Episode Transcript
So welcome back all 22 listeners. Thank you for joining. Is that like the official number? No, it's way more than 22. Good. I'm trying to be humble. Yeah. You know, the drill people, this is sort of sophisticated, the podcast where we basically just pick a random topic every week, try to learn a little bit more about it. Nothing fancy, nothing deep, just enough so we can understand it and sound smarter than all our friends. That's kind of it really. I mean, it's really 'cause you like to flex. I can't. Well, let's be real. I'm too old to flex. There's no flexing left. No, that's not true. I will never forget the day that you guys came over for dinner. Yeah. And your whole family was like, oh my gosh, she's so flexing, blah, blah, blah. And I had no clue what that meant. You were flexing. That was when I learned the right word. But I did, I was not. That was just the normal Right. Dinner that you were making for like 12 people. Yeah. That you had all of the normal day, normal day, you had all of the dinner party, just Korean barbecue. You had all the dinner party essentials. Wasn't even a, you followed the how to throw a dinner party before we even did a podcast episode on how to throw a dinner party. Fair. Let's be honest. People, that lovely voice you're listening to is Amanda. Because she's on the show every week with me as my formidable and wonderful co-host. So officially, hello, Amanda. Wow. You must be having a good day today. Hello. That was so kind of you. There're such nice words that came outta your mouth. I'm sort of having a good day. Oh, good. Well, let's keep it going. Yeah, do you know why I'm having a good day? Oh, why are you having a good day? Because I'm really excited about this episode. Is that why you were singing when you came in? That's why I've been Does it have to do with that something with that I've been singing for the last week. Oh really? Yeah. Here's the deal. Like some episodes I love and some episodes not so much. That's true. And it just sort of grind through 'em this love. Do you evidently loved this? I love, do you wanna know what this is? I do. I'm dropping it right now. Okay. One of my favorite musicians of all time. Oh dear. The boss. Do you know who the boss is? Nope. Bruce Springsteen. Oh, nothing. I mean, I know the name. You're killing me. Okay, so this new, I'm gonna become so sophisticated today. No, no, no, no. New movie coming out. Okay. Like next week. Is this like the, the Bohemian Rhapsody one that came out Okay. Close but not really, which also, yes. Which also that was Queen. Wow. Do you see how I stopped? Because I was like, oh no. That's so bad. Yes, yes. I was right, right. That was Queen. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Thank you. This one's called Deliver Me from Nowhere. Okay. This one is not a biopic at all. Okay. This one is about a very specific time in Bruce Springsteen's life, which mostly concentrates on when he made a specific album called Nebraska. It was like the acoustic stripped down version of, it was like an amazing album, whatever. But my point being, it's not like a whole story of like Queen. There's not like this big ending. This is like, I don't know, making it up. 'cause I haven't seen the movie yet. It hasn't come out yet, but like a three, five year period of his life. Got it. A very specific thing. Makes sense. Yeah. So is it kind of like Tick, tick, boom. What do you mean? Tick? What is tick? Tick. Boom. It, well, you said that this is like about a specific part, part of his life of Springsteen's life. Yes. Um, so this was a specific, movie or section part of Jonathan Larson's life. The guy who came up with rent. Okay. See, we just, we both like music just in different genres and ways. Okay. Then I'm gonna have to look up, tick, tick, boom. Yes. And you're gonna watch Deliver Me From Nowhere With Me Deal? Yeah. It's gonna be excellent. Okay. Okay. Can I give you the official title though? Yes, please do. Okay. Springsteen on screen delivering the boss to a new generation. And I think that says it all. That's awesome. Our job today is to make sure the next gen knows who the boss is and why he's so frigging amazing. I mean, clearly I don't, so here we go. It's already working. Its magic is working. Its magic. He's touring still. You could still go see a concert. I could, but now like the boss, new generation, I'm not really that new, but here we are. Oh my God. Now who's, I'm not that new now. Who's flexing? Right? Settle down. Just 'cause you might be like 15.8 years younger than me. Anyway, okay. So I know he's amazing. Yes he is. I know you love him. Yes. Music's so wonderful. But what about him makes us more cultured and curious besides like rock and roll. Is it rock and roll? So sex, drugs and rock and roll. But yes, it's rock and roll. Don't like. You have to pretend you know more stuff. This is so bad. Okay. All right. So you're our te I'm just being real. I feel like you're That's fine. Our listeners fine. You're our test case. Appreciate. I'm fine. My naivete. I'm fine, I'm fine. Do you remember our episode on storytelling? Yes. We just, we just did it. Okay. He was basically America's storyteller. This is is who he was. Yes. So all his songs are like little novels about living in America, small towns working in factories, falling in love, losing friends. But, but the idea was he always gave everybody hope. He was like the working class man's hope, and he like used music to tell people understand what was going on during this time. What, what, what, Now that you say that it's like a storytelling. Yes. I think I, it opens my mind to all the different possibilities. He used music as a bridge. Between life and culture, yes. So look, I, I love Bruce Springs. I love all music. Right? I am not saying he's this, unbelievable,, you know, he's not like the Rolling Stones or he is the Beatles or anything like that at all. I mean, a lot of people would say no, but he's iconic. A lot of people would say he's basic, i, I just grew up with him, so I absolutely love him. But he also spoke to a bunch of people, and I think that still resonates today because there's just new artists that are, that are trying to do that with our generation Today we're just gonna try to explain why Bruce Springsteen did that and why it was so important. So maybe, maybe he did it. You know what it is in the eighties, right? Seventies and eighties. Oh, seventies, okay. Yeah. Okay. You know why this is so cool? Because kids could learn about their parents. Like, this is multi-generational. Oh. Because, let's say my kids are listening to this, this podcast right now, right? Yeah. And they're like, oh my God, my dad's a douche, right? Whatever it is, da, da, da. But if they can understand why I appreciated Bruce Springs. They can have an appreciation not only for his music, but then like sort of connect with dad a little bit more. Yeah. And, and vice versa. I mean we could do this for other new bands and so on and so forth, So anyway, that's how it's gonna make us culture and curious. Move on please. I'm losing it. Okay. Already. I guess I'm on board. Alright, good. Uh, know. Well you have to be 'cause I don't have anything else to talk about today. Well, here we are. All right. Well we got, but, and I don't know if you already have recognized or realized this. Yes. What? I'm not a big rock and roll person. Well, that's Avi. So, um, I'm learning more about you. Are we good? Like, I mean, I knew that you weren't, but I learned a little bit more about you every time we get on this podcast, which is nice. I do appreciate that