By 1973, Bruce had written so many musical street scenes populated with colorful characters amidst a drug-riddled backdrop that he was at risk of inventing a genre. Honestly, if I place “Song for Orphans” in historical context, I can’t second-guess Bruce’s decision to not release it. Take a listen to that first recording below–lyrically it’s virtually identical to Bruce’s 2005 version, except for a head-scratching change or two, and interestingly, the chorus uses the same melody as the verses, even though Bruce had already performed the song live using the chorus melody Bruce employed in the 2005 version above. Surviving records indicate Bruce was considering it for inclusion on Born to Run as well, so the song was clearly not one that Bruce intended to abandon easily. While he was certainly performing it live prior to his first issue on Columbia Records, all evidence indicates that he didn’t record a demo of it until a month after Greetings hit store shelves, making it a candidate for inclusion on The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle instead. The result was something fresh and new even for hardcore fans well familiar with the song from decades-old bootlegs.Īs for the original song, “Song for Orphans” (sometimes referred to as “Song to Orphans” or “Song of the Orphans”–Bruce seems to have been prepositionally conflicted) does indeed date back to the Greetings from Asbury Park era, but Bruce may be mis-remembering it as an outtake from that album. Bruce was immediately taken by his ancient composition and decided to reclaim it.Īs he often does, he did a bit more than resurrect it–he also re-arranged it, massaging the melody of the verses into something less dirge-y and more Bobby Jean-y and adding piano accompaniment in the form of Alan Fitzgerald. What brought this forgotten song back to the stage? Apparently, Bruce had been listening to the brand new Sirius satellite radio station, E Street Radio, at the exact moment the station was playing the song off of an old bootleg. If you looked around the room during the performance, you’d have seen jaws drop if not for Bruce’s playing, you could have heard pins drop. But for now, it feels like honoring the spirit of the album to preserve the past alongside the present. I’ll let my original essay stand for now perhaps someday I’ll revise it to reflect the tremendous modern version. As I mused in my Twitter conversation with Anthony above, Bruce seems to pair and place “ If I Was The Priest” and “Song for Orphans” deliberately, as a look back (on multiple levels) to the beginning of his journey from his current location far, far up the road. And while the song is still as lyrically dense as ever, the subtext that I alluded to in the original essay below (about the temptations facing an aspiring rock star) seem much less sub- and much more primary. As of a few minutes ago, we finally have a fully realized official E Street Band recording of “Song for Orphans” via Bruce’s just-released Letter to You album. They're good album-mates, these two songs. I think "Song to Orphans" is less about the call and more about the dangers, distractions, temptations, and seductions that lie in one's path when answering it.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |