Arcade Fire - Supersymmerty

On August 12, 2014, Arcade Fire came to Calgary. I have been a fan of Arcade Fire since the beginning but this was the first time I was able to see them live. Last time Arcade Fire was in town I missed them because I was already committed to seeing Black Label Society that night, and I am one of the very few people on earth who is a fan of both of those bands. This time around there was no metal concert scheduling conflict.

In October of last year (2013) Arcade Fire released their fourth studio album “Reflektor” a two disc experiment that, like every other Arcade Fire album, is hard to describe. A major reason I love Arcade Fire is that they are always inventing new ways to create new music. When I say “Reflektor” is like every other Arcade Fire album in that it is hard to describe I mean that in a very thorough and complete way, The common characteristic of every Arcade Fire album thus far has been that each one was a brave new musically approach, and with that in mind “Reflektor” does not sound like any previous Arcade Fire album. Basically Arcade Fire is so unique they don’t even sound like Arcade Fire.

The Mirror Man

The August 12th concert was part of the “Reflektor” tour. The show opened with a man wearing a full suite of mirrors including a hat and mask and everything, he walked to the centre of the open crowd and announced “Calgary! Arcade Fire!” He later appeared in the same spot and danced in small circles during the song “Afterlife” at least I think that was the song playing, either way his presence was a tripped out visual. Arcade Fire has become known for their pranks and gags, like pretending to be Daft Punk. This time around they used the icon of their giant papier-mâché heads from the “Reflektor” music video on two occasions during the live concert. Once to have a fake opening with five people pretending to be them by wearing the fake heads and then being interrupted by the real Arcade Fire, and then again later by having the same imposters play a recording of Loverboy’s “Working For The Weekend” which they again promptly interrupted with the much needed encore.

But the real fun, at least for me, was the wild storm of interchangeable roles everyone in the band has. Win the leader of the group sings primary vocals, most of the time, plays lead guitar, and sometimes plays keyboard. Regina sings background vocals, sometimes lead vocals, plays the keyboard and drums, and the accordion at one point. William, Win’s younger brother, plays the keyboard and bass guitar as well as backing vocals. Sarah plays the violin, keyboards and backing vocals. Richard kept swapping between drums, bass and keyboards, and of course backing vocals. Tim was consistently on the bass, but not always. There were three other guys I am unable to figure out the names of and they too were all over the stage. It was an impressive sight, seeing the band members of Arcade Fire transition between songs from one discipline to another and made all the more impressive how multitalented all of them are. A true artistic musical experience, I am the richer for having witnessed it.

This is the “Reflektor” tour and it was expected we would primarily hear songs from that album, but naturally Arcade Fire performed some of their most popular tracks from previous albums like “Rebellion (Lies),” “No Cars Go,” and “Sprawl II,” you know these songs;

http://colinkellymusicinreview.blogspot.ca/2011/03/february-2010-arcade-fire-rebellion.html

http://colinkellymusicinreview.blogspot.ca/2011/03/january-2008-arcade-fire-no-cars-go.html

http://colinkellymusicinreview.blogspot.ca/2011/03/february-2011-part-2-arcade-fire-sprawl.html

I love the first three Arcade Fire albums a lot, and if I had to rank the Arcade Fire discography I would place the newest one “Reflektor” last, but that does not mean that “Reflektor” is not a worthwhile album. As stated early it is yet another completely new adventure by Arcade Fire and a lot special moments have come from it.

David Bowie guest sang on their first single off of “Reflektor” the self titled track of the same name. This is also the music video where they broke out the giant papier-mâché heads, which have become fairly iconic. 

 

Reflektor

The second track off the album is “We Exists” a song about trans-people, because you know, they do in fact exist. The list of songs in support of, or defensive of, trans-persons is few, so Arcade Fire has done something kind of noble for writing a song reflective of their condition. It is a very clever approach too, a simple acknowledge about the mere existence of someone can have something of an avalanche affect in the minds of the otherwise complacent.

We Exists

Also, what better way to show humor, humility, and showcase your new songs than by having a multi-part music video/movie? Including cameos by the likes of Michael Cera, Zach Galifianakis and others, who mostly show up just to insult Arcade Fire; charming.

