Mitch has an absolutely wonderful post up right now about Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run, which was released 30 years ago today.
Here's an excerpt from Mitch's post but please - go read the whole thing. What a beautiful tribute.
Bruce has done better albums (Darkness on the Edge of Town, Tunnel of Love), he's had records that sold more albums (Born In The USA) - but no album, before or since, has ever had moments like Born To Run.Moments - it's a prosaic word, but in the world of Mitch, as applied to Rock and Roll, it has a very specific meaning that, for purposes of explanation, I should make clear; a "moment" is something, some tiny snippet of a song, that sends a chill up your spine, that rattles you to the core of your being. They can be huge and dramatic (Roger Daltrey's scream in "Won't Get Fooled Again"), or light and subtle (Susannah Hoffs' cooing "to a perfect world" at the end of "Dover Beach", from the first Bangles album); they can be part of a great song (the final "to bring the victory Jesus won..." in U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday", the murderous guitar hooks in Big Country's "Where The Rose Is Sown", the bridge in Smokey Robinson's "Cruisin'"), a mediocre one (the final coda in the Alarm's "Blaze of Glory", the bridges in the Babies' "Isn't It Time"), even a crappy one (Neil Schon's entrance in Journey's "Don't Stop Believing"), it can beat you over the head (the beginning of Barry Goudreau's blazing final solo in Boston's "Long Time"), it can seduce you (the mournful, whispered chorus of Richard Thompson's "Jenny", Aimee Mann's transclucent last line of the last verse of Til Tuesday's "Coming Up Close"). You get the picture.
Moments are ephemeral, unpredictable. Most artists never have one (Laura Brannigan and Dee Snider searched their whole careers in vain); most albums never send a single chill up a lonely spine. A single such moment can redeem an otherwise mediocre career; the world could forget the Monkees, Roxette, 10,000 Maniacs, the Cars and Abba tomorrow, but I'd love them for a grand total of maybe fifteen seconds worth of moments among them (brief snippets of "I'm A Believer", "It's All Over Now", "These Are Days", "Bye Bye Love" and "SOS", two-second flares of pop brilliance that are all I need). A talent for such moments - the ability to create more than one or two on a couple of albums - is a rare thing indeed, almost mythical. Pete Townsend, Ray Davies, Chuck D, Lennon/McCartney, Paul Westerberg, Chrissy Hynde (until about 1985), Bono/The Edge, Stuart Adamson, Smokey Robinson, Levi Stubbs, Aimee Mann - it's a small, select list.
Moments. Man, I had never thought of it that way but he's right. I know just what he's talking about.
Now I'm trying to think about albums that I love, the "moments".
Tori Amos' "Little Earthquakes" was chock-full of "moments". (Her following albums? Nada. Zero. Zilch-o moments. Come on, Tori - come back to the fold!!)
No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom - full of moments.
Lenny Kravitz's song "Fields of Joy" - it starts soft, sweet, almost child-like ... and then - there's the moment when he gets loud. When the song gets HUGE. It never ceases to thrill me.
Foo Fighter's The Color and the Shape. The opening chords of Monkey Wrench. The moment when "Up in Arms" changes its tempo. I love "Up in Arms". It's sort of like Kravitz's "Fields of Joy" - it starts out in a sweet, gentle tempo ... then there's a kind of a pause ... and suddenly it becomes a rock song. I'm not as good as describing the moments as Mitch is ... but I love that moment of transformation in "Up in Arms".
U2. To me, the very sound of U2 ... the unmistakable sound ... those chords they get, the slight echo on them ... Just gives me goose bumps.
More moments, anyone?
(Go read Mitch's post. It's great stuff.)
Posted by sheilaSO weird! I'm in the middle of writing a post on this very subject! I've had it saved as a draft since Tuesday because it's such a rich topic and I didn't want to rush it.
I started writing it because this week I listened to Achtung Baby for the first time in years and I rediscovered a ton of great moments. I love when you return to an album and rekindle the romance or find new sources of inspiration and brilliance. Mitch TOTALLY captured my thoughts on the subject and then some. I love that!
