“As much as it is the writer’s job to write well, it is the listener’s job to listen well.” — Bruce Springsteen, New York Times, October 18, 2020
Welcome!
Yes, this is yet another Bruce Springsteen blog.
Does the world really need any more of them? Probably not.
So why am I writing this one? Mostly as an outlet for my own views and an opportunity to do some writing. I’m a historian, and I delve deep into any topic that fascinates me, so I’m hoping to use this platform as an opportunity to occasionally dig a little more deeply than most Springsteen books or articles.
So what should you expect to see here? To start, there will be four different series of postings, with at least two appearing on any given day:
- Kingdom of Days: Published daily, these are brief “On this Day in Bruce History” articles. More than anything else, it’s how I’ll open up my archives and share some really cool nuggets. Look for rare audio, photos, and articles here.
- Roll of the Dice: These are longer history and/or analysis pieces, each dedicated to a single Bruce Springsteen song. Why “Roll of the Dice?” Because I use a random generator to pick the song–I never know what I’m going to write about until I sit down to do it.
- Cover Me: Notable covers of Bruce Springsteen songs by other artists, or of other artists by Bruce.
- Meeting Across the River: Rare duets and guest performances with other artists.
…and I suspect that as things get rolling, other series ideas may come to mind.
If you read something that piques your interest, I recommend the following sites as great resources for learning more:
- Brucebase is an oustandingly comprehensive wiki of all of Bruce’s live appearances. It’s my single biggest non-primary source of information.
- Springsteenlyrics.com has complete lyrics not just for final versions of songs but also early versions and variants
- Killing Floor has a database of recording sessions, bootlegs, discographies and more.
- And of course the Backstreets fan community is a great source of insight, inspiration and additional points of view.
All of the above are frequent references for me.
And please share your comments, suggestions and feedback!