Roll of the Dice: In Michigan

That Bruce Springsteen is a pretty shrewd fellow.

After a quarter-century of touring the country, he’d gleaned a few insights about audiences, one of which was:

People really like hearing the name of their state.

At concerts, anyway. “The thing is: you don´t do it at home,” Bruce playfully chided his audience in 1996. “You don´t sit in front of the TV and every time you hear [your state’s name] jump out of the couch and go ‘Woo !'”

But what’s fun in a loud arena can be annoying in an intimate theater, and on his solo acoustic tour that ran from 1995 through 1997, Bruce was not particularly indulgent of audience participation. So when a fan requested he play “Highway Patrolman” in Kalamazoo, he knew what was going to happen when he sang about the Michigan Line.

“When I sing ‘Highway Patrolman’, the word Michigan is gonna come up. And when the word Michigan comes up, somebody is gonna shout–either filled with local pride or just because for some reason, that’s the strange thing that people do when they hear the name of their home state.”

But then inspiration struck:

“Wait a minute: instead of being worried that Michigan is gonna inspire applause, what I should be thinking is: that´s where the money is! The money is in writing songs with people´s hometowns…  It really doesn´t matter what you say in the song at all as long as their hometown comes up regularly!”

So in the ten minutes before he took the stage that night (as his own legend would have it), Bruce wrote a song. “And I do have to tell you it´s one of the greatest songs I´ve ever written! Gonna make ’em forget all about that ‘Born in the U.S.A.’ bullshit!”

And so without further ado, let’s take a listen to one of the greatest songs Bruce ever wrote.

“In Michigan” lives up to its promise, in that the name Michigan comes up a lot. Which is pretty much the sum total of analysis warranted by this song of indulgent resilience.

Well my mother rolled over and died in Michigan
My dog got hit by a truck and I cried in Michigan
I got drunk and puked up my guts in Michigan

But I’m alright, I’m alright, I’m alright, I’m alright
And man I’m riding here tonight in Michigan

I ran a race and came in dead last in Michigan
Yeah, I shot myself in the ass in Michigan
I was lookin’ for someplace to feel free
But they busted me for just being me
In Michigan

But alright, it’s alright, it’s alright, it’s alright
And baby I’m riding high tonight in Michigan

I ran into a little bad luck in Michigan
I met a woman and for seven days and seven nights all we did is fuck in Michigan
Baby I’m running late but you got here one hell of a state
In Michigan

The song went over so well that he brought it back for an encore two nights later. He closed the show with it, in fact, in a performance greatly improved by the gusto that comes from knowing you’ve written a surefire hit.

Bruce also made some minor lyrical adjustments that night. (It was Bob Dole who fell on his ass, and a seven-day Macarena marathon.)

Despite the roaring approval from the audience, Bruce never again brought out “In Michigan” for his Great Lakes State audiences. Perhaps it was just too easy. But before long he’d take his winning formula and produce a more enduring tribute song about his own hometown.

In Michigan
Never recorded
Never released
First performed: September 24, 1996 (Kalamazoo, MI)
Last performed: September 26, 1996 (Ann Arbor, MI)

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