Like Brian, I go in and out of Born In The U.S.A. too.

Although, perhaps shamefully, I prefer the demo version from Tracks a lot more than the original :/

Though I loved the original when I first heard it, along with The River and Streets Of Philadephia it got me into the man.

And even just thinking about doing a Top 20 list of Bruce songs causes my breathing to cease and my mind to go into overload.

Started trying to write a list and realised just how many of Bruce's titles follow a pattern

X in the Y
X on the Y

Born in the USA
Spirit in the Night
Something in the Night
Racing in the Street
Dancing in the Dark
Mansion on the Hill
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Working on the Highway

Bruce prefers the demo version too. That's is how it was originally written. He seldom plays the electric version (though he does on occasion). I read (or heard?) an interview a long time ago where he said he had no intention of changing the demo but then they were messing around in the studio one day and Max came up with those massive drum hits at the beginning of the song. It was all downhill from there.

One of the best one-two punches for an opening I have ever heard Bruce do was during the 2004 Vote For Change Tour. He opened, by himself (no band) with his 12 string playing The Star Spangled Banner - a la Jimi Hendrix. This was to remind people that this was a political event. And then as he was finishing, the band took their places behind him and they roared into BITUSA. It was a very powerful moment.

Well it certainly makes me feel good that Bruce and I share the same opinion :p

I just feel the demo has more feeling to it, I do love the rock version, but the original is just more darker and I feel the actual meaning and story behind the song is easier to follow. With the rock version I get too lost in the kickass punch in it, with the demo I can follow along and even though I wasn't born or affected by the Vietnam War that demo makes me feel as if I were.

And that Star Spangled Banner/BITUSA opening sounds amazing!

There are boots my friend :)

The final, single version, though is just a far stronger melody. Don't have a problem with the jingoistic tones, suits perfectly Americans cheerleading for a ludicrous war, and a good contrast with the lyric. It rewards the effort more when it hits you what the song is about.

True, but it was often misconstrued as a simple rah-rah USA song since many people didn't actually listen to the lyrical content. To be fair - sometimes the words are hard to understand past Bruce's screaming.

I like the electric version of born in the USA... :(... One of my favorite loud rock Bruce songs... Right after murder incorperated and badlands...

Then again, I only have 6 Bruce albums: working on a dream, born in the USA, born to run, magic, live in NY and his greatest hits...

See, I understand why Bruce prefers the acoustic version, and it's good in it's own way, but I also feel like it neuters the song. I've always felt like not playing the song because some people are too dense to understand the lyrics is basically giving into those people. That, and I live the keys in BITUSA ;)

Just bought Devils & Dust, what a fantastic album

I definitely prefer the full band electric version. The acoustic version on the Live in NYC cd is great and does get the message of the song across better but frankly it's a bit boring.

Also, what's with all the love for Working On The Highway? For me, its probably the worst Bruce song. I think it's embarrasingly bad. What am I overlooking?

Youngstown is godlike

I KNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's definatly in my Top 5 Springsteen songs, that's one song I can place.

The original is so beautiful and then electric it's just as amazing.

And plus it contains my favourite lyrics:

When I die, I don't want a part of heaven
I would not to heaven's work well
I pray the Devil comes and takes me to stand
In the fiery furnaces' of hell

For any American interested, Bruce's performance will be seen as part of a broadcast of Hard Rock Calling on VH1, VH1 Classic, and Palladia. Probably everything we've seen before, but just throwing it out there.

Oh excellent Brian - thanks. NOW maybe I can rip the HD files - no one has shared them anywhere.

Just got the new Q, good news for the american fans if this materializes ...
"rumours persist that Bruce will perform a different vintage album at each show of his five-night run at the New Jersey Giants Stadium"

what a treat that would be!

I just realized I forgot to mention it's on tonight at 9.

Be still my heart - that would make my last Giants experience almost perfect. I've seen so many of Bruce's shows there - with so many varied setlists that I wouldn't mind some vintage album playing. Darkness anyone or Wild and Innocent and E St. Shuffle or Born to Run - yep - I'm in :D

Got it programmed Brian. Thanks again.

Did someone say Darkness?! Count me IN! http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/i...m/greet013.gif No complaints about your other suggestions either, Kathleen, but that one would just do me in. :cool:

Thanks for the heads-up, Brian. I'd have never found this. (It's beyond ESPN on my cable line-up, and I rarely get past that.)

How great was it that they ended the broadcast with Jungleland? <sigh> Nice. Very nice.

Terri, do you happy to remember approx when Bruce came on, during the hour?

I was late tuning in, so I'm not sure if I missed any of his stuff. It was probably about 9:25 when I remembered, and he joined The Gaslight Anthem right after that. Then they broke up what they showed of Bruce with the ESB into 2 parts with other stuff in between. I'm sorry, but I'm not sure about the timing of those segments. I would guess that they were both after 10:00, but I don't know that for sure.

It's all good Terri, I'm just watching the whole thing.

What I would give to hear The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle in it's entirety.

If only I were able to go to the US :(

i had the pleasure of telling the springsteen's sponge story on absolute radio today :p

Joe, just ****ing kill me and dance on my grave, yeah?

You're just begging to do it, I can tell. So just go and do it.

:cry:

HAHAHA, my mum heard you on the radio! I was watching Bruce's performance from Glatstonbury on TV, and my mum mentioned that she'd heard on the radio about people getting things from gigs, and one person said that they'd got Bruce's sponge, and I told her that I knew of someone who'd got one of his sponges. I'll have to tell her tomorrow that it was you on the radio :D

Oh just another thing to add to your "Living Oli's life" list, Joe, Walrus' mama knows of you :rolleyes:

Why do you live to make me envious, Joe? :(

Well.......... What would you give??:p

Well I watched the Hard Rock Calling show yesterday and Bruce's performance was done by another man. Bruce's voice was not well rested for this show, his voice was already cracking by Radio Nowhere and it sounded really bad. This was probably one of the worse performances I have seen from him.

It wasn't his best, but since Bruce offers up a pretty raw show in any case it didn't come off too badly. He was totally wiped out form Glastonbury the previous evening from what I could tell.

Heh, I'm sure I can tell my mother about you if you want ....

haha, thats great! i didnt think id even get through, but then 5 minutes later it was on the radio :p

Yes indeed you could tell he was worn out big time.

Maybe, but he still gave us over 2 and a half hours, and was very energetic. Even though I've said that I didn't get quite the same magical feeling at that show that I do at some shows, I can't really fault the performance itself

Yeah I didn't get that magic from watching and I don't know if it was because he was tired, but I really felt like his songs didn't fit in an open air field/stadium environment there in Hyde Park...I do think his songs are better fitted in an arena environment, more intimate.

He has sold out Giants stadium here in Jersey (90,000 capacity) more times than anyone else. The songs go over just fine outdoors here.

I'd agree with that- at Hampden everything seemed to go down well. I think that with some artists- like Bruce- it doesn't matter too much if t's a huge venue or a smaller one. When you're as experienced a performer as he is, the songs can be tailored to suit pretty much any setting.