Bruce Springsteen
Lucky Town
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Bruce Springsteen
Lucky Town
Columbia, 1992
RiYL: Bob Dylan's Time Out Of Mind, John Mellencamp's Mr. Happy Go Lucky |
But instead of merely completing his nearly finished work, Springsteen found further inspiration from "Living Proof" and decided to write another record, taking just six more weeks to complete both projects. The result is Lucky Town, a brilliant album that outshines the weaker Human Touch (released on the same day) with its unmatched examination of a rare '90s rock topic: happiness.
It is easy to tell this album was created in an inspired moment. The music is dynamic, stretching from the distorted clangs of "Better Days" to the fragile finger picks of "My Beautiful Reward," and Springsteen's vocals are deep wells of emotion in which the listener is allowed to swim.
The lyrics are outstanding: "Every fool's got a reason for feeling sorry for himself and turning his heart to stone," he admits. "Tonight this fool's half way to heaven and just a mile to hell. And I feel like I'm comin' home." The pair of lines represents the two elements of life put forth on this album. The first is the stuff of introspection: A man looks at himself and acknowledges the weaknesses that have come with him through the years.
Earlier on in "Better Days," the album's opener, he notes: "It's a sad man, my friend, who's livin' in his own skin and can't stand the company." Springsteen says he spent two years after his wife filed for divorce in 1988, doing little but driving (surprise!) and wallowing in his own self-pity.
Here, he comes to Lucky Town with a handful of self-realizations that are both shocking and revealing. On the album's namesake, Bruce concedes he had some "victory that was just failure and deceit." On the other hand, he has found something to "ease the pain that living brings." Now the listener realizes the other key element to Lucky Town is an omnipresent positive energy, perfectly enshrined in the gravel of Springsteen's triumphant rasp.
In songs like "Better Days," "Lucky Town" and "Living Proof," his voice is an exalted cry of rare sorts. Here is a man that has moved beyond the depression of his divorce. He has found a soul mate, some one to show him his faults and help him conceive his family and home as sources of happiness.
"Living Proof" is still the album's centerpiece, its energy the core of the album. The bass drum's march matches his heart's thump (and yours), as the singer explains his revelation.
"Life is a house of cards as fragile as each and every breath of this little boy sleepin' in our bed," he sings with a broad smile. "It's been a long long drought, baby. Tonight the rain's pourin' down on our roof." "Looking for a little of God's mercy, I found living proof," he says as his guitar leads into the song's dramatic close.
How many artists ever move beyond anguish as a source of inspiration? Most of this world's greatest songwriters can't even survive the pain that inspired their work in the first place. Others make shallow attempts to celebrate the positive end of life, leaving the audience with flimsy, boring works.
But in the department of happiness, Springsteen proves himself a master once again. Lucky Town shows one of history's best artists at a new plateau. Here, the Boss takes a brave step forward (without the E Street Band, thank you very much) and transforms his ever-compelling views on his own life into wonderful music.
BEN FRENCH | Ben founded NATN in the winter of 1998-1999 with fellow IU alums Troy Carpenter and Jonathan Cohen. During the day time, he's working for Nielsen Business Media, publisher of Billboard. Ben's favorite acts include Bruce Springsteen, The Clash, Sonic Youth, Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, Rolling Stones, and the Beach Boys.