{"id":9386,"date":"2019-05-10T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-10T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/?p=9386"},"modified":"2019-12-05T19:52:14","modified_gmt":"2019-12-06T03:52:14","slug":"roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/10\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\/","title":{"rendered":"Roll of the Dice: Man at the Top"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">&#8220;This is a song that I guess fits both in Atlantic City or Washington.&#8221; &#8212; <span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Bruce Springsteen, August 5, 1985<\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>With those eerily prescient words, Bruce introduced &#8220;Man at the Top,&#8221; one of the very last songs he&#8217;d recorded during the\u00a0<em>Born in the U.S.A. <\/em>sessions but that never made it on the album.<\/p>\n<div id=\"v-Fc7MUod3-1\" class=\"video-player\"><iframe title='VideoPress Video Player' aria-label='VideoPress Video Player' width='758' height='426' src='https:\/\/videopress.com\/embed\/Fc7MUod3?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; presentation'><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Played solo and acoustically, sung introspectively, and backed by what is very possibly the E Street Band&#8217;s finest harmony, Bruce&#8217;s rendition of &#8220;Man at the Top&#8221; that night&#8211;the second of only three performances ever&#8211;still ranks (in my opinion, at least) among Bruce&#8217;s finest yet underrated on-stage moments.<\/p>\n<p>Certainly, it was stronger than the studio recording&#8211;released on\u00a0<em>Tracks<\/em> a full thirteen years after its live debut, the studio version of &#8220;Man at the Top&#8221; moves a bit too swiftly, with too much jaunt in the backing track and too much brio in Bruce&#8217;s vocals.<\/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\/IWXqPv9JY8k?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>If you listen to both the &#8217;85 and studio recordings above, you&#8217;ll hear two very different songs. Bruce is famous for pairing lyrics with backing tracks that belie the song&#8217;s message (most famously on the title track for that very tour), but sometimes the wrong arrangement doesn&#8217;t just hide the song&#8217;s meaning but instead actually subverts it.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Man at the Top&#8221; is a case in point. If you were to read the lyrics alone without ever hearing the song, you might think that Bruce had succumbed to the lure of unbridled wealth and ambition at the height of the 1980s:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em>Here comes a fireman, here comes a cop<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Here comes a wrench, here comes a carhop<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Been going on forever, it ain&#8217;t ever gonna stop<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Everybody wants to be the man at the top<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em>Everybody wants to be the man at the top<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Everybody wants to be the man at the top now<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Aim your gun, son, and shoot your shot<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Everybody wants to be the man at the top<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em>Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Doctor, lawyer, Indian chief<\/em><br \/>\n<em>One thing in common they all got<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Everybody wants to be the man at the top, yeah<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The bridge especially seems awfully personal, and the final verse autobiographical:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em>Man at the top says it&#8217;s lonely up there<\/em><br \/>\n<em>If it is, man, I don&#8217;t care<\/em><br \/>\n<em>From the big white house to the parking lot<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Everybody wants to be the man at the top<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em>Here comes a banker, here comes a businessman<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Here comes a kid with a guitar in his hand<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Dreaming of his record in the number one spot<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Everybody wants to be the man at the top<\/em><\/p>\n<p>For a man who knew that he was on the precipice of mega-stardom when he wrote it (and had already made that leap by the time of that &#8217;85 performance), &#8220;Man at the Top&#8221; sure reads like a self-pep talk meant to give himself that final nudge to grab the brass ring.\u00a0And honestly, if we listen just to the studio recording, that&#8217;s the logical read of it.<\/p>\n<p>But when Bruce played it that August night in 1985, he gave it a more reflective reading. It still sounds personal, but on the other side of stardom, we get the sense that he&#8217;s already paid the price he sings about, and maybe he does care after all. Not enough to want to change his fortune, but enough for that last verse to sound like a message to his younger self across the years.<\/p>\n<p>Other than his offhand introductory comment (almost certainly a Donald Trump reference, a full thirty years before Trump declared his presidential candidacy), though, the political undertone of the song was muted. That&#8217;s a bit surprising considering the venue for the concert was the nation&#8217;s capital, but perhaps Bruce didn&#8217;t see a need to make the callout so soon after the recent presidential election.<\/p>\n<p>The first time he ever played &#8220;Man at the Top,&#8221; though, was a different story. More than a year prior, at the beginning of the tour and just a few months before the election of 1984, Bruce was careful not only to introduce the song as political, he even changed a lyric: &#8220;one thing in common they all got&#8221; became &#8220;the movie star to the astronaut&#8221; (a reference to the incumbent president and one of his rivals that year).<\/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\/N7s0WtNiTHI?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>After the Born in the U.S.A. Tour ended, it seemed like Bruce had permanently retired &#8220;Man at the Top,&#8221; but it made a surprising one-time-only (so far) return almost 30 years later, in Kilkenny, Ireland on July 28, 2013.<\/p>\n<p>Performed in the same arrangement he used for the Born in the U.S.A. Tour, Bruce took full advantage of the talented backing vocalists that accompanied the E Street Band on their Wrecking Ball Tour. Just like the song&#8217;s last outing in 1985, this 2013 performance ranks among the highlights of the Wrecking Ball 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\/-evrNIjJLoc?