you learned that. I appreciate that. Learned. I'm sort of more like, you know, edgy and kind of an asshole. So there's that too. No, we compliment each other so well, there we go. You know, like you're sugar and spice and everything. Nice. And I'm, what is it? Snakes and snails and puppy dog tails. This is actually really what's happening. I love it. This is terrible. I love it. Can we do word the day please? We can. I just wanna move the hell on. What is it? No, sorry. No, you distracted me. Um, I don't know much about rock and roll, but what I can appreciate about it is the fact that it does bring generations together. It does. Just going off of what you were saying about being able to relate to one another. Yes. And so I'm actually really excited because if anyone brought him up, I would not be able to relate. Correct. And I would just look like a bumbling fool. And now you're gonna be able to, except for born in the USA, the only song that I, let's cut this shit. When you, out of all the list, think about this for a second, right? Uh, I don't know what it was five years ago, seven years ago. I dunno. I took all my kids to a Jimmy Buffett concert, so he was probably 70 years old. Jimmy Buffett since passed away recently. Right? Like two years ago. Yes, yes, yes. Margarita Buffet. Um, yes. I took all my kids. I saw a play. Yeah. Only reason why I know of continue. I will tell you, when I die, that will be one of my kids'. Probably top five favorite memories, right? Yeah. By default. Yeah., I'm not even saying like anything magical happened, but it's connect in a different level. That's my point. They felt connected to dad. So look, whatever, like Bruce Springsteen hate him. Go to a concert. He's still touring. He's 76 years old. Figure it out people. Right?, Okay. I would agree. Now can we do word today? Yes, please go. Alright, here we go. Vociferous, vociferous. Vociferous. I mean, this sounds like a Harry Potter. We already know what vociferous is, don't we? No. Ferocious? No, not no vocal vivacious. No, no, not vocal vol. Volumous. Remember when you tried that? Okay. Vociferous. Vociferous comes from the Latin Vox. So I said vocal. Vocal, yes. Meaning voice. V. Yes. Okay. Uh, and fairy meaning to carry. So it describes people who express their feelings or opinions Loudly or insistently. Ooh. So like Donald Trump. Oh, would be considered vociferous. Okay. Yes. I mean, at first I thought you, but Sure. Oh, okay. Trump. I don't want any comparison there. Just kidding. I Okay. Maybe. Maybe. Yes. But differently. Okay. Different. Definitely differently. I hope you're not that big of a vociferous. Can it be a vociferous? It can't be a noun. You are vre. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Right, right, right. Okay. It's an adjective. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. It's an gy. Yeah, it is. But I was gonna use it as a noun. Yeah. Well I, but it's fine. We use everything as a noun when we're not supposed to anyway. It doesn't matter. So yes. Do whatever you want. Okay. Well hit it. Let's go. What's the history of good old Bruce Springsteen. Alright. Good old Bruce Springsteen. He was born in a dead man's town, clearly. Hopefully in the U US A That is so fun. Right. Who was born in the US A That's it. Okay. Uh, it's, I was gonna say then your storytelling nonsense did not like, would not have panned out as well. Zero. Right. Okay. September 23rd, 1949. He was born little Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen. That's quite the name. Wow. There's a lot. Yes. That was going on. He pops right out of his mom, ADE Ann Adele. Adele Ann in Freehold, New Jersey. And I got no good story here. Like no weird Greek god shit going on or anything like that. It was just Okay, good. This was regular, normal birth canal stuff like it. Very normal. Just a Catholic hospital, New Jersey, baby Bruce. Here we are. So his mom's basically recovering in the hospital and his dad, Douglas was working like a million jobs at the time just to keep food on the table. Right. Okay. We were talking sort of about this whole, how he related to this blue collar community. He was a bus driver, his dad was a bus driver, a factory worker, a security guard, even a prison guard. Always grinding, always frustrated, he was like edgy. He was a little pissed off. But he had to do what he had to do to make ends meet for like their family. So in interviews I was reading about all this crap and I was figuring out who mom and dad are to like, figure out how Bruce sort of became who he was. So Bruce always said his dad was kind of dark and didn't talk to him a lot growing up like at all. His dad battled depression a lot. Oh, spoiler alert, we're gonna get there with Bruce. Um, then on the other hand, he got his mom, Adele, who's a total opposite. So she was always smiling, always upbeat, worked at his legal secretary somewhere in New Jersey, always supporting Bruce and everything he wanted to do. So kind of opposite stuff kind of. Yeah. Polar opposites. Okay. But grew up kind of poor, like, I don't wanna say poor, modest, modestly better. Modestly. Grew up modestly working hard to make a buck. Small house in Freehold. Went to his local Catholic school growing up and wore hand hand-me-down clothing and all sorts of shit like that, like this whole life. His nickname in school was loner. Oh, because he was so quiet and so introverted. Yes. Think about that. That's crazy. The guy who ended up like filling stadiums and playing for it. He was introverted. Okay. He was introverted. Yes. Or is I guess. I mean, yeah. Still is. Yeah. I mean, I, yeah, right. I didn't like check that ask, but we should, let's interview him. Let's get him on this podcast. Bruce, if you're listening, we would like you on this tiny little podcast with 22 listeners please. Um, modest, modest podcast. Yes. I don't even know if it's a pod. Maybe it's sort of a podcast. Anyway, so, went from loner introvert to I'm rock star. I'm gonna be like a rock star. Right. Okay. I think it's interesting how like life trajectory can be something so crazy. I don't know. Like he was a little introverted boy to being I know. Selling out stadiums rockstar. Maybe he had a aha moment. I don't know. Right. I guess. Okay, so before he got hot, I think we're rolling into. His younger years. His younger years. We could do his younger years. Yeah. Okay. So here's how he sort of got the music bug. I think we'll do a music bug. Okay. Okay. So 1956. Actually it's only like seven years old, right? Born in 1949 now, or 1956. Yeah. Okay. Guess how it happened? what? Like inspired him for all this. The candy shop? No, come on. We did an episode on this other dude earlier. Viva Elvis. Elvis Ed. Ed Sullivan Show. Elvis Ley. Oh, 1956. He's watching one television, huh? Yes. And went bonkers and just said like, I gotta do that shit. Absolutely. Oh, interesting. He says, mom, I want a guitar mom being supportive. Yes. It's goes out and buys him a freaking guitar. Okay. They didn't even have money. She had to take a loan out. To buy him a guitar. So that shows how supportive mom was, which makes no sense because, I dunno what you do with your kids, but with me, like, like no, we can't afford a hard, I did, I did that all the time. They'd be like, oh, I wanna do this thing. Especially like, and you know, Paul, Paul's crazy about music now. So now I don't care. But like at the beginning when Paul's like, dad, I wanna guitar. I'm like, mm-hmm. Yeah. How about lessons first, bud? What? Yeah. Lessons? Yeah. No, we can rent something. We can like you can go to lessons for a first. Yeah. Try here, right? And she's like, Nope, I'm gonna take a loan out. Yeah. So good on her. But who is the joke on here? Because if you think about this, maybe Paul could have been Bruce Springsteen. Maybe if I would've bought him a guitar earlier, he'd have been famous. I think I screwed up. Job well done, Adele. Yep. Yes. All. Anyway. Alright, so it takes about 10 years and he is just literally grinding away at the guitar by the late 1960s. He's the front man for a bunch of different bands now, playing in New Jersey bars, community centers, bowling alleys, anything everywhere. He could find gigs. So he is like 18 ish. He's, yeah, I don't know what is Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Young adult. Yeah. Born in 49, late sixties. Yes. We'll call him 19. Yeah. Okay. Got it. And this wasn't bullshit little stuff, when you go to like a restaurant and they're playing that soft music. I mean, this was like loud, obnoxious beer smelling marathons. This was hours of grinding, three or four hours on stage at a time. Like, he was playing these, he would be playing in Yes. In these bars and clubs. