I’m an album person. As in, I usually listen to albums from beginning to end. They’re in that order for a reason, right?
Yesterday, Bruce Springsteen’s The River came up on my mp3-player. Which is one of the few Springsteen albums that doesn’t work for me. And not in a Human Touch/Lucky Town/Ghost of Tom Joad way because I’m sure there’s an album’s worth of kick-ass tunes somewhere among these twenty tracks—or more, when you count the outtakes. It’s just that tracks like “The River”, “Point Blank”, “Independence Day” and “Fade Away” are surrounded by unsubstantial tracks like “I’m a Rocker”, “Crush on You” and “I Wanna Marry You”.
So, while I don’t exactly got a crush on The River, I am pretty big on some of it’s songs. “Point Blank” is one of my top 5 Springsteen songs, and that’s mostly because of the third verse.
Once I dreamed we were together again, baby, you and me
Back home in those old clubs, the way we used to be
We were standin’ at the bar, it was hard to hear
The band was playin’ loud and you were shoutin’ somethin’ in my ear
You pulled my jacket off and as the drummer counted four
You grabbed my hand and pulled me out on the floor
You just stood there and held me, then you started dancin’ slow
And as I pulled you tighter I swore I’d never let you goWell, I saw you last night down on the avenue
Your face was in the shadows but I knew that it was you
You were standin’ in the doorway out of the rain
You didn’t answer when I called out your name
You just turned, and then you looked away
Like just another stranger, waitin’ to get blown away
When this song came on this morning, I hit repeat as soon as it had finished. And then I did it again. This 1980 live version is pretty swell too. Enjoy.