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Bruce Springsteen | Discography

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VH-1 Storytellers

When the Bruce Springsteen episode of the VH1 series Storytellers first ran on the cable network on April 23, 2005, it was a one-hour show, which meant that, minus commercials, the elapsed time couldn't have been much more than 45 minutes, if that. This DVD version runs about 99 minutes, plus a 15-minute question-and-answer session, so it expands the program considerably. Springsteen, appearing alone on-stage at the Two River Theater in Red Bank, NJ, on April 4, 2005 (except for a duet with his wife, Patti Scialfa, on "Beautiful Disguise") takes the "storytellers" concept of explaining the sources of his songs seriously, although he peppers his remarks with self-deprecating humor, much of it directed at his good-guy image. He picks eight songs from his repertoire as examples of different kinds of writing (e.g., narrative, "Nebraska"; pop, "Waitin' on a Sunny Day"), performing each one to his own acoustic guitar or piano accompaniment, and then goes back over them, often line by line, to discuss the inspirations and meanings of his lyrics. (Relatively short shrift is given to music, and at one point he refers to the "stupid" question about which comes first in songwriting, the music or the words, by saying that, at least in the case of "Blinded by the Light," the words did.) On TV, some of those complete musical performances were left out in favor of the discussions, so this version, in addition to including more songs overall, is more satisfying. Springsteen begins by questioning the premise of the show, saying, "Talking about music is like talking about sex. Can you do it? Are you supposed to?" But then, he tries his best. He dissects "Devils & Dust" in great detail (though without specific reference to the Iraq War, which is what most people would presume it is about, just as he never mentions 9/11 during his discussion of "The Rising"). Then, he says, "How much of this was I thinking about when I wrote the song? None of it. How much of it was I feeling when I wrote the song? All of it. That's how they get written." He is at his most amusing in talking about the wordy "Blinded by the Light" (written with a rhyming dictionary close by), claiming that, while Manfred Mann's Earth Band scored a number one hit with the song, they did so by changing a line in the chorus from "Cut loose like a deuce" to "cut loose like a douche." Actually, a listen to the song reveals that vocalist Chris Thompson sang "Wrapped up like a deuce," but at least this demonstrates that rock stars can mishear the words on a record just like anybody else. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide