Jan 19

Jan 19 Born to run, by Bruce Springsteen

Hold tight and “Strap your hands across my engines”

I love that line! It’s always the one I listen out for. This is a feel good, follow your dreams and instincts kinda song and its energy never fails to get me moving and feeling glad to be alive.

How do they do that?

Springsteen reportedly said that he wanted “Born to Run” to sound like “Roy Orbison singing Bob Dylan, produced by Spector." Can we hear any of that in this track?

So let’s start with Phil Spector, who passed away this week. Clearly a troubled individual, but if artists had to be ‘normal’ and likeable the list of greats probably wouldn’t be, well, that great! In my view, it should and is possible to appreciate the brilliance of their art without condoning their worldly behaviour and to try to ignore their contribution to their genre leaves an historic gap which distorts the achievements of others before or since.

If you look up Phil Spector, all the sources refer to his “Wall of Sound” technique. This was about using a large ensemble or multiple layers of the same instrument, or sometimes unexpected instruments for a rock song (e.g. harpsichord) and mashing them together so that you hear a homogeneity of sound rather than individual instruments. This was an approach to music arranging and production which, given the technology at the time he began employing it, was pretty difficult (or at least painstaking) to do. The effect is a density and intensity, even when played through poor quality devices such as radio or juke boxes.

In “Born to Run” we can hear saxophones, guitars, and drums as distinct instruments, but the layering results in a gravelly effect, perfectly suited to the theme of riding off on a motorbike and the growl and throb of its engine. If you listen carefully for the keyboard, you find that this is overlayered with electronic, almost music box sounds, which may seem incongruous but somehow works. Does it add to the sense of following a dream, perhaps? Apparently, much of the song was composed at the piano, which makes listening to the keyboard lines all the more interesting, as you can hear the original bare structure of the song and then begin to understand how all the other layers are contributing.

The so-called “Wall of Sound” is most definitely present, but what of Roy Orbison? I have to say, he is not the first singer that comes to my mind when listening to this song or when thinking about Springsteen’s singing style! But actually, there are vocal elements that could be described as slightly “Orbison-esque.” Ignoring the raw, husky rock power of his singing for a moment, there are occasions where he allows himself a purer tone. For example, towards the end of the song at the line, “Baby we were born to run” he sings a big swoop on the word “run.” The tune only moves one note (a whole tone), but the swoop gives us all the micro-tones inbetween, delaying the resolution to the note we feel the music wants to get to, and creating first tension and then a vocally and harmonically pleasing and satsifying end to the sentence. (Sadly, this gets lost in the live recordings, though). This swoop technique is an identifying feature of Roy Orbison and contributes to the intensity and passion in his songs. Additionally, there is an intimacy in the way he delivers the lyrics, particularly at the lower end of his range and this too seems to be emulated by Springsteen. Try “You got it” as an example of what I mean here. I couldn’t find a recording of Springsteen covering this, but I bet it would be awesome.

For me, the directness of the lyrics (a la Bob Dylan), the vocal technique (reminiscent at times of Orbison) and Spector-like layers of production create a song that is full of charisma and energy and very much achieves Springsteen’s quirky vision for combining the styles of three such different artists. Genious!

Hope you enjoy it or feel inspired to listen to something new today.

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