Mini Movie/Music Video

But my favorite tune on the new album is “Supersymmetry.” Now woe is me because they did not play “Supersymmetry” at the concert, but that is okay, presumably I will be live. “Supersymmerty” is a very electronic song whose bass is composed of multiple keyboards and soft drums, and the melody is mostly violins and gentle guitar chords. It is very soothing and relaxing. I initially thought the song was about sound coming together, because that is what the song is. There is lot of different sounds coming together in many Arcade Fire songs and “Supersymmerty” is a very strong example, so I believed the idea of the fictional term “Supersymmerty” was about harmony of sounds melting together into a soup for the soul, and I guess I am sort of right, no matter how you feel about it, because that is the song structure of “Supersymmerty” in a nutshell.

Scarlet Johansson's perfect
face is not on the cover because
she is only a voice in the moive.

“Supersymmetry” was included on the soundtrack for the Spike Jonze movie “Her.” “Her” was a daring film, it stars Joaquin Phoenix and his impressive mustache, and the plot is he falls in love with the artificial intelligence that serves as the operating system to his personal computer, voiced by Scarlet Johansson. It is a strange movie because nothing you think is going to happen happens. Anyway once I saw “Her” and “Supersymmerty” played I thought to myself that the lyrics were a little to perfectly appropriate for the film, and I was forced to consider the possibility that the song was written specifically for the movie “Her,” which according to Spike Jonze is the case:

http://pitchfork.com/news/53018-spoke-jonze-says-arcade-fires-supersymmetry-was-originally-made-for-his-film-her/

It is not as though my initial interpretation in contradicted by this discovery, rather I feel it enriches my take away message of systems working in symmetry. The unorthodox love story in “Her” is about connecting with people and technological systems in emotional ways and that too could be thought of as “Supersymmerty.” A massive number of carefully crafted sounds coming together to form a great song, that’s “Supersymmerty.” Yeah I like it; it can be as deep as you want it to be.

I could muse on about Arcade Fire and “Supersymmerty” for a long while but I believe I have said enough. Your homework assignment is to listen to “Reflektor” and watch the movie “Her” and then think about things for a long time, because that is what I did, and I enjoyed it.

- King of Braves

Giant papier-mâché heads

Freedom Call - Freedom Call

My friends, and yours, the Germans, have won the world cup. You probably heard about it, it is not everyday Brazil loses seven to one, also it was the first time in history a European team has won the world cup in South America, and Germany may be the first team to defeat Brazil and then Argentina back to back.

If you are observant at all you may have noticed that I am particularly fond of a lot of German music. I have already written at length about the Scoprions, Blind Guardian, Helloween, Edguy and Avantasia. It just seems like Germany has a fantastic talent for music as well as football. In celebration of Deutschland’s recent football success let us continuing talking about German music.

Enter Freedom Call.

Freedom Call is yet another rock solid German metal band that affectively no one in North America has ever heard of; shame on us.

Like so many European metal bands Freedom Call has a mixed history with other European metal bands. Front man Chris Bay started Freedom in 1998 with his friend Dan Zimmermann, who is better known as the drummer of Gamma Ray. Dan Zimmermann is no longer with either Freedom Call or Gamma Ray now, and thus he continues to contribute to the many odysseys that exist in European metal careers.

The best song to introduce Freedom Call to those who have never heard of them before is probably their flagship song that has the same name as the band, “Freedom Call.” It is a very common thing for power metal bands to have a song of the title as the band name, I think Black Sabbath might have been the first, and often times the flagship song captures the spirit of the band in one short musical synopsis. Having said all that “Freedom Call” the song should serve my rock and roll goals nicely.

As a power metal band, Freedom Call have a lot of songs about high adventure, with fantasy themes throughout. “Freedom Call” the song tells a tale of another world, as the opening line would suggest, “An Island lies in the sea of stars, So far from time.” We do not really get to know much about this world beyond a noble group of strangers fighting against the magic of some demon; that alone sounds like a good idea for a book and maybe it already is and I just cannot identify it. I like to believe this strange world is the Crystal Empire, only because that is the name of the album from which the song is recorded.

Some of the fun surrounding a lot of power metal is trying to piece together the story being told to us, when not everything is exactly clear. I have made something of an effort in the past to make sense of songs like Helloween’s “Keeper of the Seven Keys,” or Queens “Ogre Battle,” but strangeness of fantasy coupled with the lack of specifics leaves just about everything open to interpretation. The song “Freedom Call” appears on Freedom Call’s second album the 2001 “Crystal Empire,” and the entire album, like many Freedom Call albums, has an overarching story, so the adventure of “Freedom Call” is wonderfully expanded into the rest of the album, and I dig that shit.

