’s last public performance with Bruce and the E Street Band. It’s a beautifully filmed and recorded performance, but I can’t help but be a little sad during Clarence’s solo. When the Big Man stares robotically from his stool while Bruce hovers near his former foil, I’m haunted by the ghosts of their past performances when their chemistry and energy crackled and sizzled from the stage.

The next and last time Bruce played “Gotta Get That Feeling” in public to date (the second time was at a private benefit), The Big Man was two years gone. His ghost was now a familiar and comforting presence on the E Street stage, no doubt smiling approvingly at Ed Manion’s rare spotlight moment.

If Bruce and the band never play “Gotta Get That Feeling” again, at least they finally nailed a perfect performance, summoning both the passion of youth and the artistry of age.

Gotta Get That Feeling
Recorded: August 1977 (backing track), 2010 (vocals and horns)
Released: The Promise (2010)
First performed: December 7, 2010 (Asbury Park, NJ)
Last performed: July 24, 2013 (Leeds, England)

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