Speaker 1: All right, everybody, welcome back to me.
Speaker 2: Surely you can't be serious podcast. We are continuing with
our series on the summer of nineteen eighty four, and
I was just thinking about something interesting. In addition to
all of those incredible movies that we talked about last
episode and all those incredible songs that we talked about
last episode, there was also a big event going on
involving the president of the United States. It was the
election year where Ronald Reagan was running against Walter Mondel.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I remember that. Yeah, I remember it well. Yeah, And
even though I was eight or nine years old, it
was fascinating to me. And mister Reagan was one of
those guys who completely misunderstood the lyrics to the first
song that we're going to talk about.
Speaker 1: I know, I can't wait to dive into that story.
Speaker 2: He's famous for talking about this pageotism and George will
has this kind of famous quote that's also a misunderstanding
of it. And then Walter Mondale after Bruce was like
he's missed the point here. He was like, oh, so
Bruce supports me, and Bruce say, whoa tiger? Yeah, I'm
not back in either one of you.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, you know, for me, just on the summer
of nineteen eighty four. YEA, one of the big things,
the Olympics in La in summer of eighty four. We're huge,
Mary lou Reddin.
Speaker 2: Wearing the star spangled banner on her tights, right, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: And you had what you had Bart Connor, and you
had Mitch Gaylord who shows up later in the movie
American Anthem. Yeah, you have Carl Lewis, Edwin, Moses, Mary
Decker who tripped and fell. She was like the favorite
in the American race. And she she and Zola Bud
I think is her name, they got their feet tangled
and she fell, and just the heartbreaking images of her.
Speaker 2: Like it, you know.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, So the Olympics in La.
Speaker 2: That that was an amazing year.
Speaker 1: Nineteen eighty four is an amazing year in the eighties.
Speaker 2: And you know what, an amazing album of that year
was born in the USA.
Speaker 1: Let's get into it track by track.
Speaker 2: Before we get going, I just want to point something out.
We have been talking to each other now for a
couple of years, face to face, and one of the
reasons that I can do that is because you don't
have nose hair. Have you been talking to people and
like you can't even concentrate on what they're saying because
of their nose hair. Absolutely, they like tucked you dangles, Yes,
it wiggles. It's it's a total distraction.
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
Speaker 2: And so let me let me say, if you are
one of those guys, we have a product that is
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It's not embarrassing. You just stick it up there. It
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Speaker 2: You're not gonna look at people and bother them, right,
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and I'm gonna be like yanking them out and wincing
in pain, don't do that. There is a special thing
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Speaker 1: So it's very good around sensitive areas, if you know
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Speaker 2: Yeah. They have also an entire shavekit called the Ultra
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Speaker 1: So the first song on the album is the title track,
Born in the USA.
Speaker 2: Listen to this drum beat, I'm telling you, Max Weinberg, Baby,
you've got Bruce who's been this, you know, sort of
folks sort of rock guy, and you've got a quick
piano followed by synthesizer.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: That was another big thing in nineteen eighty four.
Speaker 1: A repeating yeah synthesizer.
Speaker 2: Okay, So this song was everywhere and you sent me
something that're like, hey, is this song hard to play?
And so I sat down, I'm like ding dong ding,
I'm like, okay, two chords, whole song, two chord and
then I played the melody. I'm like three notes. So
two chords, three note melody, and you have one of
the biggest hits of the decade.
Speaker 1: They got a hook and and they wrote it all
the way for four minutes.
Speaker 2: You better like that.
Speaker 1: Hook if you're going to like the song. Yeah, iconic song, yeah,
fist pumper, Yes, patriotic.
Speaker 2: No, No, I mean so, let me tell this story.
So you're born to run and you get born in
the USA. I always know, you know Jason Bourne in
the future. Now, anyway, he's got born to Run, which
is not a flattering song for New Jersey, right, yeah,
I mean this town will rip the skin from your back.
I mean it's not good right right back anyway, And
New Jersey completely misunderstanding the song, was like, hey, we
should make that like our state song. Dude, No, that's
this is not a flattering song. They're trying to get
out of this town, right, We've got to get out
of town.
Speaker 1: So the US says New Jersey, hold my beer.
Speaker 2: Right, So, if you think that this song is a
patriotic song, let's just listen to the lyrics real quick, Okay.
Born down in a dead man's town. The first kick
I took was when I hit the ground. You end
up like a dog that's been beat down too much
till you spend half your life just covering up. That's
not flattering, yeah yeah, but it's this amazing thing where
he takes these grueling lyrics in the verse and then
puts them against this very patriotic sounding chorus.
Speaker 1: It's a fist bumper.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it is a total fist bumper, which is interesting
because as the song goes on, this is a song
about a Vietnam Vet, right, I mean, he grew up poor,
he had to join the army in order to get
out of going to prison. They send him off to
a foreign land to kill the Yellow Man. His brother
gets killed, he's all gone, and he's back and everybody's
kind of spitting on him like he's gotten nowhere to run,
nowhere to go.