As much as I love a good and mysterious fantasy adventure set to the back drop of power metal it was not this that made me initially notice and fall in love with Freedom Call. They have a great sound Freedom Call. In the song “Freedom Call” specifically the introduction is methodical, the rhythm guitar and drums both steady and simple start us off and then a great little rift from lead guitar brings us to a change in tempo with a keyboard primary leading us. The tempo remains the same but changes into a galloping drum beat that leads and the rest of the song follows this pattern. Complexity through layered beats that are simplistic is something I have always loved and the rhythms and melodies of “Freedom Call” and many other Freedom Call songs are excellent at drawing you in this way.

Freedom Call will be, or already has, toured with Edguy through Scandinavia this year, and it is a great regret that I will not be able to see them together, that would be a hell of a show. I am super jealous of my friends in Sweden who are going. The point of this review is simple, Freedom Call is another superb metal contribution by the fine people of Deutschland, and yet another central European power metal band I sure hope my fellow North Americans discover hereafter.

Until next month keep on rocking in the free world.

P.S.

Germany rules.

- King of Braves

Edguy - Space Police

Tobias Sammet exists in two musical worlds now, Avantasia, the grand metal opera, and Edguy, the hard rock band. If Avantasia is a deep poetic adventure of fantasy and philosophy, and it is, what role should Edguy play? There are early signs of operatic and over the top production in Edguy that would eventually evolve into the sort of creative efforts that produced Avantasia, but now, with Avantasia existing, where does that leave Edguy? The answer, goofy fun.

“Space Police” is Edguy’s tenth studio album, and it is an important one. Coming off the success of multiple internationally acclaimed Avantasia albums, there were a lot of question marks regarding how Tobias’s band Edguy would fair. In my honest opinion their last album “Age of the Joker” left a lot to be desired, especially when we have to compare it to the titan Avantasia albums like “The Scarecrow” and “The Wicked Symphony.” “Space Police” is the album that will set the standard of what we expect from Edguy for the rest of their careers.

“Space Police” reached number 2 on the charts in Tobias’s native Germany, the highest any Edguy album has ever reached, and perhaps more important than that, “Space Police” is a great good old fashion party rock album. I was a little worried after “The Age of the Joker” which I felt was a low point in Tobias’s creativity, especially compared to his works in Avantasia at the same time, the fear was that Tobias was perhaps finally running out of ideas, but then bam, “Space Police” radical and fun with a great flow from song to song, a true winner. Faith has been renewed.

The first single for “Space Police” was “Love Tyger” and of course “tiger” is spelled wrong because the whole album is a goof like that. The music video was a cartoon about outer space rock band Edguy coming to Earth and saving us even if we don’t want to be.

“They call me Love T-T-Tyger.
I'm gonna save your soul - never mine,
Love T-T-Tyger - I'm gonna save your soul.
There may be a lot who don't wanna be saved,
I'm gonna save them anyway.”

Love Tyger

The Eighties were an obvious inspiration for “Space Police,” or as Tobias put it;

The sounds of “Space Police” do carry the upbeat pacing and harmonies of popular rock during the eighties, and the attitude of the album is very carefree like many of the garage bands of that time. This is very evident in a bonus track “Aychim In Hysteria” a song predictably inspired, at least in part, by Def Leppard.

Aychim In Hysteria

A goal Tobias almost always has is to include an overarching story within his albums. This time around there is an obvious theme of space and authority, but the actual details of the story are unclear, as usual.

“The Space Cops lurk everywhere, in the corridors of power of the music industry, in the press, some are your ex-fans who loved you when you were an insider’s tip, an underground act who hadn’t sold out yet. You know, childish bullshit…” – Tobias Sammet

Read full interview here: http://new-transcendence.com/interview-tobias-sammet-edguy/

Tobias allowed a strong sense of silliness exist throughout the story this time around, which is wise self awareness, as not everyone is going to be able to take a eighties rock themed album about space police overly seriously, you know, childish bullshit.

Sammet has always done a very good job of leaving his visions open to interpretation and “Space Police” is no exception. There is a sense of tyranny as well as heroism established in the opening tracks “Space Police” and “Defenders of the Crown” regarding the actual Space Police. The middle of the album seemed more interested in having fun and rocking out, and connections to an overall plot are difficult to relate with certainty. At the end Edguy brings things back to continuity with songs like “Space Eaters,” after which my two favorite songs off of the album play.

