{"id":14213,"date":"2020-12-19T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-19T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/?p=14213"},"modified":"2024-01-02T14:08:34","modified_gmt":"2024-01-02T22:08:34","slug":"roll-of-the-dice-point-blank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2020\/12\/19\/roll-of-the-dice-point-blank\/","title":{"rendered":"Roll of the Dice: Point Blank"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Film noir<\/strong>, (French: \u201cdark film\u201d) style of filmmaking characterized by such elements as\u00a0cynical\u00a0heroes, stark lighting effects, frequent use of flashbacks, intricate plots, and an underlying\u00a0<span id=\"ref828712\"><\/span>existentialist philosophy. (Brittanica.com)<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Bruce Springsteen&#8217;s songbook is filled with songs inspired by film noir, but &#8220;Point Blank&#8221; is far more than just a hat tip&#8211;it&#8217;s the musical equivalent of film noir itself, from opening notes to dramatic ending.<\/p>\n<p>Smoky, moody, and entirely nocturnal, &#8220;Point Blank&#8221; is among the darkest and starkest songs in Bruce&#8217;s catalog.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"758\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aQcxrt9-6ZI?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>Musically, &#8220;Point Blank&#8221; dazzles. In Bruce&#8217;s strongest, subtlest arrangement on record since &#8220;New York City Serenade,&#8221; every E Street Band member shines: Roy owns the spotlight, inviting us to a seedy nightclub long before the lyrics reveal it, while Danny&#8217;s organ draws us down into despair; Max&#8217;s restraint underscores Bruce&#8217;s dispassionate vocals; even Clarence&#8217;s metronomic triangle is critical, conveying the monotony of our femme fatale&#8217;s life in order for Roy and Danny to soar above it.<\/p>\n<p>But it&#8217;s Bruce&#8217;s guitar that elevates the track to brilliance, a shadow counter-melody that intertwines with the main melody and yet clashes at the same time. The effect conjures a love affair destined for dissolution, a dance between two intrinsically connected characters who are never quite in sync, and the clash between present plight and fairy-tale past.<\/p>\n<p>Against this gorgeous backing track, Bruce delivers a vocal that is so restrained, so controlled, that in the few moments when he deliberately allows himself to succumb to his narrator&#8217;s emotion, the effect is devastating. This is one of his very best vocals on record.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Point Blank&#8221; is sometimes characterized as a song about literal death and dying, but I&#8217;d argue that&#8217;s too shallow a read. &#8220;Point Blank&#8221; isn&#8217;t about dying but rather about <em>not living<\/em>. In a break with Bruce&#8217;s usual habit of hiding a song&#8217;s heart in its bridge, Bruce gives away the game in the very first verse:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em>Do you still say your prayers little darling, do you go to bed at night<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Praying that tomorrow everything will be alright<\/em><br \/>\n<em>But tomorrow&#8217;s fall in number, in number one by one<\/em><br \/>\n<em>You wake up and you&#8217;re dying, you don&#8217;t even know what from<\/em><\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s the song right there:\u00a0<em>you wake up and you&#8217;re dying.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Our leading lady isn&#8217;t leading the life she wanted, but rather than take action she simply prays for things to get better. Her prayers go unanswered, though, while the calendar pages continue to turn.<\/p>\n<p>Life is finite. In a very real sense we start dying from the day we&#8217;re born. It&#8217;s a truism that each passing day means we have fewer tomorrows left, and when Bruce&#8217;s narrator says, &#8220;you don&#8217;t even know what from&#8221; he&#8217;s telling his lost love: <em>You&#8217;re wasting your life. Take control of it.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em>Well, they shot you point blank<\/em><br \/>\n<em>You been shot in the back, baby, point blank<\/em><br \/>\n<em>You been fooled this time, little girl, that&#8217;s a fact<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Right between the eyes, baby, point blank<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Right between the pretty lies that they tell<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The chorus is obviously a metaphor. Our heroine isn&#8217;t literally dead, but she\u00a0<em>is<\/em> emotionally dead. She&#8217;s given up. Notice where she&#8217;s been shot: first in the back, meaning she didn&#8217;t see it coming. Then right between the eyes, suggesting she&#8217;s surrendered. And that last &#8220;lies&#8221; line is more than just an internal rhyme&#8211;it tells us that the murder weapon was betrayal. Someone hurt her, and she shut down.<\/p>\n<p>In true film noir style, the body of the song takes place in flashback. Our narrator fills us in on his love&#8217;s tragic backstory:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em>You grew up where young girls they grow up fast<\/em><br \/>\n<em>You took what you were handed and left behind what was asked<\/em><br \/>\n<em>But what they asked baby wasn&#8217;t right<\/em><br \/>\n<em>You didn&#8217;t have to live that life<\/em><br \/>\n<em>And I was gonna be your Romeo, you were gonna be my Juliet<\/em><br \/>\n<em>These days you don&#8217;t wait on Romeos, you wait on that welfare check<\/em><br \/>\n<em>And on all the pretty things that you can&#8217;t ever have<\/em><br \/>\n<em>And on all the promises<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em>That always end up point blank<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Shot between the eyes, whoa, point blank<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Like little white lies you tell to ease the pain<\/em><br \/>\n<em>You&#8217;re walking in the sights, girl, of point blank<\/em><br \/>\n<em>And it&#8217;s one false move and, baby, the lights go out<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The first half of this verse roots our nameless cipher&#8217;s passiveness in her abbreviated childhood. Forced to grow up too quickly, taught to accept and submit, as an adult she elicits our sympathy.<\/p>\n<p>She elicited something more from our narrator. He obviously fell for her, although we never learn why. (Perhaps he has a savior complex.) At some point, however, his determination and devotion gave way to frustration at and judgment of her unwillingness to free herself from a self-imposed prison.<\/p>\n<p>All of this is setup for the extended dream sequence that is the heart of &#8220;Point Blank,&#8221; stretching the verse well beyond its expected border in a way that commands our attention.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em>Once I dreamed we were together again, baby, you and me<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Back home in those old clubs the way we used to be<\/em><br \/>\n<em>We were standing at the bar, it was hard to hear<\/em><br \/>\n<em>The band was playing loud and you were shouting something in my ear<\/em><br \/>\n<em>You pulled my jacket off and as the drummer counted four<\/em><br \/>\n<em>You grabbed my hand and pulled me out on the floor<\/em><br \/>\n<em>You just stood there and held me and you started dancing slow<\/em><br \/>\n<em>And as I pulled you tighter I swore I&#8217;d never let you go<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Well I saw you last night down on the avenue<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Your face was in the shadows but I knew that it was you<\/em><br \/>\n<em>You were standing in the doorway out of the rain<\/em><br \/>\n<em>You didn&#8217;t answer when I called out your name<\/em><br \/>\n<em>You just turned and then you looked away<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Like just another stranger waiting to get blown away<\/em><\/p>\n<p>As a songwriter, Bruce uses this device sparingly, but when he does (as in &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/01\/22\/roll-of-the-dice-downbound-train\/\">Downbound Train<\/a>&#8220;) the effect is mesmerizing. Like a dream, some details are vivid; others are ignored, and the background is a blur.<\/p>\n<p>But the details aren&#8217;t important here. We&#8217;re meant to focus on the foreground, but instead we fixate on Bruce&#8217;s vocal as he strains mightily to maintain his composure, his emotional armor starting to buckle.<\/p>\n<p>Go to the four-minute mark, and listen to the way Bruce delivers the line &#8220;your face was in the shadows, but I knew that was you.&#8221; The love, longing, loss, sadness, empathy, and frustration that Bruce conveys through a single one-syllable word&#8211;<em>you<\/em>&#8211;breaks my heart every time I hear it. If there&#8217;s such a thing as having a favorite syllable in a singer&#8217;s catalog, that&#8217;s my pick right there.<\/p>\n<p>Bruce blurs the dream into a chance encounter so seamlessly that we question whether it was truly his ex-love that the narrator sees out in the street, or whether it&#8217;s simply his mind playing tricks on him. Either way, the effect is the same: our two lovers are unrecognizable to each other in the present but inseparably connected through their pasts.<\/p>\n<p>As we enter the denouement, Bruce&#8217;s lyrics lose their rhyming integrity, suggesting an emotional turmoil that belies his controlled vocals.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em>Point blank, right between the eyes<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Whoa, point blank, right between the pretty lies you fell<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Point blank, you been shot straight through the heart<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Yeah, point blank, you&#8217;ve been twisted up till you&#8217;ve become just another part of it<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Point blank, you&#8217;re walking in the sights<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Point blank, living one false move, just one false move away<\/em><br \/>\n<em>They caught you in their sights<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Point blank, did you forget how to love, girl, did you forget how to fight<\/em><br \/>\n<em>They must have shot you in the head<\/em><br \/>\n<em>&#8216;Cause point blank, bang bang, baby you&#8217;re dead<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Our narrator is almost keening here, but he regains his steel (and rhyme scheme) in the final, tragic couplet. He&#8217;s written off his ex-lover now; she&#8217;s dead inside, and dead to him. We end on a final cinematic flourish and a long (thirteen seconds!) fade to black.