Sisyphus at 67

September 6, 2016 1:09 PM

“One of the points I’m making in the book is that, whoever you’ve been and wherever you’ve been, it never leaves you,” he said, expanding upon this thought with the most Springsteen-esque metaphor possible: “I always picture it as a car. All your selves are in it. And a new self can get in, but the old selves can’t ever get out. The important thing is, who’s got their hands on the wheel at any given moment?” Bruce Springsteen in Vanity Fair, on his new memoir.
posted by chavenet (18 comments total)

Sometime in 1975, my new neighbor across hall with the phenomenal stereo and a record collection like I had never seen before or since, said to me "you have to hear this guy, Bridge, you're gonna love him" and for reasons I don't know, he added "he's from New Jersey" (we were in IL). He ran the disc washer over the album and cued up "Sandy".

Scott was right, of course, I loved him. Still do. I've seen him a few dozen times, unfortunately, it's been almost 15 years since my last show. I hope to reenter the dating world soon and at the top of my list of non-negotiables (which includes left-of-liberal politics) will be a deep and abiding affinity for Bruce.

(Thank you for posting this.)
posted by she's not there at 1:52 PM on September 6, 2016 [4 favorites]

I read this earlier today, and I spent a while trying to find the Super Bowl diary mentioned in the second section of the piece. It's been pulled from his website, and I can't seem to find it, but I'd love to read that. It's possible that I'm a rube for believing that he genuinely wrote every word in the book, but I do believe it.
posted by gladly at 1:57 PM on September 6, 2016 [1 favorite]

Just noticed the "hesstillalive" tag, which is off-putting in ways I can't begin to describe.
posted by she's not there at 2:02 PM on September 6, 2016 [1 favorite]

This is the best and worst of Metafilter: Awesome articles that you simply must read... and trying to keep enough of your head at work to remain gainfully employed.

I'll read the rest of it later tonight.

DAMMIT!
posted by dfm500 at 2:19 PM on September 6, 2016

I love Bruce's music dearly, but his obsession with cars and driving is not going to age well.
posted by entropicamericana at 2:37 PM on September 6, 2016

Even though I'm a huge fan, I'm not looking forward to reading 500 pages by an amateur author. The few sentences from the book in the Vanity Fair article are not promising. Chuck Berry -- one of rock's most brilliant wordsmiths -- also wrote his own autobiography, without the help of a ghostwriter. There are amusing sentences here and there, but the book as a whole is all but unreadable. Bob Dylan's book is supposed to be good, and they say that Keith Richard's book is amusing. But both of those are short. The words "short" and Bruce Springsteen are rarely used ij the same sentence. There's a reason why such things as professional writers exist, and there's a reason why virtually every celebrity who writes a book hires one.
posted by Modest House at 2:40 PM on September 6, 2016

@Modest House, have you read the Dave Marsh book, and if so, how is it? I had a chance to pick it up over the weekend and have been wondering if made a mistake in thinking I should get it at some later point. (His "Heart of Rock & Soul" is one of my all-time favorites, and a life-changer for me.)
posted by kimota at 2:51 PM on September 6, 2016

> they say that Keith Richard's book is amusing. But both of those are short.

I would subjectively say that Keith's book is not particularly amusing, but at 564 pages it is objectively not short.
posted by The Card Cheat at 3:23 PM on September 6, 2016 [5 favorites]

That's really more of a Morissette-esque metaphor.
posted by Sys Rq at 3:53 PM on September 6, 2016

Modest House: you ever read Guthrie's "Bound for Glory"? That's probably the best, most enjoyable musician autobiography (in Guthrie's natural, colloquial voice) I've ever read. Not exactly a rock and roll autobiography, but down there in the root system of rock and roll.
posted by saulgoodman at 4:37 PM on September 6, 2016 [3 favorites]

Loved the Guthrie book! You're right about the natural, colloquial voice. The Dave Marsh "Born to Run" not only has the facts of Bruce's life, it's informed by Marsh's own lifelong heart and brain-driven romance with the music and his first-rate style.
posted by Modest House at 5:31 PM on September 6, 2016 [2 favorites]

The first half of Keith's book when he talked about his youth was quite interesting. In the second half when he was being all drunk and decadent the writing just got murky and repetitive. It was like a haze fell over everything.

I was disappointed by Neil Young's memoir, it was like he was trying to be weird and funny but the jokes seemed flat and he rambled a lot. Jimmy McDonough's biography of Neil is much more vivid.

My fave musician memoir is 'How Bluegrass Music Destroyed My Life' by John Fahey. It's just... insane. I got the impression that he really doesn't care what people think about him. Only recommended if you have an ironic sense of humor and a tolerance for strangeness.
posted by ovvl at 5:58 PM on September 6, 2016

Over the past decade there have been a lot of "what's it all mean?" books about the Boss, some good some not so much. It'll be nice to hear from the man himself.

/huge fan
posted by jonmc at 6:06 PM on September 6, 2016 [3 favorites]

There's a reason why such things as professional writers exist, and there's a reason why virtually every celebrity who writes a book hires one.

Neil Young wrote his, and it definitely showed.
posted by waitingtoderail at 7:24 PM on September 6, 2016

I have to say I don't see how being a wealthy and successful musician is like being condemned to push a stone up a hill for eternity
posted by thelonius at 3:48 AM on September 7, 2016 [1 favorite]

What is a four-letter synonym for stone?
posted by entropicamericana at 4:24 AM on September 7, 2016 [2 favorites]

What is a four-letter synonym for stone?

you know, some of us have higher standards than that
posted by thelonius at 4:44 AM on September 7, 2016

standards’? hey fellas, standards! well ohh-la-di-da, mister frenchman
posted by entropicamericana at 5:47 AM on September 7, 2016