Down in the Hole

Welcome to Day 5 of our 12-day examination of the 12 songs on Bruce Springsteen's new album, High Hopes. As we indicated at the start, rather than a straight review, we're having a running dialogue based around each song as we listen to it. 

So. Day 5, Song 5: "Down in the Hole."

***

Scott Peterson

YOU READY TO ROCK THIS OR WHAT?

ROCKGOD!

Dan Tapper

ROCKGOD!!!

Let's go. "Down in the Hole."

Scott Peterson

Industrial. NIN. "Welcome to the Machine." "Silly Love Songs."

Dan Tapper

The effects at the outset are a little much. But that little banjo in the back is cool.

Scott Peterson

"Empty Sky" vocals.

Dan Tapper

Yes! Thank you—it IS indeed "Empty Sky." Patti sounds really good here.

Scott Peterson

Patti sounds GREAT. Yes.

Dan Tapper

I actually don't get the distortion to start. I get why he does it sometimes. Just not here.

Pretty melody, huh?

Scott Peterson

Yeah, that vocal effect is awesome. But I feel like it's being overused on this album. But is he going for something with it? A certain emotional separation? Distancing effect?

Dan Tapper

And here's why I get distracted every time. It's "I'm On Fire." Very strange.

Scott Peterson

I didn't heard the "Fire" bit until you pointed it out. But I can certainly hear it now.

Dan Tapper

Though the echoing background vox are pretty cool. Those are his kids, you know.

Scott Peterson

This was my maybe my fave of the first side the first time through. But I thought the lyrics were awesome but a bit perplexing, but in a good way.

Until I realized it was 9/11 and this must have been a Rising outtake. At which point, I was all: duh. 

Love the way his kids sound. Seriously. They sound great and it's an amazing effect. Sweet and haunting and ghostly and creepy. 

Dan Tapper

This has to be a Rising outtake, right? I mean, it sounds like it should have come somewhere after "Counting on a Miracle."

Scott Peterson

Jesus, how much better would that LP have been if they dropped "Let's Be Friends (Skin to Skin)," "The Fuse" and "Worlds Apart" and added this?

Dan Tapper

The liner notes indicate his kids were all in middle school when this was recorded.

Scott Peterson

Ayuh.

Dan Tapper

Now I am upset this wasn't on The Rising.

Scott Peterson

Would it help if he said he was sorry? It's produdced by Brendan O'Brien with the entire E Street Band on it. 

Dan Tapper

Hey, Clarence is on this, so says the liners. But I don't hear him. You?

Scott Peterson

I actually wondered at first if this was about a guy so sticken by grief that he was trying to dig his beloved up.

No, I no hear no Big Man neither.

Dan Tapper

Here's where it really sounds like "I'm on Fire." Right at the 4:15 mark.

No Morello on this track, either.

Scott Peterson

Sometimes it's like someone took a knife, Danny, edgy and dull. 

In fact, "Danny: edgy and dull" is your new tagline.

No Steve, no Nils. Just the entire Springsteen clan. 

Dan Tapper

Well. That was pretty and sparse. I think it's my least favorite track so far. Mostly because the synths and drums just sound too much like "I'm On Fire."

Scott Peterson

Well, we're...worlds apart...on that one.

(YYYYYYYEAAAAHHHH!!!)

That's one of my two faves so far.

Dan Tapper

But again, 5 tracks in I think this album is working for what it is. A ragged collection of stuff he now wants us to hear. Right on.
So far my order is "Just Like Fire Would," "American Skin," "Harry's Place," the title track, and then this...I think.

Scott Peterson

"American Skin," Harry's Place," and then this one are my three faves so far. "Just Like Fire Would" and the title track bringing up the rear.

(I forgot about American Skin." I dum as stup.)

Dan Tapper

We are going in different directions a bit, huh?

Scott Peterson

Seems so. I blame Obama. 