“Alone in Myself” is a song of regret and a search for salvation. How it relates to the Space Police saga is not entirely clear but it could be any number of things, perhaps the rock star depicted in the “Love Tyger” music video is outcast and broken. Perhaps he failed to save the world with rock and roll, or perhaps his alien strangeness has left him a loner wondering in outer space. Or perhaps it is a song about the space police themselves losing a sense of purpose and meaning when the shadow eaters mentioned in the song before have overwhelmed them. I don’t know, but either way I like it.

Alone In Myself

I have always considered it important for a piece of art, be it a novel or a rock album, to end on a strong note. I have always considered it wise to end on a note that leaves the audience wanting more, and Tobias seems to get this. This is not the first time he had ended an album with what I would consider the best song from the entire set, “Journey to Arcadia” being a very big example from “Angels of Babylon.” The final song, and in my humble opinion the best song off of “Space Police” which is “The Eternal Wayfarer.”

Once again the exact correct interpretation is elusive. There could any number of possible explanations for the soul searching quest described in “The Eternal Wayfarer” it could be about forever lost space police or it could be about space wandering rock and roll champions. Whatever Tobias might have had in mind is strangely secondary in importance to the great stand alone music he has created. I like to imagine “The Eternal Wayfarer” is about the Silver Surfer forever searching the cosmos for his lost home planet, but I suspect this specific interpretation is incorrect. Once again in the end, it does not matter what specifically “The Eternal Wayfarer” is about, what does matter is that it is a great rock song with the power in invoke great ideas and imagery into the minds of the listener.

I believe it is safe to say “Space Police” is a success. Not only is it the best charting album Edugy has so far produced but it is of quality and uniqueness to stand out among the already very impressive Edugy and Avantasia catalogue. Sammet has somehow after all this time not run out of ideas, and we can only hope, he is only getting started, for he is, according to me at least, the greatest song writer in the world today.

Until next month keep on rocking in the free world.

- King of Braves

Hammerfall - Take The Black

Game of Thrones session four episode nine was one hundred percent about the wildling attack on the wall and their battle with the men of the Night’s Watch. It was a great episode. Jon Snow got to stand up and take command of the battle and there were some great parts with Sam as well. Also important characters died. I really like the third book “A Storm of Swords” for a lot of reasons but one of the reasons was Jon’s character arc. In the first two books “A Game of Thrones” and “A Clash of Kings” Jon was not a particularly interesting character, he was involved in some really neat world building moments, mostly exploring and explaining the north, but Ned Stark’s bastard himself was not as engaging as many of the other characters. Characters like Ned, Rob, Stannis, Jamie and Tyrion had complex situations to deal with, and were forced to make really challenging moral choices where as Jon Snow only ever had one option, do the right thing. In “A Storm of Swords” things got complicated for Jon and his chapters were fantastic as a result. He had divided loyalties between the Night’s Watch and his wildling love interest Ygritte. We got to see the wildlings as people, likeable people with empathic objectives and we had to compare that to the noble duty of the men at the wall. I liked the choices Jon makes and I like his plight, he’s a great character, maybe even the main character?

Great battles and dark magic in the icy north are perfect settings for metal music. In fact the entire “Song of Ice and Fire” series is so loved by metal musicians that there are dozens of songs about the Game of Thrones, notably Blind Guardian and “War of the Thrones” which you may remember from here: http://colinkellymusicinreview.blogspot.ca/2012/06/blind-guardian-war-of-thrones.html

The most common storyline from “A Song of Ice and Fire” metal musicians tend to write songs for is Jon Snow’s. Most of the songs are about Jon, the wall, the north, the others, or the men of the Night’s Watch, or all the above, and again why not? Everything about the north wall of Westeros is pretty metal when you think about it, warriors dressed in black battling ice zombies is very metal.

Sweden’s Hammerfall being on the forefront of modern metal were among the best who contributed to the growing catalogue of metal songs inspired by the imagination of George R. R. Martin. Off of their fifth album “Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken” the song “Take the Black” is an obvious “Game of Thrones” inspired track. The title “Take the Black” is a common expression in Westeros describing when a man chooses to join the men of the Night’s Watch, of course you already know that assuming you have not been living under a goddamn rock. There are many characters that have challenging moments and interesting circumstances that force them to pause and consider making the hard but noble choice to dedicate their lives to protecting the realm from the horrors beyond the wall. Taking the black can be seen as a desperate escape for criminals and the unwanted, but it also can be an expression of empowerment.