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Um, some of the bands he was in, like The Castiles or like Steel Mill. I mean they didn't super get famous or anything like that, but you know, they, they had names. They had names. I would argue that's where Springsteen got all his stamina to rock the house for all these last I don't know, 50 years. It was like his conditioning. Yes. He was working out. He didn't even know dude, he was at the gym. Good for him. Right. So then when did he actually get famous? Because I thought you said that his music started in the seventies. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was like soon-ish. 1972 to be exact. So not too long after that. But was he found while he was doing. Like one of these sets. Yes, yes, yes. Yeah. Oh yeah, that's that. He was like, somebody walked in and was like, woo. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. He got signed by Columbia Records. Lucky Duck, 1972. So some dude from Columbia Records, here's his stuff, in one of these bars was like, let's go actually, fun fact. The guy who signed him from Columbia Records, his name was John Hammond, and he was the same guy that found Bob Dylan. Oh, wow. And that was kind of the whole shtick. So when they heard him at the bar, they were trying to brand him as the next Bob Dylan. Oh. Because they loved his songwriting. So they signed him in 72 and 1973, he releases his first two albums. Called greeting from Asbury Park, New Jersey and The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street shuffle with the help of his buddies, who at the time were just a bunch of musicians not really working together, but later became known as the iconic E Street band 'cause it's Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band. I mean, that's the whole name. Oh, that's understand. But in 1973, like those were the guys Yes. Behind him. He just hadn't, they weren't a band that was their official name yet. But they were totally with him from the start. Okay. Yeah. So the street band, we like him. Yes, we love 'em. Solid dudes. Yes. Clarence Clemmens, Steven Van Zant, max Weinberg. They were all there totally from the beginning. Yes. Okay. So I digress. Yes. For those of us who dunno anything about Bruce. Well that's obvious. Like Bruce isn't just Bruce, like you said, he had this whole band behind him. Yes. But he wrote all the songs. He wrote all the songs. But the E Street band was. The rockstar. Were they? I mean, they're the ones who elevated, obviously. Whatever he was doing in, they made him, they made him iconic. He was the front man. But you need your band. He was the personality, ver personality. But the same thing you did with, um, with Queen. Yes. Yes. Right. Like, everybody's, oh, Freddy Mey Fred. But Freddy Marque was shit without Queen. And then if you remember right, Freddie Mercury tried to go on his own for a while and it didn't really work. Yes. And then he came back after he got aids, he came back. He didn't quite tell the band the whole story, but he came back and was like, I need you guys. I realize that our creative differences is what made Amanda, it's what makes this podcast work true. Like, if I just did this, it's true. If I did it by myself, and you always are helping me, like, dude, do this different, try this, try that, whatever it is, right? It's the same thing. Even though I want to literally some days kill you. Right. Yeah. Alright, fine. But I feel like for most headliners it's true, their bands are never really acknowledged, right? I mean, they, I think are the ones that propel people to stardom. So why don't we take a moment and acknowledge we should, whose band members are, we should. Okay. So we can propel them. Well, not even propel them. Like give them their dues. We're give it to 'em right now. Okay. So you had Clarence Clemmens on Sachs. He was like Bruce's on stage. Soul brother, big black dude with the dreads. Oh, well, I mean. Sometimes you had a shaved head, whatever. But most time, I mean I remember I'm with dreads, like total legend. Right? Unbelievable. Then you had Steven Van Zt on guitar. Did you ever watch The Sopranos? Yes. Were you Soprano? Okay, so Steven Van Zt was Syl in the Sopranos. Oh yes. So he got famous like, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, totally an acting career. Okay. Always wore those really long bandanas on stage. Still does. Um, then Max Weinberg on drums. Fun fact, max Weinberg,, was also Conan O'Brien's band leader on his late night talk show for all those years. Yes. And believe it or not, they had to work around Max Weinberg's schedule. So like Bruce could still tour and Max, we still did. Oh yeah. Yeah. Know totally why, um, then Gary Talent on Bass been there since day one. Uh, Danny Frederique on Organ and Accordion and Roy Batan on piano, nicknamed the professor. All those dudes like there the whole time. I mean, that doesn't happen anymore. No wonder that doesn't happen anymore. Why he reached stardom. I know. They were awesome. Like stacked. Yeah. And then they added like a few more during the eighties here and there, including uh, Bruce's wife Patty to with backup vocals and guitar. Oh. And then check this one out after Clarence Clemens died in 2011. Mm-hmm. Clarence's nephew joined the band to take his place. Oh, that's cool. On sax. That's cool. Which yes, is amazing. I love when Yes. Like your band members become family. Totally. But I mean, you're traveling, you're doing so much together. It makes sense why you become family. They totally, they were absolutely family. Yes. Even when you, like multi-generational, right? Where it passes it down or you know, 100%. That's awesome. Yes. Let's go, springsteen in the E street band. Uh, where were we? We totally got off track. I have no idea what the hell we were doing. We were talking about history, uh, first two albums. Oh yeah, we did first two albums. That's right. Okay, so this first two albums, greetings from RI Park and the Wild, innocent East Street Shuffle. Okay. They didn't make him famous. That's what we said. Kind of meh. Not a ton of sales or anything. Nothing went viral. They didn't have viral back then. Yep. That's just, it wasn't a thing. Kind of a slow burn., One thing that did come from it though was the music critics liked him a lot. So remember Columbia Records, the whole thing, the lyrics, why they found him. So they were like, shit, dude, this guy has it. But like they also love the idea that he wasn't polished or