U Talkin’ U2 To Me? - U Springin' Springsteen On My Bean? - Tunnel of Love

Episode Date: November 14, 2023

Adam Scott Aukerman go track-by-track through Da Boss's eighth studio album, Tunnel of Love, to discover if it's a righteous follow-up to Born in the U.S.A. or a stinkarooni. Plus, Scott plays Adam his Cadillac songs playlist, they dive deep into Bruce's love life, and ask each other, "What's your favorite John Grisham?"

From born in the USA to death to my hometown, this is you springin' Springsteen on my bean! The comprehensive and encyclopedic compendium of all things Bruce. This is good rock and roll. Music? Adam, you're nodding along to our theme song. You like it. I think this might be my favorite song. What is this? This is Cadillac Ranch, of course.

That's so good. Welcome to the show. You spring in Springsteen on my bean. And today we're going to be talking about the album Tunnel of Love by Bruce Springsteen. And my name is Scott Aukerman. I'm the host of the show. I'll be guiding you throughout everything happening today. And sitting at my two is a man named Adam Scott. Hello. Hi. Great to see you.

Okay. Take care. Oh, no, no, no. You still have to do the entire episode did you think you traveled all the way out here to the studio just to say hello yes uh your studio i trapped all the way out on catalina island oh you were on you were at catalina no that's where your studio is right yes you took a helicopter did you forget i forgot, it's- I rode all the way out here. Rode what? A boat. Oh, you rode- I rode-

R-O-W-E-D, not R-O-D-E. Oh, I thought you rode a horse. You literally rode a rowboat all the way out to my studio? All the way here. I'm tired. Yeah, I can imagine. It's a long row. You're very sweaty.

You're gleaming with sweat. I counted the amount of actual poles, rows, I had to endure. Do you count just the ones towards you, or do you count the ones away from you as well? I count ones away and towards you as one. Okay, that's a one. That's one. Okay, and how many rows did it take? Three.

Three, that's right. So those are powerful one. Okay. And how many rows did it take? Three. Three. That's right. So those are powerful rows. Yeah. I mean, I put all my strength into it. You put your back into it. Yep. So let me look up the amount of miles from where did you sail from? Long Beach.

Okay. Long Beach to Catalina in miles. Before I went to Catalina, I stopped off in San Francisco and then Catalina. Okay. Yes. So how many rows was it to San Francisco? I'm talking whole trip. Whole trip three.

Three rows. So it must be one row to San Francisco. Yep. Then another row all the way back to about Long Beach. And then another row to Catalina. I had to stop in Long Beach again. I should have said this. Okay, one row to San Francisco.

One row to San Francisco. One row back to Long Beach. And I realized when I was at Long Beach and I was about to turn and do one last row to get to you here on Catalina, I realized I forgot my wallet. Oh no, you need your wallet? Yeah. What if the boat police pull you over? Exactly. Because I'm going fast. I know. So I had to stop off in long beach get in my car drive up to uh you know like los

angeles where we live right right uh go home i didn't have my keys my house keys i only had my car keys because i left my house keys in san francisco you left your house keys in san francisco that's right just like the song wow yeah the song is i left my heart in san francisco uh but for our listeners yeah tony bennett every tony bennett used to talk about it he'd say hey everybody so anytime i sing hard i mean car keys exactly yeah her house keys so i realized i needed to go to the key store oh no you know that place yeah yeah the one in uh in la no san diego oh so you had to go all the way down to san diego down to san diego to the key store that's the best key store though and what you do is you give them your address yeah they put that put that through the computer. Boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop.

You pay them. 3D printer. You pay them 500 doll hairs. Right. Just doll hairs. Where'd you get all these doll hairs, by the way? I keep them in the trunk of my car, just a glad bag. If you ever are out there on the street and you see just a doll lying by the side of the road.

Oh, man. That's prime doll hair material right there. Grab those doll hairs. So you pay and then they 3D print a key that goes... 3D print it. Because everyone's houses are in the database. Oh, yeah. You can get a key to any house.