Lord Eddard Stark’s bastard Jon Snow did not have to take the black, he chooses to do so because it was a noble and heroic thing to do. Jon was at least partially inspired by his uncle Benjen who also took the black to serve the realm, as did Jeor Mormont who was Lord of Bear Island before taking the black. So when Hammerfall’s lead singer Joacim Cans roars the title “take the black” it feels like a call to arms, or a beckoning to glory and not some submission to banishment.

In fact the chorus of “Take the Black” is the charming hook and most badass moment of the entire song;

“Ain't no reason for the rhyme,
Take the Black - Ready to attack,
Take the Black.
Face to face you bide your time,
Take the Black - Ready to attack.”

Not only is the chorus very fast and powerful but it is also the only coherent connection to George R.R. Martin’s “Song of Ice and Fire” series in the entire song. The verses of “Take the Black” are rather generic for a metal song and open for just about any interpretation, but this hardly matters. The connection to “Game of Thrones” is established with the title and chorus and if that is where the inspiration ends we are no poorer for it. “Take the Black” while perhaps only slightly about Jon Snow or the men of the Night’s Watch, is still a very good metal song.

The trick to a good metal song, in my opinion anyway, is pacing; or rhythm if you prefer the proper terminology. So the secret of any high energy metal song is fast drums and cooperative bass and rhythm guitar. Too many metal songs are a hurried mess of competing sounds, when a more methodic, or intelligent, approach is needed. “Take the Black” is a powerful, fast paced, heavy metal song, but it is also well paced, which in my opinion makes it a great metal song. The flow and rising action of the melody take us on an adventure and gets our hearts pumping, and fuck yeah.

I really like the ending to this song, they play the amazing chorus one last time and let a single guitar note linger a lengthy while into near silence before exploding back into the chorus once more. One last big fuck yeah before the track is truly over. It leaves you wanting more, which in turn makes you listen to the song again, and again, and again; and I bet you will.

I guess the moral of the story is “Game of Thrones” is awesome; Swedish metal is awesome; so it follows that Hammerfalls “Take the Black” is awesome. That is some math you can share with your friends about at parties.

Keep on rocking in the free world.

- King of Braves

Take the Black

Sabaton - White Death

On May 10th of this year, Sabaton came to Calgary Alberta. I was super excited to see them. I had picked up most of their CDs and I really enjoyed everything about them, especially the fact that almost all their songs are inspired by European military history. They were the second band in a show of three. The opening act before Sabaton was Revamp, a nice surprise goth metal band from the Netherlands whose lead singer, Floor Jansen, is the currently lead singer for Nightwish, which is something I probably should have known ahead of time, but I did not. The main attraction was Iced Earth, a band I am still learning about.

On an unimportant side note, on Revamp’s North American Tour Diary Part 6, if you watch closely you can see me in it. Neat.

When Sabaton hit the small stage in the Republik nightclub and bar, something special happened; we the people of Calgary went nuts. Chants of “Sabaton! Sabaton! Sabaton!” ripped through crowd, we cheered louder for Sabaton then we would for Iced Earth later that night, at least I think we did. We were so loud and riled up we managed to surprise lead singer Joakim Brodén and he said;

“Calgary. This is very unusual. We’ve never been here before. This kind of ovation is unexpected.”

Later he joked as we continued to cheer;

“Wow. I’m feeling a little bit of a love hate thing going on here. I mean you all seem really nice, but what the hell happened at the Olympics? You guys raped us in the gold medal match. Every time Canada beats Sweden in hockey we will remove one song from our playlist.”

Thankfully he was just joking and we were treated to the full set.

Sabaton's front man Joakim Broden

Joakim Brodén proved to be a very good front man, the man has great energy and personality and he fed off our energy as we fed off of his. Also I like the fake body armor, Mohawk, goatee, shades combination, he makes it work.

It was a great show and I feel very confident Sabaton will return one day. Calgary made them feel welcome, and I am very happy I got to be a part of that.

