Dream Baby Dream

Welcome to the 12th and final day 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 12, Song 12: "Dream Baby Dream."

***

Scott Peterson

Which brings us to the final song. The insanely verbose "Dream Baby Dream," which more than anything, is reminiscent of his first album, lyrically.

Dan Tapper

We saw him do this back in 2005, of course, when he closed every show with it on the pump organ. And it went in about 2 minutes from "What is this?" to "WOW."

Scott Peterson

Did you see him on his Devils & Dust tour?

Dan Tapper

I did. Twice.

Scott Peterson

Where? Hartford and Boston?

Dan Tapper

Yeah—Hartford and Worcester. Two weeks apart.
Can you please shut up now so I can hear the song? 

Dan Tapper

Hey, listen: Tom Morello! Remember him?

Tommy's dive-bombing again behind Bruce as he croons. Just like he started the album off.

Scott Peterson

Bruce just started singing and, yeah, you're right, some Morello bombs in the background. I've missed him so.

Dan Tapper

Now. This song has gotten some criticism for the production and the layers. Which I don't get. This song is all about layers.

Scott Peterson

Boy howdy, the guys in Suicide must absolutely love Bruce Springsteen. Even in these days of his albums selling a fraction what they did even 10 years ago, he's got to account for half their income this century.

Dan Tapper

Have you heard Suicide's original?

Scott Peterson

I have. I hadn't, but I have now.
I love that Bruce Springsteen loved Suicide. It's so incongruous to what most people think of when they think of Bruce Springsteen.

Dan Tapper

Me too. I was...surprised...when I heard the original.

Scott Peterson

I'd never heard of them until he covered this back in 2005.

Then they were in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. So I did. (And now I'm prepared. Which, I guess, was a bad move on my part?)

Dan Tapper

Me neither. But he was exploring punk—obscure punk—when most folks were barely discovering The Clash.

At the 1:30 mark the band comes in. Is that Max on drums/percussion? Almost sounds like fireworks.

Scott Peterson

Ayuh. You hear his NPR interview? Where he'd talk about how if he missed the last bus or train back to NJ, he'd go back to Max's Kansas City, back in like 1973, and watch the New York Dolls?

He was ground floor.

Dan Tapper

Of course he was. Seriously. He's always been ahead. 

"I just wanna see you smile." I love this part. 

Piano is heavenly.

Scott Peterson

No Max on this.
Just Bruce, Roy, Tom and Ron.
(And strings and horns).

Dan Tapper

Oh, Ron on percussion, huh? OK.

Scott Peterson

I accept your acceptance.
Boy, this makes "Drive All Night" seem ridonkulously wordy, huh?

Dan Tapper

HAH! It does! It's like an update on the long coda on "Drive All Night." "Through the wind...through the rain..."

Scott Peterson

Now I want to hear him sing other sparse songs, like "Pink Moon."
AND NOW I MUST MUST MUST HEAR BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN COVER NICK DRAKE.
My life can never be complete without that.
(I may overstate ever so slightly.)
Huh. Surprisingly quick fadeout.

Dan Tapper

4:40—one more drop out. Lovely.

Scott Peterson

I desire to hear that again.

I like when his quickly strummed acoustic gets brought up in the mix. It's like a Townshend homage.

Dan Tapper

I do too!
Townshend is a good call.

Scott Peterson

"Come on dream, pinball wizard, dream."

Dan Tapper

His voice is like one that comes from down the hall at the start. So distant.

Scott Peterson

"I just wanna see you play."

Dan Tapper

"I just wanna magic bus...oh I just wanna magic bus..."

Scott Peterson

Interesting thought on the sound of his voice. I noticed that the first we hear percussion, it's sorta got that distant bullhorn effect he used so much on the vocals on the first few songs.
Well. That's a sweet way to end the LP.

Dan Tapper

This will play well, I would say, when he tours.

Scott Peterson

See, I feel like this is the minimalist sparse zen koan like approach he was going for with "Heaven's Wall" but didn't come close to achieving. Here, however, he knocks it outta the park. He does so much with so little and it's so damn effective.
Is it the most upbeat of his recent album closings?
A lot of them ended either kinda dark, ala "Devil's Arcade" or with dark bonus tracks like "The Wrestler" and "Terry's Song" and "The Last Carnival."