But it's expensive. It's $500. Which is about... How many doll hairs are on each doll? I would say like, only about 250 hairs per doll. Probably. So this is the amount of like two dolls. Two dolls worth of doll hairs. Yeah.

And dolls these days, how much do they cost these days? Oh, I mean, at least a thousand doll hairs right so you're having to buy four dolls to slang for 500 doll hairs it's just two dolls right right so you have to you have to pay four dolls to get one doll this is a losing proposition no it's expensive it's so it doesn't make economic sense no in any case, then you drove back up to LA. Drove back up to Los Angeles with this key. Got your wallet. Got my wallet.

Drove back down to Long Beach? But you know what? It ended up I had my wallet. Where was it? It was in my pocket. Which pocket? It was the breast pocket of my tuxedo. I realized whenever I wear a tuxedo, I put my wallet in my breast pocket.

Just in case you get shot in the chest. Yeah. It'll stop the bullet. That's right. Yeah. So, bummer, but I got to go down to San Diego, which I love going to Sand Dog. Oh, it's beautiful down there. Yeah, Sand Dog.

The Gaslight District. Sand Dog. Sand Dog. The Gaslight. Oh. Everyone loves the gaslight down there everyone just making up stories or excuses um you're crazy for thinking this and then i got back in my boat one row one row all the way out here that was like 20 minutes ago i got here yeah

i have to say you're five days late i am oh you know why why because of everything i just told you well that's amazing um you didn't even i mean one row took you from long beach to san francisco i i would imagine you would only need to do like it's only 30 miles from long beach to catalina so i know you just did like a little tiny row yeah just to tug just just a brief tug a quick shot uh-huh was there wow i mean well thanks for coming i'm sorry you're five days late but uh no i appreciate it appreciate what you saying you're five days late or the thanks for coming part i appreciate everything i appreciate just being here and you saying hello and stuff. All right.

Well, welcome to the show. Thanks. Adam, we played our new theme song, Cadillac Ranch. Is it new? Hasn't it been on for like three episodes? For a couple of weeks. Yeah, something like that. And then in the last episode, we played this song here. I love you when you get on my nerves like you do.

Well, baby, you know you love me. Was this one of the B-sides? This is a B-side for Born in the USA. Well, come on over here and hug me. Baby, I'll spill the past. Well, honey, it ain't your money. Cause, baby, I got plenty of that. I love you for your pink Cadillac. Pink Cadillac.

Yeah. And this song you hated almost as much as Cadillac Ranch. Did I? Yeah. Yeah, it's not my favorite, but he plays this from time to time live, doesn't he? He does, but what's interesting about the two songs, Cadillac Ranch and Pink Cadillac, is I noticed that there's a through line with these songs.

Can you guess what it is? Is it that there's a Cadillac in the title? Well, they're both by Bruce Springsteen in a macro sense. Sorry, yes, both Bruce Springsteen songs. Yeah, but in a micro sense yeah i would say though that's the commonality they share is they're both about cadillacs and i started thinking like well maybe adam just hates songs about cadillacs so i've gathered a a grouping of songs about cadillacs okay and i want I want to see, we're going to play them

and you give me a thumbs up or a thumbs down. Did I say last episode that I did not like that song in Cadillac? Yes. Okay. I will say that I like it more than...

Than Cadillac Ranch? Yes. Quite a bit more. But do you like it? It's not particular. Okay. All right. So let's play some Cadillac songs and we'll see if you like it? It's not particular. Okay. All right, so let's play some Cadillac songs.

Okay. And we'll see if you like any of them. This is The Renegades. This is The Renegades. Well, my baby drew up in a brand new Cadillac. My baby drew up in a brand new Cadillac. What do we think, Adam? She ain't never ever coming back.

Yeah, I feel like i've definitely heard other versions of this song i think fundamentally i just don't give a shit about cadillacs so okay well i just don't get what we're gonna determine that's why they're singing about them that's a no okay this is uh an artist by the name of Joyce Green. I caught you cheating and running round and now I'm gonna put you in a hole in the ground I'm gonna ride in your fuel

Daddy in a black Cadillac A song called Black Cadillac. Oh yeah, you think you are. Oh baby, but you can't come by. What do we think, Adam?