Speaker 1: This is like the plot of First Blood.
Speaker 2: Yes, out by the gas fires of the refinery, I'm
ten years burning down the road, nowhere to run to
ain't got nowhere to go. And so the idea of
what was happening with the Vets at this time, that
you know, they had gone and fought in the name
of the USA, and they come back and they're the
people who are waving the flag, and all patriotic are
kind of forgetting about the vets. They're treating them like crap.
That's the same thing that happens in the song. The
chorus is so loud and powerful you completely lose the
message of the song. My first kick was when I
hit the ground.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Usa.
Speaker 1: So here's a part of Ronald Reagan's speech, right, ron
O'reagan his son. I heard him son talking about this.
Ronald Reagan had no idea who Bruce Springstein was right,
So he says in his speech, he said, America's future
rests in the thousand dreams inside your hearts. It rests
in the message of hope in songs. So many young
Americans admire New Jersey's own Bruce Springsteen, and helping you
make those dreams come true is what this job of
mine is all about. Somebody asked him, what's your favorite
Bruce Springsteen song? Yes, and an aide stepped forward and
said his favorite.
Speaker 2: Song is Born to Run.
Speaker 1: And Johnny Carson said, if you believe that I got
a couple of tickets to the mondel Ferraro inaugural ball,
I might sell it. I thought that was funny. Yeah,
So Born in the USA is released October thirtieth of
nineteen eighty four, so the song reaches number nine on
the Billboard Hot one hundred and like we've done before,
I wanted to know what are the eight songs that
are better than Born in the USA at this time
in nineteen eighty four with all this cool stuff happening. Sure, okay,
so here they are. I was less than impressed. Like
a virgin Iconic Ages song number one, Yes All I
Need by Jack Wagner Cheesy Crap Okay, You're the Inspiration
by Chicago. It's on the make Out List of nineteen
eighty four. I Want to Know What Love Is by Foreigner. Okay,
it's on the make Out List of nineteen eighty four.
Easy Lover by Philip Bailey and Phil Collins. I like it,
but Iconic Eighties. I mean, you know it's a catchy,
you know, I like.
Speaker 2: It, like oh I remember those songs?
Speaker 1: Yes, but What Run to You by Brian Adams, great
song off the Reckless album.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's my favorite song yet. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Wild Boys by Duran Duran.
Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, I mean it's a good.
Speaker 1: Duran Duran song. We Belong by Pat Benattar there you go.
That's where we are.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 1: I mean they're all good songs, but are they better than.
Speaker 2: Born in the USA? Right?
Speaker 1: I don't know. I want to talk about the creation
of this song.
Speaker 2: Let's go okay to it.
Speaker 1: This is a nugget that blew me away.
Speaker 2: I love it, Okay. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So this song was written in nineteen eighty one as
the title for a film by Paul Schrader, and he
sent him the script for this movie that he wants
to make with Bruce Springsteen called Born in the USA.
So Bruce Springsteen makes this song, writes this song, and
then the movie kind of flounders, and then by the
time that they're ready to make the movie, the song
has already lived its life and so he can't call
it Born in the USA anymore. And so they changed
the title and they changed the actors. This movie is
called Light of Day and it stars Michael J. Fox
and Joan Jett.
Speaker 2: Right. I think I watched some of that movie just
because it had Michael J. Fox in it back in
the mid eighties. Yeah, and couldn't finish it.
Speaker 1: I watched it like a year ago.
Speaker 2: This is depressing me.
Speaker 1: This is pressing.
Speaker 2: It's not a happy movie now, okay, so yes, that
is the creation of the song. And for a long
time this was just an acoustic song. It was just
him with an acoustic guitar singing. But it changes in
this amazing organic way. So they've been in the studio
recording ruling session, all of the members are worn out,
and they all go into the booth and then at
some point one of the band members goes back out.
I think it was Bruce, and he starts just playing
just the riff on the guitar, and then at that
point Max Weinberg is like, I think I got a
different idea here, and he walks out and he hits
that hard snare, hard snare, and like, okay, this is
making it sound a little different. And one by one
each of the members of the band come back into
the recording studio and they play it in a completely
different way where it's more like an anthem than like
this sad guitari folks song. And when they get done,
they're like, I think we just found some.
Speaker 1: And yeah, no doubt.
Speaker 2: They played it one more time to see if they
still had it. Then they played it one more time
and that's what's on the record.
Speaker 1: That's incredible.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I love stories like this where the song is just
kind of birthed and it takes on a life of
its own aim becomes this rock eighties anthem.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Wow, I got a couple little nuggets for you.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 1: Patty LaBelle covered this song in nineteen eighty five.