Dan Tapper

I thought he coulda done better opening the album, but you really can't beat the triple shot that closes it. The smoke and bombs of "Joad," the dead quiet of "The Wall" and the redemptive flare of "Dream Baby Dream."

Scott Peterson

"We Are Alive" was upbeat—very—but then he had "Belly of the Whale" bonus track.

Dan Tapper

"We Are Alive" was the most upbeat closer in the post-reunion era. Until now.

Scott Peterson

Yeah, good call. Actually, was it the middle of the album that was the real weak part? 'cuz the title track's okay, and i really liked "Harry's Place" and "American Skin." I think it was the middle that sagged. (Much like me.) 

Dan Tapper

What did I say about "Belly of the Whale?"

Scott Peterson

That you want "Belly" played at your wake? Just it, on a loop, and nothing else?

Dan Tapper

WE DON'T TALK ABOUT BELLY OF THE WHALE! Check your rulebook.

Scott Peterson

Shoot. I get those two instructions confused.

So it's "The Angel" you want played on a loop? Or "Real Man"?

Dan Tapper

You are a cruel man.
Weakest tracks on the album, in no order: "Heaven's Wall," "This is Your Sword" and the title track?

Scott Peterson

Definitely "Heaven's Wall" and "This Is Your Sword."
I find the first few covers okay but not fantastic.
I liked "Down in the Hole" more than most, I think.
"Hunter of Invisible Game" is okay.

Dan Tapper

Best tracks (new and original) "The Wall," "Frankie" and "Down in the Hole." (Yes, I have come around on that.)

Scott Peterson

Know what? This should have been a long EP maybe, or a really short LP.

Dan Tapper

I really like "Hunter." Makes me juant to waltz with you. Naked.

Scott Peterson

You're just saying that 'cuz you know how I feel about most 3/4 and 6/8 songs. Now, 9/8...
Here's what I think I might have pared the album down to. And in homage to Led Zeppelin, I would have still titled it High Hopes even though the title track wasn't actually on the LP.
Harry's Place 4:04
American Skin (41 Shots) 7:24
Down in the Hole 4:59
Frankie Fell in Love 2:48
The Ghost of Tom Joad 7:34
The Wall 4:20
Dream Baby Dream 5:02  

(That would not necessarily have been the running order.)
What's your feeling on "Harry's Place"?

Dan Tapper

I dunno. I like the collection and the effort. I know what it is, indeed. A minor work. First one in a long time. But I think the mishmash works.

Scott Peterson

I like "Harry's Place." I just don't get it. And I can't play it when the kiddies are around, for they have never heard such language, for they are my offspring.

Dan Tapper

I still like "Harry's Place." But it's just so different from everything on the record. Like "Further on Up the Road," kinda.

Scott Peterson

As you pointed out, "American Skin" and "Tom Joad" alone are nearly as long as a short LP side from the 70s, just the two of them.

Interesting call on "Harry."

Dan Tapper

Isn't that amazing? How much time those two take up all by themselves?

Scott Peterson

You're not wrong.

Dan Tapper

"Harry" is the only thing that sounds new. I know it's not, but it does.
All this said? The best of all tracks on this record is "The Ghost of Tom Joad." It's pretty insane what he and Tom do to it.

Scott Peterson

Hm. I am not sure I'm willing to go that far, just because I like "The Wall" and "American Skin" so much. But daggum if it's not fantastic. 

Dan Tapper

So I gotta tell you, overall I like the record. Yes, I know it is not a major piece of work for him. And you are very right when you say the hodgepodge nature is at the very least disconcerting. But I do think he has found some thematic consistency. Thanks to generally strong material, the contributions of Mr. Morello and (Brendan please forgive me) Ron Aniello's handiwork. So the songs don't necessarily tie together, but the sound does. Does that make sense?