Posted by: curly mcdimple at September 1, 2005 08:37 AMnever thought of it this way either. ummm...hmm. omg one part of Tori's LE? "maybe it's time...to wave goodbye now...time...to wave goodbye...now." from "tear in your hand". that moment comes out of nowhere. and it always strikes me down.
Posted by: beth at September 1, 2005 09:15 AMthe first chords in Celebrity Skin
Posted by: mere at September 1, 2005 09:45 AMLenny Kravitz. Man, what happened there? I loved everything up to Are You Gonna Go My Way? (Aside, I used to own a 1965 Ford Custom 500 [in the same family as the Fairlane and Galaxy] and Are You Gonna Go My Way? was the car's theme song) but after that -- I don't know. Maybe he lost his vision or something. Maybe he's listening to bad advice.
*Still depressed. Turns up Let Love Rule*
Posted by: Cullen at September 1, 2005 09:56 AMBen Folds' Not The Same, when a huge wall of voices in harmony kicks in on the chorus.
U2's Pride (from Rattle & Hum): "For the Reverend Martin Luther King - sing!"
Opening piano chords of Tom Waits' Ol' 55.
Posted by: Iain at September 1, 2005 09:56 AMPride was from the Unforgettable Fire
Posted by: mere at September 1, 2005 09:57 AMand speaking of The Unforgettable Fire,
how about "Wire"
Let Love Rule. DAMN. What a song!
"Fields of Joy", Cullen, while not one of his greatest hits - is one of those songs that just came along at the right time in my life and quite literally helped me get through the day. It was that important to me.
That being said: I haven't been as wacky about his latest stuff.
I keep buying his albums, but they're not as unbelievable as those early ones.
Posted by: red at September 1, 2005 10:04 AMmere - you are so damn right about those opening chords of Celebrity Skin.
Posted by: red at September 1, 2005 10:05 AMLenny will always have a special place in my heart because of the time of life I "discovered" his music. I understand completely what you mean.
On topic: The end of Red Hot Chili Peppers' Sir Psycho Sexy -- the horribly over-the-top lyrics ended by this wonderful instrumental jam. One of the best I've ever heard.
Posted by: Cullen at September 1, 2005 10:13 AMI prefer the live version of "Pride" (hence "Rattle & Hum"...)
Posted by: Iain at September 1, 2005 10:28 AMU2 is another band that manages a spine-tingling moment or two on nearly every album.
Posted by: mitch at September 1, 2005 10:42 AMWarren Zevon doesn't dither with the fact he's dying of mesothelioma on his last album, The Wind, even covering Knockin' On Heaven's Door and pulling it off somehow without being cloying or sappy. But then there's a little understated acoustic guitar strumming to begin the last song, Keep Me In Your Heart, and Warren sings, "Shadows are fallin', and I'm runnin' out of breath." Your hair stands on end.
Telegraph Road by Dire Straits is full of moments, including the world's most perfect guitar solo ever.
The first two words of No Souvenirs by Melissa Etheridge send shivers up my spine, but I don't know how universal that would be
One moment that never fails to give me chills is when Kurt Cobain kicks it into overdrive for the last verse of "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" on the MTV Live album. It's almost as if he was channeling the soul of Leadbelly, right there on the stage.
And wow - 30 years. Amazing. As Greil Marcus put it, Born to Run was (and still is!) "a '57 Chevy running on melted down Crystals records."
Posted by: Jeff at September 1, 2005 11:13 AMThe moments of Born To Run
Thunder Road: Mary climb in, it's a town full of losers - I'm pulling out of here to win.
Born To Run: I want to know if love is wild, I want to know if love is real.
Jungleland:
The poets down here
Don't write nothing at all, they just stand back and let it all be
And in the quick of the night they reach for their moment
And try to make an honest stand but they wind up wounded, not even dead
Tonight in Jungleland
So much beautiful imagery that captures adolescence - but captures the moments and questions that linger with us throughout our lives...
the best ever.
Posted by: the blogger formerly known as "Dave" at September 1, 2005 11:24 AMThe Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream is full of them for me, especially the opening of "Today" before the first verse kicks in.
Posted by: Nathan at September 1, 2005 11:54 AMPosted this at Mitch's (it is a fantastic post, man) and figured I'd copy it over here:
Pink Floyd. The entire Wish You Were Here album. Hell, the title was a moment.
