Gray rain

Grey or gray?

In January, I listened to Bruce Springsteen’s whole discography, minus some of the numerous live albums.

Before this year, I had barely listened to any of his stuff. But I’ve over corrected. You’re welcome, Jersey friends and relatives, and one other friend who will definitely read this and have thoughts. Streaming music was happy to let me listen to one album, then another then another. So I made my way from start to finish.

I was a little surprised by the number and variety of love songs in Bruce’s catalog. There’s something about just listening from one album to the next, when you hear love song after love song. Surrounding these are numerous folk tales. I’m always trying to tease apart such stories of love and life. What’s personally true? Were they inspired by anyone close? What’s a total fiction?

The title of this post, “gray rain”, is a minor phrase from one of the songs, The Hitter, from a 2005 album, but it’s a familiar phrase I’ve heard elsewhere. For me, there are certain phrases that just evoke something strong. Like a scent that takes you back two decades. Slight, yet profound. Gray rain is a rich pair of words that fill my head with a clear image, and a sweet hint of melancholy. Listening to Bruce, I came away with a couple key points about his work, and my tastes.

First, I’m glad I did this, because it was an interesting trip. But unfortunately this reinforces that I’m a bit biased against singer-songwriters. It’s because I like music, more than I like lyrics. Ask Emily, and she’ll tell you how many lyrics I still don’t know. This is not to say that lyrics can’t hit hard for me, but they are a layer, like a piano, like the drums. I very much liked some of Bruce’s music, but much of it washed over me like many singer-songwriters. I have a feeling if I listened to Bob Dylan, I might feel the same at the end.

This brings me to the second note, which is probably obvious to most people, but maybe my mistake was going at it from a studio album perspective. The Frames, one of my favorite bands, are incredible in concert, and their studio albums do not compare to the energy they bring to their live performances. Listening to a bunch of Bruce’s live albums, I get why he’s so popular. There is an energy and comfort on stage that, bridged with his love songs and compassion for humanity, make his draw clear. I would be excited to attend a concert. In contrast, his studio albums are fine, but many of them lack the depth and variety of production that usually sucks me in. This just made me reach the present without feeling too much fanfare.

I can’t say I love Bruce the way many do, but there are great songs, beautiful ideas, and I have much respect for the guy. I’ve got a few songs below, that stood out to me for one reason or another. A few songs from the 80s, and a couple live songs. I found a fascinating rendition of “Born in the USA” from 2000, followed by my favorite of his love songs, sung by him and seemingly his whole band.

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• Following that, on the playlist, is my usual potpourri of songs.

• I played and finished Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown on my Steam Deck, and it was an excellent metroidvania. Sprawling in a way I was not prepared for, and it was an okay amount of boss fights for me, who does not really care much for boss fights.

• We’re watching Severance Season 2 finally, with a brief Apple TV subscription, and it’s fine. Getting better in the back half, but man I found myself very bored by the first four episodes.

• Fate of the Fellowship is an incredible Pandemic system LOTR tabletop game. It’s just so thematic and mechanical and you know that’s what I love. I’ve played it three times: first two times we stopped because it was too late in the night and third time, last night, we failed when the armies of Mordor overran Lothlorien, and then unexpectedly attacked Minas Tirith when we weren’t prepared, causing Frodo’s last vestiges of hope to fade. It was [not] good.

• Can I put in a word for NARM, the North American Reciprocal Museum (NARM) Association? It’s “a mosaic of 1,512 art museums and galleries, historical museums and societies, botanical gardens, children’s museums, zoos, and more”. You probably have a nearby museum that belongs to it, and basically a deluxe membership to one ($180 for us) includes access to all 1500 other places. Been to the Walt Disney museum, an aircraft carrier, space and science centers, neon art museums. Good stuff.

• And on the other end, a reminder that we live in appalling times, and I cannot be more frustrated that Trump and his cronies don’t have respect for humanity, for the earth, for justice, for equality, for the Constitution, and it sucks. May they be brought to justice and to their knees, to answer for their crimes.

Randy