things been a little tight, but i know they're gonna turn my way

last week this girl at work brought me in a copy of the new springsteen album, "magic". as she handed it to me she said, "i don't like it".

curious.

i've known her for a little while and have found her taste in music pretty good. she declared 'nebraska' was her favorite springsteen album.mine too.so, i brought the new one home already a little skeptical.she was dead fucking wrong.the album is a masterpiece. the best e street band album since 'the river'. it's a new direction, and also a return to form. his voice has definitely become more expressive, more restrained, not a wasted note. no 'whoops' or hollers.the e street band has become more of a guitar band. 3 guitar players will do that. but there is room for clarence's sax, used more effectively on this album than anything since 'born to run'.did i mention this album is, sonically, a natural successor to 'born to run'. there's a very produced sound to it. this ain't 'the river'. they worked on this. when i put this into the cd rack i'm putting it before 'darkness'. fuck chronology.

'radio nowhere' is his best single since 'dancing in the dark'. an all out guitar assault on modern radio. but also on the cheapening of art, and beauty, and all that makes life more than just a march towards death. '' i was spinnin' 'round a dead dial /Just another lost number in a file/Dancin' down a dark hole/ Just searchin' for a world with some soul". and know what the best part of the song is? the way the harmony on the 'mystery train' line lingers a half beat too long. yea, that's it.

there are references to past albums. songs like 'you'll be comin' down' and 'i'll work for your love' wouldn't sound out of place on 'darkness on the edge of town'. 'Livin' in the future' references 'cover me' and '10th avenue freeze out', (two songs i never really cared for) and bests them both. 'terry's song', the hidden track, is a tribute to a friend who died this year. it's machismo and sensitivity combine to make one of springsteen's most personal, and pretty, songs.

sounds good, right?

but, why is it a classic?

because of two songs. 'your own worst enemy' and 'girls in their summer clothes'. two of bruce's finest songs. ever. seriously. up there with 'born to run', 'hungry heart', etc.

'your own worst enemy' is, sonically, springsteen's masterpiece. if the walker brothers had recorded this it would be their 2nd best song. like all his best songs it mixes the political with the personal. fingerprints left at the scene of a crime, insomnia, the world 'falling apart' ( a theme he returns to on the album more than once). 'you closed your eyes and saw her/ you knew who you were'. 'your world keeps spinning round and round/ now everythings turned upside down'. 'once the family felt secure/ now no ones very sure'. economic crisis? divorce? death? it's abstract, but all encompassing. and he summons the bruce of 'asbury park' with a gorgeous, clean vocal. sounding, seriously, like scott walker. and max weinberg gets to live out his hal blaine fantasy.

now, whoa....'girls in their summer clothes'. and this is why i mentioned the girl at work. not just to show i talk to girls. this song may show why i love this album so much and she was not so impressed. this song makes me wish i was 19 again, sitting in johnny p.'s backyard, polishing off a beer ball with the mineola girls. in many ways a traditional springsteen number. 'the girls in their summer clothes/in the cool of the evening light/the girls in their summer clothes pass me by'. almost seems trite, no? if the melody wasn't so gorgeous it might be. the song summons all that is beautiful, and sad, about being a young man. the struggle between being 'a guy' and the longing for love. the melancholy of 'the rubber ball smacks', and the bravado of 'My jackets on, I'm out the door/And tonight I'm gonna burn this town down'. and it all sound like a stroll down memory lane with 'the wrecking crew' holding your hand for the trip. than the last verse hits. the kids grown up, weathered and tired, but not finished. 'She went away, she cut me like a knife /Hello beautiful thing, maybe you could save my life /In just a glance, down here on magic street /Loves a fool's dance /And I ain't got much sense, but I still got my feet'.

and this is where i'm gonna get in trouble. there is no way a woman can understand this song. because they don't know how they affect men. especially meeker men. there's a difference in the longings of men and women. ladies, you may love the melody, it's bruce's finest, but you will never, ever, really get this song.

i said some of these things to the girl at work. well, i glossed over the last part, and here's what she said to me:

'wow, you've got alot to say about this album'.

yes. yes i do.