The three biggest reasons I believe Sabaton will succeed on the global stage of metal are, great sound, great look, and great theme. The sound speaks for its self, solid drums with smooth rhythm and melody make every song of theirs jump out at you; they are very energetic and exciting all the time. Their look is simple, they wear greyscale camouflage, but they are distinct, they are easy to point out and that helps casual listeners remember who they are. Last the vastness of military history offers a nearly endless supply of stories and inspiration to draw upon for creating music, and military history is extremely interesting and exciting. It is a theme everyone from every country has some cultural connection with and war is something most metal fans have at least a passing interest in. After all what is more metal than war?

When creating metal music about famous battles and heroes through Europe’s dense military history it makes sense to write at least one song about the greatest soldier in all modern military history, I of course am speaking of Simo Häyhä. I am sure some people will argue that someone other than Simo Häyhä is the greatest military solider ever, but it’s hard to imagine a better candidate than the Finnish sniper.

Simo Hayha.  Getting shot
in the face is no big deal.

The Winter War began in 1939 when the Soviet Union invaded Finland. As Russians poured across the Finnish boarder they were brutally dispatch by a lone sniper. Dressed all in white and using a white guard M/28 rifle, Simo managed to hide in snow drifts and trees and shoot down Russians as they came the border. By the end of the war Simo had managed to rack up over five hundred confirmed kills, and as if that was not impressive enough he managed to do it in minus forty degree weather and over the course of merely one hundred days. This means Simo managed to kill an average of five or more men a day for a hundred days straight with an outdated rifle. After one hundred days of being slaughtered by one man some Russian finally got lucky and managed to shoot Simo in the face with a stray shot. Just to prove how badass Simo was he survived and lived to the ripe old age of ninety-six.

For his accomplishments in slaughtering Russians in the Winter War, Simo Häyhä was dubbed The White Death. Sabaton naturally wrote a song about him of the same name.

“You are in the sniper's sight,
The first kill tonight,
Time to die!
You are in the bullet's way,
The White Death's prey,
Say goodbye!”

This chorus is perfect. It is intense, powerful and deadly. The White Death is described almost like a force of nature, dispatching people so easily as if they were just thing to discard and happened just in the way. As civilized human beings we often shy away from the embraces of war, and as a generation that has never known true war we tend to demonize any acts of violence altogether, but somewhere deep inside us, all of us, we know there is something very exciting about violence and combat. The fear of death and the glory of triumph dwell in us all. A fast paced metal song about history’s greatest sniper can really get the blood flowing, and like so many Sabaton songs “White Death” has fantastic energy.

What better way to honour the White Death, Simo Häyhä?

I am calling it now. Sabaton will be a huge international success very soon, or maybe they already are and I just don’t know it.

- King of Braves

Metal's new bad asses.

Bruce Springsteen - Dancing In The Dark

Throughout the seventies and eighties Bruce Springsteen was a dominant force in the American music industry. The man was so good at making his experiences, or at least the experiences described in his songs, so relatable that every red blooded American felt like Springsteen was singing about them. Combine that with Springsteen’s ability to consistently create genuine good rock and roll and it should come as no surprise he was a huge commercial success. There are predictable consequences to this sort of fame. When everybody thinks you are singing about them, and you are popular enough to reach all walks of life, it is only a matter of time before somebody is going to be wrong about the connection they think they share with you. For Springsteen, and his music, this manifested itself most humorously when Ronald Reagan used “Born in the USA” as his campaign song, even though “Born in the USA” is a political song that is highly critical of the United States of America and the very politics Reagan supported.

Funny.

This sort of problem persists elsewhere, and perhaps everywhere, in Springsteen’s discography. There is some misconception that Springsteen is a pop rock star, and he sort of is, because he is “popular,” but his style never really fit the mold of stereotypically pop rock. I think it is rather obvious Springsteen is classic rock or folk rock. When you are pop rock people think you are singing about girls and dancing and fun stuff like that, and with a song title like “Dancing in the Dark” anyone who fails to listen to the lyrical content might just make that assumption.

Bruce Springsteen with a very young
Courteney Cox.

Have you ever seen the music video for “Dancing in The Dark?” The Boss does himself no favours by having one of his most heartfelt songs ever being showcased by him and his band rocking out, having a good time and dancing with Courtney Cox. It is a nice video to be sure but I wonder if it conveys the wrong energy. Now I admit I am in no place to criticize Springsteen, I am just some dude, while he is the Boss, clearly he knows what he is doing, and maybe I am completely wrong about “Dancing in the Dark.” It just seems to me this is a really somber song, a song about loneliness and longing and not just a longing for the love of a woman, but a longing to belong somewhere, and desire for a missing passion for life. The song is deep and emotionally powerful, it just seems to me odd he would choose to express it with a happy fun time video.