corporate or not a sellout either. So a Total working class guy with real lyrics. So they were like, screw it, sales are low, we don't care. It was enough to let him keep making music. Okay. Columbia kept him and said let's keep going. Okay, so back to the studio. They go 1975, they released the album Born To Run. I know you don't know a lot about Born To Run, but Born to Run, but does it have Born to Run? Was it born in the USA? No. Oh, kidding. That's not till later. Born to Run that's the title track of the song. It's the album Born to Run, and it's the song. Okay. Everybody knows the song blew the fucking Doors wide open. Oh, I need to listen to it. Chance Baby. We were born to run. It's unbelievable. You know the song, trust Me. You know the song. Shit Goes Nuts. Like literally became the anthem for America. Or like Americana or Americana, Americana, whatever it's called. Yeah. Overnight he became a legend cover of Time Magazine, Newsweek magazine in the same week at the same time. Is this one that they dubbed him the boss? 1975? No. No, it's not. No. So I thought so too. I was like, yay, now we're gonna get to the bot. No, I totally skipped that part. He got the boss way earlier. See, wow. This is why I love us. I screw up. You didn't really screw up and then you fix it and you tell me like, Hey, no, I just have too many questions. Okay. So Boss was actually in the late sixties before he was famous, so I remember when he was playing the Jersey Shore Bar bands like Steel Mill and the Castiles. Yeah. So I guess Bruce was the guy they put in charge of collecting all the cash at the end of the night for like all the people in the bar to make sure the band got paid. Oh. And all the guys in the band just randomly started calling him the boss. Well, I mean, he's dishing out the money. Like boss. That's a Right, that's sort of a joke because he was the most responsible to get the money. How funny. And then once he signed with Columbia and the whole E Street band became official by the mid 1970s, everybody was just dude, you're the boss. And fun fact, I totally found this out while I was looking this up. He didn't like it. Oh, he still doesn't like it? No. Okay. There's nothing you can do about it. It just stuck. It just stuck. But he, like, he forever the boss. He's not a fan of his own nickname. I know. But you said something at the beginning about how the movie isn't about his whole life and it's more just about when he is recording and releasing Nebraska, which I assume, is that another album Yes. That we have yet to touch about? Correct. Correct. Correct. Obviously that's gonna be after he becomes the Boss. Yes. That's after the Boss. But does a reference in the movie The Boss. Oh, it's gonna have to, of course it will. Okay. I mean, I don't know, we gotta go see the movie. Right. All I've seen are the clips of crap, like on TikTok. Fair. Fair. Uh, and so I've got some reviews and some things 'cause it's not out yet, Fine. So how many albums post Born or Run? Oh my God. No. He is this movie? No, he's, he's still goes for a little while longer here. Oh, okay. So he's more like a later life. I mean, he's, I don't wanna say legendary status, but by the time he makes Nebraska, he's, he's like famous. Okay. It's, this is all gonna make sense. Okay. Okay. Go. Okay. So. After Born to Run, he records darkness on the edge of town in 1978. That's the one with Badlands. And prove it all night. Like another great, you know, Badlands, Badlands, you gotta give in on it. No, I can tell by the way you're looking at me. You have no fricking idea what I'm talking about. Anyway, that's excellent. Uh, and then he released the river in 1980. And this was his first album to Reach, number one, first album. Oh, Uhhuh, hungry Heart. Everybody got a Hungry Heart. Oh my God, you have to listen to all this stuff. Okay, sorry. Okay, so then I'm feeling so now he's totally famous. He's got Born to Run. He's got bad lands, he's got Prove It All Night, hungry Heart, everything, right? So everyone thinks now he's gonna go even bigger with his like, global, like crazy. But he doesn't, and this is where Nebraska comes really. He goes smaller, all introspective, everybody freaked out, his managers, producer, guys, everything. And this is where the movie comes in. So now it's 1982. He's totally famous and instead of going back to the studio, he decides he's gonna make this dark like, like I said earlier, what was stripped down acoustic record that he recorded in his own house in Colt's Neck, New Jersey, whoever the hell Colt's Neck is. Let's go Colt's neck. No E street band. No amps, no mics, no mixing equipment. Just Bruce Springsteen in his room. So Bruce and he called it Nebraska. I mean, that's pretty bold of a move, especially becoming famous. You're just like total 180 it you did, you totally 180 it. This was my point, right? Was the band mad is great? Like I feel like it's a disk to your band. I don't know. I didn't really figure that. I don't think so. I mean, they came back obviously to keep touring, right? So I'm gonna say, I'm gonna say no. 'cause they have 50 years worth of history. Understand. But there might be a little rift there. I don't know. So then is this the moment like where that was like the epic fail? Or was it the moment that people realize they loved Bruce as just Bruce? Oh, I'm gonna say neither one of those things. Oh, really? No. Yeah. It was definitely a moment where he wanted to prove he was more than just like a rock star. He, oh. So he was like having an identity crisis. Okay. So we're gonna bring this all back around here pretty soon. Okay. Okay. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So hold tight. So, so, yes, he was having an identity crisis. It was an interesting play during this like iconic career trajectory. And they were like, okay, you're gonna do this. And he's like, I'm doing it And it was a little weird. Mm-hmm. Um, and I think that's why they're going so hard at this movie to say like, Hey, this is a very unique choice that, someone so famous would make in his career. But to him, he wanted to be the storyteller. He wanted to be the lyricist. He wanted to prove that he was a real artist, not just. Sex appeal or whatever. Sex. Right. Not just, not just a front man at all. So then did he go back to his band and he did like, Hey man, sorry. So actually the idea was his band was gonna record it with him. Okay. Right. Afterwards, I have a, I think I have a fun fact on it later on. I won't give it all away, but like, the idea was he was gonna rerecord it okay. With his band, but then it like turned out where he just did it on his own. So I think they were like involved enough to know what was going on. Adjacent. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There you. And then, yeah, like he goes back to being Bruce two years later in 1984, he drops, born in the USA, uh, dancing in the Dark, sold over 30 million copies, stadiums, world tours, the whole enchilada, totally off the hook. Now, you're not gonna remember this, but I remember this because I grew up loving her. Do you remember Courtney Cox? Yeah. In France. Okay. You know where she got famous? No, she was 20 years old. She was in MTV's music video. Oh. Bruce Springsteen is singing dance with his dark watch this music video. Okay. Three minutes long. He pulls her up on stage at the end and Courtney Cox is the one he's dancing with up on stage. Beautiful blue eyes, super short, dark hair every, I don't know, 12-year-old in the world was in love with Courtney Cox at that moment, and then continu to be, and she just got up on stage and started dancing. It was the cutest thing ever. Oh my God. We love Courtney. Okay. So moving on from Courtney Cox and how much you were in love with her. 