I like this quite a bit more. Do you like it though? Yeah, I like that actually. You like it? You give it a thumbs up? Yeah,

it sounds like it's about a lot more than the Cadillac just is her mode of transportation. Transporting this person she wants dead. Yes.

So you like this. You would listen to it for pleasure? Yeah, I think it's fine. You would put this on in the house? On a playlist, sure. What does that mean? Why are you... I would put it on a playlist that you would just have on at home.

Why not? So you would press play on this if... Yeah, I wouldn't seek it out. You don't like it. Okay. This is the kinks. Now, they don't want a Cadillac. Huh.

Now that's a new spin. They're not talking about how much they love the Cadillac. So you would think I would relate to this. Yeah, I think you would really be into this. This is like prime Adam Scott material here. It seems that Cadillacs were a huge part of popular culture back in the day, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like it was the ultimate status symbol. Yeah, so what do we do?

And I just don't relate to that. So you don't like this? It's fine. You don't like it? I don't care. Here's the clash. Oh, yeah, I know this song. You know this song?

Yeah. And you don't like it? No, I like it. Jesus fucking Christ. You hate it. What is it with the fucking Cadillacs? Okay, this is Ariana Grande. Oh my God.

What do we think? I don't know. Okay, last song. This is Natalie Cole. Not bad, right? I mean, so far, it's 10 out of 10. So far, this is the best, right? Isn't there an Aretha Franklin song too?

Freeway of Love In my pink Cadillac Oh this is the same song Did Springsteen write this song? Springsteen wrote this This is pink Cadillac Turned into a hit for her. Well, baby, you know you bug me. There ain't no secret about that.

I think I like this a lot more. Well, come on over here and bug me. This is a hit for her? Yeah, relatively. Maybe I'll spill the facts. Well, honey, it ain't your money. Cause I got plenty of that I love you for your bank and that

Crushed velvet seats Riding in the back Losing down the street Waving to the girls Feeling out of sight All right, top five hit. Wow. Good for her.

Good for her. Of course, she came roaring back into the spotlight with... Unforgettable. Unforgettable, the duet with her deceased father. Was this pre-Unforgettable or post-Unforgettable? Pre-Unforgettable. Now, post her father's version, of course. But before she reinvented herself as a balladress.

She passed away, which is strange. I think I realized that recently and didn't know that she had died. You didn't think she ever would? I didn't think that would ever happen. That was eight years ago. Is that right? Yeah, in 2015.

She was 65. I mean, not horrible. And lived a great life, had a top five hit with the song Pink Cadillac. That's what I hear. So Cadillacs are the issue for you. So if any song is about a Cadillac, you're just predisposed to not like it. My issue is if a song is going to end up being about a Cadillac, chances are I'm not going to love everything that surrounds it. By the way, what kind of car do you drive?

I don't need to discuss that with you. Is it a Cadillac? Okay, fine. It's a Cadillac. I have several Cadillacs. Well, then what's your beef? I don't like people blowing up my spot. Oh, I see.

You don't like anyone else to know that Cadillac is a good car? I don't want anyone else to know. I don't want anyone else to like them. So you want, when you drive down the street, people to say, look at that shitty Cadillac. Boo. Yes. And they're not booing you. They're saying Bruce. Bruce. Because of his songs, Cadillac Ranch Boo! Yes! Actually, and they're not booing you. They're saying Bruce.

Bruce! Because of his songs, Cadillac Ranch. What's the difference? What is the difference? Boy, that was a fun game. What do you think? It was a journey. It truly was.

And so was it like one for six? I kind of like the Natalie Cole. I kind of like that third one you played, too. I forget who the artist. No, you weren't convinced of that. I don't think you liked it liked it okay you were trying to say you liked it yeah it was fine it was like background music to you yes when you say on a playlist like you put it on with a bunch of songs you do like and then you just zone out during but then a lot of the others or something if it was background music i would be trying to figure out how to skip it.

