Song of the Day 5/20: Bruce Springsteen, “There Goes My Miracle”
Bruce Springsteen has a new solo album coming out June 14. He has said “Western Stars” is a rumination on Southern California music of the ”60s and ’70s and specifically names Burt Bacharach as an influence. This song was released as the album’s second single last week. Its soaring melody and strings are surprising enough, but Springsteen’s voice — is he actually crooning? — is the real revelation here. As a number of commenters on YouTube have pointed out, it sounds like he’s going for Roy Orbison.
Man, I’ve been a fan of The Boss since the early ’70’s. But his last 18 years or so have yielded little compelling new music, IMHO. Except some songs off ‘The Rising’.
He has every right to do a ‘Laurel Canyon’ album. But the two cuts I’ve heard sound almost as wan as ‘Girls In Their Summer Clothes’ which, come to think of it, wouldn’t be out of place on this album. He recorded his most compelling music during the same time that lots of music was coming out of Laurel Canyon. His music didn’t sound anything like THAT music. I liked ’em both. But I never wished that Springsteen would gravitate towards the Canyon. Still don’t.
I think the last good-to-great song he wrote was “My City of Ruins.” It appeared on “The Rising,” but was written a couple of years prior and debuted at a fund-raiser for Asbury Park, which was the city in question. It was repurposed after 9/11.