I think this song is an odd one on Nebraska and one of the many stand out classics on the album. Out of context its a good ol' dark folk'n'roll drivinbg song, but in context of the album it seems to have much more to it. To me it gives a feeling of a song on the radio while driving down a long road on a dark night, rather than actually hearingit purely as a song from a CD. It seems displaced slightly. Also noteworthy that it is no doubt connected to State Trooper. There are various reasons for this, for a start both are clearly about driving to some goal, most likely both in night time. Another strong connection is the lyrical content. look at these similar lines:
"Your eyes get itchy in the wee wee hours sun's just a red ball risin' over them refinery towers
Radio's jammed up with gospel stations lost souls callin' long distance salvation
Hey, mister deejay, woncha hear my last prayer hey, ho, rock'n'roll, deliver me from nowhere" (OAN)
"In the wee wee hours your mind gets hazy, radio relay towers lead me to my baby
Radio's jammed up with talk show stations
It's just talk, talk, talk, talk, till you lose your patience
Mister state trooper, please don't stop me
Hey, somebody out there, listen to my last prayer
Hiho silver-o, deliver me from nowhere" (ST)
There are some clear similarities as you may see. However, whereas State Trooper is relatively slow and down-beat, Open All Night seems happy and up-beat witha fast pace. I think the idea was that State Trooper is about a depressed man, driving along to a dark end, maybe across the border avoiding the police, maybe to commit suicide, maybe to some other dark means, whereas in Open All Night the main character is moving towards a happy end, namely his girl friend. Springsteen now doubt planned this as the two "opposites" to driving down a road at night, and the possibilities of the world. Or maybe the characters in State Trooper and Open All Night met at some point, maybe just passing eachother by. I would love to see some more comments on this song to see other people's opinions.
Hey, sorry it took 6 years to reply, but I'd a younger Bruce fan and only heard Nebraska a couple years ago. I love it of course, but I didn't think about the connection between all of the songs until I read your post.
Hey, sorry it took 6 years to reply, but I'd a younger Bruce fan and only heard Nebraska a couple years ago. I love it of course, but I didn't think about the connection between all of the songs until I read your post.
While the locations might not match up, it is interesting to think about the possibility that this poor guy, driving out on this scary turn pike with a failing car to see his girlfriend may run into this dark man from ST. I know this song is set in NJ, but the spree killer from Nebraska...
While the locations might not match up, it is interesting to think about the possibility that this poor guy, driving out on this scary turn pike with a failing car to see his girlfriend may run into this dark man from ST. I know this song is set in NJ, but the spree killer from Nebraska would prey upon some one like this. While this might not have been the boss's true thought, I would have to agree that there is more of the reason for OAN and ST sharing lyrics and being so opposite one another than that Bruce ran out of lyrics.
I think this song is an odd one on Nebraska and one of the many stand out classics on the album. Out of context its a good ol' dark folk'n'roll drivinbg song, but in context of the album it seems to have much more to it. To me it gives a feeling of a song on the radio while driving down a long road on a dark night, rather than actually hearingit purely as a song from a CD. It seems displaced slightly. Also noteworthy that it is no doubt connected to State Trooper. There are various reasons for this, for a start both are clearly about driving to some goal, most likely both in night time. Another strong connection is the lyrical content. look at these similar lines:
"Your eyes get itchy in the wee wee hours sun's just a red ball risin' over them refinery towers Radio's jammed up with gospel stations lost souls callin' long distance salvation Hey, mister deejay, woncha hear my last prayer hey, ho, rock'n'roll, deliver me from nowhere" (OAN)
"In the wee wee hours your mind gets hazy, radio relay towers lead me to my baby Radio's jammed up with talk show stations It's just talk, talk, talk, talk, till you lose your patience Mister state trooper, please don't stop me
Hey, somebody out there, listen to my last prayer Hiho silver-o, deliver me from nowhere" (ST)
There are some clear similarities as you may see. However, whereas State Trooper is relatively slow and down-beat, Open All Night seems happy and up-beat witha fast pace. I think the idea was that State Trooper is about a depressed man, driving along to a dark end, maybe across the border avoiding the police, maybe to commit suicide, maybe to some other dark means, whereas in Open All Night the main character is moving towards a happy end, namely his girl friend. Springsteen now doubt planned this as the two "opposites" to driving down a road at night, and the possibilities of the world. Or maybe the characters in State Trooper and Open All Night met at some point, maybe just passing eachother by. I would love to see some more comments on this song to see other people's opinions.
Hey, sorry it took 6 years to reply, but I'd a younger Bruce fan and only heard Nebraska a couple years ago. I love it of course, but I didn't think about the connection between all of the songs until I read your post.
Hey, sorry it took 6 years to reply, but I'd a younger Bruce fan and only heard Nebraska a couple years ago. I love it of course, but I didn't think about the connection between all of the songs until I read your post.
While the locations might not match up, it is interesting to think about the possibility that this poor guy, driving out on this scary turn pike with a failing car to see his girlfriend may run into this dark man from ST. I know this song is set in NJ, but the spree killer from Nebraska...
While the locations might not match up, it is interesting to think about the possibility that this poor guy, driving out on this scary turn pike with a failing car to see his girlfriend may run into this dark man from ST. I know this song is set in NJ, but the spree killer from Nebraska would prey upon some one like this. While this might not have been the boss's true thought, I would have to agree that there is more of the reason for OAN and ST sharing lyrics and being so opposite one another than that Bruce ran out of lyrics.