Speaker 2: Okay, that's interesting.
Speaker 1: Also, you may remember Cheach marinstill.
Speaker 4: Man was.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, you're born in East la Well, let's see
your green card. Huh green card?
Speaker 1: I'm from East laurelll and who's president had a parody
of the song called Born in the East La.
Speaker 2: I forgot about that. That's awesome. Made it into a movie. Yeah, Yeah,
it's funny.
Speaker 1: Born in These feeling. One more quick nugget. This video
was directed by a guy named John Sales. He's a
guy who wrote the Howling. He wrote Alligator was kind
of an eighties movie, and he directed eight min Out.
So he's a guy who's done some things.
Speaker 2: Yeah, eight min out. Yeah, okay, that does it for
Born in the USA on the song number two cover
me So the beginning of the song blowing in sounds
like the fabulous Thunderbirds to me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I could go with that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, once again. You've got another song about the guy
who's just been beaten down. Right, he has been beaten
down so much that all he's looking for is someplace
to hide where the person will cover him up. Yep.
Speaker 1: I need somebody to love me and cover me.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: This is the second single released July thirty first, nineteen
eighty four. This reached number seven on the Hot one Hunter. Okay,
we're still a little better than Born in the USA.
That's crazy, that's crazy now, I mean this is a
good song, better.
Speaker 2: Than Born in the U.
Speaker 1: I know, I can't believe it. This song was written
for Donna Summer.
Speaker 2: I know, right. Can you imagine a disco version of
the song?
Speaker 1: No, No, Donna Summer is a great singer, but she
is a little bit more pop and definitely more disco,
you know.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: But John Landau listened to it and thought, eh, this
sounds like a hit. We might want to hang onto
this one, so they gave her the song called Protection instead.
Speaker 2: This was one of the songs that was recorded at
the Hit Factory, Yes, which several of the songs were
recorded at. And it's simple. It's a more emotional song.
Speaker 1: So yeah, this song is a good song. I like it.
It's upbeat, even though the lyrics are kind of like depressing,
but this is a toe tapper. This is a great
content song.
Speaker 2: Again, listen to those drums, listen to how the music
plays against the meaning of the lyrics, and you've got
this magical combination on almost all of these songs.
Speaker 1: It's crazy.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: No music video for this song.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's interesting, which is kind of weird. And it's
still made it to number seven.
Speaker 1: Yeah, wow, great song like it?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I love it all right. Song number three Darlington County.
All right, I got a FEVA and the only prescription
is book cow Bell. I know right.
Speaker 1: That Cowboll is very prominent in this song.
Speaker 2: I give it up Max.
Speaker 1: So the first time I heard this, I thought, and
that sounds a lot like Honckey Talk Woman by the
Rolling Stones.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, very yeah, similar intro.
Speaker 1: Yes, And as I did my research, I found out
that in concerts he would play the first few bars
of Honckey Talk Woman and blends right into this song on.
Speaker 2: Nice and on the back, awesome way to go you,
thank you.
Speaker 1: This could have easily been a single.
Speaker 2: It's one of my favorites on the album Great So
it great s. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Lyrically, this is about a guy driving to Darlington County to.
Speaker 2: People of Lucas. There you go look for work, Yeah,
I would say, looking to get laid. Okay, we're just
going down there to try to pick up some chicks. Man.
Sometimes that's work. It's always work.
Speaker 1: Darlington County is in South Carolina.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they're they're going to go down and talk to
the girls about being these big New York City boys
even though they are just a couple of Pelucas, and
try to get them to, you know, come over here
and sit down, like get radio with me in my car.
Speaker 1: Sounds good to be. A guy named Jeff Stevens and
the Bullets took the cover version to number sixty nine
on the High Country Songs in nineteen eighty seven.
Speaker 2: It's got a very country feel too, except that the
guys are talking about being from the city.
Speaker 1: Yes, one more quick thing on this song before we
move on. Springsteen originally wrote this song in nineteen seventy
eight for the album Darkness on the Edge of Town. Okay,
it didn't make the cut, huh. He reworked it re
recorded in nineteen eighty two. Yeah, and here we have
it in nineteen eighty four.
Speaker 2: Awesome, fantastic.
Speaker 1: Okay, moving on to a song.
Speaker 2: Called working on the Highway.
Speaker 4: Not gonna press work.
Speaker 2: Week Okay, this one is screaming bo deadly at me
once again. It's a guy who's screwed up his life.
Speaker 1: More depressing lyrics. The music is so good, it's catchy.
Speaker 2: It's got that nineteen fifties early sixties absolutely pop rock
song sound about it.
Speaker 1: But it sounds like summertime blues to me.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. And so you've got this guy, he's talking
about everybody's getting off of work, talking about getting hurt
on the weekend, and you know these you know, some
guys are going to go drink and some guys are
going to go look for a fight and all this stuff.
