Those were glory days
back in my Springsteen Phase
The Boss was the man
When he and I ran
We never slowed down
As we got the hell out of town
And Mary, she was there too
We had so much to be, and do
I cut the sleeves of my worn out Hanes T-Shirt
Our faces were covered in grime, dust, and dirt
Our hearts were hungry and our souls were tired
All that coffee and concrete really got me wired
And Bruce, he’d play that Fender Strat and sing
Man, that man could write just about anything
We drove to Nebraska and the Matamoros Banks
Where life was darker than I’ve ever seen
The aftershave we used was my Listerine
Much later he introduced me to Bobby Jean
And soon enough we parted ways
Now I’m thinkin’ about all those roadhouse nights
And those Atlantic City breakfast buffets
I know I’ll always cherish those years
In that beat up ol’ cherry red Chevrolet
My Springsteen phase
My Springsteen phase
My Springsteen phase
My Springsteen…
2017
So, I’ve reunited with Bruce Springsteen and we’re pouring over his work. And I’m thinking about those days when I was sifting through his fan mail at Columbia Records because that’s what I did. I sorted fan mail for several Sony Music artists (not just Epic Records) at the time. He was only one of them – the MAIN person I sorted for was Michael Jackson and perhaps Pearl Jam, I am not remembering it as well as I should. About him- I always kind of discounted Bruce as the kind of guy who wrote these Patriotic songs, the ones that everyone sings along with and there’s this pandering to the crowd, you know? But I’m reading this biography of his and I’m thinking, man, I am on this ride with him in his car and we’re talking. And this is what grew out of that in about a day or so. Incidentally, it was my brother Russ who first introduced me to Bruce Springsteen via that white Columbia record. The songs of Springsteen’s that most inspire me of his are, of course, Thunder Road and Hometown but the album that has been on repeat lately is Devils and Dust. I am excited about this song idea, so it’s fun to just share it. Not likely a throwaway lyric – we will see where it goes from here.