And how would you figure out how to skip it? Would you have to look up the owner's manual on your stereo equipment? By the time I figured it out, it would be on to the next Cadillac song. Well, um... You got to share that playlist with me, by the way. The full-on Cadillac playlist? Yeah, I definitely will. Yeah, I'll make... Someone out there, if you're a fan of this show, and we really hope you are, make a Cadillac playlist of all your favorite Cadillac songs and share it with Adam. Yeah.

PO Box, what's your PO Box again? 4-2-9-1-7-3-6-6. Mm-hmm. 7. Mm-hmm. 12. Mm-hmm. Apostrophe. Apostrophe. Pound sign. Mm-6. 7. 12. Apostrophe.

Apostrophe. Pound sign. Question mark. Question mark. 4-4. 3. Spelled out though, right? 3.

Yeah, 3-T-H-R-E-A. E-A-O. Just for in this one instance. Dash. Dash. Zero, zero, three, seven, two, seven, seven. Hold on a second. Seven, seven.

Got it. Seven, but S-E, numeral seven. Oh, like the movie. Like the movie. Okay. Dash. One. That's it. that's it that's it okay and is there a town or uh you're taking a victory lap with your drink by the way very dramatically raise the can to his lips like good bit uh tear out indiana tear out indiana of course and uh send that playlist i guess they can't send like a link they can send a piece of

paper piece of paper or a phone a phone with the playlist yeah with the playlist. A smartphone, yeah, with the playlist loaded. Sort of like the U2 record that was preloaded on. Yeah. Phones. iPhones, I believe, is what it was. Yes, it was iPhones. That's right. That went well. That went really well for them.

Yeah. If there is a demarcation point in their career, it's strange to say, but that is literally the before and after of their career. It's so strange. Adam, I did want to say I went to see a band I liked the other night at the Terragram Ballroom here in downtown Los Angeles. And a band called Deer Tick. I've had them on my sister show, CBB FM. It was an incredible show. Oh, good.

And they played a cover of a Bruce song. Really? And they put it out commercially as well. And let's hear a little bit of what he's saying. It's not Pink Hat Live. Too bad. I like it. And I ain't got nothing to say I come home in the morning I go to bed feeling the same way I ain't nothing but tired

And I'm just tired and bored with myself Hey there baby I could use just a minute of help You can't start a fire You can't start a fire. You can't start a fire without a spark. This goes for higher. Even if we're just dancing in the dark.

Pretty fun. Yeah, that's good. Where did they play? At the aforementioned Terragram Ballroom. Oh, yeah, you said that. Where is that? I don't know where that is. What, do you want me to give you an address?

No. You can look this stuff up, by the way. I guess I could. Like, anything I mention here on the show, you can make a mental note. Go to the library and look it up on the microfiche? Okay. Did you ever look up anything on the microfiche when you were young? No, it's just for, you know, movies, John Grisha movies.

Yeah. Have you ever looked anything up on microfiche? I think I used, yeah, I had to back when I was doing book reports. Not book reports, but like reports in late high school or something. Yeah, they had one in your high school library? No, they had it in the public library, but it was open to the public it was nice yeah it's nice when a public library is as long as you you know have a membership card sure you know what i mean library card yeah so it was open to the public as long as you had one of those so it was pretty exclusive okay

fantastic john grisham they called it mr microfiche didn't they because oh yeah yeah yeah yeah mr microfiche himself here we go mr microfiche at it again at it again what's your favorite john grisham oh wait is this an episode of what's your favorite John Grisham? Yeah. You're a mean one. Mr. Grish. You really are a he. Hey, everyone. Welcome to What's Your Favorite John Grisham.

This is Scott. And this is Scott. And we're talking John Grisham. Oh man. Our favorite, favorite author. Oh, by far. Mr. Mike Ravish. Ugh, Mr. Mike Ravish himself. Now, Scott, what's your favorite John Grisham?

