Customer Reviews

Songs: Bruce Springsteen

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a well written historical perspective of Springsteen's last twenty five years musically. Unfortunately, a true Springsteen fan already knows the lyrics to his songs inside and out. If the book had been all stories and Bruce's insights to his songwriting it would have been perfect. Bruce's own words gives the reader an inside view of the artist's thoughts, decisions, and the aspirations of his music. The picture history ties it all together as a great document of a truly one of a kind performer. I recommend this book to anyone who understood that "Born in the U.S.A." was not an anthem for America but a cynical protest against our treatment of the Vietnam veteran.

"Songs" is available in both softcover and hardcover formats, with very different prices for each. If you want to spend a higher amount for a beautiful hardcover, here it is, or if you want to own the book for more of the content and to save money, there is a softcover version. I own the hardcover and am enjoying it very much. The paper is thick and glossy. This is a very hefty tome. The hardcover with its' large format pages does make for a great coffee table book.

As a preface to each album's lyrics, Bruce provides a short essay about what was going on with his life and what his idea for the message of the album was. There are great photographs throughout. Sometimes there are color photocopies of his handwritten lyrics, taken from the spiral notebooks that are his "blank slates". I really enjoyed reading the songs whose original lyrics were different, and the places where he inserted 2 or 3 different adjectives as he tried to find the best one for what he was trying to convey. I especially enjoyed "Candy's Room" as it is one of my favorite songs, and I was surprised to see that the original lyrics were quite a bit different and I got a gist for the original intent of the meaning of the song vs. my own interpretation of the final product, which were two different things.

Artistically, the book could use some improvement; after all, this is a coffee table book! The font is very plain for the lyrics of the songs, and the same font is used for every song, and every page of lyrics has a plain white background. I assumed since this is a coffee table book that the text would have been stylized a bit, perhaps with different fonts for each album or for every song, to match the mood of the song or such. For example, the printed lyrics in "The Rising" CD special edition package are printed with a very funky font (which are actually a bit hard to read when printed with such tiny font). Where in the CD case I am fine with clearly printed, plain style tiny font, I thought this large format book would have used the space and artistic flair to stylize it up a bit, as was done with "The Rising" lyrics inside the CD package. Another way the book could have been stylized more is to have the background of the song lyrics not plain white but at least a color or having a textured look, a border or a collage of sorts, with small photographs around it or something to jazz up the look of the pages. However, with it the way it is, with plain font on white paper, it allows for clear reading and forces the words to stand on their own and for what they are. Without clutter, we are easily able to use our imagination and form our own opinions. Perhaps that is what Bruce Springsteen wanted for us: to have his lyrics speak for themselves, to not overload our eyes and mind with images, to have a clear canvas and allow our own minds to use the words to form our own thoughts and images.

Despite my desire for it to be more artsy, I love the book and am treasuring it. This is about letting the songs speak for themselves. If you are looking for a biography of Springsteen, this is not it; there are other books already out there that fill this market. I hope at some time in the future a second book will be published with all of the songs that this book lacks, such as the recordings on the "Tracks" album that are not featured here and all of the recordings released since this book was published in 1998.

I agree with other reviewers here, I also crave more detail directly from Bruce Springsteen about his own reflections on his life, his songs, and his general outlook on things. We have plenty of information from other writers (i.e. Dave Marsh) but we are critical enough to know that we can't fully trust biographers, rock critics, and other spin-doctors. We want the information right from Bruce, not filtered through interviewers for television programs, and not through biographies. We know Bruce is a real person with strong convictions and firm opinions and we crave the information (the pure truth) directly from The Boss. However, I can appreciate that at some point, Bruce Springsteen and other musicians (and celebrities) who have reached a high popularity status level want to keep at least some of their lives and thoughts private. But I will ask anyway: "please...can we have more directly from you, Bruce"?

The first thing you should know about Springsteen's book SONGS is that it is a coffee table book for his upward-mobile-now-a-little-bit-older fan base. If you are looking for some real insight into the Artistry of the Boss, this book will hold little more than tangential appeal. Perhaps, there will come a day when the Boss himself will write a memoir of sorts and his devoted following will have a better and more direct look at the inner most mind of the the rock musician himself. (And It wouldn't suck if Landau wrote a book about all the musicians he's worked with either. Jon ? )That said, the book is really a must for the fans who can afford it. There's nothing wrong with wearing your love for Bruce on your sleeve (or in this case your coffee table). And to be sure, the few essays that are in the book, which are penned by Springsteen himself, are thoughtful, earnest and intellingent as you might expect. Hey, it feels good to be a little a bit older. Be honest, doesn't it ? For lots of us, these really are Better Days. So if you can afford it, do yourself a favor and by this book. Spend some time with this art book that gives us some great images of Bruce. It isn't like images of Dylan and Guthrie aren't found in over sized photography coffee table books in book stores across the country.

