Confessions of a Conservative Atheist
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Can a song can be a stirring patriotic anthem and a condemnation of certain aspects of the American experience at the same time, a paradox of a piece of music if you will? On the surface, “Born in the USA” isn’t a patriotic song, far from it. Originally conceived and recorded as a mournful yet… Continue reading Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” and the paradox of a song
Upon its release, the entire human race was beginning perhaps its most radical evolution yet, as both traditional radio and music video was rapidly replaced by digital downloads and satellite music, both more more far reaching than anything before. “Radio Nowhere,” the first track on 2007’s Magic and one of the Boss’ best true rockers… Continue reading Springsteen’s “Radio Nowhere” and the tragedy of our connected disconnection
The seemingly omniscient narrator of the main verses is interrupted by a first-person speaker who sings something almost entirely different, setting up both a duality and a contrast that persists throughout the song until the very end, where it is either resolved with Billy as the speaker or someone else. Bruce Springsteen recorded the incredibly… Continue reading Springsteen’s “Rockaway the Days” is a lost classic, culled from a few other songs, but with a unique structure that stands on its own
Most people likely wouldn’t connect these two bands for obvious reasons, but on two songs, eight years apart, we get the sense the world is rapidly falling apart because those who are supposed to be the wise ones are revealed to be only fools. In 2007, Bruce Springsteen released his fifteenth studio album, Magic, which… Continue reading Bruce Springsteen, Duran Duran, and the wisemen are all fools
The entire Nebraska album was recorded by Bruce Springsteen alone in his house on a 4-track cassette. At points, you can hear the creak of the rocking chair he sat in, but these meager beginnings do not limit the songs’ collective scope, power, and impact. “Atlantic City” combines it all in one haunting track. Bruce… Continue reading Bruce Springsteen’s Atlantic City: The personal and the universal connect in a timeless and versatile classic
Confessions of a Conservative Atheist 