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Tyler: Here we are at the title track, another truly iconic piece of work.

Peter: It’s really hard to hear this song with fresh ears. I listened to classic rock radio in my youth and this was a real staple. I’ve probably heard it hundreds of times without ever choosing to listen to it.

Tyler: Classic rock radio!  Once upon a thing.

And yes.  This one’s got a lot of familiarity baggage.

Peter: It also has that Wall of Sound production going on.

Which is funny because he mixed it down from 72 tracks.

I assume Phil was working with 4 tracks at most.

This was Bruce’s first “hit.” It went to #23 in the U.S.

Tyler: It just sounds so out of place in the context of so much of that era’s pop and rock music.

Peter: Yeah, it does. That’s a good point. He was doing his own thing.

Tyler: I mean, it’s great.  It’s “Born To Run!”

Peter: I “appreciate” this song. I don’t love it. I think some of the lyrics are quite good.

Tyler: “The highway’s jammed with broken heroes on a last-chance power drive” is fairly famous.

Peter: “We gotta get out while we’re young/’Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run,” is good. He’s working in a certain vein here. It’s a little bit mannered, but if you just kind of go with it, it works.

Tyler: “She’s The One” time!  Edward Burns’s second directorial effort is basically a rehash of his debut, The Brothers McMullen.

Oh dear.  I’ve just described She’s The One.  I am hilarious!

Peter: I never saw that, but I did have the soundtrack.

Tyler: Soundtrack is terrific.  They just released a rejiggered version of it on vinyl, in the last year or so.

As for “She’s The One,” I’m bullish.  It’s a happy track, none of the wistfulness of, say, “Thunder Road.”

Peter: I was not familiar with this one.

Tyler: Yea?  Nay?

Peter: I like the intro. All of these songs have super busy arrangements. The next bit has that Bo Diddley beat. I feel like this album suffers from being too polished and bright. I sort of long for the darkness that’s coming on his next album.

Tyler: I actually love the next track because of the despair at its heart.  “Meeting Across The River.”  Born To Run needs it.

Peter: I was also not familiar with this song. It’s… interesting? It sounds like it’s from Springsteen: The Musical!

Tyler: If I’m feeling iconoclastic I could call this one my favorite on the album.  That’s probably not true, but it sounds like nothing else before or after it on the track listing, and it’s so evocative.

Peter: That’s very true. It kind of threw me.

Tyler: That lonely sax!

Peter: Isn’t it a trumpet?

We did this last time or the time before with some instrument.

Tyler: Expertise in action!

Peter: You’re in good hands, readers!

It was the dog vs. cat debate at the end of Neko’s album.

Tyler: Either way, I love that horn.  It sounds like it’s playing off in the distance, a couple hundred yards down a boardwalk.

Peter: Agreed. It’s terrific.

It’s kind of a precursor to one of my favorite Springsteen tracks, “Atlantic City.” This one’s a little more cinematic.

Tyler: The narrator is so hapless, and he ropes his poor buddy Eddie into some hare-brained scheme that may well get them both killed.  A far cry from the romantic heroes and dreamers that populate the rest of the album.

Peter: You’re right that this adds something the album needs. I like this one. I might put it on my Springsteen playlist.

Tyler: Now you’re talking.

You ready to take our stand down in Jungleland?

Peter: You know it!

This is another big one for the Bruce-heads. (Spring-Stans?) It’s pretty epic.

Tyler: Very much so.  Damn near ten minutes, “Jungleland.”

Peter: At the six and a half minute mark, you think it’s wrapping up, but, brother, there’s a lot of song left!

Tyler: You can hear all of Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf’s careers in songs like this.

Peter: Yes!

I made a note that this song reminds me of Meat Loaf.

Remember “I Would Do Anything For Love?” That song was so huge.

Tyler: Everywhere.  It was everywhere.  And the video!

Peter: I don’t know if that was the actual title? But yeah, that video.

Tyler: Another Steinman classic is “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now,” as essayed by Celine Dion.  I read once that it was initially intended for ol’ Loaf.

Peter: Yes!

I’m not a saxophone guy, but I actually like Clarence’s long solo in “Jungleland.”

Tyler: Coming back to Born To Run, I was struck by how prominent Clarence’s playing is.  I mean, he’s an integral part of the band, Bruce’s right-hand man, so much so that he’s on the unfolded—and outstanding—cover of the album.  But still.  Guitar solos mostly fall by the wayside in favor of those Clemons sax licks.

Peter: It’s true. There’s a lot of sax and a lot of piano.

The long coda at the end is good.

Tyler: It’s a suite, really.  A pretty perfect way to close out an LP that sounds like this.

Peter: I’ve come around to this song.

Tyler: Too much at first?

Peter: Maybe. I’d heard it, but I never really “listened.” You have to pay attention to it. It wasn’t immediate for me, but it won me over.

It’s going on the Springsteen playlist!

Tyler: An honor richly earned.

Seeing this one live would be something else.

Peter: It’d be fun with “Meeting Across The River,” setting it up.  They go well together.

Tyler: There’s unique beauty in each of them. Hopeless losers contrasted against hopeful youth.

Peter: Yes.

Tyler: Hell of an album, Peter.  It’s legendary for good reasons.

Peter: The people have spoken. Far be it from me to yuck everybody’s yum. I think it’s got a really distinctive sound and energy. And some of his most iconic lyrics. Definitely worth a ride.

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