Tell Me I'm Your National Anthem

Listen to the sound of steak sizzling on the grill as you wait, chomping at the bit in anticipation. Or if you want, strike up a match/flick a lighter on and countdown until lift-off for that gross of bottle rockets you just bought and can't wait to try out. Plop yourself down in a central air-conditioned heaven and watch your favorite team take the mound. There's no right or wrong way to celebrate freedom and independence, so go crazy (just try not to blow-off any fingers), and enjoy this playlist. Some of the songs are obvious inclusions, and others just sound particularly great on a day like today. Happy 4th!

"America"- Allen Ginsberg

"The Weight"- The Band

"Sister Golden Hair"- America

"This Land Is Your Land"- Woody Guthrie

"Truckin"- Grateful Dead

"Fortunate Son"- Creedence Clearwater Revial

"Star Spangled Banner"- Jimi Hendrix

"Summertime"- Big Brother & The Holding Company

"Salt of the Earth"- The Rolling Stones

"Jack & Diane"- John Mellencamp

"Born in the U.S.A."- Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band

"In The Street"- Big Star

"The Official Ironmen Rally Song"- Guided By Voices

"The Ashes of American Flags"- Wilco

"State of the Union"- Destroyer

"A More Perfect Union"- Titus Andronicus

"Surf Wax America"- Weezer

"Sloop John B"- The Beach Boys

"Fireworks"- Animal Collective

"Fireworks" ft. Alicia Keys- Drake

"The National Anthem"- Radiohead

"National Anthem"- Lana Del Rey

"American Boy"- Estelle

"American Dreamin"- Jay-Z

"Who Will Survive in America?"- Kanye West

"Fourth of July"- Sufjan Stevens

Track Attack- "Born in the U.S.A. (Demo Version)" (Bruce Springsteen, 1982/1998)

"Born in the U.S.A." was the song that got me into Bruce Springsteen. I know that isn't a particularly earth-shattering revelation, countless people came to The Boss in a similar fashion. But I still remember mine, which has to count for something. When I got my first MP3 player at 13 I went on a downloading spree on the non-free Napster, filling my drab gray electronic stick up with whatever caught my eyes and ears. One song was Born in the U.S.A.'s booming title-track. If "Like a Rolling Stone"'s opening snare shot kicked open the door to Springsteen's mind, Max Weinberg's "exploding drums" left giant wood splinters in my brain. It wasn't just Weinberg's raucous playing though; it was Professor Roy Bittan's synthesizer riff which has hypnotic bile coursing through its Clarion veins. Hearing it now, I'm still not sure if he's striving for anthemic or stomach churning. 

And then of course there's Springsteen, howling with a righteous hunger and indignation he's rarely returned to. More than any of those other elements, his voice is what drew me in. At 13 I had no idea why he was screaming. That utter desperation cast a spell on me though and when I returned to Springsteen several years later, this time for good; the crushing despair is what drew me back in. If the veins in Springsteen's face weren't popping out when he recorded the album version, it'd be easy to imagine. The cliché of doing (blank) "like your life depended on it" has rarely been as true in music as it is here. His wailing about going to "kill the yellow maaan" doesn't have anything to do with bloodlust or cultural imperialism, he's been backed into a corner and using the rifle in his shaking hands is the only way to get out.

If the 1984 album version of "Born in the U.S.A." is about desperation, the ‘82 acoustic version Springsteen cut for Nebraska is resignation incarnate. Gone are the massive drum fills and queasy synth lines. The seismic roar of Springsteen's voice is distilled to a ghostly whisper. "Righteous hunger" has ceded to starvation. Infamously Ronald Reagan's 1984 presidential campaign attempted to co-opt the song and sought The Boss' endorsement. Wholly unaware of the song's bitter resentment of blind nationalism and mistreatment of Vietnam vets, conservative columnist George Will went so far as to say of Springsteen, "He is no whiner, and the recitation of closed factories and other problems always seems punctuated by a grand, cheerful affirmation: 'Born in the U.S.A.! '" Had Will listened to Springsteen's intensely strummed offering first, he would've altogether abandoned any "patriotic" talk. No way could anyone point to jingoism in a line like "nowhere to run and nowhere to go," especially when there's nothing distracting you from the sentiment.

It's easy for some then to see the song's true colors and label Springsteen unpatriotic. While I find it incredibly dimwitted to do so, I understand it. Just like most don't want to hear their favorite sports team lambasted, they don't wish to see their country taken down either. Hearing Springsteen depict Veteran's Affairs as callous, "you" want to fire back at the charge. It's a department that does deeply important work and how dare someone criticize it. He's not criticizing V.A. callousness or American ineptitude after Vietnam out of hate though, but love. He had friends shipped off to the war. He got the same draft notice in the mail and had to take the same physical. While he was "fortunate" enough to fail, plenty of his friends weren't so lucky. This isn't a situation then he's unfamiliar with, he knows it all too well. When he frantically plucks guitar strings in the Tracks version and anxiously moans "I had a brother at Khe Sahn, fighting off the Viet Cong, they're still there, he's all gone" your heart falls out of your chest because its uncomfortably real. With "Born in the U.S.A." Springsteen wasn't speaking out of turn about a country that had given him everything; he was giving a voice to those who the country abandoned. It's not a condemnation so much as a correction. And the sparse 1982 demo version makes that painfully clear.

I hope everyone has a happy Fourth of July! Look for the blog to return in full-force on Monday.