The opening of Shine on You Crazy Diamond.
The part:
Come on you target for faraway laughter, come on you stranger, you legend,
You martyr, and shine!
The opening of Wish You Were Here
The instrumental breaks in Have a Cigar
What an album. Actually not my favorite Floyd, but, I think, full of moments as you describe.
The part in "Over the Hills and Far Away" when the drums come banging in and Plant wails, "Many night I loved, many times been bitten, many times I've gazed, along the open road..."
"IIIIIIII look at all the lonely people..." The orchestra swelling in the background. Eleanor Rigby
In the Foo Fighters' One by One album on "Halo": "Wake up you're dreamin', I can't stand your screamin'"
The one part of a song that cuts me like a knife every time is when Lauryn Hill says in the most plaintive voice, "I keep letting you back in," on "Ex Factor." Kills me.
Posted by: Jen at September 1, 2005 12:42 PMThe entire song of "Lose Yourself". Chills. It's one of the most exciting songs I know.
Oh, and the opening chords to Heart's "Crazy on You".
When U2 released "With or Without You", I was in relationship turmoil with The One That Got Away, and that part where Bono wails, "She's got me with nothing to win and nothing left to lose" used to KILL me.
Almost twenty years later, some may consider it overplayed, but it still takes me back to that place every time.
A recently discovered moment in a song....
The climax to The Fa Fa song by Guster.
Everything about "Traveling Light" by Widespread Panic.
Hank
Posted by: Hank at September 1, 2005 02:10 PMMatt: Zevon had so many - and his last album was maybe the best (although his live "Stand In The Fire" was crammed with more great moments). And Dire Straits - another great catch.
Formerly Dave: Exactly.
Jen: The Foos "Learning To Fly" is one of those songs.
Red: Lose Yourself - that song turns me inside out. That one is almost beyond "moments" - there are so many things that just dig into my own life (lotta great single-parent-scrambling-to-keep-up stuff in that song), but "Success is my only m***********g option, failure is not..." still kills me. Lived it. Living it now. Love that song.
I'll need to do a U2 post soon. The more I think about it, the more I come up with.
Posted by: mitch at September 1, 2005 03:23 PMmitch - yeah, that line "success is my only motherfuckin' option" ... I mean, it's not just the sentiment of the line, it's how he says it. You just can feel his savage need - not just ambition, what you hear in his voice is nothing as bourgeois as "ambition" - he MUST become successful. He has NO OTHER OPTION. He's phenomenal. The whole thing just blows me away. repeatedly.
Posted by: red at September 1, 2005 03:33 PMJust thought of another great one.
From Genesis' The Lamb Lies Down on Broadwa:
* In Fly On A Windshield at the end of Gabriel's singing, that huge musical buildup. Wonderful. Leads right into:
* Gabriel's wailing, poetry in the Broadway Melody Of 1974
Echoes of the Broadway Everglades,
With her mythical madonnas still walking in their shades:
Lenny Bruce, declares a truce and plays his other hand.
Marshall McLuhan, casual viewin, head buried in the sand.
Sirens on the rooftops wailing, but theres no ship sailing.
Groucho, with his movies trailing, stands alone with his punchline failing.
Klu Klux Klan serve hot soul food and the band plays In the Mood
The cheerleader waves her cyanide wand,
Theres a smell of peach blossom and bitter almonde.
Caryl Chessman sniffs the air and leads the parade, he know in a scent,
You can bottle all you made.
Theres Howard Hughes in blue suede shoes,
Smiling at the majorettes smoking Winston Cigarettes.
And as the song and dance begins,
The children play at home with needles; needles and pins
Great album. Great song.
Posted by: Cullen at September 1, 2005 05:13 PMThe first acapella notes of "Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas.
Posted by: Stevie at September 1, 2005 06:31 PMHow about when David Bowie sings, "Fame fame fame fame fame fame fame fame fame fame fame fame FAME!"
Posted by: Stevie at September 1, 2005 07:41 PMNo - you folks don't get it
It's Springsteen -- and then everybody else
What a great excuse to pickup a six pack and crank it up sitting in the back 40 --
Okay,I'll grant Cullen about Gabriel -- but then it is Springsteen