Unlike the brilliant Tracks album that was also released this week, Songs is a disappointment. With chapter lead-ins written by Bruce, it was billed as an inside look at the creative process of one of rock's greatest songwriters. It is an inside look, but a safe and sanitized one. The intro sections are quite short, with the bulk of the book devoted to reprinting the lyrics to Springsteen's recorded work. With the exception of Springsteen's second album, "The Wild, The Innocent..." all these lyrpcs have been included with the albums and hence have been available for years. There are a small number of handwritten pages from Springsteen's songwriting notebook, two of which are intriguing (in the sense that they are more than just the published lyrics in Bruce's handwriting): pages of notes and drafts that evolve into the song "Prove It All Night" and a couple of pages of song title ideas, which give a brief peak into Bruce's actual process of starting with the germ of an idea and then building on it or incorporating it into other ideas. Those who have watched and studied Bruce for years will be left yearning for more: for instance, there is scant reference to how Springsteen takes the words that he has written and sets them to music. Perhaps the most glaring omission, on first read, is the failure to reference how the turmoil of his failed first marriage and divorce affected his songwriting. The reader is taken from the Tunnel of Love chapter (whose songs were written toward the end of his first marriage) straight into the middle of his next relationship with Patti Scialfa. Those of us who followed the break-up with Julianne Philips, the beginning of the relationship with Patti, and then the creation of Bruce's family with Patti, are left to read between the lines and wonder. Frankly, the lyrics to some of Patti's songs on her first album are more illuminating. What makes this omission most disappointing is that earlier in his career, Bruce brought his audience right into his life and the troubles he had with his parents, particularly his father. Bruce obviously feels the need to protect his privacy, which is his right, but not what we have come to expect from this performer. One further note: the vast majority of the pictures in the book are of Bruce backstage or otherwise not performing -- there are hardly any performance shots. They're nice pictures, in some cases great pictures, but again, they leave the reader hungry for more. For the greatest collection of Bruce performance shots, check out the coffeetable book that came out several years ago, with an intro by Robert Hilburn.

Songs by Bruce Springsteen is a great coffee table book. There is not much to read in the book, although Mr. Springsteen does provide some insights into the songs, it basically consists of the lyrics to all his released songs with a generous amount of pictures. The pictures are superb and the presentation is impeccable. Some original handwritten lyric sheets are also included. The book is really for hardcore fans and if you are one, you will not be disappointed.

I recently purchased this book and like how Bruce explains what was going on in his head in every album from Greetings from Asbury Park to The Ghost of Tom Joad. The book has some great in-studio photos of Bruce and other E Streeters as well. The reason I only gave it 4 stars is there is so much more to the man other than the albums. He's basically mute about his personal life, touring,comments about his work by critics etc. Hopefully he has one more book down the road that will address these subjects.

There's nothing wrong with having most of Bruce Springsteen's lyrics collected in one place. Add some brief comments about each of the albums from which these songs were taken, throw in a few good photos of Bruce throughout the years, and you have a decent book. But...as is so often the case with Springsteen's releases, you get the feeling that this could have been so much more. There's much wasted space- each song is printed in large type over a blank white page. Springsteen's comments are wonderful, but too general and brief. I would have loved to have read thoughts on each song, although I realize that this may have been a formidable task. Finally, there are so many songs missing. Nothing from "Tracks" or the bonus disc of "Essential", none of the various soundtrack or B-sides, and nothing on the many essential songs that appear only on Live 75-85 like "Because The Night". The updated paperback version contains lyrics from "The Rising" and the two new songs from "Live In NYC", but that's really not enough to justify rebuying this book if you own the original hardback. So for an attractive collection of lyrics from Springsteen's major albums (most of which already contain lyrics), I suppose this book does the job. But given that his work consists of so much more, this is disappointingly and unnecessarily incomplete.

Like an earlier reviewer, I found this work disappointing. Having one consolidated source for lyrics is nice, but somewhat inconsequential. It's great to finally get lyrics to his 2nd album, but it's not enough. His intros to each chapter are too short to really provide more than a cursory perspective. The pictures are nice, but the lack of live performance shots is puzzling. His discussion of the Tunnel of Love, without mentioning his troubled relationship with his first wife, comes off as disengenous. I truly expected more. If you're a Springsteen fan, you have to buy this book. Just don't expect too much.

There is very little a Springsteen fan can enjoy, learn or read by buying this book. Basically, it consists of all the lyrics of every album packed in a rather expensive and heavy book. But the lyrics are in the albums themselves, and even those from the second album (which didnt contain them originally) can be easily found on the net. The pictures are few and the written pages are not many. I read the whole book in a couple of hours. I was disappointed because I like to read and I was expecting many days in company of the Boss and his comments about his songs.

I dont see much sense in printing the lyrics of Bobby Jean (to put an example) first with Bruce's own handwriting in a full page, and then the same lyrics type written on the next page... and so on, album after album. Only some brief notes by The Boss at the beginning of each album. So you better go and buy a book about the Boss that can actually be READ.

If you are a big fan of Bruce Springsteen, you *must* own this book. Yes, it has the lyrics to all his released songs, but it also has handwritten drafts containing alternate lyrics, which are a fascinating look into his songwriting process. Bruce also writes briefly about each album, although one wishes they were longer. There are also dozens of great pictures not found anywhere else.

There are always cynics, but Bruce is exactly as he appears to be. Sure he is a rich rock star, but he remains true to his roots, and true to his artistic vision. If he was so interested in money, would he have played two 2-1/2 hour shows in Asbury Park, NJ this past week, with all proceeds going to charity?? I think not!