I would have to say probably Jurisprudence Alert. Oh yeah, that's a good one. That's a good one good one right that is we it's it's it's fun because you learn about the law but it's also suspenseful if that makes sense i guess so i mean i didn't think it was that suspenseful because i kind of saw everything that was coming okay like on the first page john grisham basically says like hey by the way this is what happens what happens and i don't want you to be too scared yeah so this is what happens spoiler alert in case you just want to read the book without this but and then he just breaks down everything that's going to happen for about 500 pages yeah and then

but still really fun really fun and then the last pages hey just read the previous 500 pages if you want to know what happens that's so interesting so the book ends and he's like hey if you don't if you didn't get it just read the read everything that just happened yeah yeah read the intro that's great movie though really good movie i love matt damon in it super good as always yeah yeah that was a good movie that was back when uh it was matt damon and Yeah. Yeah, that was a good movie. That was back when, it was Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. That was back when they were... That was like their big break, right? Their big break, yeah. That was back when they were different ages, though. Matt Damon

was 25 years older than him. Right. And then Ben Affleck just caught up. Yeah. That happens a lot with writing and acting duos. Yeah. What's your favorite John Grisham? Booker movie. That's a good one.

Booker movie? Yeah. Yeah. It was an early one, but I thought it was him sort of in his prime, his early prime. His early prime. Yeah. Yeah. He had several primes.

Also. He had early prime. Yeah. Middle prime, late prime, prime and amazon prime he's a member yeah he's definitely a member yeah i mean why wouldn't he be why wouldn't he be he's very so many of his books yes and he's very wealthy he could you know squeeze out that uh uh paper shipping squeeze out that 40 buckaroonies that That monthly nut. He can cover it. And that's great for him.

It's good for him. Yeah. I mean, some would say he's so wealthy. Why does he even need a Prime membership? You know what? He's so wealthy. He could start his own Amazon-like service just for himself. Grisham's on.

That's right. Grisham Prime. I would pay for it. So would I. I mean, we love him. He's our favorite author he's the best so uh early prime yeah for john grisham early prime i love that book too what was it about early prime is good yeah that was in his late prime yeah definitely later prime was when he wrote early prime yeah but what was booker movie about? Booker movie was, uh, it's this fascinating case, uh, that was, uh, taken on by a young

upstart lawyer who didn't know what the hell he was doing. Oh man. I love that. Yeah. That type of character in a John Grisham thing. Brand new to this law firm. Yeah. Stumbling around wet behind the ears. Also wet in his diaper a lot. he has a he's six months old yeah and then there's this older mentor a prequel to boss baby wasn't it it was yeah no one knows that until now until now yeah we were revealing it yep really good uh the older mentor kind of guides him along holds him by the hand because he can't walk. Right. Yeah. So it's necessary. Helps him around the law firm.

Yeah. Changes his diapy. Changes his diapy. First day people are like stacking law books on his desk. Like, take care of this. Take care of this. He's like, wah. You can't even talk.

He just says, wah. Yeah. And they go, oh, I think he's hungry so yeah so one of the lawyers whips out her titty i remember and i don't know about that you don't know about i don't know about did you skip that page i must have maybe that wasn't in the movie oh wait this is a movie too yeah terry gar uh played the the judge oh right oh yeah the judge. Oh, right. Oh, yeah. The judge is a good part. Great role.

Yeah. The judge walks in and says, oh, wrong courtroom, and then turns around and walks out. That's it. That's the role. She won an Oscar. She won an Oscar for it. It's incredible. It was really good.

So that's my favorite. Yeah. I mean, not bad. Why wouldn't it be? Why wouldn't it be? All right. We'll see you next time thanks bye bye you're a mean one mr grish you really are a he

good uh yeah i like that those guys know what they're doing, know what they're talking about. Plus they revealed some incredible information about the prequel to Boss Baby. Cool entertainment news. Yeah. Where do you get your entertainment news usually? Oh, man. Where don't I get my entertainment news? Okay.

Let's start there, I guess. Okay. I don't get it here. But I could tell you. Well, you just provided me a piece of entertainment news, to be honest. Or not you, but the podcast that we were just listening to. Oh, right, yeah. So you did get some here.

