While I’ve always been aware of Bruce Springsteen and his importance to popular music, I didn’t have a strong connection to any of his albums that I’d heard. That changed, however, when I picked up Nebraska, Springsteen’s 1982 acoustic release.
Nebraska was originally recorded at Springsteen’s home as a demo on 4-track cassette and later embellished with the full E-Street Band in the studio. But Bruce decided that the demo versions brought the haunting songs to life more effectively than his work with the band, so they were mastered and released as the full album.
Of course we don’t know what a muscular, polished version of Nebraska would sound like (at least not until Springsteen decides to release the recordings), but I find it hard to imagine it could approach the raw power of the Nebraska I know and love.
These tales of crooks and killers and people down on their luck stick to themes you’ll find throughout Springsteen’s catalog, but collected here in this style they’re just brimming with capital-T Truth. I’ve since become a much bigger Springsteen fan but I don’t know if he’s ever topped this album.
‘Highway Patrolman’ is typical of the songs on Nebraska, with perhaps a bit more of a narrative than most. Writer/director Sean Penn based his film Indian Runner on this song, with David Morse as Sergeant Joe Roberts and Viggo Mortensen as Frankie (and here’s where all the ladies in the audience chuckle at the thought of those two men portraying brothers).
I work for the state
I’m a sergeant out of Perrineville, barracks number 8
I always done an honest job, as honest as I could
I got a brother named Frankie, and Frankie ain’t no good
Now ever since we was young kids it’s been the same come down
I get a call on shortwave, Frankie’s in trouble downtown
Well if it was any other man, I’d put him straight away
But when it’s your brother sometimes you look the other way
Me and Frankie laughin’ and drinkin’
Nothin’ feels better than blood on blood
Takin’ turns dancin’ with Maria as the band played
“Night of the Johnstown Flood”
I catch him when he’s strayin’ like any brother would
Man turns his back on his family he just ain’t no good
Well Frankie went in the army back in 1965
I got a farm deferment, settled down, took Maria for my wife
But them wheat prices kept on droppin’
Till it was like we were gettin’ robbed
Frankie came home in ’68, and me, I took this job
Yea, me and Frankie laughin’ and drinkin’
Nothin’ feels better than blood on blood
Takin’ turns dancin’ with Maria as the band played
“Night of the Johnstown Flood”
I catch him when he’s strayin’ like any brother would
Man turns his back on his family he just ain’t no good
Well the night was like any other, I got a call ’bout quarter to nine
There was trouble in a roadhouse out on the Michigan line
There was a kid lyin’ on the floor, lookin’ bad, bleedin’ hard from his head
Was a girl cryin’ at a table, and it was Frank, they said
Well I went out and I jumped in my car and I hit the lights
I must’ve done a hundred and ten through Michigan County that night
It was out at the crossroads, down round Willow bank
Seen a Buick with Ohio plates, behind the wheel was Frank
Well I chased him through those county roads till a sign said
Canadian border five miles from here
Pulled over the side of the highway
And watched his tail lights disappear
Me and Frankie laughin’ and drinkin’
Nothin’ feels better than blood on blood
Takin’ turns dancin’ with Maria as the band played
“Night of the Johnstown Flood”
I catch him when he’s strayin’ like any brother would
Man turns his back on his family he just ain’t no good
Meet Me In Montauk 
The lyrics are just amazing!
Here you go again – favoring the next new thing over Jackson Browne and Joe Jackson 😉
I’m glad you mentioned the film based on this song, as it was driving me crazy that I couldn’t think of it. Not that I’ve ever seen it. But I remembered there being a film made about a Springsteen song, and this seemed like the perfect song to inspire it. And I don’t think it’s comical for David Morse and Viggo to play brothers. Morse is handsome, and I am just thrilled to know there’s another film out there starring Viggo that I haven’t seen yet.
Now for the music… becoming a Springsteen fan in the era of Born in the U.S.A. and Tunnel of Love, I’ve always been hesitant to go back to the 1970’s “Born to Run” version of Springsteen for no other reason than there are so many GREAT albums of his that came out during that decade that it was overwhelming to try. I always lumped Nebraska into that category, thinking it came out far longer than two years before Springsteen became a fixture on my radar (and the radar of most of the rest of America) with Born in the U.S.A.
Somehow knowing that today’s SOTD precedes songs like “Glory Days,” “My Hometown,” and “Born in the U.S.A.” by just two years makes me more intrigued to hear the rest of the album. I’m always fascinated by how artists evolve, what choices they make to follow up especially successful (with critics or fans) endeavors, so delving more fully into the album that Bruce wrote immediately before he wrote the album that exploded him into another realm of fame is something worth doing – and not quite as overwhelming as tackling an entire decade’s worth of music.
Of course, the song itself is quintessential Springsteen. Regardless of what decade he’s writing and performing in, or how muscular the sound accompanying him, he is incapable of writing lyrics with anything less than capital T- Truth. The details (down to what number barracks Joe Roberts works) are what probably most distinguish his work, as it’s difficult to imagine many songwriters cramming that level of detail into their songs without sacrificing musicality. Still, he manages to simply make the songs even more extraordinary.
I never got quite as into Nebraska as I should have. When I am in a Springsteen mood, I tend to want to hear the older stuff (with which Amy is less familiar) like Greetings from Asbury Park or Born to Run, or the post-USA Tunnel of Love. Maybe this is because, while I love acoustic and stripped down songs, I am less likely to reach for a whole album of those type of songs over an album with a mix of different tempos and instrumentation.
Still, Nebraska is, indeed, a wonderful album and I look forward to hearing more of it since Amy is apparently going to be searching our CD collection for it.
Oh, and as for the movie reference, all I can say is “David Morse? As in THE David Morse?”
I love Bruce Springsteen, and I’m always amazed at his energy in concerts. I’m not familiar with this song or the movie so I guess it’s time to order it on netflix 🙂