He is a mediocre singer with below average looks and a miniscule vocal range
shareHe had some massive hits back in the day, hits that appealed to a wide variety of people. And he's kept performing long enough to keep an audience, and well, he has a very positive reputation - everyone who knows about him likes him, and as far as I know nobody dislikes him. I know people who've been fans of his for 40-50 years, and they say one of the reasons is "he's just a great, decent, solid guy".
And he may not be good-looking, but he's quite attractive anyway. Not gorgeous but looks okay, and he's fit, good-natured, has an easy masculinity and a sense of humor, the kind of man that both men and women like. He comes across as the sort of guy anyone could enjoy hanging out with.
OP obviously doesn't like the guy. It's a simple as that. He was very popular in the 80's and early 90's, and is still popular today because of so many loyal fans. He is especially popular in New Jersey. Like you said he's just a great, decent, solid guy. He has a reputation for being nice to his fans. I never heard one story about him being a dickhead. I know people have met him, and said he was cool. I've been to a few of his concerts, and he shows he has good charisma the way he interacts with the crowd. He has a particular style of music that his voice compliments. He knows what he can do and what he can't, and what he does, he does very well. He's not a bad good looking guy at all either
shareBack in the day most singers and band members weren't good looking or even average looking in some cases. Makes you wonder if a lot of the classic rock acts would even get a chance now based purely on looks alone.
shareYeah, no more scrawny dorky guys becoming Guitar Heroes!
Too bad, the world would be a slightly better place if the music industry went looking for talent, not asses.
Because he writes great songs.
shareThat's my understanding as well.
shareOh yeah, lyrics like "Cadillac, Cadillac Long and dark shiny and black" are truly great.
His songs have mass appeal because of their simplicity. His talent is to appease the masses, not write songs.
Born To Run
In the day, we sweat it out on the streets
Of a runaway American dream
At night, we ride through mansions of glory
In suicide machines
Sprung from cages out on Highway 9
Chrome wheeled, fuel injected and steppin' out over the line
Oh, baby this town rips the bones from your back
It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap
We gotta get out while we're young
`Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run
Yes, girl, we were
Wendy let me in, I wanna be your friend
I want to guard your dreams and visions
Just wrap your legs 'round these velvet rims
And strap your hands across my engines
Together we could break this trap
We'll run till we drop, baby we'll never go back
Oh, will you walk with me out on the wire?
`Cause baby I'm just a scared and lonely rider
But I gotta know how it feels
I want to know if love is wild, babe
I want to know if love is real
Oh, can you show me?
[Saxophone Solo]
Beyond the palace, hemi-powered drones
Scream down the boulevard
The girls comb their hair in rearview mirrors
And the boys try to look so hard
The amusement park rises bold and stark
Kids are huddled on the beach in a mist
I wanna die with you, Wendy, on the streets tonight
In an everlasting kiss
(1, 2, 3, 4) The highways jammed with broken heroes
On a last chance power drive
Everybody's out on the run tonight
But there's no place left to hide
Together, Wendy, we can live with the sadness
I'll love you with all the madness in my soul
Oh, someday girl, I don't know when
We're gonna get to that place
Where we really want to go, and we'll walk in the sun
But till then, tramps like us
Baby, we were born to run
Oh honey, tramps like us
Baby, we were born to run
Come on with me, tramps like us
Baby, we were born to run
His unremarkable singing appeals to a lot of people. To me, he always looks like a guy who needs a better deodorant.
shareHe's a heritage act nowadays who coasts on past glories. He hasn't released a song that has entered the public's consciousness for decades. Like Madonna, his albums sell well in the first week because his core fan base buys them, then they quickly drop out of the chart because no one else cares.
If you looked up the meaning of dad rock, you'd see a picture of Bruce Springsteen. Bland rock music. A circle has more edge.
If you looked up the meaning of dad rock, you'd see a picture of Bruce Springsteen. Bland rock music. A circle has more edge.
well, i don't understand why anyone likes moons over my hammy more than breakfast poutine on the denny's menu.
but it's a big world and we're all entitled to our preferences. if lots of people like something you don't, that really doesn't hurt you one little bit.
personally, i'd rather listen to anything else other than springsteen, but what do i know? nothing really.