<\/p>\n<p>Start to finish, &#8220;Point Blank&#8221; is a masterpiece. It wasn&#8217;t always, though&#8211;like many of Bruce&#8217;s songs, he crafted, shaped, and iterated &#8220;Point Blank&#8221; over time, in this case over the course of a full year.<\/p>\n<p>What sets &#8220;Point Blank&#8221; apart from most other songs in Bruce&#8217;s catalog, however, is that he applied his craft in full public view.<\/p>\n<p>Bruce debuted a work-in-progress version of &#8220;Point Blank&#8221; on stage in Los Angeles mere weeks after he claimed to have composed it at a Boston soundcheck during the Darkness Tour.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"758\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fDJl28OsimY?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>Although the melody is clearly recognizable, and the first verse is in fairly final form, this first version of &#8220;Point Blank&#8221; differs significantly from his final version: there&#8217;s a bridge that would be excised from the final song, and lyrics that suggest that the narrator&#8217;s love interest is more a hostage to a chemical dependency than her own passivity.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em>Hearts full of anger, eyes filled with hate<\/em><br \/>\n<em>You see them on the street, you try to turn your eyes away but little girl, this time it&#8217;s too late<\/em><br \/>\n<em>You hear their voices at night as you lock the door<\/em><br \/>\n<em>There&#8217;ll be no sleep tonight for baby she don&#8217;t believe them lies anymore<\/em><br \/>\n<em>And she stumbles into the morning trying for her usual fix<\/em><br \/>\n<em>But baby them old distractions they just ain&#8217;t got the kicks no more<\/em><br \/>\n<em>And so you pack your pistol and you go out looking for someone<\/em><br \/>\n<em>But just, just stuck in the middle, girl you don&#8217;t know where to aim the gun<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Most importantly, though, the arrangement is more aggressive and Bruce&#8217;s vocals more passionate&#8211;despite the fact that in this version there doesn&#8217;t even seem to be a connection (past or present) between the two characters. It&#8217;s clear Bruce was working his way toward a destination but had some distance to go yet.<\/p>\n<p>Bruce seems to have realized this, because &#8220;Point Blank&#8221; didn&#8217;t surface again for more than two months. When it did, the arrangement was in its more familiar and restrained incarnation. The bridge was still present, however (it would remain throughout the tour), and while the lyrics had shaped up a bit, they were still far from their final form.<\/p>\n<div id=\"v-lKFkFzq1-1\" class=\"video-player\"><iframe title='VideoPress Video Player' aria-label='VideoPress Video Player' width='758' height='426' src='https:\/\/videopress.com\/embed\/lKFkFzq1?hd=1&amp;cover=1&amp;loop=0&amp;autoPlay=0&amp;permalink=1&amp;muted=0&amp;controls=1&amp;playsinline=0&amp;useAverageColor=0&amp;preloadContent=metadata' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen data-resize-to-parent=\"true\" allow='clipboard-write'><\/iframe><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" src='https:\/\/s0.wp.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/video\/assets\/js\/next\/videopress-iframe.js'><\/script><\/div>\n<p>By the end of the tour, Bruce and the band had settled into the song, playing it regularly and evolving it subtly each night, as in this beautifully captured performance in Houston.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"758\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8uzZU9FC1rA?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>Based on how close &#8220;Point Blank&#8221; was at that point to its final album arrangement on <em>The River<\/em>, one might assume that Bruce was at least satisfied with the song&#8217;s musicality, choosing instead to focus on refining the lyrics.<\/p>\n<p>But that apparently wasn&#8217;t the case,\u00a0 because when Bruce took the band into the studio to work on &#8220;Point Blank&#8221; six months after that Houston performance above, he&#8217;d taken the song in an entirely different direction as a straight-up rocker.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"758\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tHkii-j_Cac?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>Interestingly, Bruce bluffed most of the lyrics beyond the familiar first verse, suggesting that he had already dismissed his earlier, harsher lyrics but hadn&#8217;t yet written replacements. He continued to work on the lyrics in this arrangement, and in this next take we can hear the dream sequence starting to take shape.<\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-14213-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/120-Point-Blank-3-online-audio-converter.com_.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/120-Point-Blank-3-online-audio-converter.com_.mp3\">https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/120-Point-Blank-3-online-audio-converter.com_.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>Bruce found the lyrics he was looking for in &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/11\/14\/roll-of-the-dice-party-lights\/\">Party Lights<\/a>,&#8221; another song he&#8217;d written and recorded for <em>The River.