Most likely you’ve already heard about the new Bruce Springsteen album Letter To You by now. If you haven’t, it will also be accompanied by an Apple Music documentary, directed by his longtime collaborator Thom Zimmy. You can also watch the official Apple-branded hour-long interview with Zain Lowe, which is a fantastic look at Springsteen’s career and this album in particular.
Back in 2019, Springsteen assembled the E Street Band to bang out a collection of songs that could also serve as a springboard for a tour. It hurts to write those words, but Letter For You now assumes a new purpose. As his interview with Lowe reiterates, Springsteen shows up in our when the time feels right for him, the band, or the audience. He’s like a superhero. With the world changing so much over the last seven months, this album has a whole new job than it would have otherwise. For an artist who famously treated the studio like a laboratory during the Born To Run sessions (“Jungleland” took nine months), Springsteen gives us the E Street Band at its rawest.
The songs deal with loss and perseverance, but the arrangements make them sound like anthems. The album’s title track and “Ghosts” have been released as singles for a while now. The latter was written about George Theiss, the leader of Springsteen’s first band, The Castiles. Theiss passed away in 2018 after a two-year battle with lung cancer. Springsteen’s resulting feelings framed the entire album, but “Ghosts” is the most directly related to Theiss. Despite its title, the song’s chorus “I’m alive” is echoed in every note. “Last Man Standing” is a slower song dealing with the same sensation Springsteen undoubtedly felt after Theiss’ death.
“Rainmaker” is the only song that seems to have any political message. He’s not telling the audience how to think, however, but to think. It starts slow and builds into a real monster. “Burnin’ Train” also sounds like a song that could easily ignite a stadium. The album also features three songs sitting in Bruce’s vaults for the last fifty years. When preparing what will apparently be “Tracks 2,” he plucked three tunes to have the band play. They are more than worth the wait.
“Song For Orphans” had been performed live once for the diehards in Trenton in 2005. But this version evokes Dylan’s “My Back Pages,” the best of Tom Petty, and a little Warren Zevon. “Janey Needs A Shooter” is just as old, but Springsteen kept trying to find it a home; this 2020 version is more than worth the wait. Even though Zevon wrote a completely different song from the title he misheard, he’d probably love it.
But “If I Was A Priest” is the album’s crowning achievement. The 1972 demo (he apparently performed it for his initial Columbia audition) has Springsteen signing, screaming, and losing his voice. It’s fantastic and almost seven minutes. Other reviews will undoubtedly cite other highlights or elevate other songs to the top and that’s a testament how great Letter To You really is.
Ross Warner recently released his first book on life as an obsessive Deadhead and San Diego Chargers fan titled Drunk on Sunday.
One Response
Thom Zimny, not Zimmy fyi. Nice write up.