Thinking About Suicide

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Have you guys seen the springstein suicide cover on youtube?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjVdPziEs3I

― UART variations (ex machina), Thursday, 1 February 2007 02:58 (eighteen years ago)

DON'T DO IT LITTLE BUDDY! YOU'RE NOT A TROLL, I SWEAR

― jaxon (jaxon), Thursday, 1 February 2007 03:27 (eighteen years ago)

omg

― friday on the porch (lfam), Thursday, 1 February 2007 03:41 (eighteen years ago)

i always thought he and suicide should have collaborated

― friday on the porch (lfam), Thursday, 1 February 2007 03:41 (eighteen years ago)

my friends had a song that they described as 'suicide meets springsteen,' it was so great.

the lyrics were "USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!"

― friday on the porch (lfam), Thursday, 1 February 2007 03:42 (eighteen years ago)

lfam, apparently they were in the studio at the same time and springstein counts them as a favorite

― UART variations (ex machina), Thursday, 1 February 2007 04:02 (eighteen years ago)

state trooper

― jimbo (electricsound), Thursday, 1 February 2007 04:06 (eighteen years ago)

sooo good!

― bell labs (bell_labs), Thursday, 1 February 2007 04:08 (eighteen years ago)

http://www.beigerecords.com/cory/Things_I_Made_in_2006/the_born_to_run_glockenspiel_addendum.html

― UART variations (ex machina), Thursday, 1 February 2007 04:09 (eighteen years ago)

lesbian mom knife fight pwn! yes! wait a minute, i might have that cd around.

― the table is the table (treesessplode), Thursday, 1 February 2007 04:11 (eighteen years ago)

will upload USA! by Lesbian Mom Knife Fight in a minute.

― the table is the table (treesessplode), Thursday, 1 February 2007 04:17 (eighteen years ago)

USA USA USA USA USA

― the table is the table (treesessplode), Thursday, 1 February 2007 04:21 (eighteen years ago)

sadly that demo does not capture the motorik fun of the live performance

― friday on the porch (lfam), Thursday, 1 February 2007 05:21 (eighteen years ago)

very true. they should have gotten super drunk before recording it. would have captured the essence of the experience much better.

― the table is the table (treesessplode), Thursday, 1 February 2007 16:07 (eighteen years ago)

This Springsteen performance is a wonder. He's expressed admiration of Suicide for many years, and said that "State Trooper" was directly inspired by "Frankie Teardrop." I have a very good version he did on this tour in which Alan Vega was in the audience and he dedicates it to him. Hearing it brings to mind a lot of questions for me. There's nothing like it, as far as I know, in Springsteen's discography (and I have barely any bootlegs so I could be wrong). That kind of repetition, the mantra-like thing. You almost wonder if he understands the power of what he's doing. Because if he does, why did he wait so long to try something like this? And why doesn't he experiment more with his own songwriting?

― Mark (MarkR), Thursday, 1 February 2007 16:18 (eighteen years ago)

i think the answer to your last question is pretty easy: big bucks aren't in songs for adoring critics and music obsessives. big bucks are in songs about living a hard, crazy, lower-class life but triumphing over it all with romantic sentimentality. and let's be honest: the boss is in it for the big bucks.

― the table is the table (treesessplode), Thursday, 1 February 2007 16:21 (eighteen years ago)

Dancing in the Dark is on the repetitive electronics tip

― sexyDancer (sexyDancer), Thursday, 1 February 2007 16:23 (eighteen years ago)

57 Channels and Nothin On is basically a cover of Frankie Teardrop.

― Tripmaker (SDWitzm), Thursday, 1 February 2007 16:26 (eighteen years ago)

Or some other song off the first album. I'm on Fire has a suicide vibe, too.

― Tripmaker (SDWitzm), Thursday, 1 February 2007 16:30 (eighteen years ago)

the Japanese Synchro System cover of 'I'm on Fire' is totally awesome broken-english boss worship. clip available here.

― the table is the table (treesessplode), Thursday, 1 February 2007 16:31 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah, there are a few examples I guess, thinking now of the long coda to "Drive All Night", which bears down on just a few words. But it's hard to imagine him doing anything like that now, at least on record.

― Mark (MarkR), Thursday, 1 February 2007 16:31 (eighteen years ago)

there was also a song that the guy on 'Sundays with Springsteen' played when i was in high school...it was on a soundtrack for a european or asian movie, i think, and bruce was singing in FALSETTO to a slow and mournful dirge. can't remember the exact instrumentation, but it was really quite astounding. never been released in the US, i don't think.

― the table is the table (treesessplode), Thursday, 1 February 2007 16:37 (eighteen years ago)

Could that have been "Lift Me Up"? From a film soundtrack, and collected on Essential Bruce Springsteen. Great song I agree.

― Mark (MarkR), Thursday, 1 February 2007 16:39 (eighteen years ago)

From a John Sayles movie, it was.

― Mark (MarkR), Thursday, 1 February 2007 16:40 (eighteen years ago)

YES! it was released? i must find it. i've been thinking about that song for SO LONG.

― the table is the table (treesessplode), Thursday, 1 February 2007 16:43 (eighteen years ago)

Yup, check that Essential set.

― Mark (MarkR), Thursday, 1 February 2007 16:50 (eighteen years ago)

It's perfectly possible to understand the power of something but to also realize you're not really capable of writing stuff like that yourself.

Saying Springsteen is in the music business "for the bucks" is ludicrous.

― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Thursday, 1 February 2007 16:56 (eighteen years ago)

Never stopped Neil Young! But yeah, I hear you.

