Oh, cut loose like a deuce another runner in the night
Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. is the debut album by Bruce Springsteen, released on January 5, 1973.
Prior to his debut album, the majority of Springsteen's experience was spent in bar bands along the Jersey Shore. In 1972, he signed a solo recording contract with Columbia Records. For the recording of the album, he enlisted several Jersey Shore musicians that he had played with previously. These musicians would become the founding members of the E Street Band including one Clarence Clemons.
The album features some of Springsteen's most fantastical and complex imagery, in contrast to his later albums which would be grounded more in the lives of everyday people.
During the production of the album, there was a dispute on which tracks to include. Springsteen preferred the band tracks while manager Mike Appel and record producer John Hammond preferred the solo tracks. Eventually they compromised with around five tracks from each style.
The album was supported by two singles: "Blinded By The Light" and "Spirit In The Night". The former would become more famous through Manfred Mann's Earth Band's cover which would become Springsteen's only number one hit as a songwriter.
Tracklist:
Side one
- "Blinded By The Light" (5:06)
- "Growin' Up" (3:05)
- "Mary, Queen of Arkansas" (5:21)
- "Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?" (2:05)
- "Lost in the Flood" (5:17)
Side two
- "The Angel" (3:24)
- "For You" (4:40)
- "Spirit In The Night"(5:00)
- "It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City" (3:13)
" 'Cause it's hard to be a trope in the city" :
- All Drummers Are Animals: Original E Street Band drummmer Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez, who is referenced in the first line of "Blinded By The Light".
- Big Applesauce: "It's Hard To Be A Saint" in the city seemingly makes reference to New York City, where Bruce first got his record contract and started performing more frequently. More broadly, it deals with someone trying to remain resistant to temptation in colorful and potentially corrupting places.
- Coming of Age Story: "Blinded By The Light" essentially deals with a lot of childhood and adolescent experiences that may or may not be lifted from Bruce's own. "Growin Up" is a more overt example, dealing with how changes feel so major.
- Continuity Nod: "Lost In The Flood" would be one of his first songs to tackle the Vietnam War and veterans generally in Springsteen's career. He would revisit this topic multiple times in reference to the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, and the Iraq War.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: There is a lot more imagery and wordiness in this album compared to any of his subsequent work which led to persistent comparisons to Bob Dylan. Van Morrison was also an obvious inspiration (especially on "Spirit in the Night"), with Springsteen picking up on his soulful musical approach and evocative, nostalgic lyrics. Remnants of these styles persisted until after Born to Run, after which he decided to simplify his sound and lyrical style to something more colloquial.
- Fake Boobs: "Blinded by the Light" mentions "some silicone sister".
- Femme Fatale: "Mary, Queen of Arkansas".
- Genre Roulette: Due to disagreements with his record company, the album is split between solo acoustic songs and band rockers, while also mixing in musical influences from folk, rock, soul, and jazz.
- Joisey: Right from the title of the album, Springsteen wanted to establish that he was a New Jersey artist despite attempts from the record company to label him a New York artist. It has paid off, as Springsteen is the music artist most heavily associated with the state.
- Location Song: Fitting for his Jersey identity, songs make reference to various locations in New Jersey. The mythical Greasy Lake from "Spirit In the Night" is said to be based on an amalgam of multiple locations.
- Love Hurts: "For You", which deals with a particularly toxic relationship.
- Motormouth: The later verses of "Blinded by the Light" speed up a bit and Springsteen starts spitting out the words to keep up.
- Non-Appearing Title: The title "Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?" does not actually appear in the song.
- Police Brutality: The last few lines of "Lost in the Flood" detail the beating of a young Hispanic man by cops.
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Springsteen is said to have used a rhyming dictionary to write "Blinded By The Light", which furthered the Dylan comparisons due to the excessiveness wordiness and imagery.
- The Great Flood: In a metaphorical sense on "Lost In The Flood".
- The Vietnam Vet: The ragamuffin gunner in "Lost In The Flood". One of Bruce's first songs to touch upon The Vietnam War, predating Born in the U.S.A. by nearly a decade.
- Word Salad Lyrics: Much of the album is like this, but especially "Blinded by the Light" and "Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?". The latter is mainly based on Springsteen's observations taking the bus from New Jersey to New York City.