It is not really very surprising that “Dancing in the Dark” is often thought of a cheerful pop rock song. Given Springsteen’s unique sort of fame and his unique choice of music video, it is a natural that most casual listeners would regard the song as pop fluff, but they would be wrong. Listen again to “Dancing in the Dark” and feel what Springsteen is saying. A lack of purpose and passion leave a metaphorical gunslinger hanging around feeling tired and empty. Our narrative character has gotten to feeling so low he would be pleased for something small to turn his fate around, even if it was just dancing in the dark with someone. There is all this suggestion that with just a little encouragement, maybe just a little love our gunslinger could turn everything around, but alas “you can’t start a fire without a spark.”

I have noticed a reoccurring imagery in Springsteen songs in regards to music as a companion, something that probably comes naturally to a musician I should think, but in Springsteen’s case it is almost like music is his muse, like music is the inspiration for more music. The presence of a jukebox or radio is typically a good omen in Springsteen songs, “message keeps getting clearer, radio's on and I'm moving 'round the place,” but even in the presence of music our rock star gunslinger man for hire is unhappy with every single detail of his existence. He wants to change everything about himself, “I check my look in the mirror, I wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face.” When you think about it all that way, “Dancing in the Dark” is actually pretty dark and depressing.

Like so many other people I probably would have never noticed how deep and meaningful “Dancing in the Dark” really is if not for Tegan and Sara. As you may know I am madly in love with Tegan and Sara (Sara to be specific) and one day I came across this interview and cover or “Dancing in the Dark.”

  

The twins tell us pretty much exactly what I said above, that people take for granted how deep and meaningful a song like “Dancing in the Dark” is. Much to my shame it was not until Sara explained this to me that I realized that I too was guilty of not paying proper attention to the poetry and clever nuances of many of Springsteen’s songs. The same likely, and unfortunately, holds true for other musicians and bands but their stories are for another time.

The Tegan and Sara cover is a little more moody, a little more what I would think to expect from “Dancing in the Dark” but then again maybe I am wrong. There is no doubt that “Dancing in the Dark” is in actuality a rather somber and dark song, but perhaps the upbeat rhythm and the good times music video is a deliberate addition of emotional aside. One of the strongest ways to grapple with dark themes is to downplay them, or be strong in spite of the looming shadow that threatens. One of the reasons Springsteen is so popular is that he is able to make people feel good about feeling bad. “Born in the USA” was never a song about American pride, but the strength in which he sang it suggests a different sort of pride, the pride to endure, and maybe that better captures the true American spirit than ordinary patriotism. “Dancing in the Dark” is about loneliness and longing but perhaps by performing the song with a smile and strange confidence Springsteen makes loners like me feel good about being lonely and lost. Maybe Springsteen is a freaking genius.

Until next time, keep on rocking in the free world.

- King of Braves

Bruce Springsteen - Growin' Up

“Greetings from Asbury Park N.J.” is a very significant album for a variety of reasons. This was Bruce Springsteen’s debut album and right out of the gate Springsteen announces his New Jersey heritage in the title, successfully establishing himself as an American and Jersey icon for the rest of his life. The early works of Springsteen were very different from songs like “Born in the USA” and “Born to Run,” which would make Springsteen famous, at the beginning the Boss was very influenced by Bob Dylan, and it shows as all his early tracks sound like he is trying to sound like Dylan. Also note worthy is the first track on “Greetings from Asbury Park N.J.” is “Blinded by the Light” which was covered by Manfred Mann whose version is considerably more famous. For those of you familiar with Manfred Mann’s cover of “Blinded by the Light” just imagine it being sung by Springsteen while he is trying to sound like Dylan that is exactly what the original version is like, because that is exactly what is going on.

Blinded By The Light (The Original Version)

Perhaps the best thing about “Greetings from Asbury Park N.J.” is that is simply a great folk rock album, and that’s kind of important to me. Like any first effort a lot of youthful passion is poured into every track, the young Springsteen had a lot to say and like any young person he was unfiltered and maybe even unfocused when finally given the chance to fully express himself through rock and roll. I love albums like “Greetings from Asbury Park N.J.” for that reason. Another thing I like about it is that David Bowie, my friend and yours, has covered at least two songs from this album, “Growin’ Up” and “It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City.”