I got some here. So I'm going to check that right off the list. Okay, where else don't you get entertainment news? The fjord. The fjord. Yeah. So the fjords of like Finlandland and right i don't get my entertainment have you ever been there no i bet if you went you could probably get some entertainment news

maybe but i've never been there so i've never gotten entertainment news from there where else do you not get your i feel like this is taking longer than if i just asked you where you get your well then you should ask me that i started with that and you did yeah and then you said where don't i get my entertainment news and i i'm sorry okay i you don't have to apologize no i am i'm sorry i it's okay why don't we start over okay hey where do you get your entertainment news from? I get it online. Oh, like a website? No, online. When you're in line for what?

Yes. The grocery store, Gelson's, Ralph's, whatever. Sure. I get my entertainment news. You don't hop the line? Say, hey, I'm Adam Scott? I don't do that anymore. Well, you used to do it.

Well, yeah. I mean, of course. Where do you get your entertainment news? Hey, where don't I get my entertainment news? Okay. Let's find out. Tell us where you don't get your entertainment news. Okay.

Entertainment Weekly. You don't get your entertainment news there. I wouldn't even touch it. Okay. E! News Daily. Okay. Entertainment Weekly. You don't get your entertainment news there. Wouldn't even touch it. Okay. E! News Daily. Okay. Entertainment Tonight. Okay.

Extra. Extra. Extra. Yeah. New York Times. The Old Grey Lady, of course. Deadline Hollywood. Okay.

I get it. Those are the places I don't get it everywhere else i get it everywhere else yeah what about the fjords oh yeah oh i love the fjords that's where you get your entertainment oh yeah i remember the last time i was there and someone was like hey did you know alexander skarsgård is going to be in the final season of succession whoa it was incredible they love him down there oh that's cool it's cool that because that was a cool piece of entertainment news it was i had no idea you probably found that way before like i did for instance yeah it was like an hour before that season started whoa yeah it was pretty cool i went around trying to tell everybody i couldn't get you on the horn

though yeah your phone was busy and then also my horn was busy. Yeah, that's true. What were you doing with your horn? I'm not going to tell you, but I'll just suffice it to say it was busy. It was quite occupied. Yeah. Occupado. Well, that's incredible.

We're going to be talking about a- Did you notice me triumph. Adam has a tick of, uh, taking a huge sip on the old, uh, water anytime that he feels like he's scored. Um, we're going to be talking about the album. Uh, what is it called? Tunnel of love on this episode, but we have to take a break. If that's okay, Adam. Can you stick around? Let me think of it.

Can we, as we break, can I think about it? Yeah, think about it as we go to break. And we're gonna come right back and hopefully Adam will still be here. We'll be talking about the album Tunnel of Love. You spring and springsteen on my bean hey welcome back you spring and springsteen on my bean and Hey, welcome back. You spring in Springsteen on My Bean. And Adam is preemptively eating a Listerine breath mint strip. Is that all you're eating today? I hope not.

Yeah, that's my lunch. That's your lunch? Yeah. Oh, Adam. I know. I know. You got to stay thin to be on TV these days these days you do you have to stay listerine strip thin you know back in um i guess the renaissance or whatever the yeah the more you weighed it signified to everyone like oh this is a wealthy person wealthy person they can afford food let's go back to that on screen and then all the people who did not weigh very much it was

because they were surviving the plague and yeah but also all they ate were listerine breast strips yeah so but i just like come on let's go back to that guy so yeah marvel movies and stuff like that everyone's super fat please give the rest of us a chance um adam we're talking about um the records uh tunnel of love yeah on today's show and do you want to go through some Okay, here we go. Now, of course, Born in the U.S. of A. That was released June 4th, 1984. Okay. If that gives you some idea of when that record was released. And it gives me an exact date.

Yeah, it gives me some idea. Some idea. So this was released three years and approximately four months later, October 2 of 1987. Oh, wow. So that's almost exactly, according to my calculations, three years later. And about four months, I would say, yeah. I thought you said October was when.