And then about what he's going to do. And he's
got this cause he's holding his flag working on the highway.
He's got this girl on his mind. Right. So the
people that I've heard talk about this, they seem to
think like he's working on the highway, he meets up
with his underage girl, gets in trouble, ends up in
the penitentiary, and is working on the highway for the penitentiary. Yeah,
I think it's already happened. Like I think at the
beginning of the song, Russ is throwing you off with
the lyrics about what the other guys are going to
do with their weekends. I think this guy is already
a penitentiary inmate because he did this, and that's why
the girl is on his mind, because he mentions it
in the first first But the idea of the song
either way is this guy decided to fall in love
with the girl who was too young. He talks to
her dad does an honorable thing, and her daddy says,
don't you know, she's just a girl, and then he
takes her down to Florida. You're all the right back
there for a second. He took hard left.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and so yeah, brothers show up with cops and
it's off to the penitentiary with him and he's just
working on that, working on the highway. Yeah.
Speaker 1: This song was originally called child Bride.
Speaker 2: Yeah, working on the Highways A better time?
Speaker 1: Yes, how about that?
Speaker 2: Yeah, because nobody it's hard to understand what Bruce says, right,
I know. And this, by the way, I listened to
several of the songs off of some of the other
albums and his very first album, The Greetings from Asbrey Park.
The first single off of that album was blinded by
the Light, and I was like, did he cover? He
do a cover as his very first sing No, Bruce
Springsteen was the guy who wrote blinded by the Light.
I had no idea. I thought Manford Man was the
original report. Yeah, yeah, No, I didn't come along until
seventy six. I was like, what, But this is the
rare circumstance where I can understand Bruce better than I
can understand what the Banford Man did. I mean, there
was all kinds of misunderstood lyrics whenever was listening to
the Manford Man. Deose was not deuce right, not wrapped
up like a doude. Not yes that's right, you got it? Okay.
Speaker 1: So anyway, working on the Highway catchy song, another fun song.
Speaker 2: Yeah, moving on song number five.
Speaker 1: This song is called down Bound Train Dude. That's the
Rolling Stones, right though.
Speaker 2: Oh so strong? The Stones are strong with this one
and wait for it, here it is. Max Cummins comes
in with that snare I'm telling you, yeah, I'm telling
you Except for that. Now, this song, this song, the
music matches the sadness of the words and the song right,
Oh my gosh, downbound train like the guy's like life
was pretty good. And then the factory shut down and
my wife left me. And then I had a dream
that she was calling me back, and I walked into
a dark, empty room. Okay, I'm gonna go kill myself.
What Bruce, come on, man, find some happy, find you happy,
plays Brown.
Speaker 1: There's an author called Debbie Bull. She called the saddest
song ever written.
Speaker 2: It is. Yes, he did not bring the happy, Happy,
go lucky music along with his sad song, So you
got sad music?
Speaker 1: Sad song at the end of the Nebraska Sessions. Yes,
it was recorded with Working on the Highway and they
called it the Electric Nebraska Sessions.
Speaker 2: Oh okay, okay, this one I still like. Uh, so
far we've we've gotten. I've liked every single song on
this song.
Speaker 1: They're all good.
Speaker 2: I mean, even if it does make me suicidal, it's
still his. It hits a nerve that sometimes you got
to hit. Sometimes songs are supposed to make you feel sad. Yeah,
that's why they call it the blips, and that's why
they call it the No not that.
Speaker 1: Well John Right, John again.
Speaker 2: What he seems to do on this album to me
is put songs on each end of each side that
are like his tent pole songs like these are the
best songs on the album. Let's put them on each end, okay,
which brings us to song number six, I'm on Fire.
Speaker 1: This starts off. I like it right away. It's a hit.
You can hear it in my ears immediately.
Speaker 2: I'm all the way and this is beautiful, beautiful song. Yeah.
Speaker 1: This was the fourth single released February sixth, nineteen eighty five.
It reached number six. Wow, another top ten hit.
Speaker 2: Yeah four single, Yeah, so this song number one? When
we get that, Hey, little girl, is your daddy home?
I really hope when he says daddy he means boyfriend,
because if he actually means daddy, this is super gross.
So I'm gonna assume boyfriend. But then, as I'm as
I'm listening to these lyrics, this is the song of
a crazy man, Like this is the song of someone
who is disturbed and has a fire that is not
an appropriate fire, right, Hey, little girl, is your daddy home?
Did he go and leave you all alone? I got
a bad desire? Oh, I'm on fire. He's struggling with
some demons here, right, and he brings that home with
the last part of the song, which I mean the
lyrics on this song I think may be the most poetic.
And we're talking about huge poetry on every single song here.