'cause you were, I don't wanna move on. You were maybe 12. I don't wanna move on. Um, I wanna vociferously talk about Courtney Cox. About Courtney Cox. Maybe shoot an episode about her. Maybe we should, maybe. Okay. I sum up piss history. Go for little over. Oh, this is what you do. I do. Okay. So Poor Jersey kid. Yes. Very modest upbringing. Yes. He had a moody, mean mostly depressed dad. Yes. Uh, but a really supportive mom. Who bought him a guitar? Yes. Because he was inspired by Elvis. Yes, he was though. Bruce was kind of like this little loner boy. But loner Catholic boy, nonetheless. Yeah, I know. I know. Oh. But he gets his guitar, ends up playing in all of these different bars in New Jersey, and then finally signs with Columbia Records. Yep. And after a few tries, he hits it big with Born To Run. Yeah. Yes. Absolutely. Bad Lands. Hungry Heart. Like a lot of them. Not like people are getting on board. Come on, they're on the Bruce board. They were on, they were on the train. Yes. The Bruce Springs train. What? Well, I didn't say the Bruce board. I totally meant Bruce train. Thank you for doing That's funny. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Um, but then he like one eighties detoured to Nebraska. Um, well not technically to Nebraska, to col neck. Oh, sorry, yes. Colts neck, New Jersey, but yes, yes. Makes Nebraska correct. Which also, I wanna know why it was called Nebraska. Yes, we Okay. We'll talk about it, but, okay. And then after that, Born in the USA comes out. Yes. And it catapults him to Legendary. Yes. Iconic. Iconic, like Yes. Rockstar status. Okay. Of all time. You absolutely nailed it. Okay, so now it's movie time. Movie time. 'cause it's about Nebraska. So I hope it comes in, has again, why it's called Nebraska. Yeah. Okay. So what do we know so far about the movie? But wait, before we do that, what? I love this. Your ad's ticketing. It is, it absolutely is. It's so bad. Why was he such a phenomenon? Phenomen phenomenon? Jinx, I get born in the USA, this like anthem. It was great. Very Americana, right place, right time. Was there something going on in the time of America that like rallied the troops and got everybody like hoorah? Oh, all or all of it. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. You want me to give you the whole like how this whole came together? Like why? I mean, Bruce is such a badass, we can all probably deduce, but in order to get cultured and curious, I should probably know what was happening at that time. To know why he. Launched. I love it. Start, no, no, no. Okay, I got it. You gotta remember the times. Just like you said, those are those perfect setup.. Seventies were hard. Jimmy Carter. Remember Jimmy Carter? Yes. Our boy, he was in office. Right? Total rip. He had sort of a weird presidency, remember? Yes. Like there was a lot of after presidency stuff we loved, but there was like some presidency stuff we didn't love. So, so it was crazy. Factories were shutting down everywhere. Unemployment was way up. Vietnam war sort of was over, but left the country. Super, super divided. It was a mess. You had the whole aftermath of Watergate going on. Mm-hmm. Right? That was Nixon in the late sixties. Right? Everybody's pissed off and there was this whole vote of no confidence in the government. So it's kinda like it is today. Basically the same thing. I mean, yes, right. Perpetual. Yeah. But so people well, I mean now we know that American Dream's kind of like fake, but back then this was off the fifties and the sixties, right? So this was the first time people started thinking the American dream was like not real. So this is part of his storytelling then. Yes. Like he's bringing to life. Yes. That's exactly that. That's what he started singing about. So think about it. He was the voice of the people that felt left behind when he started singing about all these working guys and dead end jobs and people getting married too young, and all these teenagers are dreaming about getting outta their hometowns. That was real life for like millions and millions of people at the time. Like he wasn't just writing music, he was writing the history, like that we're talking about on the podcast. It's just in a way that people could dance to and like relate with a lot shorter. I mean, we take 45 minutes to talk about Bruce Springsteen in three minutes. He was summing up someone's life. And it, it was, do you remember the Greek Gods episode? We just did the Greek thing, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right. So it was same thing, but kind of like the same thing they needed the gods to connect with. They needed flawed gods to feel connected. So this is the same thing, but in reverse. So Bruce was singing about everything everyone was going through and people felt connected to that. Like they were understood by him and he was a voice for the voiceless, so kind of like, you also gotta think about this, New Jersey at the time, super industrial felt like the baby brother to New York. Like there was that whole thing going on, right? Like who's New Jersey Western's? Like it was a whole right place, right time thing with him because New Jersey was looking for the rock star, their folk hero. There's somebody that could stand up for them and he was that guy, totally. But then what did he do in the eighties? Because you were given the history of what was happening in the seventies but then he got famous in the eighties. Yeah. What was happening in the eighties, but like both things. 'cause he did, he was already famous in the seventies. So it does depend on when you were were born and when you grew up. Right? I remember more of the seventies, you remember more the eighties. That's When born in the USA went crazy. So all these other bands are like doing coke and playing with their synthesizers and everything. But Bruce, remember he was just playing that guitar. He had the blue jeans, he had the white t-shirt rocking out, telling the story about America like America's not Awesome, doesn't have all the shit together all the time. So go back to like Nebraska and why that was so pioneering in 1982. It wasn't just an album. He was literally holding the mirror up to everybody saying, look at America right now. It's not that pretty. Actually, you know, what he was doing? He was being very vociferous about America Could job getting in there twice. Right, so sort of the same concept in the eighties where he was bucking the trend of music and that was still relating to a bunch of working class people. Absolutely. Was. And so, because people could relate to it, he now is this huge icon. Yes. And now that he's 76 years old, six-ish, yeah. Yes. Uhhuh, um, decades and decades later. Now there's this movie. Yes. There is to Encapsulize this little part of his life Yes. That the movie then thinks was a very pivotal moment. Yes. I'd assume. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. For sure. Because it's sort of like, I think they picked the, I don't think they wanted to just do another, biopic. Right. Well that's why earlier when you said biopic, I was like, well, it's not really bad as life. Exactly. So I think they were looking for where. Art and America collided. I think they were looking for a story here. Oh, and we'll see. I mean, the jury's out. I don't know if this is an excellent movie or not. I can't tell you one way or the other. I think it's a good idea on what they're trying to accomplish. Got it, got it. Okay. So the movie's called Deliver Me From Nowhere, and it's literally about Bruce in his house in 1982, sitting in his bedroom with a little four track cassette recorder, like literally Amanda, a Sears tape deck, which you have no idea what that is. But I grew up with those, with just his guitar song lyrics, trying to record this new album all by. Okay. I do know what a tape deck is. Okay, fine but speaking of things, just sitting there and not having anything done to them. Like how is this movie at all interesting 'cause. Two hours on him creating Nebraska seems kind of like a snore fest. Um, right. Especially for you who know nothing about it and don't care about music. I just, I need any need, the drama I need. But if this was what Tic tac toe, the guy who made rent, tick, tick, boom, tick, tick, boom. Then you would watch it. So first of all, there's drama. I don't know if this is gonna be interesting. The jury's out. I don't know. But I will say this they are playing this up as like a huge drama. This is not Oh, really? This is not like some feel good movie. This is about him struggling with becoming famous and having the world at his feet. And then I said, we're gonna talk a little bit later about his dad and depression. Oh yeah. And battling his own depression and this pressure of trying to personify the guy. He didn't wanna be the boss. Oh, the front man. Like he didn't wanna do all that. You remember he was a loner. Introvert, like, it's interesting. So all of this was weighing so heavily on him. So I love the idea, again, don't know if they're gonna pull this off in the movie, but I love the idea of what they're trying to accomplish here. It is a get inside his head at his most vulnerable part of his career. And they're putting it on film to see what's gonna go on. So, so far the critics, everything I'm reading online is saying movie's pretty slow, super introspective. Uh, I have a quote here, more of a meditation on fame and art than the traditional music Biopic more, um, contemplative. You would say contemplative. Okay. Could that be a word? The day reflective? Yeah. Reflective. That's contemp, right? So, so maybe, maybe. Good. Okay. Question mark. Well, maybe who plays Bruce? 'cause that might make it good. Uh, heartthrob. Okay. Jeremy a heartthrob. Jeremy Allen White. Do you watch the bear? Uh, oh. I don't know if I say heartthrob. Huh? I don't, I think he's like, my family thinks he's disgusting. Guy with a huge hunker. Yeah. Like, makes no sense. Right? But everybody Oh my God, Jerry. Really? No, I think he's ugly. Af Thank you very much. Oh, I mean, I thank you for agreeing with me. Not, not that he's ugly. Oh, he's ugly. Oh gosh. Uhhuh. Okay. Whatever. I think it's good casting, first of all. We'll see. Uh, but he, why? He's such a good casting. Huh? Why such a good casting? Because I like, think about it, he's got that curly hair. He's gonna look like him. I mean, it's gonna, it's gonna look good. And he himself plays character. Like, do you remember Shameless? Did you watch Shameless? You watch The Bear? Yeah. Yeah. Which he's all tied up in knots in himself anyway. Yes. Yes. Like that's, that's the best character he plays. So this is, I think they picked somebody good to be able to do it right. But the rest of the cast is also awesome too. Do you know Jeremy Strong from succession? Yes. Like super, like super fame. Okay. Uhhuh, right. Okay. He plays, I don't know, I think his manager or something. And then mark Moron plays, uh, his producer, uh, the famous comedian who I love. Have you seen Stick? It's on Apple TV with Owen Wilson. Oh, okay. No, no. Oh, maybe the golf one. Yes, mark. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So Marcus is Caddy. Oh, yes, yes. Okay, okay. Right. So like a lot of famous people in this, like this, this seems pretty good. So it's gonna be Oscar worthy potentially. I don't know. Like, so, so I think it could go just because like Bohemian rap Yeah. Let say was like whoof you, I, that was different because that was like, come on. That was like the feel good movie. That was the whole concept. So this I think could either Absolutely fizzle out and just nobody likes it. The critics like it, but the audience Popcorn meter hates it. I could already, no, no, no. I'm saying, oh, they could, it could go this way. It could be that bad. Or there's no good, there's not gonna be an in between. It's either gonna suck it. I think Jeremy Allen White's gonna be up for an Oscar, right? They're gonna be like, oh my God, this was an amazing performance. Like, feel like everybody got in his head like, this is such a big thing, da da da da dah. And, and they love bio, like the Academy loved about, but I feel like a lot of the people who have portrayed someone, right? Yes. Like Austin something with Elvis. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Uh, um, Romy Mallick, didn't he? He won Best actor? I think so. For, for, uh, uh, queen. But he rap and then whoever did like Bob Dylan. Yeah. Oh, Bob Dylan. I don't know that they didn't win anything. They were nominated for, for a shit ton. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I guess my point is is I feel like, oh my God, who was that? Was that Timothy Shala me? That did that? Did Bob Dylan? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And so him like again, right? Yeah. So see, they all were up for it. So I think, look, I wish I would've already watched the movie. We should do this shit. But I don't know. Should we wait to do these episode, like these podcast episodes until the movies come out? No, because I think or do, it's better like to build up also skew like you're learning about the person view. Yeah. It's kinda like, do you read the book first or do you watch the movie? Always read the book first. Right. And so I think it's good to do it first. Okay, fine. Before watching the movie. Because I think it'll, I will say this, when it premiered in, uh, Telluride in August. Okay. Right. The film festival. Yeah. Critics were risen. It, already, they were saying like, this is hot. So if that, if that, what does reasoning it mean? Like, risen it up like it's badass. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah. You know what I mean? Okay. Like you're flexing. Now you, you don't know Rzn. I don't, so here's what's so funny about all these kid words, like gen, what is it? Gen Z words. I know them all because my kids like live through Gen Z. Right. Now I'm gonna, I'm gonna age out. I'm gone. Right?, Literally in the next two years, right? Ruth's 18, 19, 20 years old. Done and done. You are gonna bring me the new words for Gen Alpha. Well, that's true. From, and, and you're gonna be saying, shit, I'm gonna wait, what are we talking about now? Okay. Sorry. Anyway. Alright, can we get back on track here? Okay. Focus, focus, focus. Focus on focus. So the title is Deliver Me From Nowhere. Yes. What does that even mean? And number two, what you said you were gonna explain Nebraska and I have yet to hear what Nebraska was even about. It was written in New Jersey. That's a good, okay. That's a good point. They should have called you New Jersey. No, Bon Jovi took New Jersey. Okay, here's the deal. Bon Jovi's from New Jersey. Wait break. Bon Jovi's from New Jersey and made an album called New Jersey. Should we do one on Bon Jovi next? Wow. Why are so many people from New Jersey? I don't know. cause they're just cool like that. Wow. Alright, so here we go. Deliver Me From Nowhere. Comes from a book. A book. I The same title? Yes. What book By? By Warren Zane. Okay. 