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>Man at the Top<br \/>\nRecorded:<\/strong> January 12, 1984<br \/>\n<strong>Released:<\/strong> <em>Tracks<\/em> (1988)<br \/>\n<strong>First performed:<\/strong> July 12, 1984 (East Troy, WI)<br \/>\n<strong>Last performed:<\/strong> July 28, 2013 (Kilkenny, Ireland)<\/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>The ultra-rare &#8220;Man at the Top&#8221; (performed only three times ever) has surprising depth beneath its simple lyrics. Written when Bruce was on the precipice of mega-stardom, the song grapples with the nature and cost of ambition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10046,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_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},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[1269,188],"class_list":["post-9386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-roll-of-the-dice","tag-man-at-the-top","tag-tracks"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO 5.0.3 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-image-preview:large\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ken\"\/>\n\t<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/10\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\/\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"generator\" content=\"All in One SEO (AIOSEO) 5.0.3\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"E Street Shuffle\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Roll of the Dice: Man at the Top | E Street Shuffle\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/10\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\/\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"fb:app_id\" content=\"506162303136980\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"fb:admins\" content=\"358461094680441\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/mantop.jpg\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image:secure_url\" content=\"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/mantop.jpg\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"592\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-05-10T12:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-12-06T03:52:14+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/estreetshuffleblog\/\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Krosen\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Roll of the Dice: Man at the Top | E Street Shuffle\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/mantop.jpg\" \/>\n\t\t<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"aioseo-schema\">\n\t\t\t{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/10\\\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\\\/#article\",\"name\":\"Roll of the Dice: Man at the Top | E Street Shuffle\",\"headline\":\"Roll of the Dice: Man at the Top\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/ken\\\/#author\"},\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/#person\"},\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/mantop.jpg?fit=600%2C592&ssl=1\",\"width\":600,\"height\":592},\"datePublished\":\"2019-05-10T05:00:00-07:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-12-05T19:52:14-08:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"commentCount\":5,\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/10\\\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\\\/#webpage\"},\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/10\\\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\\\/#webpage\"},\"articleSection\":\"Roll of the Dice, Man at the Top, Tracks\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/10\\\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\\\/#breadcrumblist\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/category\\\/roll-of-the-dice\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Roll of the Dice\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/category\\\/roll-of-the-dice\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Roll of the Dice\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/category\\\/roll-of-the-dice\\\/\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/10\\\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Roll of the Dice: Man at the Top\"},\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Home\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/10\\\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Roll of the Dice: Man at the Top\",\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/category\\\/roll-of-the-dice\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Roll of the Dice\"}}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/#person\",\"name\":\"Ken\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/10\\\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\\\/#personImage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d037d3a05b6c9e4ee09ccdf24f113649cbc6f244d3e0a5706ee0a42186f079dc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"width\":96,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"Ken\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/ken\\\/#author\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/ken\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ken\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/10\\\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\\\/#authorImage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d037d3a05b6c9e4ee09ccdf24f113649cbc6f244d3e0a5706ee0a42186f079dc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"width\":96,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"Ken\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/10\\\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\\\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/10\\\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\\\/\",\"name\":\"Roll of the Dice: Man at the Top | E Street Shuffle\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/#website\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/10\\\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\\\/#breadcrumblist\"},\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/ken\\\/#author\"},\"creator\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/ken\\\/#author\"},\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/mantop.jpg?fit=600%2C592&ssl=1\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/10\\\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\\\/#mainImage\",\"width\":600,\"height\":592},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/10\\\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\\\/#mainImage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-05-10T05:00:00-07:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-12-05T19:52:14-08:00\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"E