Scott Peterson

I think so? I'm not entirely sure the sound's always a good thing, though—as we discussed, there's way too much of the bullhorn effect. And to some extent, I think how good the best songs are serves to make the less good ones seem even worse. I mean, look, "Heaven's Wall" is catchy. But you put it next to "The Wall" or "The Ghost of Tom Joad" and it's ridiculously anemic.
But, again, even "Just Like Fire Would," a fine song, suffers by being on the album with "American Skin." Even the lighter songs on The River or Born in the USA, upon close readings, usually reveal themselves to actually have very serious subtexts—the protagonist of the silly ditty "Working on the Highway," por ejemplo, is in prison, having either been railroaded by politically connected individuals...or for having transported a minor across state lines for lascivious purposes. It's got that desperation that ties in to every other song on the album, including the self-loathing "Dancing in the Dark." I'm not so sure this album has anything to tie seemingly disparate threads together.
Which, again, goes back to both the odds and sods nature of the record and what I arrogantly see as the need for it to have been cut way the hell back. And how, in some ways, a legend of Bruce Springsteen's stature is in a no-win situation. (Not that most of us wouldn't give our eyeteeth to find ourselves in such a predicament.) 

Dan Tapper

All very fair and extremely well put.
So I will leave it at this: I am grateful that at 64 Bruce is still putting out music that makes people think, pause, wonder, ponder and debate. He can still evoke and provoke, he's still trying new things, he's still writing from that same tireless place he's always called home, and he can still hold our attention by sheer force of will, even on the lesser tracks. And on the stronger tracks, no one but maybe Bob Dylan can still sound so inventive and, even, downright revolutionary in the final 3rd of his life. Paul Simon hasn't and, likely, can't. Paul McCartney isn't. Sadly Stevie Wonder hasn't for a long time. Bruce Springsteen still is.
Damned if that ain't impressive as all get out.

Scott Peterson

To my surprise, I will disagree with you somewhat on the Macca front—I think he is still trying new stuff, especially his work with The Fireman, although it doesn't necessarily move me as much as I wish—but as for the rest, I think you're dead on the money.
Since I'm not sure I made this clear: of course I'm glad he put this record out. It's a fine addition to his catalog. And if I think it could have been made a bit better with some judicious editing, well, I'll very much take a very good album every year from him over having to wait five years for a masterpiece. Without question. 

Dan Tapper

In other words, I was right. Now, was that so difficult?  

The Wall

Welcome to Day 11 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 11, Song 11: "The Wall."

***

Dan Tapper

Such a delicate opening. Kinda countryish. Reminds me of Keith Whitley.
Interesting. He's written about Vietnam overtly before. But never with such...quiet. Even "Shut out the Light" is louder.

Scott Peterson

I was thinking "Brothers Under the Bridge."
I find this much more melodic, and therefore effective, than some of the other similarities he's released   this century, even things I like.

Dan Tapper

This is just lovely. Incredibly moving how understated and slight it is.

Scott Peterson

Something about the sound reminds me of "The Last Carnival." Maybe it's just the name Billy.
His voice is so tremulous, as opposed to the gruff growl of "Ghost of Tom Joad."

Dan Tapper

Interesting you mention "Carnival." Because this song goes from very good to grabbing ahold of greatness  at the 1:21 mark. Danny.
Listen to this solo. God this is beautiful.
Echoes all the way back to "Independence Day."

Scott Peterson

Is this the quietest song to ever feature the (almost) entire E Street Band?
I love Curt Rahm's tone.
Bruce on drums, Max on percussion—an unusual combination.

Dan Tapper

"If your eyes could cut through that black stone, tell me would they recognize me?" Wow does that hit   me.

Scott Peterson

Good call on "Independence Day."

Dan Tapper

Good call about the whole band.

Scott Peterson

Or "Racing in the Street."

Dan Tapper

And holy crow does Curt take this song up into the clouds. Stunning.

Scott Peterson

No need for that kind of language.
Okay. That song's definitely in the top half of the LP for me. Easily.
I wonder if this is the same Billy from "The Promise."

Dan Tapper

I think this is the best "new" song on the album. Excluding "American Skin" and "Tom Joad." It is a legit  great Bruce Springsteen song. If we were doing our Top 50 list now I would give it very strong  consideration.

Scott Peterson

He got drafted out of the factory, sent off to some foreign land.

