I think it really does help set the scene for the album... I've always seen the album as a sort of concept album, but rather than one full story its a set of vignettes in the city, with a general theme of escape (every song besides the epic finale features a clear essence of trying to escape the cloutch of the city). While Thunder Road's the dramatic opener, Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out sets the scene - here's the city, here's the people telling these stories and this is the kind of place it is. Its a wonderful, jazzy little song which I think helps really bring life to the album, which magically has a totally different tone to the rest of the songs, but still sets the mood beautifully.
Also, its worth mentioning that even Springsteen himself admits that to this day he doesn't know just what a "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" is, but it just sounded right (yes, I have the DVD from the box set, and yes I do see the set as one of the most important items in my room).
I think it really does help set the scene for the album... I've always seen the album as a sort of concept album, but rather than one full story its a set of vignettes in the city, with a general theme of escape (every song besides the epic finale features a clear essence of trying to escape the cloutch of the city). While Thunder Road's the dramatic opener, Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out sets the scene - here's the city, here's the people telling these stories and this is the kind of place it is. Its a wonderful, jazzy little song which I think helps really bring life to the album, which magically has a totally different tone to the rest of the songs, but still sets the mood beautifully.
Also, its worth mentioning that even Springsteen himself admits that to this day he doesn't know just what a "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" is, but it just sounded right (yes, I have the DVD from the box set, and yes I do see the set as one of the most important items in my room).