I have never gotten my kids to pay much attention
to Springsteen, even though I play more of him
than anything else. I have, however, turned my
9-year-old daughter into a Zombies and Moody
Blues Fan. Perhaps my proudest cultural
achievement.

I thought that was by Patti Smith

Patty Smith sang it, David--but Springsteen wrote it (and sang it too)

OUr 3-year-old loves Talking Heads--the "Stop Making Sense" video in particular--dances around singing, "Take me to the river--Drop me in the Water . . . "

DeLong devotees will recall that the professor
has previously written about Springsteen's "Live
1975-85". See Disc 2, track 5.

Rea, tell the three year old that "Take Me To The River" was an Al Green song first. Not that the Talking Heads version isn't better....

Re:

>>Rea, tell the three year old that "Take Me To The River" was an Al Green song first. Not that the Talking Heads version isn't better...

And the Patti Smith version of "Because the Night" is much better than the Springsteen version... sounds better... and has much better lyrics.

There's also the Natalie Merchant (late of 10,000 Maniacs) live version, which is good in its own right.

A more interesting question to which version, Patti Smith's or Bruce's, is better is whether Manfred Mann's remake of "Blinded By the Light" is better than the original. For a long time I went with Manfred Mann, but now I go with Bruce. What say the DeLongizens?

This weblog is averse to politics of this sort, but did anyone see Conan O'Brien on Wednesday? The two guests were Al Gore and Bruce Springsteen, and I think a lot of information could be gleaned from 1) How the audience reacted to Gore, 2) How the audience reacted to Springsteen, and 3) The difference between 1) and 2). I stayed up to see Bruce, but couldn't help but notice the night/day difference between how comfortable Gore and Springsteen were on the show. Gore looked as if he was allergic to his own skin, and Bruce looked like a kid in a candy store. For anyone thinking if Gore should run, get a copy of this show and you'll see why he shouldn't.

Incidentally, the extra-long, horn section-backed version of "Kitty's Back" was crackerjack, and "Merry Christman Baby" was fine as well.

Wow, I didn't know "Because the Night" was by Bruce Springsteen or Patti Smith. I thought it was a Natalie Merchant song.

That explains why it's so, majestic, I guess.

How did they come to collaborate on that song? I love Patti Smith...but she said that she regretted that song becoming such a big hit. "Now little 14-year-old girls rush the stage and squeal, 'Sing BECAUSE THE NIGHT! Sing BECAUSE THE NIGHT!'"