'cause the movie is actually based on the book about the making of Nebraska. Just like everything else. It's a screenplay. Adopted for. Okay. So Warren Zane wrote a book, wrote the book, deliver Me From Nowhere, making. Nebraska? Yes, absolutely. Okay. And then they decided to make a movie about it. 'cause that's how we do everything in America. Yes. When I Googled it, it said the title comes from the idea that Nebraska, the whole album, Nebraska, which is the second question you asked me, feels like a bunch of characters stuck in nowhere. Towns stuck begging for an escape. So the idea is that Nebraska, the actual state of Nebraska is a metaphor for a flat, lonely, empty, sort of full of ghosts, nowhere land, sorry, Nebraska who Shit on Nebraska man lives Nebraska. But that's why he picked the name of the album Nebraska. And that's why Warren Zane picked the title, deliver Me from Nowhere, get Me Out of Nowhere, but I'm, let me go anywhere else. Right. But didn't he feel like he was trapped in Freehold and he escaped and so now he's projecting all of these emotions on Nebraska. Mm-hmm. Port Nebraska. What do you want me to say? He's trying to connect with the working man. So he, he just didn't wanna use his, I guess that would make the huge assumption that, I mean, Nebraska is all depressed too, right? Nebraska is sort of kind of lonely and flat and empty. Let's be honest. It's a flyover state. It's a fly over state. I have fun in Chadron, Nebraska. Wow. You know about what? Chadron Nebraska. And you don't know. Maybe it's run, I don't know who Bruce Springsteen is. You're terrible. Listen, we drove through to a, get an agate fossil bed in Nebraska. Very important place to go, apparently. Yes. Okay. Whatever. let me just finish here. Okay. With your detour into like wherever we just went in Nebraska, I think the whole point of why the movie matters is it's not supposed to be at all about how Bruce got famous. It's the idea of what the fame cost him. And what hides underneath the surface and lurks in all those dark places. And then how we used music to process it all. Very metaphysical. Like we're gonna probably have to smoke dope before we go or like have a gummy before we go to the movie. Okay. How about you do that? I'll go in with a very sober mind and we can tell about our different experiences and interpretations of said movie. All I know is I'll be standing up singing the whole time so there's that. Okay. Alright. Summing it up. Sum it up. The Deliver Me From Nowhere. Movie. Yes. Is a biopic of a certain point of his life. Yes. About Nebraska, which is a book. It's Stars Jeremy Allen White as Bruce Springsteen. Big hunker guy. Yep. He was already famous then, but at this point in time. But it's stripping everything down to how he created and when he created Nebraska, which is like the boldest and weirdest move in all of rock history. Basically it and why it's important. That's all. Why. That's basically it. We're doing that. Can't wait to see it. Fair. So before we get any more like existential here Yeah. Uh, can we lighten up just a little bit? Are we not, are we not We're too existential for you right now. Well, no, but now it's like so depressing. It's a little bit, I mean, that was the whole point and I'm sure it is like a very low moment in his life. Yeah. Do you battle depression figured out? I, I don't. Okay. I, I, I'm not gonna lie, I mean, I don't know that I battled officially depression 'cause I wasn't like diagnosed or anything, but like dude, I know it gets dark. I went through some shit. So if he was like going through a lot of that for a long period of time in his career, no wonder that shit's dark. I wonder if he's ever like talked about that though. He's opened up about He does. Yes. Okay. Yes. He has opened up about it. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. For sure. I do love it later in life because I feel like when people open up about it, it gives other people who are going through something not the same, but similarly. No, I agree. Of like, I'm not crazy and, you know. Okay. Again, they're crazy before we get too dark. Yeah. Fun facts. Yes. Fun facts. Um, all right. You ready? Yes. Uh, number one, Bruce Springsteen never had a number one single. Now, I know we said earlier he had a number one album. Oh yeah. But not a single. You did make that very clear. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. So there's a little bit of difference here, right? A number one album is when the whole record is the most popular in the country for that week, right? Like all the songs total. Yes. And that happened with the river. That was super massive. So it was born in the USA. He had two number one albums. But a number one hit means one specific song, tops the billboard, like hot 100 in, in a specific week. I'm shocked. Born in the USA wasn't number one. No, not at all. Yeah. And and it wasn't even number two. The closest you ever got was Dancing in the Dark. Oh, the Courtney Cox one, right? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. He got all the way up to number two, but didn't make it to number one. All right, speaking of number two, I have to go number two. But also, number two, fun fact. Uh, he once played a concert for over four hours. Four hours. That's crazy. Check this. In 2012 in Helsinki, Finland, he played for four hours and six minutes straight. Longest show we ever played live. And earlier that same year, his longest up to that point was in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he played for three hours and 48 minutes. So he broke his own record. He must have been like doing Viagra or something like in 2012. But what's going on there? That's crazy how long he could last. Like that's insane. He was old by that time. But now his shows are about two and a half, three hours long. Still Amanda. Seven, six years old. That's a long time. Yes. That's freaking insane. That's why I'm saying we gotta go, we gotta see one. I I had a buddy. You remember? I shout out Debbie to me, she was the one who took me, that horrific half marathon. So her, husband Pete to me, I was just having dinner with him I was telling him what we're gonna do an episode on Bruce. And he went to see him and he said it was probably one of the best concerts Oh, he's ever gone to in his entire life. He said it was incredible. Okay. Well, I'm not gonna lie. Mm-hmm. We should go. Just so I can actually have like a male artist that I find incredible. Let's go. 'cause I do feel like in this industry, all of the female artists shows Yeah. Are much more like theatrical, overproduced, yeah. Dancing. No, totally. So much going on. Right. So yeah. I wanna see it just so I can say, let's go, let's go it. Oh, there is a male artist that actually does something, do it. Well, he ain't know Justin Timberlake. You know what I mean? No, but he's playing and he's like, in Alberta, Mars, you know? But I hear you. Okay. Uh oh. Fair. Those two are iconic too. I know. Okay. You're right. I take back my statement. There's two No, you're still gonna go with me. Okay. Number three. This one's a good one. Did you know that before 2009? Bruce Springsteen actually turned down the Super Bowl halftime show, like Amanda on the regular 10 times to be exact. He turned it down. That's a lot. So they started approaching him in the early 1990s, but he always said the performance would be too short for him. So he didn't wanna do it 'cause it wasn't like, he wasn't being true to his music himself. Yeah. Right. But he finally agreed in 2009 when he was 60 years old, realizing how important it was to reach the next generation of music