Album 18 | The Promise (Disc 1)

Today on Bruce Springsteen Sings the Alphabet, the sexy song that everybody covers and neither of us wants to sing. I’m On Fire closes side one with three notes on a synthesizer, some brushes on a snare, a palm-muted guitar and those ghostly hoo-hoos. Two minutes and change. It sounds like fall, it sounds a little haunted, it sounds like it wandered over from Nebraska, and it went to number one in the Netherlands, where for three weeks in 1985 Bruce was basically the Beatles. We talk about why the most stripped-down song on an arena-rock record is the one that gets covered by everybody from Johnny Cash to Bats for Lashes, why Rob only likes it on vinyl, and what the last two lines do that the first one doesn’t. We also talk about the first verse, but only because we have to. We don’t make the rules. How many freight trains do you give this song? Leave your rating in the episode comments at alphabeticalspringsteen.substack.com. Upgrade your subscription for video and the latest bonus ep (usually a week early!). https://alphabeticalspringsteen.substack.com/subscribe Chapters 02:24 Basic Facts 11:10 The Music 17:54 The Lyrics 29:15 The Ratings 33:38 Next time: No Surrender, and how to find us

Today on Bruce Springsteen Sings the Alphabet: the one that almost went to Nebraska and didn’t. He had a job, he had a girl. Then it all went to hell. You know, the rain and the car wash of it all. Downbound Train is a short song about a guy who isn’t in the driver’s seat, and it’s certainly an album favorite for the fellas (or the weakest thing Bruce released since the second album, if you ask Dave Marsh). We also have thoughts about Dave Marsh. We talk about the three versions of this song that exist and why Rob hates one of them, how Roy Bittan carted a 200-pound synthesizer into the studio, and why Max’s snare drum is the piece of tape holding this whole record together. How many whining whistles do you give Downbound Train? Tell us in the comments below. We’ve also dropped our first bonus episode of the new run, the 2023 All Media Underload. We hit the high points of our 2023 lists since we never dropped an episode that year. It’s a subscriber only episode, but everyone gets a free preview episode (I think?). https://alphabeticalspringsteen.substack.com/p/bonus-ep-all-media-underload Chapters 04:04 Basic Facts! 10:00 The music 19:27 The lyrics 26:14 Ratings

Today on Bruce Springsteen Sings the Alphabet, we’re somehow in the Bs and in the Ws with “Working on the Highway,” the jangly rocker off Born in the USA. We dig into what makes it move, what it’s really saying about love and work, and why the union hall matters more than you’d think. We also talk about what makes for good songwriting, which Jon Favreau movies this is exactly like, and some personal stories along the way. Plus, as usual, we talk about making records and other silly stuff with your friends. Head over to alphabeticalspringstee.substack.com to leave your own song rating. Check out the video episode here: https://alphabeticalspringsteen.substack.com/p/working-on-the-highway Leave your own rating in the comments, please!

Driving into Darlington County with two hundred dollars in your pocket. What a feeling!? Two fellas drive into a new town looking for a good time. How does it end for our two protagonists this time? It’s fun. It’s raucous. It’s rock’n’roll. Is it good? Certainly. But is it important? We’re not giving away the ending in the show notes. We ask the real questions this week. And we honor Dolly because this episode was recorded weeks ago. Leave your rating in the episode comments at https://alphabeticalspringsteen.substack.com/p/episode-7-darlington-county Upgrade your subscription for video episodes (usually a week early!). https://alphabeticalspringsteen.substack.com/subscribe Chapters 01:04 — Bruce’s birthday 03:06 — Meeting famous people without making things awkward 07:20 — Remembering Dolly Parton 10:01 — Could Dolly have covered “Darlington County”? 11:08 — Basic Facts! 13:23 — The music 18:11 — The album’s characters, insecurity, and disappointment 20:25 — Breaking down the lyrics 29:32 — Ratings and final thoughts 32:13 — How to follow and support the show

This week on Bruce Springsteen Sings the Alphabet, Rob and JB talk about Donna Summer’s almost disco hit, Cover Me. Believe it or not, Bruce originally wrote this song at Quincy Jones request, but you’ll have to listen to the ep for all the details. This Billboard top 10 single sold hundreds of thousands of copies, and definitely put Bruce on the pop fan’s radar (but there’s still plenty of muscular rock’n’roll guitar, don’t worry, fellas). We decide if the lyrics are deep, shallow, or if that even matters. Talk about what a Donna cover would sound like, and hand out disco balls. For more from Rob and JB (including video episodes) head over to alphabeticalspringsteen.substack.com. 00:00 Opening banter—and some thoughts about choreography 01:08 The origins of “Cover Me” 06:55 How the song developed and was recorded 12:56 Chart performance and reception 17:19 Rock, disco, and the song’s musical influences 23:03 Bruce’s guitar work 26:00 Moving from political themes to personal ones 27:10 Mood, vibe, and emotional impact 29:54 Whether simple lyrics can still have depth 34:01 The subversive history of disco 37:00 Final thoughts and ratings