The debut performance of “This Is Your Sword” was more memorable than the song itself.
Category: Roll of the Dice
At a pair of 1990 benefit shows, Bruce debuted a dark song about espionage and political conspiracy. It hasn’t been heard from since.
My favorite song on Western Stars is arguably the most romantic and (literally) cinematic song in Bruce’s entire catalog.
“Losin’ Kind” is one of only two original Nebraska demos left in the vault, but its imprint can be found across Bruce’s catalog.
The sole escapee to date from Bruce’s unreleased 1994 hip hop/EDM album, “Missing” is a hauntingly powerful and daringly experimental meditation on loss and absence.
The generals can’t see the reason there’s such a high percentage of treason. They’re quite sure it must just be the season.
The first single from Western Stars is also its emotional heart, a song of deep contentment, satisfaction, and reconciliation late in a long life.
Beneath its prurient lyrics, there’s surprising substance to Bruce’s nuanced updating of Sonny Boy Williamson’s classic blues song.
This early draft of “Factory” has a surprising and somber depth all its own.
Laced with playfully ribald metaphor and delightfully sly euphemism, “All I’m Thinkin’ About” earns its place among the great masturbation songs.