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"758\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/S2WWQAvS_6I?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>Bruce took the first two verses of &#8220;Party Lights&#8221;&#8230;<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em>I know the girls well they grow up fast where you come from<\/em><br \/>\n<em>You left behind what was asked and you were married baby oh so young<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Now that little girl of yours looks like she&#8217;s growing up overnight<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em>He was gonna be your Romeo, you were gonna be his Juliet<\/em><br \/>\n<em>These days you don&#8217;t wait on Romeos, you just wait on that welfare check<\/em><br \/>\n<em>While other girls your age are out with lovers taking in the night<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&#8230;and transplanted them into &#8220;Point Blank&#8221; as its new second verse. Once the final dream sequence verse was complete, so was the song, which Bruce recorded (shortly after he&#8217;d completed it), released on his fifth album, and performed throughout his 1980 tour.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"758\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MLmj-WWcPB8?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>Still, Bruce never forgot his brief flirtation with that alternate arrangement. In 1995, Bruce surprised his California fans when he tour debuted &#8220;Point Blank&#8221; in a new acoustic arrangement that clearly evoked his abandoned rock version.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"758\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wsJb5NcjuIk?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>In all its many arrangements, however, there was always one notable omission. Despite the emotional, evocative power of Clarence Clemons&#8217; saxophone, Bruce had never deployed it in one of his saddest songs.<\/p>\n<p>Bruce rectified that on the Reunion Tour, placing The Big Man in the spotlight for an extended, sorrowful introduction to &#8220;Point Blank.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"758\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pjnIjTCfg-s?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>Post-reunion, &#8220;Point Blank&#8221; returned to its original arrangement, although oddly Bruce reverted to his original 1978 &#8220;baby the lights go out&#8221; ending rather than the &#8220;bang bang, baby, you&#8217;re dead&#8221; album ending.<\/p>\n<p>During the revival of the River Tour in 2016, Bruce introduced a dramatic, cinematic overture and restored the &#8220;bang bang&#8221; ending, creating what many (or at least I) would consider the definitive version of &#8220;Point Blank.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"758\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JWuJmYzHOVo?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>I consider that to be the definitive arrangement, but does Bruce? Time will tell, I suppose, but given his endless tinkering with it, I&#8217;m guessing we&#8217;ve yet to hear the final form of &#8220;Point Blank.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bonus:<\/strong> In 2005, Bruce debuted yet another arrangement for &#8220;Point Blank,&#8221; this time as a solo number on the electric piano. I include it here as a curiosity, because musically&#8230; well, let&#8217;s just say that &#8220;Point Blank&#8221; demands a tenured professor at the piano, and Bruce is an associate at best.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"758\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lUXbgUkM8_g?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p><strong>Point Blank<br \/>\nRecorded:<\/strong> Late 1979 &#8211; Early 1980<br \/>\n<strong>Released:\u00a0<\/strong><em>The River <\/em>(1980)<br \/>\n<strong>First performed:<\/strong> July 7, 1978 (West Hollywood, CA)<br \/>\n<strong>Last performed:<\/strong> July 28, 2016 (Oslo, Norway)<\/p>\n<p>Looking for your favorite Bruce song? Check our\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/roll-of-the-dice-album-by-album\/\">full index<\/a>. New entries every week!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stark, dark, and brooding, the film noir-ish &#8220;Point Blank&#8221; dazzles with one of Bruce&#8217;s very best vocals and arrangements. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[2549,537,467],"class_list":["post-14213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-roll-of-the-dice","tag-party-lights","tag-point-blank","tag-the-river"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/pointblank.jpg?fit=599%2C608&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9w3Lk-3Hf","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22423,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2020\/12\/17\/roll-of-the-dice-under-the-gun\/","url_meta":{"origin":14213,"position":0},"title":"Roll of the Dice: Under the Gun","author":"Ken","date":"December 17, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Under the Gun\" donated its lyrics to \"The River\" and \"Wreck on the Highway\" but there's still a terrific rocker hiding away in the vault somewhere. Let's trace its evolution to get a sense of what the final song might promise.