But sometimes it's like someone took a knife, Baby Edgy
and Doll and cut a six inch valley through the
middle of my skull. At night, I wake up with
the sheets soaking wet and a freight train running through
the middle of my head. Only you can cool my desire.
Oh oh, I'm on fire. Wow. It's so powerful and
so creepy and so beautiful and haunting, an amazing and
two minutes and thirty seconds long, all right.
Speaker 1: This video was filmed in March of nineteen eighty five, okay,
which is the same month that Huey listened the news
filmed Bad Is Bad?
Speaker 2: Oh? Okay, were the film in the same place, Both
in New York, one.
Speaker 1: In La one in San Francisco.
Speaker 2: It's a long ways apart. By the way, twos Oklahoma
boys are like oh right next door. Both the gelph
like a seven hour.
Speaker 1: Directed again by John Sales.
Speaker 2: Uh huh.
Speaker 1: This video won the MTV Video Music Award for Best
Male Video. Yeah, okay, so the video is Bruce is
a mechanic and this fantasy woman comes in. We never
see her face.
Speaker 2: Turned nails as he gave is at them, stroking the
side of the car he's working on.
Speaker 1: I don't know if it's implying if she is she
a real person or is he just like fantasizing about
her or what? Is she just unattainable? But it's kind
of like the dark version of Billy Joel's Uptown Girl
video Hang on hand On, I Got something for you
on this?
Speaker 2: Okay?
Speaker 1: You ready for this?
Speaker 2: Yes?
Speaker 1: The B side to the single I'm On Fire Yes,
is a song called Johnny Bye Bye written by It's
like fused from Chuck Berry. A Chuck Berry song. Okay, okay,
so he had written parts of it and Springsteen took
those parts and kind of made a song out of it.
Speaker 2: But this was.
Speaker 1: Written just before Chuck Berry went to jail for three
years for violating the Man Act of nineteen sixty two.
Speaker 2: That's ironic, how about that? Given my interpretation?
Speaker 1: Seriously?
Speaker 5: Yeah, and for those who don't know what the Man
Act of nineteen sixty two is, that is transporting women
across side state lines for immoral purposes.
Speaker 2: Wow, whoa, he's on fire. Yeah, let's see what Johnny
Byebox sounds.
Speaker 3: Like with the song's the party and nine down on
them this time. I'll be going down if you need
a d The mane on the radio s.
Speaker 1: All right, So just one little tidbit on this song. Yes, okay,
Bruce Springsteen and his pianist Roy Baton and his drummer
Max Weinberg are sitting around the first version of this
song was just the three of them because everybody else
was taking a leak or on break or whatever.
Speaker 2: Right, smoke him if you got that's right, that's it.
Speaker 1: That's it.
Speaker 2: Okay. So Roy Baton has come up before. Do you
remember his nickname is the Professor. Yeah, he was one
of the handful of guys that bon Jovi got to
help him record run Away. So go check out our
bon Jovi. Yes, there you go.
Speaker 1: It's the part one of the slipperwin wet New Jersey
Battle of bon Jovi.
Speaker 2: All right, time to hit stop on you tape player,
kick it out and flip it over side too.
Speaker 1: First song, no Surrender, kicking it.
Speaker 2: Off strong piano sounded like the old fifties song you
got the harmonies coming in here. I'm already loving it.
I'm telling you about temp pole on each side. This
is a great song.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, this is a feel good song.
Speaker 2: Yeah what wait? What a positive I know, a positive
sounding and positive lyrics song. What is it doing on
this album?
Speaker 1: I know, I know. This is a great song. This
reminds me kind of a bon Jovie. I mean it's
a feel good working man camaraderie.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're in this together and we're not giving up.
Speaker 1: See it through being on a prayer.
Speaker 2: Okay. I really feel like this is something that probably
he had with his bandmates where he was like that
they had to say to themselves because I mean, just
keep keep in mind, his first album came out in
seventy three. This is eleven years later. Born to Run.
Had so much hope and he's built up all of
this fan base, but he's not really had a commercial success,
and so he has to rally the troops. Right. Yeah, yeah, guys,
we were in this together. No Retreat, No Surrender.
Speaker 1: This song almost didn't make the album.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 1: This was the last song in Wow. It was only
at the insistence of Stephen Van Zane. He had left
the band, but it was still friends with everybody. Yeah,
he was pursuing his solo career yep. And when he listened,
he's like, guys, we got it. I mean, this is
a great song. You got to include this one. This
song was originally titled Brothers under the Bridges.
Speaker 2: Uh huh?
Speaker 1: And quickly. Have you ever seen the young Claude van
Dam movie called No Retreat, No Surrender?
Speaker 2: I have never No, I have not seen that.
Speaker 1: Okay, not a great movie. He's the bad guy, but
the movie title comes from this song.
