How good is Bruce Springsteen?<\/p>\n
So good that he can write three different killer pop songs with the exact same lyrics<\/em>.<\/p>\n The lines that many of us became familiar with in “Be True” on the Tunnel of Love Express Tour can be found in two other songs as well, and even though the words are the same, when set to different melodies their message is different.<\/p>\n Unlike “Little White Lies,” however, which in retrospect seems like a mere lyrical dalliance (when finally released in 2016, it would sport entirely different lyrics that have more in common with “Stolen Car” and “Brilliant Disguise” than “Be True”), it would be a mistake to dismiss “Mary Lou” as a work in progress. It’s every bit a finished song, and for the life of me I couldn’t tell you which version–“Be True” or “Mary Lou”–I love more. (But I love them both.)<\/p>\n “Mary Lou” not only ranks among the best of Bruce’s lighter songs, it also–along with sister songs “Be True” and “Little White Lies”–offers us a remarkable look at how Bruce creates a song.\u00a0 In fact, so many solo acoustic and full band rehearsal recordings and outtakes exist (about twenty by my count), that it may be one of the most documented and instructive behind-the-scenes peeks in his entire catalog. For that reason (and because I’d otherwise end up analyzing the same lyrics in three different essays), I’m going to save the lyrical analysis for my future “Be True” essay, and focus instead on how “Mary Lou” evolved from a melodic hook to a full-fledged song.<\/p>\n “Mary Lou” is the oldest of the three siblings, and “Be True” is the baby. We can’t pinpoint exactly when Bruce wrote the lyrics that comprise their shared DNA, but we can at least get in the ballpark thanks to a series of cassette tape recordings of Bruce crafting “Mary Lou” in his home studio in Holmdel in the early months of 1979.<\/p>\n In the first recording, we learn that as is often the case with Bruce, he landed on the melody before he ever gave thought to the lyrics. Nothing is recognizable or intelligible here–it’s bluff city–but the melody is recognizably Mary Lou’s.<\/p>\n