Dan Tapper

I was wondering the same thing!
Max rolling in at the end, almost with a mournful military cadence. And Danny drifting in one last time.
Man that was gorgeous.

Scott Peterson

"I'm sorry I missed you last year—I couldn't find no one to drive me" is amazing writing.
How clear it makes it that Billy's not the only one who paid a steep price.

Dan Tapper

It sure is. Makes it clear Bruce is playing a character again. Which he of course tends to do in his "war"  songs.

Scott Peterson

It's interesting that he says there's no apologies or forgiveness welcome here at the wall, and yet the  tone, overall, is mournful, quiet, tragic, with barely even a hint of anger.

Dan Tapper

I just can't get over how cosmically brilliant Danny and Curt are together on this. And they...were they in the same room? Or did Bruce splice Curt in long after Danny was gone?

Scott Peterson

I suspect he added Curt recently. Long after Danny died, much less recorded this.

Dan Tapper

 And yet the interplay is so wondrous.
"I read Robert McNamara says he's sorry." Leonard Cohen-like. Or Lou Reed.
This song pushed every button for me.

Scott Peterson

That line, right after "laughin' at your ship-out party" is devastating.
Ayuh. This is a good 'un and a half. As someone on Bruce's Place said, it's perplexing this wasn't a b-side off The Rising, which, I think, is what it was recorded for.

Dan Tapper

There's a level of survivor's guilt here too, right? To some degree? "You're gone and I'm still here."
This would have been a perfect B-side to "The Rising." Its "Shut Out the Light," if you will.

Scott Peterson

 I wonder. I get the feeling the narrator is aware that he's paid a pretty damn big price too. That, yeah,  living's better than not, but the way he's living ain't exactly all the grand.

Dan Tapper

I mean its "Shut Out the Light." As in its equivalent to "The Rising"/"Born in the USA" and such.
So to sum up "The Wall," this is an absolutely perfect song. So rich in what he wants to—needs to—say. Yet so simple too.

Scott Peterson

"The Wall" starts off like it's going to be one of his solo acoustic tracks, ala "Mary, Queen of Arkansas"  or "Cautious Man" or " The Last Carnival," but it slowly and quietly and powerfully builds, going past  those and into Ghost of Tom Joad LP territory...and keeps going until it's more like "Wreck on the  Highway" or "Paradise."

Dan Tapper

And Danny and Curt, in some kind of heavenly pairing, make it so. 
Great call. By the time it ends we're talking about "Wreck on the Highway" level. And "Paradise" and "Independence Day" too.

Scott Peterson

Yes, but I also meant tonally—it feels like it's in that neighborhood in terms of actual sound.
You know, I've seen some think it's one of the weaker cuts on the album. To which I say "crack is wack."

Dan Tapper

Amazing what some don't go for. These are the types who go nuts when he plays "Jackson Cage" but  head for the men's room during "Jack of All Trades."
(I saw that very scenario happen last tour, BTW)

Scott Peterson

There's no accounting for taste. Just ask my good lady wife. Also, you should probably hang around in the men's room a little less during Springsteen concerts. Just sayin'.

***

COMING TOMORROW—TRACK 12 FROM HIGH HOPES: "Dream Baby Dream"

Each Other's Blood

We've written about Bruce Springsteen's "American Skin (41 Shots)" several times here at Reason to Believe, most recently here and here. It is easily the most controversial song he ever wrote, as well as one of his most provocative.


Today is the anniversary of the incident that inspired that song. It was on this night 15 years ago that an unarmed Guinean immigrant named Amadou Diallo was shot and killed by New York City police officers who mistook him for a suspected serial rapist.

Here is how the New York Times reported the story the day after it happened. As a former reporter myself, I find it fascinating just how much detail the story was already able to provide by the very next day:

Officers in Bronx Fire 41 Shots, and an Unarmed Man Is Killed
By MICHAEL COOPER

An unarmed West African immigrant with no criminal record was killed early yesterday by four New York City police officers who fired 41 shots at him in the doorway of his Bronx apartment building, the police said.