Speaker 2: Okay, is it about a band whose blood brothers? Underneath
the stormy night?
Speaker 6: No, it's karate, Oh, okay, Okay, song number I don't know,
Number two on side two.
Speaker 1: Number two on side two. This is called Bobby Jean.
Speaker 2: So this song is about the loss. I can't tell
if it's a friend or a lover or a friend
that he wanted to be a lover right, like they
were obviously close growing up. And she leaves without notice. Yeah,
and he's just hoping that maybe somewhere there she'll hear
this song on the radio and know it's better.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure it's a sheet.
Speaker 2: It could be he. Yeah, that's true. I mean true.
Speaker 1: Bobby Jean could be a male or female. True, And
it's never really specified in the song. Some people think
it's it's like, you know, Steven van Zant leaving the
band and oh man, good luck to you, will miss you, that.
Speaker 2: Type of thing. It's Billy Jean's sister.
Speaker 1: I don't think it's Billy Jean's sister. This song was
not released as a single, but it did make it
to number thirty six on the mainstream rock charts.
Speaker 2: Wow, all right, good song.
Speaker 1: It don't get me real fired up?
Speaker 2: No, this is I would say, probably my least favorite
song on the album. I won't call it a skipper.
I would just say, if you get to lose one
on the album, this one's probably it. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Have you seen the live performance when Eddie Vedder from
Pearl Jam comes on stage and they sing this together?
Speaker 2: No, but I must there you go. Wow, that will
be fantastic.
Speaker 1: Done with Bobby Jean, We're now moving on to the
sixth single, released August twenty seventh, nineteen eighty five. This
song is called I'm Going Down.
Speaker 2: I want that nasty guitar? All right, bring it.
Speaker 6: In, Max?
Speaker 1: Yes?
Speaker 3: Why I can't feel it dot com, I go look.
Speaker 4: Ye give me your look.
Speaker 3: I'm way, I'm you let out, wanna your board side
where kaw? I'm looking to yours.
Speaker 1: I'm going.
Speaker 2: I love this song.
Speaker 4: This is a guy who's had enough of her crap.
Amen bro, tired of your crown, used to love on me,
and now.
Speaker 2: You just beat me down like a dollar.
Speaker 1: This song reached number nine on the US Hot one hundred.
Another top ten hit.
Speaker 2: So how many is that?
Speaker 1: That's the fifth one that we've talked about. That's five
top ten hits and we haven't even gotten a few songs.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, Okay, a little repetitive this song. I
love it, but a little bit repetitive for me.
Speaker 1: It's catchy. It's I Yeah, it's it's it's andy.
Speaker 2: It is a good it's a good song.
Speaker 1: I'm done with this one.
Speaker 2: Moving on to song number ten on the album, possibly
my favorite song on the album.
Speaker 1: This song is called Glory Days.
Speaker 2: Where and.
Speaker 3: Scene a song.
Speaker 2: I love the crunch, I love the guitar. I want
to go. I want to go get a board and
a baseball glove, and I want to go pitch a
little bit on the mound. And I was never a
pitcher in high school.
Speaker 1: Let's go get a bucket of balls and some pine
tire and let's get out there.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, this one is it's kind it is amazing.
Speaker 4: I don't want to go down to.
Speaker 1: Me.
Speaker 2: If you say, Bruce Springsteen, this is where my head
goes immediately.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, I'm totally with you.
Speaker 2: I understand every word he says in the song. BELI yes,
and it's it's a it is a feeling that I
can understand as well, you know, like I mean this
where we're here, right, nostalgia Like these people unfortunately, it's
kind of that idea that the best days that they
ever had were their high school days, right, and they're
stuck there, right, they're just stuck in trying to relive
those days. But you know what, that's okay, that's kind
of what we're doing.
Speaker 1: Hey, well that's we are having a blast talking about I.
Speaker 2: Love talking about the glory a little of the glory.
So that's right.
Speaker 1: So this song was the fifth single released May thirty,
nineteen eighty five. So this reached number five. Yeah, and
the just hot one hundred. Yeah, I'm spiking the football.
This is my favorite Bruce Springsteen song of all Times, Welcome.
Speaker 2: Yes, love it, Yeah, I mean I have no I
won't fault you. This is probably up until we did
this podcast, this was my number one.
Speaker 1: So this was actually based on a true story. Bruce
Springsteen and the guy named Joe Depew were classmates and
teammates like little league teammates, right, And this guy, Joe
Apeugh was a really good player. And one day he's
walking into a bar. Joe Depeugh is walking out and
he says, hey, Joe, how's it going, man? And they
turn back around, they go back in, they sit down
and have a big, long conversation about the glorious right,
which I thought was really cool. And this is his
quote on this right. He said, the first verse actually happened,
the second verse mostly happened, and the third verse, of course,
is happening. Right, beautiful, right, nice, fantastic. Here's the cool
thing about this. I ran the sound system for the
baseball team this year at my son's high school baseball games.