He had one huge album ("Born in the USA") back in 1985, and he's basically been riding that wave ever since. It (the album) also hit at the right time. American pride was at its Regan-era zenith, and even though Springsteen despised Reagan, Born in the USA became an American anthem (Reagan used the song in his 1985 reelection campaign) that came to represent the pride and prosperity that it was to be an American in the mid 1980s (even though the song was about Vietnam veterans who had returned home from the war, and the struggles they encountered thereafter). If you think I'm lying (which some of you will) Reagan won 49 out of the 50 states. He was wildly popular during most of his presidency due to the economic recovery of 1982 (The country had been in shambles after Jimmy Carters Presidency). The album with it's American anthem (Born In the USA), new production values (the first CD mass produced in the USA) songs about nostalgia (My Home Town, Glory Days), songs about longing for what you want, but can't have (I'm on Fire) and music videos on heavy rotation on MTV, the album was (in a way) manufactured by the record company as a surefire blockbuster. Bruce also changed his image by hitting the gym hard, changed the way that he dressed, and his overall look ("I want to change my hair, my clothes, my face" as the song lyrics to "Dancing in the Dark" went) to further portray the image of the working class American. In hindsight it really does seem like it was all manufactured. Hell, he even had a very young Courtney Cox appear in his "Dancing in the Dark" video. I remember people actually thought that that video was really filmed at one of his live concerts. Fans thought that he pulled a pretty girl out of the audience just to dance with him on stage. It was all manufactured. After the enormous success of the "Born in the USA" album (three time platinum) he was granted total creative freedom over his music, and while he had some other hits, he never again approached the heights he reached in 1985. He's basically a nostalgia act now.
shareWhat I think odd is that Springsteen denies "Born in the USA" is a patriotic anthem. Even if he didn't write it as one, it's a redneck's song now. And Springsteen sure cashed in on its jingoistic aura so he might as well embrace it.
shareYour's is a very mistaken narrative as to how and why this song was co-opted by conservatives and Bruce's response to it.
If I made an ironic joke how deplorable conservative politics is, and someone pulled it out of context to make it sound supportive, it would be an indictment of how shallow and opportunistic conservative politics is. This is what happened with Born In The USA.
Keep on Rockin' In the Free World !
I was around in the 80's. I know Reagan co-opted it and I still saw Springsteen milk it.
You quote Neil Young. Everyone knew Young's politics. He was from the 60's radical left counterculture. But ain't nothing wrong with rockin' in the free world.
Springsteen's rebuff was cynical. He kept largely silent and let rednecks take his song. He made too much money off it to do otherwise.
Nah. Nothing cynical about it. Stupid rednecks and politicians adopted the song, true, because they didn't look beyond the refrain to the actual lyrics. But he was vocal about it at the time. Springsteen isn't the first or last rock star to have his music co-opted by groups for their own purposes.
Springsteen was approached several times by Hollywood who wanted to use his music in their soundtracks. He often turned them down... along with a good chunk of cash I imagine.
His earlier album Darkness at the Edge of Town was also a big hit. Hell, I remember going to see a Springsteen tribute band in high school eight years before Born in the USA came out.
Your's ?
Hmmmm.
You're full of shit, leftist filth. It's you antifa, commie asswipes that are deplorable.
If you losers were in charge, there wouldn't be a 'free world'.
Here's three other words:
Ree-Visionist-History. Or another three words -- Arm Chair Quarterback.
It's easy to deconstruct the past, especially to fit some malcontent narrative, but Springsteen earned (almost) everything he got. Working class upbringing, true to his values, hard-working and honest.
Sure, people make $$ and make decisions to not screw it up. But I have no issues with how Springs has managed his fame and wealth, not significant ones anyway.
TL;DR
shareThat small paragraph was too long?! Sheesh.
shareA paragraph should be 3 sentences....4 at the most. You've got 14 sentences (with lots of long, run-on sentences).
Even if you were working with the same point/thought, you still could (and should) have broken all that text out into 3 or 4 paragraphs, so that it is cleaner looking, and easier to read.