In Revue- "High Hopes" (Bruce Springsteen)

 

Not a week old, there's already a moment in High Hopes, Bruce Springsteen's 18th studio-album, I can't stand. In the steady-moving, gospel-inflected "Heaven's Wall" when the song's reaching its peak, a clattering of jungle drums re-enters and elbows for room against Tom Morello's barbed guitar. If they had stayed as a teaser in the intro, the song would've been fine. But jimmied in the midst of a tune rife with ingredients, it spoils the entire recipe.

That's the way much of the Boss' latest release operates. It's not entirely surprising, considering Springsteen has been obsessed with the mythical "Wall of Sound" since Born to Run. Even the golden-eared Brian Wilson, a staunch proponent of the concept, was guilty of shoehorning one too many sounds into a track. Don't believe me? Listen to the honking bike-horn in "You Still Believe in Me", and then come back. That bike-horn transmutes to jungle percussion in the aforementioned "Heaven's Wall" or tinny-sounding trumpet in "The Wall". A softly-strummed elegy to Vietnam vets that recalls Sting's "Fields of Gold", it's inscrutable until it's time for the trumpet to play. The weight of moment crushes the trumpet from the first note. Springsteen's vocals conjure a person of great-strength, while the trumpet only signifies frailty.

Another disheartening moment on an otherwise brilliant song is Soozie Tyrell's violin flourishes in the revamped "The Ghost of Tom Joad". She's going for a harrowing winter-night in Eastern Europe vibe, which is entirely unnecessary considering the song is bone-chilling as constituted. Tom Morello's guitar is unnervingly restrained in the first verse. Springsteen's delicate croak is quiet enough you can almost hear the crackle of the fire the narrator is huddling over. Adding Tyrell's part is akin to dumping one more bucket of blood onto a splatter-film and pretending it's scarier. 

One welcome addition is previously mentioned Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello. Pitchfork writer Stephen M. Deusner labelled Morello's playing "superfluous", which I couldn't disagree with more. Without Morello's fiery performance on "The Ghost of Tom Joad", the tune would be robbed of the righteous indignation Springsteen's attempting to convey. His careening effort on the title-track gives Springsteen the strength he begs for. Subtracting Morello's wah-wah's from the boogieing "Harry's Place", you end up with a staid piece of 80s rock. Morello's turntable imitations seem alien on first listen, but after a few spins they fit into the E-Street world. 

"American Skin (41 Shots)" provides the ultimate litmus test for Morello. The ode to Amadou Diallo has existed since 1999, in live and studio varieties, so Morello's struggle to give the song any new resonance is palpable. The skyward solo acts as his deliverance, clearing a major hurdle of expectation and giving listeners a much needed emotional release. As for Springsteen, he could've phoned it in and no one would blame him. Fortunately, Springsteen misses any tepidness by a wide-margin. When he questions "Is it a gun? Is it a knife? Is it a wallet?" you hear his agony. More than a decade later, incidents like these haven't waned they've promulgated. And despite the magnifying presence of 24-hour news media, we quickly forget these tragedies until another one rolls around. Springsteen knows this "rule"  and can't keep from hanging his head.

His slumped head finally hits the ground on "Down in the Hole". Doleful organ and industrial chatter renders an autumn skyline "dark and bloody." Other voices dot a haunted landscape, but they sound so distant Springsteen is effectually alone. Arguably that's how he works best. Sealed away, with only the occasional visitor. Past glories succeeded because he already had the blueprints laid out in his head, all he needed was an expert crew to turn dreams into brick and mortar. Ultimately, a crowdsourced album like High Hopes demonstrates why Bruce Springsteen works better as a boss than a co-worker.

"Dream Baby Dream" (Suicide Cover)

What's New(s)?

Springsteen announces new album

On January 14, Bruce Springsteen will be following up his working-man ode Wrecking Ball with High Hopes, a collection of "some of our best unreleased material from the past decade" as the Boss himself pens in the album's liner notes. The album features multiple collaborations with Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, including a studio reworking of "The Ghost of Tom Joad" and "American Skin" (41 Shots). And in a sly-nod to "State Trooper"s Suicide influence, Springsteen will be tackling the no-wave duo's "Dream Baby Dream".

Also included on the release will be several unreleased Clarence Clemons features, along with of cover of The Saints track "Just Like The Fire Would". Check out the tracklist below, along with the title track.

Tracklist:

1. "High Hopes" ft. Tom Morello
2. "Harry's Place" ft. Tom Morello
3. "American Skin" (41 Shots)  ft. Tom Morello
4. "Just Like Fire Would" ft. Tom Morello
5. "Down in the Hole"
6. "Heaven's Wall" ft. Tom Morello
7. "Frankie Fell in Love" ft. Tom Morello
8. "This Is Your Sword" ft. Tom Morello
9. "Hunter of Invisible Game" ft. Tom Morello
10. "The Ghost of Tom Joad" ft. Tom Morello
11. "The Wall"
12. "Dream Baby Dream" ft. Tom Morello

Busta Rhymes drops "Thank You" video

Busta Rhymes springy, funk-rap workout "Thank You" features a pretty impressive guest list: Q-Tip, Kanye West, and Lil Wayne; and now that improbable crew has made an appearance in a new video. Shot multi-screened, the four MCs strut their stuff in and out of verses, and share screen time with A$AP Worldwide members Ferg and Nast. It's all fairly lowkey (save for a mountaintop appearance by Busta), but seeing these four in the same video is more than enough.


Busta Rhymes is currently readying sequel Extinct Level Event 2 for a 2014 release via Cash Money, but no release date has been announced yet.

Check back in tomorrow for more of the newest in new(s), and visit @AllFreshSounds on Twitter for additional news updates.