Even living legends at the peak of their powers need a break from time to time.<\/p>\n
Bruce Springsteen was scheduled to kick off the European leg of the original River Tour a mere twelve days after wrapping the first North American leg, but by the end of that first leg in March 1981, Bruce was exhausted.<\/p>\n
His shows had reached and passed the four-hour mark (intermissions included), and he and the band gave their all each and every night. The man desperately needed a break, and so reluctantly the first twelves shows of the European leg were rescheduled to give Bruce a solid month to rest and rejuvenate.<\/p>\n
For Bruce, though, resting up included more songwriting, and several home demos recorded during Bruce’s month-long respite escaped into the wild.<\/p>\n
Just a few months later, Bruce’s songwriting would turn dark, leading him to his next landmark album,\u00a0Nebraska. <\/em>But in the spring of 1981, Bruce was still very much in River mode, and several of the songs he wrote are surprisingly light and poppy. \u00a0(See “Riding Horse<\/a>,” for example.)<\/p>\n Perhaps the most charming song-that-never-was from this period is a confection known as “My Heart Is an Open Book.”<\/p>\n