Speaker 2: Played it.
Speaker 1: It's still killed nice.
Speaker 2: People are loving it. I mean so good.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was so good. Here's the interesting thing the video.
Stephen van Zandt had left the band two years prior
to Yeah, but he's he's all over the video. He's
having a ball.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And there's another qud up on the stage with
him as well. Let's talk about her. Okay, go ahead,
there is a qut.
Speaker 1: Up on stage with him, all right. But here's the thing.
Julianne Phillips was Bruce Springstein's wife at the time. Okay,
if you say to yourself, Juliane Phillips, who is that? Yeah,
if you've ever seen the movie Skin Deep, of which
I'm a big fan, never seen it? Okay, Fletch Lives.
Seeing that Fletch Lives. She is the love interest in
Fletch Lips.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, Okay.
Speaker 1: She was married to Bruce Springstein from nineteen eighty five
to nineteen eighty nine.
Speaker 2: Okay, so when did this video come out?
Speaker 1: Nineteen eighty five. She's actually in the video. Okay, so
they were married at the time of and she's actually yeah,
she's in the video. Okay, But apparently down the road
the other girl in the band, her name is Patty.
I think her name is Patti Siafa if I'm saying
that right, Okay. She and Bruce were kind of calm
out together and so Julianne Phillips said, I'm out of here.
And now Bruce and Patty are now married and have
been married for a long time and have kids and
all that. Yeah, so here's here's something funny I think
about this song. Okay, So we've already established that Bruce
has never had a real job, even though he sings
about the working man all the time, right, and now
he's talking about his glory days, he said, like on
concert he's like, let me be clear, I hated high school, right,
so it doesn't have the fondest memories of high school.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Still not a standout student, not cool enough even
to be the class clown. That's right. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Still great song. Hell yeah, best song on the album
for me, spiking the football all right. Moving on to
a song called Death and in the Dark.
Speaker 2: Okay, The beginning sounds in the song are very similar
to the Born in the USA beginnings, Like you got
that same synthesizer that's going along. The beat is a
little faster, a little more fun, and it's because it's
a dance beat, because dancing is in the name of
the song. Right. But as we talked about in our
last episode, this was the song that he wrote out
of frustration because John Lando said, you don't have a
hit yet. Boy was he wrong about that. No, he
was right, you don't have a hit.
Speaker 1: You have six hits, yes, right, I'm a little worried
because the other songs only sound like you know, six
top ten hits, right.
Speaker 2: So he they have their fight, land storms out. He's frustrated.
And this, I mean, his life up until that point
was he starts working in the evening and they record
through the night, and he falls asleep in the morning.
So the idea that I get up in the evening
and I ain't got nothing to say, that is him.
That is I've been doing this. I've been spending all
night for months on end, and you're asking me for
another song and I've got nothing left to say. I've
done this eighty times, I've used all my words. I'm done,
and then I come home in the morning, go to bed,
feel in the same way. So because to bed in
the morning, gets up in the evening. This is the
life of a musician, friends and followers, This is what
you hope for to become a rock star. But at
this point, after all of this, he's nothing but tired
and just bored with himself. He could use just a
little help. I mean, the meaning means so much more
now that I know that it's the result of this
big fight that he has after killing himself and getting
told you haven't done enough yet. Isn't that cool? Yeah?
This is why I love what we do.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the deep dive makes me appreciate these guys creations
even more. Yeah, I want to say something someway.
Speaker 2: Baby stop Stop.
Speaker 1: This song was released May ninth of nineteen eighty four.
That was just a cold days ago, and it reached
number two on the US Hot one hundred.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 1: All right, you want to know what's better than Dancing
the Dark? Yeah, it turns out there's two songs better.
It was blocked for two weeks by two different songs.
Speaker 2: Oh what okay?
Speaker 1: All right, so it was blocked by Deran Duran's The Reflex.
Speaker 2: Okay, that was a big one.
Speaker 1: That's a big one, right, that's a huge one.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: And then the week after when Doves Cry.
Speaker 2: And another huge one, huge one. Yeah. Wow, Well that's unfortunate,
but this is.
Speaker 1: Still a fantastic It's still a fantastic song.
Speaker 2: Yep. So I think now now that I know the story.
I gotta say, Glory Days has to move down to
the number two spot for me, and this song is
not my favorite song on the album.
Speaker 1: O heay, fantastic us.
Speaker 2: Without this song, we might not have had Courtney Cox,
which means we might not have had a girlfriend on
Family Ties, which means we might not have had Monica
on Franks. Wow. How about that. Thank you John Landau
for being a little bit of a d and making
Bruce write just one more song.
