Springsteen's "Rosalita"

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I've always dug this song, but listening to it again for the first time in a while it sounds odd. It's like an R&B-ish bar band number, but it goes on for more than 7 minutes and has all these discrete sections. I'm trying to think of how someone would write a song like this. It's not about jamming, but it is meant to be played by a band, and it's long. Can you think of another song like it? (Also: do you like it?)

― Mark (MarkR), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 13:43 (twenty-two years ago)

It's pretty great. And as you say it's pretty unique in that aspect (its length, and how it could be broken down into several parts). The Old Grey Whistle Test DVD that just came out has footage of a concert performance in the UK where the E Street Band plays it as the mother of all renditions. Chicks running up to the stage and groping Bruce are quite the show. It makes for a strong argument of Bruce's live prowess.

― Francis Watlington (Francis Watlington), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 14:06 (twenty-two years ago)

it's one of my top five favorite springsteen songs. it was the last song he played when i saw him over the summer at meadowlands, and it was quite a sight. most folks around us knew every word and lustily shouted along for all 10 or so minutes.
a lot of the changes that happen occur within verses, which adds another layer to the oddity. agreed that it's not totally about jamming, but that might be a part of it - to me, it has the feeling of a jam that ended up working out exactly right and solidifying into a slightly more conventional song.

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 14:36 (twenty-two years ago)

"Sandy..." is the one obvious gem on that album anyway

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 15:08 (twenty-two years ago)

except that there is no song called "sandy" on that album.

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 15:12 (twenty-two years ago)

"Fourth of July, Asbury Park"

― Mark (MarkR), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 15:34 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah, "rosalita" has always had a dear spot in my heart. but "racing in the street" tops it. i think what i like about "rosalita," though, is that bruuuuuce clearly had SO MANY IDEAS IN HIS HEAD and he didn't know what to do with them so he threw them all in this one track. it's everything sgt. pepper's shoulda been, and all in seven minutes! unbeatable!

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 15:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Never owned a Springsteen record --- and invariably never will -- but as Springsteen songs go, I much prefer "Rosalita" to, say, "Born to Run" and certainly over everything that came after the rancid Born in the USA album.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 15:39 (twenty-two years ago)

I would love to hear Rancid's "Born in the USA"

― Keith Harris (kharris1128), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 15:40 (twenty-two years ago)

they would put the lyrics of "bored with the usa" to the tune instead

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 15:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Radiohead's version of Rosalita is called Paranoid Android.

― Allyzay, Tuesday, 2 December 2003 16:00 (twenty-two years ago)

van morrison to thread.

― fact checking cuz, Tuesday, 2 December 2003 16:04 (twenty-two years ago)

van morrison to thread.

Big influence on that album, yes, but which song would you compare to "Rosalita"?

― Mark (MarkR), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 16:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Only flaw is that it kinda dies after the "record company gave me a big advance" part, and all the shouting at the end doesn't quite bring it back. Maybe it's a comment on what happens when people get signed?

― dave q, Tuesday, 2 December 2003 16:31 (twenty-two years ago)

i'm not sure there's any particular van morrison song that matches "rosalita" on a part-by-part basis; rather, "rosalita" sounds like springsteen took an entire morrison album and mashed it up into a single song. but the song-length and the R&B-ish bar-band feel have morrison's stamp all over 'em.

and "listen to the lion" comes to mind, in a way.

― fact checking cuz, Tuesday, 2 December 2003 16:33 (twenty-two years ago)

i also hear echoes of rod stewart (gasoline alley, find a reason to believe from every picture) and sam cooke (especially the medleys from the harlem square concert), though mentioning them both is kinda redundant.

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 16:37 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah, this song fucking rules. i'm glad someone found the soft spot in ILM's Bruce hate!

― Al (sitcom), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 16:47 (twenty-two years ago)

e-street shuffle was such a great record ... easily springsteen's best, except maybe for tunnel of love ... i liked springsteen best when he was in his 10 lbs. of potatoes-in-a-5 lb. bag mode, why did he change?

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 16:51 (twenty-two years ago)

I love the "your pappa says that he knows that I don't have any money" part; that's the payoff, the part that you know is lurking ahead every time you hear the song.

― Broheems (diamond), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 17:27 (twenty-two years ago)

i think the part right after "the record comany baby just gave me a big advance" is one of the best bits! the song suddenly goes full throttle again with "my tires were slashed and i almost crashed but the lord had mercy/my machine is dud stuck in the mud somewhere in the swamps of jersey," or whatever.