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Roll of the Dice&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Roll of the Dice","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/roll-of-the-dice\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/underthegun.jpg?fit=1024%2C822&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/underthegun.jpg?fit=1024%2C822&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/underthegun.jpg?fit=1024%2C822&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/underthegun.jpg?fit=1024%2C822&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14214,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/11\/14\/roll-of-the-dice-party-lights\/","url_meta":{"origin":14213,"position":1},"title":"Roll of the Dice: Party Lights","author":"Ken","date":"November 14, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Part \"Point Blank\" and part \"Jersey Girl,\" this River outtake is much more than the sum of its parts.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Roll of the Dice&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Roll of the Dice","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/roll-of-the-dice\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/party.gif?fit=480%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1915,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2018\/05\/10\/roll-of-the-dice-night-fire\/","url_meta":{"origin":14213,"position":2},"title":"Roll of the Dice: Night Fire","author":"Ken","date":"May 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"When \"Night Fire\" finally saw the light of day,it turned out to be a lesser version of \"Point Blank.\" But what was it meant to be originally?","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Roll of the Dice&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Roll of the Dice","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/roll-of-the-dice\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/nightfire.gif?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/nightfire.gif?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/nightfire.gif?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/nightfire.gif?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15271,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2020\/01\/16\/roll-of-the-dice-slow-fade\/","url_meta":{"origin":14213,"position":3},"title":"Roll of the Dice: Slow Fade","author":"Ken","date":"January 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Still missing in action after all these years: whatever happened to the smoking E Street Band song known only as \"Slow Fade\" from bootleg rehearsal tapes? Take a listen to this remarkable track inside.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Roll of the Dice&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Roll of the Dice","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/roll-of-the-dice\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/slowfade.jpg?fit=720%2C540&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/slowfade.jpg?fit=720%2C540&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/slowfade.jpg?fit=720%2C540&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/slowfade.jpg?fit=720%2C540&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":33251,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2022\/04\/28\/roll-of-the-dice-texas-drive-in\/","url_meta":{"origin":14213,"position":4},"title":"Roll of the Dice: Texas Drive-In","author":"Ken","date":"April 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Among the lost tracks from a lost album is this teaser of a song about a secret love.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Roll of the Dice&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Roll of the Dice","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/roll-of-the-dice\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/texas.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/texas.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/texas.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/texas.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/texas.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":442,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2018\/01\/26\/roll-of-the-dice-stray-bullet\/","url_meta":{"origin":14213,"position":5},"title":"Roll of the Dice: Stray Bullet","author":"Ken","date":"January 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Stray Bullet\" is a dark and haunting outcast from the River sessions.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Roll of the Dice&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Roll of the Dice","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/roll-of-the-dice\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/stray-bullet.jpg?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/stray-bullet.jpg?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/stray-bullet.jpg?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/stray-bullet.jpg?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/stray-bullet.jpg?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14213"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14213\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31790,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14213\/revisions\/31790"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}