Street Shuffle\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/estreetshuffle.com\\\/#person\"}}]}\n\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO -->\n\n","aioseo_head_json":{"title":"Roll of the Dice: Man at the Top | E Street Shuffle","description":"","canonical_url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/10\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\/","robots":"max-image-preview:large","keywords":"","webmasterTools":{"miscellaneous":""},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/10\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\/#article","name":"Roll of the Dice: Man at the Top | E Street Shuffle","headline":"Roll of the Dice: Man at the Top","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/author\/ken\/#author"},"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/#person"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/mantop.jpg?fit=600%2C592&ssl=1","width":600,"height":592},"datePublished":"2019-05-10T05:00:00-07:00","dateModified":"2019-12-05T19:52:14-08:00","inLanguage":"en-US","commentCount":5,"mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/10\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\/#webpage"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/10\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\/#webpage"},"articleSection":"Roll of the Dice, Man at the Top, Tracks"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/10\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\/#breadcrumblist","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/#listItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/roll-of-the-dice\/#listItem","name":"Roll of the Dice"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/roll-of-the-dice\/#listItem","position":2,"name":"Roll of the Dice","item":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/roll-of-the-dice\/","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/10\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\/#listItem","name":"Roll of the Dice: Man at the Top"},"previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/#listItem","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/10\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\/#listItem","position":3,"name":"Roll of the Dice: Man at the Top","previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/roll-of-the-dice\/#listItem","name":"Roll of the Dice"}}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/#person","name":"Ken","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/10\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\/#personImage","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d037d3a05b6c9e4ee09ccdf24f113649cbc6f244d3e0a5706ee0a42186f079dc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","width":96,"height":96,"caption":"Ken"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/author\/ken\/#author","url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/author\/ken\/","name":"Ken","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/10\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\/#authorImage","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d037d3a05b6c9e4ee09ccdf24f113649cbc6f244d3e0a5706ee0a42186f079dc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","width":96,"height":96,"caption":"Ken"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/10\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/10\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\/","name":"Roll of the Dice: Man at the Top | E Street Shuffle","inLanguage":"en-US","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/#website"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/10\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\/#breadcrumblist"},"author":{"@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/author\/ken\/#author"},"creator":{"@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/author\/ken\/#author"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/mantop.jpg?fit=600%2C592&ssl=1","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/10\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\/#mainImage","width":600,"height":592},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/10\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\/#mainImage"},"datePublished":"2019-05-10T05:00:00-07:00","dateModified":"2019-12-05T19:52:14-08:00"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/","name":"E Street Shuffle","inLanguage":"en-US","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/#person"}}]},"og:locale":"en_US","og:site_name":"E Street Shuffle","og:type":"article","og:title":"Roll of the Dice: Man at the Top | E Street Shuffle","og:url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/10\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\/","fb:app_id":"506162303136980","fb:admins":"358461094680441","og:image":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/mantop.jpg","og:image:secure_url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/mantop.jpg","og:image:width":600,"og:image:height":592,"article:published_time":"2019-05-10T12:00:00+00:00","article:modified_time":"2019-12-06T03:52:14+00:00","article:publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/estreetshuffleblog\/","twitter:card":"summary_large_image","twitter:site":"@Krosen","twitter:title":"Roll of the Dice: Man at the Top | E Street Shuffle","twitter:image":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/mantop.jpg"},"aioseo_meta_data":{"post_id":"9386","title":null,"description":null,"keywords":null,"keyphrases":null,"primary_term":null,"canonical_url":null,"og_title":"","og_description":"","og_object_type":"article","og_image_type":"default","og_image_url":null,"og_image_width":null,"og_image_height":null,"og_image_custom_url":null,"og_image_custom_fields":null,"og_video":"","og_custom_url":null,"og_article_section":"","og_article_tags":"","twitter_use_og":false,"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image_type":"default","twitter_image_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_fields":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"schema":{"blockGraphs":[],"customGraphs":[],"default":{"data":{"Article":[],"Course":[],"Dataset":[],"FAQPage":[],"Movie":[],"Person":[],"Product":[],"ProductReview":[],"Car":[],"Recipe":[],"Service":[],"SoftwareApplication":[],"WebPage":[]},"graphName":"","isEnabled":true},"graphs":[]},"schema_type":null,"schema_type_options":null,"pillar_content":false,"robots_default":true,"robots_noindex":false,"robots_noarchive":false,"robots_nosnippet":false,"robots_nofollow":false,"robots_noimageindex":false,"robots_noodp":false,"robots_notranslate":false,"robots_max_snippet":null,"robots_max_videopreview":null,"robots_max_imagepreview":"large","priority":null,"frequency":null,"local_seo":null,"breadcrumb_settings":null,"limit_modified_date":false,"ai":null,"created":"2020-12-21 