― Mark (MarkR), Thursday, 1 February 2007 16:58 (eighteen years ago)

Whenever I think of Springsteen I think of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4tDP-yMwXI

― Johnney B English (stigoftdump), Thursday, 1 February 2007 16:59 (eighteen years ago)

Synth pop Bruce is the best Bruce.

― Ice Cream Electric (Ice Cream Electric), Thursday, 1 February 2007 23:24 (eighteen years ago)

is in the music business "for the bucks" is ludicrous.

no, this is ludacris:
http://www.celebopedia.com/ludacris/images/ludacris.jpg

― the table is the table (treesessplode), Friday, 2 February 2007 00:38 (eighteen years ago)

i guess that my point is that Bruce didn't grow up in a poor neighborhood, and in most ways, has never been working-class. he just likes to make his money off of the working and middle class by pretending to be one of us. i don't think that his music is bad because of this, but the politics of it are a bit controversial, in my eyes.

― the table is the table (treesessplode), Friday, 2 February 2007 00:40 (eighteen years ago)

springsteen grew up completely working-class.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Friday, 2 February 2007 01:25 (eighteen years ago)

There's nothing like it, as far as I know, in Springsteen's discography (and I have barely any bootlegs so I could be wrong). That kind of repetition, the mantra-like thing.

nothing exactly like "dream baby dream," perhaps, but there's lots of mantra-like repetition, especially in later songs like, say, "the rising" or "my city of ruins." and some earlier ones like "drive all night," which someone else mentioned. probably driven more by a soul/gospel spirit than by a synth-pop spirit in springsteen's case, but then again maybe there's not a whole lot of different between a soul/gospel spirit and a synth-pop spirit. i've got mixed feelings about him, but he's got a lot more going on than most people give him credit for these days.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Friday, 2 February 2007 01:32 (eighteen years ago)

also, x-post, what do you mean "pretending to be one of us"? most of his songs are character studies or place studies. i'm reasonably sure he's not trying to pretend to be a serial killer or an illegal immigrant or a vietnam vet or an aids sufferer. i assume he wears flannel shirts and jeans because he likes flannel shirts and jeans, and he's been wearing them for more than 30 years at this point. he gives money to various working-class causes, from unions to the homeless. if that equates with "pretending to be" something, i wish more people would pretend. he's lived for several years in large mansions in new jersey and california and he has not exactly shied away from talking about it (or even occasionally singing about it; see "57 channels and nothing on"). all songs by all performers are "pretend" in some way; i'll give you that much. that's what i like about music in the first place. but what else are you trying to say there?

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Friday, 2 February 2007 01:42 (eighteen years ago)

meltingglaciers got sonned in a springsteen classwar beef

― Haikunym (Haikunym), Friday, 2 February 2007 01:46 (eighteen years ago)

"His father, Douglas, was a bus driver of Dutch and Irish ancestry and his mother, Adele Zirilli Springsteen, a legal secretary of Italian descent."

Clearly petit-bourgeois.

― milo z (mlp), Friday, 2 February 2007 01:51 (eighteen years ago)

But wait, where can I get a good recording of this song? Best thing ive heard this week! Very surprising..

― jon person (jon person), Friday, 2 February 2007 02:13 (eighteen years ago)

"drive all night," which someone else mentioned.

That was me too! But yeah, not quite the anomaly I was thinking at first, true. Lots of good examples here. Possible that in the last 15 years I've just noticed it more when he stays in his comfort zone as a songwriter.

― Mark (MarkR), Friday, 2 February 2007 03:16 (eighteen years ago)

I suggest a double A-side:

Suicide: State Trooper (Springsteen)
Springsteen: Vietnam Vet(Vega)

Great record, awesome alliteration.

― Phil Knight (PhilK), Sunday, 4 February 2007 19:27 (eighteen years ago)

meltingglaciers got sonned in a springsteen classwar beef

oh no! i am sooooo embarassed that i pissed off a springsteen groupie!

― the table is the table (treesessplode), Sunday, 4 February 2007 21:34 (eighteen years ago)

I'm surprised no one's mentioned "Born In The USA," re: mantra-like repetition.

― Zwan (miccio), Sunday, 4 February 2007 21:49 (eighteen years ago)

It even has one repeating synth-line through the entire song!

― Zwan (miccio), Sunday, 4 February 2007 21:53 (eighteen years ago)

Jon, that is an awesome clip. Thanks.

― So weit wie knock-kneed (kenan), Sunday, 4 February 2007 22:08 (eighteen years ago)

The best thing about Springsteen is his old band Steel Mill.

The Wind And The Rain is THE most epic song ever. And that's epic in a good way.

― MRZBW (MRZBW), Sunday, 4 February 2007 23:56 (eighteen years ago)

>There's nothing like it, as far as I know, in Springsteen's discography (and I have barely any bootlegs so I could be wrong). That kind of repetition, the mantra-like thing.

I vaguely recall him using that kind of repetition is an extended, slowed-down live version of Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" live back in the early 80s.

>class war politics

Hey melting glacier, I think you got your facts wrong. Also, current rich Bruce gives lots of that money to worthy causes as was also noted above, so let's get this thread back on track

― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Monday, 5 February 2007 04:13 (eighteen years ago)

http://themot.org/gallery/d/2142-1/riffraff.jpg

― the table is the table (treesessplode), Monday, 5 February 2007 04:43 (eighteen years ago)

The thread is Thinking About Suicide. Not thinking about Bruce flurking Springsteen.

― the table is the table (treesessplode), Monday, 5 February 2007 04:44 (eighteen years ago)

Ok, so I am reading a book called "The Heebie-Jeebies at CBGB's: A Secret History of Jewish Punk" by Steven Lee Beeber, and it has some interesting text on Suicide.

― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Monday, 5 February 2007 16:30 (eighteen years ago)

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