Speaker 1: That's right, Thank you so much. You ready talk about
the music video? Yeah, because we're moving there right.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So you've got a young Courtney Cox as you mentioned. Yep,
if he doesn't pull her out of the crowd pull
her up on stage. That is her with the short
hair in case you got by you there. Okay. This
was filmed in Saint Paul, Minnesota. They played the song
twice so they could get all the footage they needed.
It was directed by Brian de Palma.
Speaker 2: Wow. Yeah, I would not have picked that.
Speaker 1: Okay. Now, then here is the funny part about this song,
all right. The dance that Bruce is doing on stage
later became the Carlton from Fresh Prince Villair.
Speaker 2: That's fantastic.
Speaker 1: Okay, one little nugget I thought was hilarious when I
heard about this nugget about dancing the dark.
Speaker 2: You're ready for this? Okay.
Speaker 1: According to Rolling Stone, this is the only Springsteen song
that Bob Dylan ever covered. Okay, Okay, imagine Bob Dylan
singing dancing in the dark. Okay, I have no trouble
with that. Yes, so when he did it so apparently
this is January twelfth, nineteen ninety. Bob Dylan flubbed most
of the words and the performance was so bad people
didn't even realize what he was singing. They had no idea.
Speaker 2: That's that's awkward. They were like, what is this? What
is it? Dancing in the dark?
Speaker 1: What great song? Feel good song, poppy ear.
Speaker 2: Candy yep, and a great story behind it? Everything I
need this. This is the new number one.
Speaker 1: This was voted the single of the year by Rolling
Stone listeners.
Speaker 2: Okay, all right, finishing strong with another tenth Pole song,
and we've got three in a row here Glory Days,
Dancing of Dark, and then we have my hometown sal
running with din mind must man. Okay, this is not
a fist bumper, no, But after hearing this song. I
don't know how many times in preparation for this I
still almost teared up because the imagery is so vivid
of this little kid running down the street, the diamond
his hand, get in a paper for his old man,
sit on his lap in that big old buick and
steer as we drove through town, and he tossled my
hair and say, son, take a good look around. This
is your hometown. And that warm, fuzzy memory, leading into
the racial tension that happens while he's in high school
and the slow spiral out of the town. By the
time that he's an adult and he's got his own
little boy, he's talking with his wife about getting the
heck out of there, but then he's riding with his
son in his lap with the steering wheel, saying, son,
this is your hometown. Ah. It is so emotional, so amazing.
A love love love the song nice So.
Speaker 1: This song was released November twenty one of nineteen eighty five.
It reached number six on the Hot one hundred. Ye Now,
for those of you keeping track at home, that's seven singles,
all of them top ten smashes. Now, just a little
addendum to that, this song reached number one on the
Adult Contemporary, which to date is his only number one hit.
Speaker 2: In any category.
Speaker 1: Yep, wow, how about that.
Speaker 2: That's crazy.
Speaker 1: I know that is crazy because this was released so
close to Thanksgiving. The B side to this is Santa
Claus Is Coming to Town, which I hear a lot
during the Christmas time.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, that's fun, Bruce having fun for once in
it's life.
Speaker 1: Before we wrap up the album, I want to throw in.
I want to talk about one song, just briefly. This
is a song that didn't make the cut. Pink Cadillac
Girls was supposed to be on Born in the USA.
Speaker 2: Uh huh.
Speaker 1: It didn't make the cut, but they later released it
as kind of a B side and it reached number
twenty seven. I mean, that's the power of this album
that a song not even good enough to make the
album still was a top thirty hit.
Speaker 2: It's a great song. Yeah, I'm rotting in my pink.
Speaker 1: Like Prince's little red Corvette. It's a it's a little
metaphor for a female. There you go, Pink Cadillac, take
a ride in You're pink Cadillac.
Speaker 2: Awkward.
Speaker 1: There you go?
Speaker 2: All right, So fantastic album, Yes, from beginning to end,
maybe one song out of the bunch that I would
go it is okay. The rest of them are amazing,
amazing lyrics, great music, better in my opinion, than anything
he had done up until that point. And as we've
said before, I'm a radio for friendly, big hits Bruce Sky,
so that's why I like this album better than his
other albums. But given the success of the album, this
is obviously an opinion that's shared by many other people.
So that's the end of this part. Join us next
week when we go into Huey Lewis and the News,
the history of Huey Lewis, and then we go track
by track through the album Sports, which also was one
of the few number one albums of nineteen eighty four.
Tune in next week you can hear all about the
albums that reached number one in the year nineteen eighty
four because there aren't very many and born in the
USA in Sports, where two of.
Speaker 1: Them come back to the final judgment next week. Hit subscribe,
follow us on Facebook, follow us on Patreon, interact with
us through Twitter. We'd love to hear from you all right,
See you
Speaker 2: Guys next week.