Working On A Dream

It is a little known fact that I attended my first Bruce Springsteen concert at the very young age of -8 months. At the concert, I witnessed the single greatest show I'm ever likely to see. From Stevie Van Zandt and his bandana to Clarence Clemons and his saxophone to Nils Lofrgren and his face-melting guitar solo on "Prove It All Night" (see below) to the Boss himself, I couldn't have been happier.

So when I was born, I expected it would be at least another year or two before the Boss put out another album. Imagine my surprise when I heard that he was releasing Working On A Dream just months after ending his last tour.

I gave the album a few listens and I think it is a remarkable effort. Its optimism and hope stand in stark contrast to the pessimism and anger that dominated Magic, his last album. Also, it is much, much better than the Wiggles and that crap music from Veggie Tales.

In between eating, napping, and occasionally rolling over, I took the time to analyze each song and write 13 mini-reviews which I will now share with you.

1. "Outlaw Pete" is an Old West ballad set to music reminiscent of the Kiss song "I Was Made For Loving You". On my first listen, I thought it was kind of a silly way to open the album. The song starts "He was born a little baby on the Appalachian Trail / At six months old he'd done three months in jail." Wow, I thought to myself, this isn't the same Springsteen whose anger was almost palpable on his last album. On my second listen through, I realized that there is a lot more to this song than babies robbing banks. The refrain "I'm Outlaw Pete, I'm Outlaw Pete / Can you hear me? / Can you hear me?" slowly transforms from a boast into a plaintive wail and one can't help but wonder if Outlaw Pete might represent America itself. This interpretation might seem a bit heavy-handed (it certainly did to me), but it does seem to hold water in light of lines like "Dan smiled as he lay in his own blood dying in the sun / Whispered in Pete's ear 'We cannot undo these things we've done'" Or maybe it's just a story about an outlaw who tries to settle down but finds that he cannot change what he is. Grade: 10/10.


2. In "My Lucky Day", Springsteen gives us a great rocker that easily could have fit on an album like Born to Run. It definitely is true that this song is not without subtext, but what is really noteworthy about this song is the sax solo by Clarence Clemons. If I could stand, I would probably dance around to this song. As it is, I just flail my arms and kick when it's played. Grade: 8/10.


3. In the title track, "Working On A Dream", we get one of the most overtly political songs on the album. But I have to give Bruce credit. Where other idiot entertainers simply bash Bush because it is fashionable, Bruce merely reaffirms that he is, and will continue to, work on the American dream. The title alone suggests that he understands that his vision of America will likely not be accomplished via a single election but is rather the continuing responsibility of us all. In fact, one might even infer that the dream can never be fully realized. We can only work at it. And maybe that's enough. Grade: 9/10.


4. For the fourth track, Bruce gives us another ostensibly silly song in "Queen of the Supermarket". I find the lyrics to this song generic. I even find the subject matter a bit generic (Bruce is in love with the checkout girl at his supermarket). The end of the song, however, dispenses with the genericness and uses the only swear word on the whole album. I won't type it here because my dad says I am not allowed to use it unless Notre Dame is playing. Despite my complaints, I have to admit that this song is growing on me, though I'm still trying to puzzle out its meaning. Grade: 7/10.


5. We return to rocking with "What Love Can Do". Bruce opens with the lines "There's a pillar in the temple where I carved your name / There's a soul sitting sad and blue" and you immediately know you're in for a treat. It is easy to lose the lyrics in this one, but after a few listens I consider this song somewhat of a sequel to The Rising's "Worlds Apart". The imagery is suggestive of the Middle East and, although no characters are named in either song, it is easy enough to make the leap that we're catching up with some old friends introduced to us in "Worlds Apart". Putting all the speculation regarding meaning aside, I really like this song. I like it so much that I usually play air guitar and drool when it comes on. Grade: 10/10


6. "This Life" is the weakest effort on the album. I don't really dig the astronomy angle that the lyrics take and there is very little rocking going on in this song. It made me want to cry out of frustration. So I did. Ask my parents. Grade: 3/10


7. In "Good Eye", we get a swampy rocker with distorted vocals. The lyrics are sparse ("I was standing by the river where the cold black water runs / I had my good eye to the dark and my blind eye to the sun"), but this song makes me feel like I'm back in the Louisiana swampland where I hunted gators and waged a war with the law. Mercifully, I left that life behind long ago. Now it's all teddy bears and feetie pajamas for me! Grade: 9/10.


8. Bruce Springsteen takes a page out of Son Volt's book when he sings the folksy "Tomorrow Never Knows". The song seems light and breezy, but when you actually listen to the lyrics, you can't help but think that something sinister is going on. Lyrics like "In the field your long hair flowed / Down by the Tildenberry tracks / There 'neath the water tower / I carried you on my back / Over the rusted spikes of that highway of steel / Where no more thunder sounds" have a decidely apocalyptic feel that seems a bit out of place with the hopefulness on display in the majority of the album. This one is a bit of a head-scratcher for me, but I like it. Grade: 7/10.


9. If I had to describe the song "Life Itself" in one word, that word would be "haunting". Like the song before it, there is some disturbing imagery. This is another catchy song with dark undertones. The Boss is tricky! Grade: 7/10.


10. "Kingdom of Days" is a song that just doesn't do it for me. The lyrics are again generic, but, unlike "Queen of the Supermarket", I don't think this is on purpose. I could have done without this song entirely. Grade: 2/10.


11. Thankfully, the next song is "Surprise, Surprise". It may be devoid of deeper meaning, but it is catchy and light. I imagine this one would be a crowd favorite if he decides to play it live. Grade: 7/10.


12. The album takes a somber turn with "The Last Carnival". Bruce treats us to the image of a carnival in the midst of shutting down and moving on to the next town without Billy, a key member who has gone missing. One can't help but view this song as a tribute to the late Danny Federici who died shortly after playing his last song with the E Street Band last March. Good stuff here. Grade: 9/10.


13. Bruce closes the album with the song "The Wrestler". Bruce wrote this at the request of Mickey Rourke and it plays at the end of the movie of the same name. This is an acoustic ballad that would have been at home on albums like The Ghost of Tom Joad or Devils and Dust. The lyrics are taut and dominated by powerful images ("Have you ever seen a scarecrow filled with nothing but dust and weeds / If you've ever seen that scarecrow then you've seen me / Have you ever seen a one armed man punchin' at nothing but the breeze / If you've ever seen a one armed man then you've seen me"). This, along with "Outlaw Pete", is Springsteen at his best. Grade: 10/10.

So the bottomline is that you should go out and buy this album. I don't give many products my seal of approval, but this album, misfires and all, is worth your time. Other things that have recently earned my seal of approval include my teddy bear Thomas and my pajamas that have reindeer on the feet. Those things are crazy!