{"id":6935,"date":"1992-02-04T11:00:16","date_gmt":"1992-02-04T19:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/?p=6935"},"modified":"2026-03-04T16:05:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T00:05:31","slug":"roll-of-the-dice-local-hero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1992\/02\/04\/roll-of-the-dice-local-hero\/","title":{"rendered":"Local Hero"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most of the reviews I read for\u00a0Springsteen on Broadway<\/em> mention Bruce’s self-deprecating humor, noting that late in his career, Bruce seems intent on deflating some of his importance, self- or otherwise.<\/p>\n

All of that is true, but if you’re just noticing it now, you haven’t been paying attention for the last quarter-century or so.<\/p>\n

When Bruce released his double albums\u00a0Human Touch<\/em> and\u00a0Lucky Town<\/em> in 1992, I was just about finished with Bruce, as was much of the listening public. I still loved his music as much as always–in fact, his last album,\u00a0Tunnel of Love<\/em> was and remains one of my all-time favorites–but it had been four-and-a-half years since we’d heard any new music from him, and time and tastes had moved forward.<\/p>\n

For the sake of old times, I picked up the albums (I couldn’t be bothered dealing with the midnight madness at Tower Records, though), and on my first listen I was mostly underwhelmed. With few exceptions (most notably the title track), I didn’t care for the production on\u00a0Human Touch<\/em>, and while I liked\u00a0Lucky Town<\/em> just fine, it just didn’t\u00a0sound like the same Bruce.<\/p>\n

Which was precisely Bruce’s intention of course, but I didn’t know that then. All I knew was that his voice sounded different, his subject matter was lighter, and the\u00a0sound I’d come to know and love was just plain gone. “If I Should Fall Behind” immediately stood out as a lovely and destined-to-be-timeless ballad, and “Better Days” was fun, but nothing else lodged in my brain on first listen.<\/p>\n

A day or two later, I listened to\u00a0Lucky Town<\/em> again. And this time, I must have been paying closer attention, because when I listened to “Local Hero,” I laughed out loud.\u00a0There you are<\/em>, I thought: “Local Hero” is such a delightfully meta commentary on the downhill side of fame that I still chuckle every time I hear it, even decades later. It also has some of Bruce’s\u00a0 cleverest, most incisive lyrics on record.<\/p>\n