Your content is fine. It just needs to be broken-up a bit.
Man I like how you think and write Ripkens! This is actually what I was taught in my Technical Writing course in college. It's all about being "easier to read". When a reader comes up on a huge blob of words with no "white space", it looks long, tiring on the eyes, uncomfortable and uneasy. Even though not as much is printed these days, same professor would say "paper is cheap, use white space". (He was undoubtedly NOT an environmentalist because I didn't attend a Liberal University).
Tomorrow's lessons for everyone reading:
"You're doing better" instead of your. "Should have read it", not "Should of".
You’re aware that Molly Bloom’s soliloquy in James Joyce’s novel, Ulisses, is 100 PAGES LONG and consists of ONE perfect sentence, right? I know you’re not. That is an antagonistic, berating question. Give lectures on literary style when you have mastered literary style. Until then, don’t.
And, Dave? This ain’t technical writing.
Haaaa, Enigma is no James Joyce. And I can promise you….NOBODY on these boards wants to read a 100 page long sentence.
shareHaaaa, Enigma is no James Joyce. And I can promise you….NOBODY on these boards wants to read a 100 page long sentence.
shareThe 3-5 sentence rule is something that is taught in 5th grade. A paragraph can be as long as it needs to be- there is no limit on the number of sentences. Once you take technical writing in college they teach you that that rule no longer applies. So, it seems that both of you will need to take that particular course again.
I don't know who you're trying to impress on a freakin' message board, but if it makes the two of you feel good about yourselves, you can continue to have fun cyber jerking one another.
You know, there are places that the two of you could go and meet in person... I mean, you both seem so fond of one another.
Getting pretty worked up about a little constructive criticism.
Try and relax. And, try not to post one giant, long-ass paragraph nobody is going to want to read. It’s pretty simple, really.
Now, go take some deep breaths.
BTW…..it just occurred to me, your last post is broken up into reasonable-sized, individual paragraphs! Bravo, you learned a little something, lol. Now….maybe someone will bother reading them.
I'm not getting worked up.
You two are free to have your little intimate circle jerk all that you want.
I split it up because there were three distinct topics. It had nothing to do from learning from a couple of twats who couldn't pass a basic college writing 101 class.
I'll let you go back to your little circle jerk now. It seems like you're anxiously awaiting it.
You sure went to a sexual place pretty fast. What’s the matter with you? Brain functions like that, eh? You seem a bit off kilter.
You need a lot of words to make your points, which tells me you’re a bit…simple. You immediately default to sexuality as some attempt at an insult, which tells me you’re lonely, tone-deaf and…not very intellectual. Plus, it makes you kind of a dick.
You see, you say a lot…but you tell even more.
If you’re still talking about your little city college basic writing classes, and not real world knowledge and experience…you’re as immature and simple as I suspected.
If you’ve taken any kind of courses on business or casual writing in that 2-yr junior college you’re attending, you’d know it’s pretty common and basic knowledge to keep it brief, and break it up into small, easily digestible paragraphs of no more then several sentences each. Even if you’re still on one thought and point.
If you practice and focus, you can break that point up into more than one paragraph, rather than one giant paragraph with a lot of run-on sentences.
There’s a reason platforms like Twitter force you to keep thoughts to small, easily digestible bytes. Nobody wants to read a long slog of boring, run-on sentences.
You’re not very interesting are you little fella? I get the sense you’re kind of a loner. Well, add one more person to the list of people who no longer care what you have to say, you simple bitch.
Done wasting time on you. You, are a waste of time.
I must have hit pretty close to the mark to get you all riled up like that. Don't worry, these days your type of lifestyle is acceptable. So, there's no need to get all triggered over it.
shareSprinsteen was recognized as great way before Born In The USA.
shareI always thought his music was overrated, not a fan, I prefer The Stones. He's undeniably a very charismatic performer. Since I saw him a decade ago, I felt that if your town hall was on fire and there were no firefighters, you'd want Bruce to rally the townsfolk to help put it out.
share"Since I saw him a decade ago, I felt that if your town hall was on fire and there were no firefighters, you'd want Bruce to rally the townsfolk to help put it out."
That is damn poetic...