Posted by
Michael Scotto on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 1:05:14 PM
Springsteen's "Radio Nowhere" would lose high school poetry contest
Although I grew up in the Philadelphia area, been in rock bands for twenty years and (according to at least one genealogist) am a distant cousin... I have to admit that I've never understood the "rock-god" status of Bruce Springsteen. I take that back. I get it on some level. He writes "blue collar" lyrics and he puts on a good (and long) show. In the rock world, writing "working man" lyrics even though one has been PHENOMENALLY wealthy for most of his adult life will at least get you sympathetic reviews. But Bruce is way beyond that. He's a rock-god.
Criticism should be meted out in direct correlation to the status of the artist. Since Bruce is deemed untouchable by Rolling Stone Magazine and listed as an "immortal" by the same, he is thus expected to produce works consistent with his status. Even by the lowest standards, however, Bruce's lyrics are trite (at best) and painfully narcissistic (at worst).
An average guitar player who can't sing backed by a better-than-average band. Alright, so far we have Bob Dylan. At least Dylan wrote some good lyrics. Bruce's lyrics are slightly more listenable than the submissions to a high school poetry club contest.
Now, after all these years he gives us the Jenny, Tommy Tutone chord progression ripoff "Radio Nowhere." Bruce is going to tackle the "corporate" state of music today! Wow, what a unique and daring perspective. Ho hum. Bruce, that's the kind of crap 17-year-olds write. Springsteen makes Steve Perry and Jonathan Cain (Journey) look like Yeats and Shelley.
I thought "Born in the USA" and "Glory Days" were badly written, but little can compete with this drivel:
I was tryin' to find my way home
But all I heard was a drone
Bouncing off a satellite
Crushin' the last lone American night
This is radio nowhere, is there anybody alive out there?
This is radio nowhere, is there anybody alive out there?
I was spinnin' 'round a dead dial
Just another lost number in a file
Dancin' down a dark hole
Just searchin' for a world with some soul
I want a thousand guitars
I want pounding drums
I want a million different voices speaking in tongues
I was driving through the misty rain
Yeah searchin' for a mystery train
Boppin' through the wild blue
Tryin' to make a connection with you
I just want to feel some rhythm
I just want to feel some rhythm
Yeesh... that's bad. If I'd written these lyrics when I was 16, I'd destroy them now. I'm embarrassed for Bruce just reading them. I'm convinced he wrote and recorded the whole song in about 10 minutes knowing Rolling Stone would give him seven stars on a five-star scale no matter what came out the other end.
I'd like to challenge high school and college students to submit these lyrics to your institution's publications and see if anybody (who doesn't recognize the source) wants to print them.
I guess I'm just on a last chance power drive... whatever that entails.