Young Srpingsteen.

“Growin’ Up” is predictably about growing up, but it is also about so much more. The lyrics are a constant barrage of metaphors. Springsteen sings about aging out of childhood into rebellious youth with lines like; “when they said, ‘sit down,’ I stood up.”

The entire second verse introduces some very powerful imagery about becoming a rock star, again capturing that adventurous and rebellious attitude of youth;

“The flag of piracy flew from my mast, my sails were set wing to wing.
I had a jukebox graduate for first mate, she couldn't sail but she sure could sing.
I pushed B-52 and bombed them with the blues with my gear set stubborn on standing.
I broke all the rules, strafed my old high school, never once gave thought to landing.
I hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd, but when they said, ‘come down,’ I threw up.
Ooh... growin' up.”

I love the second line of the second verse, the jukebox could sure sing. I always thought the last line “when they said, “come down,” I flew up,” but the lyric sheet evidently disagrees with me. I mean flying up makes sense, he sings about sailing away and bombing people and being in the “clouded wrath of the crowd,” but hey, what do I know.

Springsteen wowed he had and would “bomb” people with the blues, and stubbornly refused to return to his childhood. This could mean so many things, like he is rejecting a different path set before by his parents or other past expectations and instead is embracing the emotional and mystical beauty of music. If the metaphors are to be taken at all literally this implies he is embracing the impossible which is the very spirit of rock and roll.

The beginning of the third verse is a further extension of impossible rock adventure metaphors, but there is a certain flair within that reminds me a lot of David Bowie;

“I took month-long vacations in the stratosphere, and you know it's really hard to hold your breath.
I swear I lost everything I ever loved or feared, I was the cosmic kid in full costume dress.”

Man it’s really hard to hold your breath, hilarious.

In 1973 David Bowie was the
cosmic kid in full costume.

I first heard “Growin’ Up” as a cover song by David Bowie off of the thirty year anniversary release of 1974’s “Diamond Dogs.” The studio recording of Bowie performing “Gorwin’ Up” had been initially recorded back in 1974 but it was never properly released until a nineties compilation album and then later again on the anniversary release of “Diamond Dogs.” The song, epically the third verse, fits Bowie so well. In 1973 when “Growin’ Up” was written and released David Bowie was the cosmic kid in full costume dress, and he did command the night brigade, and he sort of took month long vacations in the stratosphere. Of course everything fantastic and psychedelic within the song “Growin’ Up” is easily relatable to Ziggy Stardust the character Bowie was portraying at that time.

David Bowie - Growin' Up

I once heard that Springsteen had written “Growin’ Up” for David Bowie, and that is was about him, and this made a lot of sense to me, but I cannot find any citation regarding the matter now, so it is entirely possible that I am misremembering something or was at one point misinformed, still this theory is reasonable, it would make sense if the song was written about Bowie. Nonetheless it is easy to project the song onto Bowie and it is even easier understand why Bowie would take an interest in this song and want to do a cover it. When Bowie dissolved the Spider from Mars he was in many ways growing up. Around the time “Diamond Dog” Bowie had rooted his feet to the ground and find a nice little place is stardom forever.

Any really good example of poetry allows itself to be imagined in a variety of similar but different ways. “Growin’ Up” can be taken as simply a song about growing up, but it is also a song about finding yourself, and believing in the person you find. “Growin’ Up” is about becoming a musician and experiencing the magical voyage of artistic discovery. We can also spin it as a song about Ziggy Stardust and/or David Bowie. Lastly I dare say anyone can project this song onto themselves, the very general message of self exploration and youthful adventure into uncertain adulthood is something we have all experienced.

Perhaps the most apt and important interpretation of “Growin’ Up” is that it is a song about Bruce Springsteen himself. Sure he is growing up, he can’t help it, but also he is coming into his own. The man Springsteen soon became after the release of “Greetings from Asbury Park N.J” was very much the adventurer described in this song. “Growin’ Up” is an introduction to Bruce Springsteen, the man, the musician and the Boss; and what a great introduction, a perfect song to be included on a debut album resulting in a perfect debut album.

Also, it is hard to be a saint in the city;

Bruce Springsteen - It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City

David Bowie - It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City

- King of Braves