06:25:40","updated":"2025-06-04 19:49:28","seo_analyzer_scan_date":null,"focus_keyword":null,"additional_keywords":null,"truseo_locale":null},"aioseo_breadcrumb":"<div class=\"aioseo-breadcrumbs\"><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/\" title=\"Home\">Home<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">\u00bb<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/roll-of-the-dice\/\" title=\"Roll of the Dice\">Roll of the Dice<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">\u00bb<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\tRoll of the Dice: Man at the Top\n\t\t<\/span><\/div>","aioseo_breadcrumb_json":[{"label":"Home","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/"},{"label":"Roll of the Dice","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/roll-of-the-dice\/"},{"label":"Roll of the Dice: Man at the Top","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/10\/roll-of-the-dice-man-at-the-top\/"}],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9w3Lk-2ro","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11793,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/07\/roll-of-the-dice-vibes-man\/","url_meta":{"origin":9386,"position":0},"title":"Roll of the Dice: Vibes Man","author":"Ken","date":"August 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The secret origin of \u201cNew York City Serenade\u201d starts here.","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\/08\/vibes.jpg?fit=817%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/vibes.jpg?fit=817%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/vibes.jpg?fit=817%2C720&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/vibes.jpg?fit=817%2C720&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":35372,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/18\/roll-of-the-dice-long-way-home\/","url_meta":{"origin":9386,"position":1},"title":"Roll of the Dice: Long Way Home","author":"Ken","date":"August 18, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This brief instrumental from Bruce's Nebraska period never saw the light of day, but you can listen to it 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\/2022\/06\/longwayhome.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/longwayhome.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/longwayhome.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/longwayhome.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/longwayhome.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":37176,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1980\/07\/08\/roll-of-the-dice-the-time-that-never-was\/","url_meta":{"origin":9386,"position":2},"title":"The Time That Never Was","author":"Ken","date":"July 8, 1980","format":false,"excerpt":"\ufeff A true hidden gem from the Darkness\/River era that should have seen an official release long before.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;River&quot;","block_context":{"text":"River","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/river\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/TheTimeThatNeverWas_PRINTREADY_31-3-22.jpg?fit=767%2C679&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/TheTimeThatNeverWas_PRINTREADY_31-3-22.jpg?fit=767%2C679&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/TheTimeThatNeverWas_PRINTREADY_31-3-22.jpg?fit=767%2C679&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/TheTimeThatNeverWas_PRINTREADY_31-3-22.jpg?fit=767%2C679&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":22770,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1980\/08\/22\/roll-of-the-dice-walking-on-the-avenue\/","url_meta":{"origin":9386,"position":3},"title":"Walking on the Avenue","author":"Ken","date":"August 22, 1980","format":false,"excerpt":"This lonely River-era acoustic outtake never made it past the home demo stage, but with Bruce's warm melody and vocals it demonstrated a lot of promise.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;River&quot;","block_context":{"text":"River","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/river\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/walking.jpg?fit=1154%2C574&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/walking.jpg?fit=1154%2C574&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/walking.jpg?fit=1154%2C574&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/walking.jpg?fit=1154%2C574&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/walking.jpg?fit=1154%2C574&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":23580,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1980\/07\/13\/roll-of-the-dice-paradise-by-the-c\/","url_meta":{"origin":9386,"position":4},"title":"Paradise by the &#8220;C&#8221;","author":"Ken","date":"July 13, 1980","format":false,"excerpt":"Bruce's only officially released original instrumental provided a much-deserved song-length spotlight for The Big Man.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;River&quot;","block_context":{"text":"River","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/river\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/paradisebyc.jpg?fit=1004%2C836&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/paradisebyc.jpg?fit=1004%2C836&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/paradisebyc.jpg?fit=1004%2C836&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/paradisebyc.jpg?fit=1004%2C836&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15483,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2020\/01\/18\/roll-of-the-dice-roll-of-the-dice\/","url_meta":{"origin":9386,"position":5},"title":"Roll of the Dice: Roll of the Dice","author":"Ken","date":"January 18, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Roll of the Dice\" was the first song Bruce recorded for Human Touch, and the one that finally broke his late 80s writer's block--and if the lyrics aren't among his best, his vocals certainly are.","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\/rotd.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/rotd.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/rotd.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/rotd.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/rotd.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/mantop.jpg?fit=600%2C592&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9386","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=9386"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15027,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9386\/revisions\/15027"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}