It was unclear yesterday why the police officers had opened fire on the man at 12:44 A.M. in the vestibule of his building at 1157 Wheeler Avenue in the Soundview section. The man, Amadou Diallo, 22, who came to America more than two years ago from Guinea and worked as a street peddler in Manhattan, died at the scene, the police said.

The Bronx District Attorney's office is investigating the shooting, whose details were still murky last night because there were apparently no civilian witnesses and none of the police officers involved had given statements to investigators. But Inspector Michael Collins, a police spokesman, said that investigators who went to the scene of the shooting did not find a weapon on or near Mr. Diallo.

Relatives and neighbors described Mr. Diallo as a shy, hard-working man with a ready smile, a devout Muslim who did not smoke or drink.

''I am very angry,'' said his uncle, Mamadou Diallo. ''He was a skinny guy. Why would the police shoot somebody of that nature 30 or 40 times? We see the police and we give them all the respect we have.''

A friend, Demba Sanyang, 39, said: ''We have a very undemocratic society back home, and then we come here. We don't expect to be killed by law enforcement officers.''

The four officers involved in the shooting were assigned to the aggressive Street Crimes Unit, which focuses largely on taking illegal guns off the street. All four officers, who were in plainclothes, used their 9-millimeter semiautomatic service pistols, which hold 16 bullets and can discharge all of them in seconds.

Two of the officers, Sean Carroll, 35, and Edward McMellon, 26, emptied their weapons, firing 16 shots each, the police said. Officer Kenneth Boss, 27, fired his gun five times and Officer Richard Murphy, 26, fired four times.

All four have been put on administrative leave, which is standard practice after a police shooting.

Three of the officers -- Officers Carroll, McMellon and Boss -- have been involved in shootings before, which is unusual in a department where more than 90 percent of all officers never fire their weapons in the line of duty. In those previous incidents, Officers Carroll and McMellon were found to have acted properly, the police said; the case of Officer Boss -- he shot and killed a man said to be armed with a shotgun on Oct. 31, 1997, in Brooklyn -- is still being reviewed by the Brooklyn District Attorney's office.

Police rules on when officers can fire their guns are explicit: deadly force can be used only when officers fear for their lives or the lives of others. But once they decide to shoot, officers are trained to fire until they ''stop'' the target from causing harm. They are told not to fire warning shots, and to aim for the center of the body, not arms or legs.

Police officials said it was unclear whether the circumstances of the confrontation between Mr. Diallo and the officers justified such a shooting. What the police say is known is that the four officers were patrolling Mr. Diallo's neighborhood yesterday morning in an unmarked car in the hope that they would make arrests and in the process turn up information about a serial rapist in the area.

At a quarter to one, the officers encountered Mr. Diallo. All four got out of the car and approached him as he stood in the vestibule of his building, the police said.

A police official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that a neighbor reported after the shooting that he had noticed a man, who the police believe was Mr. Diallo, loitering in the vestibule. The man described him as ''acting suspicious,'' said the official, who did not elaborate.

The officers did not communicate over their radios before they approached Mr. Diallo, the police said, so investigators said they did not know what prompted their initial interest in him.

Nor is it known why the officers began firing. A second police official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said, ''We don't know what happened, because we haven't spoken to them, but it looks like one guy may have panicked and the rest followed suit.''

After the shooting the officers called in on their radios, the police said, and neighbors telephoned 911. Soon other officers arrived on the scene, followed by detectives and the ranking officers who are required to respond to all police shootings.

An investigation began, and no weapon was found on Mr. Diallo, Inspector Collins said.
A pager and a wallet were found lying next to the body, a police official said, adding that it was unclear whether the officers could have mistaken the pager for a weapon.

Mr. Diallo had lived in New York for two and a half years. A member of the Fulani ethnic group, he came from a village called Lelouma and followed relatives who had moved here. He worked as a street peddler, selling socks, gloves and videos on 14th Street in Manhattan. He sent much of the money he earned to his parents back home, friends said.

Yesterday, Mr. Diallo arrived home from work around midnight, said his roommate, Momodou Kujabi. The two men discussed who was going to pay the Con Edison bill, and then Mr. Diallo turned on the television and Mr. Kujabi went to bed. Another roommate, Mr. Diallo's cousin, Abdou Rahman Diallo, was already asleep.