***

COMING TOMORROW—TRACK 6 FROM HIGH HOPES: "Heaven's Wall"

Just When I Needed You Most

For Dan, in hopes it lights the way back towards the end of tears.

This Used to Be My Playground

For Dan, in his time of despondence.

Just Like Fire Would

Welcome to Day 4 of our 12-day examination of the 12 songs on Bruce Springsteen's new album, High Hopes. As we indicated at the start, rather than a straight review, we're having a running dialogue based around each song as we listen to it. 

So. Day 4, Song 4: "Just Like Fire Would."

***

Dan Tapper

Next up, another cover. "Just Like Fire Would." Which I just realized is something of a play on words. Heh.

Scott Peterson

Yes it is. Nothing gets by you.

Dan Tapper

Mellencamp-ee!

Scott Peterson

Love the opening. Classic Americana.
I was thinking Jayhawks, but okay.
You ever heard the original? I have not.
How funny that in 2014, he goes with two covers of punk songs

Dan Tapper

By The Saints, yes? Aussie punk band?

Scott Peterson

Again, no rhyme scheme. Who leaves wine in a motel room for someone?

Dan Tapper

Love his voice here. Sounds like Disc 2 of Tracks.

Scott Peterson

It does, good call.

Dan Tapper

OK. My favorite track so far. I'm hooked. Breezy and cool.

Scott Peterson

Much like you.
You know what I like about all three of these covers? He used to cover songs with such authority. But on the much rarer occasions he does a cover this century—which is mainly him guesting with someone—he's much more tentative. The first time he did "Man on the Moon" with R.E.M., for instance, on the Vote for Change tour, it felt like he'd maybe heard the song backstage for the first time.

Dan Tapper

Stevie! On the beachy harmonies!

Scott Peterson

Weird trumpet solo. I love Curt Rahm, but that's just odd. 

Dan Tapper

Almost like he's paying respects!

Scott Peterson

It's like the A-Team meets "Penny Lane."

Dan Tapper

Whoa! Where'd those horns come from?

Scott Peterson

In fact, I think that might be a Bach piccolo trumpet.

Dan Tapper

Man, the way they bounced back into the melody line just gave me a chill.

I think you're right. And the liner notes say you're right.

"Penny Lane" is a good call.

Scott Peterson

Do they really? [takes a quick victory lap]

Dan Tapper

Max is having all sorts of fun back there.

Well, that was a delight. I can see that easily turning into a concert staple. Like "Waiting on a Sunny Day" is now.

Scott Peterson

The funnest song so far. But I'm not sure I get it. I know this is an odds-and-sods collection and I keep looking for a theme. I dunno. 

Dan Tapper

No themes at all, I don't think. So far we have two covers—one about love, one about hardship—plus a mob rumble and a high-lined meditation on race relations. Next could be "Misirlou" for all we know.

Scott Peterson

I'm willing to bet we could find a theme.

Something about hopes being high, por ejemplo. 

***

COMING TOMORROW—TRACK 5 FROM HIGH HOPES: "Down in the Hole"

American Skin (41 Shots)

Welcome to Day 3 of our 12-day examination of the 12 songs on Bruce Springsteen's new album, High Hopes. As we indicated at the start, rather than a straight review, we're having a running dialogue based around each song as we listen to it. So listen along with us and enjoy!

So. Day 3, Song 3: "American Skin (41 Shots)."

***

Dan Tapper

So. Now we come to the one song that has made me more nervous than any. The studio version of "American Skin." Why? Because the song is already a masterpiece.

Scott Peterson

Funny. I hear what you're saying—the song's one of his finest ever and the version we already had absolutely perfect—but for some reason I still wasn't worried about it. Workshopping tunes on the road before you hit the studio used to be common practice. Even he did it.

Dan Tapper

Spacy. Reverb. Spooky.

Scott Peterson

He calls "reverb" "slap." True story.