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 18:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Yay! I love this thread. Does anyone else not understand why The Wild, The Innocent.... isn't generally considered to be Bruce's best work? I mean, I love it way more than anything else he put out...he's so playful on the early stuff.

― Matt Helgeson (Matt Helgeson), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 18:44 (twenty-two years ago)

maybe cuz that early stuff takes more work? and the shadow of dylan looms oh so large. i like melancholy or goofy bruce stuff soooooo much more than defiant bruce (ie why the live box set suxors). i'd take darkness on the edge of town over the wild, the innocent on 9 days outta 7, just cuz i like bruce as serial killer much more than bruce as bridge and tunnel pranksta.

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 19:08 (twenty-two years ago)

(oh, and dave q's tremendous "why are americans nocturnal" thread to thread)

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 19:09 (twenty-two years ago)

I much prefer the rancid Born in the USA (save for "Dancing in the Dark" - yech). Simply put, it rocks more, it sounds better and it's truer.

― Jazzbo (jmcgaw), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 19:29 (twenty-two years ago)

yanc3y of course otm about the dylan massive debt, although it's not necessarily a bad thing. it can sound forced, but when he manages to turn it to his advantage and harmonize the influence with his own talents instead of letting it run roughshod, then the results are spectacular - "thunder road," for instance.

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 19:40 (twenty-two years ago)

The Dylan influence is less pronounced here than on Greetings, at least in terms of word-drunk mid-60s Dylan. Almost everything on E-Street is a narrative, more like "Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts" than anything Dylan did during the 64-70 era.

― Mark (MarkR), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 19:43 (twenty-two years ago)

"Dancing in the Dark" - yech

elaborate?

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 19:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Does anyone else not understand why The Wild, The Innocent.... isn't generally considered to be Bruce's best work?

i think a huge number of hard-core bruce fans *do* consider it to be his best work. maybe even a majority of 'em. they love the ambitious sprawl of it. but it's easy to see why the general public and critics at large go for either the pop singles album (duh) or the gigantic american dream album that both have "born" in their titles. seems kinda obvious to me.

me, though, my favorite is "nebraska" by a country mile. i love the short and direct songwriting, and i think the solo acoustic format was a good solution to the problem he had with both arrangements (obvious and overblown) and production (muddled and muddy) for most of his career.

― fact checking cuz, Tuesday, 2 December 2003 19:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah Bruce never was terribly interesting in terms of sonics, was he. Too bad he couldn't have hooked up w/ Daniel Lanois for an album or something. I could see Brad Wood producing The River.

― Mark (MarkR), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 20:07 (twenty-two years ago)

I think it is important to note that then-keyboardist David Sancious was hugely involved in arrangements. The complexity of Bruce's songs continued after Sancious' leaving but has sadly now disappeared. Compare two very simple songs, Meeting Across The River and Born In The USA, and it will give you an idea of what was lost.

― Speedy Gonzalas (Speedy Gonzalas), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 22:05 (twenty-two years ago)

God, I forgot about Meeting Across the River...I always thought that was great, kinda strange feel for the Boss.

Also:

"Meeting Across the River" = "This Night Has Opened My Eyes" by the Smiths (at least to my ears, for reasons I've never fully thought out.)

― Matt Helgeson (Matt Helgeson), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 22:52 (twenty-two years ago)

yes, while selling "tunnel of love" (what do i need "tougher than the rest" or "brilliant disguise" for anyway?) i'll have to remember to pick up those latest killing joke records, i hear they're quite fine.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 23:41 (twenty-two years ago)

God I love "Brilliant Disguise." And "Rosalita"--thanks for putting it on that CD again, Allyzay! Riding the subway back to JFK after that first trip back from Seattle and listening to that song over and over was SO GREBT.

― M Matos (M Matos), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 23:48 (twenty-two years ago)

is it meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee baby

one of the nice things dave marsh has noticed is how much his vocal on that song owes to gene pitney

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 23:50 (twenty-two years ago)

gawd i didn't bring a single springsteen record to france

fuck me

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 23:53 (twenty-two years ago)

It's like an R&B-ish bar band number, but it goes on for more than 7 minutes and has all these discrete sections

In other words, it's prog!

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 23:57 (twenty-two years ago)

In other words, it's prog!

this thought went through my head, too.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 23:58 (twenty-two years ago)

"Rosalita" vs. "Roundabout"

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 00:10 (twenty-two years ago)

"Roundabout" charted much higher (was "Rosalita" even released as a single?)

― Broheems (diamond), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 00:18 (twenty-two years ago)

If Springsteen had Roger Dean illustrate his album covers, he'd been much the cooler for it.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 3 December 2003 00:24 (twenty-two years ago)

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