Mr. Kujabi said he thought Mr. Diallo might have gone out for something to eat, as he often did after coming home from work.

Then came the shots, and a knock on the door, he said. It was the police.

Mr. Kujabi said that the officers brought him down to the vestibule to identify his friend's body. ''I said, 'How can this happen?' '' Mr. Kujabi recalled telling the officers. '' 'I left this guy less than 30 minutes ago.' '' 

An autopsy found that Mr. Diallo died of multiple gunshot wounds to the torso, said Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the Chief Medical Examiner's Office. Further tests are required to learn how many wounds there were and where the bullets entered his body, she said.

Steven Reed, a spokesman for the Bronx District Attorney's office, said the shooting was being investigated would probably be taken up by a grand jury.

Stuart London, a lawyer representing the officers, said that he was still trying to determine the facts of the case. ''It would be premature to comment,'' he said.

And Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani urged people to withhold judgment on the case. ''We've had terrible mistakes in this city when people have reacted to rumors and intuitions and feelings,'' he said. ''Let's let the situation run its course and then let's react to the facts.''

But Kyle Waters, a lawyer representing Mr. Diallo's family, said he was concerned that the police officers may have overreacted to Mr. Diallo. ''There was nothing to indicate that he was a criminal, nothing to indicate that he had a weapon,'' he said. ''For him to be sent back to his homeland in Guinea in a box is a horrible tragedy.''

State Assemblyman Ruben Diaz, who represents the area, called the shooting ''outrageous,'' adding that it was clear that excessive force was used.

Mayor Giuliani said the circumstances of the shooting were unclear because the officers involved had invoked what is known as the 48-hour rule, which gives police officers two business days to consult with their union lawyers before they speak to investigators.

But police officials said that was not the case; instead, they said, they have not spoken to the officers because the Bronx District Attorney's office asked them not to. That is common practice in police shootings. When prosecutors pursue possible criminal charges, police officers, like other citizens, can invoke their right against self-incrimination and decline to talk. The 48-hour rule comes into play when the Police Department pursues possible administrative charges. Officers in such an investigation are required to answer questions after the 48-hour respite, or face dismissal.

Yesterday, relatives began making plans to return the body of Mr. Diallo to his parents in the village of Lelouma. ''I think there is no reason to shoot someone more than 30 times,'' said Mamadou Diallo.

Bruce Springsteen wrote "American Skin" following the Diallo killing as a meditation on, as he later said, "what happens when we stop talking to each other." He famously played it at Madison Square Garden despite protests from the New York City Police Department during the 1999-2000 Reunion Tour. He's played in fairly regular setlist rotations ever since, and the song was given updated urgency following the February 2012 killing of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin in Samford, Florida.

The song in its full form moves from hushed to explosive and back to hushed, evoking sadness and frustration and empathy and regret and even a little redemption. It asks each one of us who we are and what our role is as we walk around in a shared American skin. And the ghostly refrain, "41 shots," keeps seeping in throughout, reminding us the embers of that bad, bad night are never far away and will never disappear.

It's a responsibility placed on all of us when he sings:

"41 shots, with my boots caked in this mud.We're baptized in these waters, and in each other's blood."

Here is a rather unique version of the song, performed by Bruce alone on Elvis Costello's Spectacle four years ago. The song is stripped down to its bones, Bruce going it alone on a darkened stage with EC watching. But every inch of its power remains.

Peggy Sue (Again)

I know Scott has already posted about the great Buddy Holly on this 55th anniversary of his death, but, well, this just killed me. Not the performance of "Peggy Sue" - I mean, it's perfect. But no, the intro he gets in this 1957 clip of his appearance on the Arthur Murray Dance Party is just priceless. With all the Patrician haught one can imagine:

"Now no matter what you think of rock-n-roll, I think you have to keep a nice open mind about what the young people go for. Otherwise the youngsters won't feel that you understand them." 

Oh sell it, sister!!!

Man, was he great, huh? Wow.

Peggy Sue

55 years later, and his stuff still sounds amazingly vibrant.

Such a shame there's so little footage of him. But, oh, the music.