{"id":23584,"date":"1988-08-24T11:00:00","date_gmt":"1988-08-24T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/?p=23584"},"modified":"2026-02-23T21:07:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T05:07:39","slug":"matr-joe-grushecky-and-bruce-springsteen-billys-waltz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1988\/08\/24\/matr-joe-grushecky-and-bruce-springsteen-billys-waltz\/","title":{"rendered":"Billy&#8217;s Waltz"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Towards the end of Joe Grushecky&#8217;s\u00a0<em>American Babylon<\/em>, there&#8217;s a lovely but dark and evocative ballad.<\/p>\n<p>The non-descriptively named &#8220;Billy&#8217;s Waltz&#8221; is the kind of song we&#8217;d expect to find on <em>Nebraska: <\/em>a confessional by a man who left his home and family to find work, promising to return for them but knowing he won&#8217;t keep his promise.<\/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\/jstRRnVSp8s?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>The narrator vividly recalls his father struggling to make ends meet and feed his family. He vows to never be in that situation, but his solution is to simply leave rather than confront it.<\/p>\n<p>As he did for almost every song on the album, Bruce contributed his talents to &#8220;Billy&#8217;s Waltz.&#8221; You&#8217;ll hear his mandolin from the opening bars to the closing ones, and his backing vocals (uncredited) on the high harmonies.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Billy&#8217;s Waltz&#8221; is one of the few\u00a0<em>American Babylon<\/em> songs Joe and Bruce have yet to perform together, but given their long and continuing string of over fifty shared appearances, perhaps it&#8217;s just a matter of time.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Billy&#8217;s Waltz<br \/>\nRecorded:<\/strong> March 1995<br \/>\n<strong>Released:\u00a0<\/strong><em>American Babylon\u00a0<\/em>(1995)<br \/>\n<strong>Never performed<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 January 9, 2021<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bruce plays a beautiful, evocative mandolin and adds his backing vocals on this beautiful American Babylon deep cut.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67982,"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":[4,3612,5],"tags":[3022,56],"class_list":["post-23584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cover-me","category-great","category-meeting-across-the-river","tag-billys-waltz","tag-joe-grushecky"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/1000016101_Glitch.jpg?fit=1638%2C2048&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9w3Lk-68o","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":31153,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2021\/11\/27\/two-faces-rockaway-the-days\/","url_meta":{"origin":23584,"position":0},"title":"Two Faces: Rockaway the Days","author":"Ken","date":"November 27, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Katy Crane returns with a deep dive into Bruce's 1984 outtake.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Two Faces&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Two Faces","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/two-faces\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/rockaway.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/rockaway.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/rockaway.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/rockaway.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/rockaway.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":25519,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1988\/01\/09\/matr-billy-joel-and-bruce-springsteen-allentown\/","url_meta":{"origin":23584,"position":1},"title":"Allentown","author":"Ken","date":"January 9, 1988","format":false,"excerpt":"One time only: Bruce and Billy Joel team up on Billy's ode to blue-collar communities. Could there be a song better suited for a Billy and Bruce duet?","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cover Me&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cover Me","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/cover-me\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/allentown.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/allentown.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/allentown.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/allentown.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/allentown.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7877,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/03\/14\/roll-of-the-dice-wild-billys-circus-story\/","url_meta":{"origin":23584,"position":2},"title":"Roll of the Dice: Wild Billy&#8217;s Circus Story","author":"Ken","date":"March 14, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"More an impressionistic scene than a story, \"Wild Billy's Circus Story\" is one of Bruce's most carefully crafted early songs, full of delightful musical and lyrical detail. Insights, backstory, and some remarkable early performances 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\/2019\/03\/circus.jpg?fit=980%2C980&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/circus.jpg?fit=980%2C980&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/circus.jpg?fit=980%2C980&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/circus.jpg?fit=980%2C980&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16062,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1988\/07\/05\/matr-billy-joel-bruce-springsteen-and-the-e-street-band-only-the-good-die-young\/","url_meta":{"origin":23584,"position":3},"title":"Only the Good Die Young","author":"Ken","date":"July 5, 1988","format":false,"excerpt":"One time only: Bruce joins Billy Joel on stage at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary Concert for Billy's Top 40 hit, \"Only the Good Die Young.\"","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cover Me&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cover Me","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/cover-me\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/admin-ajax-17.jpg?fit=1190%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/admin-ajax-17.jpg?fit=1190%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/admin-ajax-17.jpg?fit=1190%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/admin-ajax-17.jpg?fit=1190%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/admin-ajax-17.jpg?fit=1190%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17936,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1988\/09\/30\/matr-billy-joel-and-bruce-springsteen-movin-out-anthonys-song\/","url_meta":{"origin":23584,"position":4},"title":"Movin&#8217; Out (Anthony&#8217;s Song)","author":"Ken","date":"September 30, 1988","format":false,"excerpt":"One time only: Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel trade lead vocals on Billy's 1977 hit, \"Movin' Out (Anthony's Song).\"","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cover Me&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cover Me","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/cover-me\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/admin-ajax-44.jpg?fit=1200%2C1188&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/admin-ajax-44.jpg?fit=1200%2C1188&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/admin-ajax-44.jpg?fit=1200%2C1188&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/admin-ajax-44.jpg?fit=1200%2C1188&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/admin-ajax-44.jpg?fit=1200%2C1188&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":25700,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/15\/roll-of-the-dice-rockaway-the-days\/","url_meta":{"origin":23584,"position":5},"title":"Roll of the Dice: Rockaway the Days","author":"Ken","date":"March 15, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"This under-the-radar Born in the U.S.A. outtake is the darkest in Bruce's \"car crash song\" mini-genre.","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\/2021\/03\/rockaway.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/rockaway.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/rockaway.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/rockaway.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/rockaway.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23584","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=23584"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23584\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67983,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23584\/revisions\/67983"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}