Perhaps he felt the central conceit of the song–the left-behind friend/lover singing to his gone-to-greener-pastures girl–was essentially the same one used for “ Bobby Jean” on that album, but in my opinion “None But the Brave” is the superior song. Why in the world Bruce chose to leave it off of Born in the U.S.A. It’s heartfelt and heartbreaking, and it captures the E Street Band sound at perhaps its most quintessential. So let’s just lay this out first and foremost: whichever version we’re listening to, “None But the Brave” is magnificent. But let me explain before you decide for yourself. (Not that a casual listener would stumble across an unreleased outtake, but like I said, bear with me.) And the instrumental tracks are the same, at least to my ears.īut the substitution of that one key line (I’ll point it out later in this essay)–combined with what I am convinced is a contemporary vocal (although I can find no record, citation, or document of that) filled with the life experience and keen social empathy of Rising-era Bruce –make the two versions sound like completely different songs to my ears, with very different meanings. Lyrically, the two versions differ only by a single line that’s buried so deep in the song, a casual listener might not even notice. The second version was released on The Essential Bruce Springsteen in 2003. sessions, recorded in 1982 but never released. What makes this song so intriguing and challenging to interpret is that there are two versions out there: the first, an outtake from the Born in the U.S.A. I usually feel like I’m on pretty solid ground in my analyses of Bruce’s work, but I readily acknowledge I’m stepping out on a limb when it comes to “None But the Brave.” A faulty Tilt-A-Whirl and a tryst with the boss’ daughter have soured him on the whole thing.Bear with me, please–I’m going to take some license. Even as the narrator makes the boardwalk sound unmistakably romantic, his itchiness to leave it all behind is palpable. The song is told from the point of view of a narrator trying to convince the title character into one last night of passion, some figurative fireworks exploding in tandem with the ones that soar on Independence Day. Via Federici’s playing and Springsteen’s pinpoint descriptions, the listener is transported to the Jersey Shore every time the song plays. Luckily, “Sandy” doesn’t have this problem, as the track features the resonant accordion work of Danny Federici. If there was a problem with Springsteen’s pre- Born To Run recorded material, it was that the instrumental mixes were often a bit of a muddle, denying the chance for some of the talented performers in the early incarnation of the E Street Band to really shine. Springsteen had recorded and released it the previous year as part of The Wild, The Innocent And The E Street Shuffle, an album full of evocative story songs, many of which still play a big part in the Boss’ legend some 40 years down the line. The quote above is taken from an introduction Bruce Springsteen gave to a performance of “4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” back in 1974. This is a song based in New Jersey or actually anywhere along the coast.” “You travel around Nashville, Atlanta, Tennessee and ‘Hey! What’s Asbury Park like?’ And I play them this number. This article was originally published on July 7, 2013.
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