| Bruce Springsteen – Jungleland Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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This is by far my favorite song of all time by any artist; it is an index by which I judge all other music. It is the song that made me into a music fan. The images are vivid and just flood the room with Clarence's transcendent sax solo. I have always felt it best not to analyze this one too much: the images are what they are. Just close your eyes and picture standing near the tunnels on either side of the Hudson River, watching this all unfold. (Some have suggested this takes place in Asbury Park, but I have always pictured it in New York City, which seems to fit better with the lyrics.) It's basically one night on the streets - a single night frozen in time. All that has to be said can be said about this song. This is as good as music gets, and it has kept me company now for 23 years or so. You put this on, and I'm in church. No talking please. And any sinners in the vicinity can bow their heads and have their sins forgiven by that sax solo, which is still the best evidence I've found that there just might be a God after all. |
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| Bruce Springsteen – Jungleland Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| This is one of the most insightful comments I have ever heard about this song, and it hadn't occurred to me before. This is definitely Springsteen's Desolation Row. (anyone reading this who doesn't know, it's an incredible Dylan song you should check out.) | |
| Bruce Springsteen – Jackson Cage Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Jackson, New Jersey is a nondescript suburban town adjacent to Freehold, Springsteen's home town, in central New Jersey. Six Flags Great Adventure is there. I used to work there. It was the most miserable job I ever had. To me this song is about the way we imprison ourselves, or become imprisoned, by unfulfilling lives and the challenge to just keep our bills paid and a roof over our head, putting our dreams on hold or giving them up entirely. In this case, Springsteen is probably imagining someone in a low-paying, dead end, pointless job, who works just to keep their head above water - a common theme in Springsteen's lyrics as any fan will recognize. If you follow the lyrics, he's talking to someone who clearly seems tired, dispirited, and resigned to her fate. And he's wondering, basically, if they are damned. I feel the same way. |
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| LCD Soundsystem – North American Scum Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I don't think he's in any way excusing American excesses or specifically even venting anger about the way people from the US are treated. I think it makes him uneasy, and I think any American with a brain knows there's a fair amount of truth in the criticism we take from abroad, especially the Europeans who probably understand us better than we give them credit for. That said, I don't personally apologize for all the things we're criticized for and I don't like the sense of hostility I sometimes get simply for having been born and lived here, nor the way I am stereotyped or grouped in with the most excessive of my countrymen (Evangelical Christians, war..."buffs," let's say, and so on). I think this is just an accounting for the way things stand for a guy who has traveled in Europe and conversations he's overheard or took part in. But like he says, this is a country where they shut down parties. Where the boot stomps a little deeper sometimes. We have our problems. But a lot of us don't like it, and never supported any of it and were...outnumbered. What's left to do but act shy, to make it go away. |
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