lovers. So we like dumbed the whole thing down. Made it 12 or 15 minutes long so people would understand his life and legacy and what he brought to music and it love it. Dude, KERS right. Superbowl. Halftime shoulders are insane. People love that shit. Okay. Number four, the album, the River, the one that basically got him famous. Yes. Okay. Was actually inspired by his sister Virginia. Oh. So she got pregnant when she was young and married her boyfriend Mickey in a shotgun wedding. And Bruce wrote the song about her story. He still introduces a song at his concert by telling the audience quote. I write songs about people who are real to me and people that I know. My sister got married when she was real young, and she and her husband had to struggle like a lot of people I know this one's for them. What a guy. That's awesome, dude. But sad. Now it Why is that sad? Well, they're still married. The the, they stayed together, but the song is sad. It is a sad song, but they stayed together and they're married and it's excellent. Okay. And he still talks about his sister, i, I think it's cool. Oh, fair. Okay. And finally. We know that he recorded Nebraska in his bedroom on the four track cassette recorder, like the Sears thing we were talking about earlier. And I know I said like the plan was to rerecord all the songs with the E street band. Remember I said that? Yes, yes. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. This is what, and release it later. Right? This is my last fun fact. Um, but Bruce decided the raw sort of more like haunting demo that he made was like that. That was it. It was perfect. Okay. The problem was the sound quality was so bad. The engineers weren't sure if a cassette tape could be mastered into a vinyl record. They ended up using some new experimental technology at the time to make the whole thing work, which is crazy. So they like didn't even know that they'd be able to pull this thing off, and thank God it did, because from there it influenced an entire generation, both U2 and the Killers. You know, U2. Yeah, yeah. You know the killers. Yes. Okay. All right. They've cited Nebraska, specifically Nebraska, huh? Has an influence on their music and songwriting. Saying it quote captures the darkness of the American soul. All right. There you go. That's all I got. Fun facts out. Let's go to Nebraska. But do you also love how like Elvis was like this domino effect? He inspired it, started it off Bruce, and then he, and they think about it turned, Bruce inspired you two and the Killers. Okay, so now we gotta go back. It's not like Elvis was first. You gotta go up before Elvis. You gotta go out. Remember Jazz? We did our episode on Ja even further back. Right? So then that's why we did Beats Without Borders. Yeah. The whole rhythm, like music, it's all linked. This is why I transcends generations have an orgasm every time I listen to songs. This is my problem. Okay, what do you want me to say? All right, then on that note, I'm sorry I was so vociferous. Okay. I do feel like we just got like a little Springsteen cheat sheet and a little history with a little bit of drama. Yeah. And of course you had to throw in your Viagra joke or sex jokes. I do in there. I do. You know, here and there. Thank you for I allowing that rock and roll. I guess it's expected. Here we are. Yes. All right. I could do a little bit of rock and roll. Okay. We're gonna bring it home now. Bring it home. Give us our takeaways. Bring it home. Here we go. Like a call to action. What we gotta do, let's go obviously see the movie, right? Go to a concert, all that kind of stuff. Oh, concert. Yeah. That's, so if anybody wants to go deeper into Bruce Springsteen's life, um, I suggest you do. 'cause we went over this in like 30 minutes. Read his autobiography. Born to Run. It's big and a little messy, I'm not gonna lie. 'Cause it's all over the place. But it is Bruce telling his own story and you can literally hear his song lyrics behind, like each of his sentences. I, I read it. It's amazing. Totally worth the read. Published in 2016. Critics loved it 'cause they said it was unusual for a rock star to spend so much time talking about his vulnerability, mental health. Rather than just sort of the fun, wild sort of sex, drugs, rock and roll vibe that you so nicely said, I was allowed to talk about on this. Um, and if you don't read, 'cause who are we kidding? Nobody really reads anymore except me. 'cause I'm old because Just watch the 2019 Netflix documentary Springsteen on Broadway. Oh, how's that? What? Right. It's basically Bruce alone on stage telling his whole life story through songs, jokes, and confessions. What? Yes. Way more. Our wars are colliding. Why did you lead with that? More digestible. Oh. Than a 500 baby book. What do you mean? I gotta save some of this juice. You know, to keep you, to keep you interested, keep you interested. Absolutely. Okay. Uh, if you don't wanna do either one of those, remember these details to seem sort of sophisticated. Alright. Number one, Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen was born in 1949 in Freehold, New Jersey, not Nebraska, a working class Catholic kid. Son of a dark brooding dad and a supportive, optimistic mom. Go Bruce. Number two. His breakthrough came in 1975 with Born to Run and has literally spent the last five decades as America's ultimate rock and roll storyteller. He was known as the working class poet and built his entire career on telling stories of ordinary people Number three, he's never had a number one single, but his album's, born in the USA, the river and darkness on the edge of town are all cultural landmarks. And at the height of his fame, he chose risk over comfort and released Nebraska, a stripped down, low-fi haunting album that cemented him as an artist, not just the hit maker. Number four, he never loved the nickname The Boss. It came from him handling cash for the band, but it stuck. Ironically, the guy who hated authority became the figurehead of rock authority. Number five. Unlike many rock stars, he's been open about his lifelong fight with depression and identity. He's shown that vulnerability can coexist with legendary strength on stage, truly an icon. And finally, at 76 years old, he's still playing three hour shows, no gimmicks, no nostalgia act, just raw energy and connection. Few artists have kept their credibility and stamina across six decades the way Springsteen has total legend. And there you have it, fellow listeners, A deep dive into the raw and restless world of Bruce Springsteen, from a quiet Catholic kid in Freehold to the boss on the world stage. He wasn't just writing songs, he was capturing the spirit of Americana in three chords and the truth. So if we've done our job today, hopefully you're walking away a bit more sophisticated with a Sharper Springsteen, Nike, and maybe a better sense of why he still matters after all these decades. Whether you blast born a run on road trips, cry in your room over Nebraska, or just remember that Courtney Cox got pulled up on stage and dancing in the dark. Bruce reminds us that music isn't just entertainment, it's storytelling at its best. And the voice of the working class. Let's go. If you enjoy this episode, make sure to subscribe. Leave us a review and pass it along to someone who still thinks Springsteen is just dad. Rock, barbecue, music. Oh, that's terrible. Oh God. And connect with them. There you go. Please do. Here's hoping we converted you to be a brand new Bruce believer. Until next time, stay curious and stay boss. Brand new Bruce Believer. Say that five times fast.