Dan Tapper

More distortion. THAT may be a little much, no?

Scott Peterson

Again, I fret about how it'll age. But I'm a fretter.

Dan Tapper

Man, he still sings these words like they hurt, though, huh? He has never written a more provocative or misunderstood song.

Scott Peterson

Morello doing dive bombs on the guitar at the beginning.

Dan Tapper

Gorgeous backing on the "Is it a gun..." part.

Is that Nils joining him on the "41 shots" this time through?

Scott Peterson

I wonder if I'm misremembering the original release, but I feel like here he's singing the title without any hint of the bitterness that was (only) hinted at on the live album.

I didn't hear Nils. I shall pay more attention.

I think Springsteen's vocals may be better on this one than the first release.

Dan Tapper

That's Nils. He only sings on this track. No guitar.

Scott Peterson

Not sure how I feel about the echoing vocals on the "is it a gun" part?

Oh, I think I do hear Nils.
I like the echoey guitar behind the 41 shots bit. The pulsing guitar.

Dan Tapper

I like the echoes. It adds a layer of sadness. And this song has always been more sad than angry to me.

Wow. Here comes one HELL of a solo.

Scott Peterson

So, it says Tom plays lead. Is he the only lead? Because if so, this is no technique and all emotion—an upending of what people think of as his normal formula. 

Dan Tapper

Different than what Bruce used to do live. But no less chest-beating.

Scott Peterson

Not so much chest-beating as garment-rending.

Dan Tapper

What do I hear deep in the background? I think it's Aniello on harmonium or vibraphone or something. On the "it ain't no secret" part a third time through.

Scott Peterson

I don't know. I was just noticing no Garry on this. Seems an odd and unnecessary omission. 

Dan Tapper

Just checked. It's synths and vibraphone. Courtesy of Aniello.

Same power on the breakdown. On the final "American Skin," I mean. Stops cold.
Oooh! Listen to how they now lead into the final sax solo?

Scott Peterson

I wonder if Jake Clemons felt weird about this solo at all—his first on record, on a song his uncle had already played gorgeously on. Seems different than playing live, somehow. 

Dan Tapper

Jake cuts it short, but he nails it. Elegiac and ghostly.

Scott Peterson

Much like me. Yeah, I really like that extended build up.

It's interesting that he kept the "41 Shots" refrain. I'm not surprised, but it does tie it to that specific event, when since then we've seen so many other horrific events to which it was equally applicable.

So. I'm not sure about this song's placement on the album–seems kind of a weird place for it. But that cut right there's reason enough for the LP's existence all by itself.

Dan Tapper

This is not overproduced. It's got some layers, sure. But it's a song that demands its audience tune in and stay tuned in. Even in concert it has grandeur. I think it works here.

Hey! The Edge stopped by for the coda! :-)

Scott Peterson

I do do do think Brice should really form a power trio for an LP and tour. Or at most a quartet.
I know, right? So very Edgian.

Dan Tapper

Just him, Morello, Garry and Max?

Scott Peterson

No. He needs to be the only guitarist. Him, Garry, Max and maybe Roy. Roy optional. (Something which has never been said about Roy Bitten ever before ever anywhere by anyone ever.) Or he could put Steve on bass, I suppose.

Dan Tapper

I have absolutely no issue with this studio version. It's better than the studio versions of both "Land of Hopes and Dreams" and "American Land." And those were damn good.

Scott Peterson

Or really Springsteen should find a rhythm something close to the equivalent of Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl and steal them. (Not that there really is such an equivalent.) 

Yes. You're right about "American Land" for sure and probably "Land of Hope and Dreams."
I do think Nils has got to be feeling a little bit like "what the hell, man? I've been with you 30 years and in that entire time you've given me one solo? This guy gets two in the first three songs of the new album?!"

***

COMING TOMORROW—TRACK 4 FROM HIGH HOPES: "Just Like Fire Would"