Oh, June. Yeah. Three years and four months. Shy about two days. Three years, four months, and two days. Shy two days. And four months, how about three years? four months, and two days. Shy two days. And four months. How about three years, three months, and 28 days.

28 days later. Ooh, I love film. Wait, is this an episode of I Love Film? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey, everyone. Welcome to I Love Film. This is Scott. And this is Scott. And do we even need to say it? We love film!

Films. Films. Fuck you. What? Sorry, I thought we were both saying fuck you to each other. Why would we say fuck you to each other? I just, you said for a really long time. Let's try that again. Okay.

Here we go. Ready? We love fuck you. Bye. Okay. That was a weird episode. I don't know why we still listen to that show. As far as I could tell, they didn't talk about movies or films or whatever.

They just kind of hate each other now. They just said, fuck you, and that was it. Yeah, I don't know. Jesus. I feel like they're past their prime. I guess Amazon Prime. Oh, I don't know. Jesus. I feel like they're past their prime. I guess. Amazon Prime. Oh, I wonder if they're members.

I hope so. Okay, so Tunnel of Love, October 2, 1987. When we last left off with... The Boss. The Boss. And the Edible Street Band. Our boy, Mr. Lilyhammer himself. That's right. Lilyhammer Steven.

Yeah. Had left the band. He wanted to go solo. Solo, his album sales were. Oh, come on. Come on. No, you did okay. Pull our punches.

Let's pull our punches. We don't want to do a TKO on Lily or Steven here. But no, Lil Steven left the band. They had a, Bruce and Lil Steven had a big cry sesh over it.

Bobby Jean. But they realized they had to go their separate ways. Nils Lofgren joined as a guitarist for the Born in the U. Excuse me. You all right? I hiccuped. I don't like hiccuping. You know how to stop hiccups?

How? You hold your breath. Okay. Swallow. 19 times. No. Swallow. 19 times. No, you swallow. You try and swallow like five times, I think. It's not easy.

Swallowing five times? You know where I learned that is who's the boss. When I was a kid. Is this an episode of Use Boston? I don't even remember. I can't even remember. I just heard it and I can't even remember what the title was, so I guess it's not an episode.

Okay, so Nils Lofgren joins the Edible Street Band for the Born in the USA tour. Great guitar player. Great guitar player. Great guitar player. We talked about him last week. Now, here's the other thing that happens right before the tour is Bruce Springsteen, the guy we're talking about. Uh-huh.

He goes, he's a bit of a bar fly he goes out there and likes to tip back a few Nils Lofgren? no the guy that shows we're not doing a show about Nils Lofgren

oh Bruce Springsteen likes to go to a bar sure he likes to go hang out at the bar sometimes he admits that in his book all right he goes to uh the uh stone pony out there in new jersey yeah in asbury park where they used to play where they used to play he's hanging out and uh there's a uh band that starts to play. And a woman by the name of Patti Scalfa is on stage. And she's playing. I think he says that the first song she plays is the,

tell him, tell him, you're never gonna leave her. Tell him, tell him, yeah. And the first thing she says is, I know a thing or two about love. He's smitten with her. They flirt. I think they drive around with a group of people afterwards or something like that. And so Bruce Springsteen starts thinking like,

okay, little Steven left the band. I kind of want this Patty Scalfa to join the band interesting and he says it's for two reasons one he wanted better backing vocals on the songs because at this point all he's really had is lily hammer yeah uh kind of half singing half shouting behind him in a great way uh but he wants just like more professional backing singers and she's a great singer yeah and number two he thinks like okay we've started to get so many new fans and they're it's not all just dudes anymore uh i want to have some women in the band in order for it to not be just a total sausage party it's great that's a direct quote um it's a great instinct because she is an incredible singer

and it does add a lot of richness to uh the proceedings thank you very much and a lot of richness to her bank account i'll tell you that much going on going on the born in the usa tour not bad on the pocketbook ah so um she gets hired just three or four days before the tour starts. Um, she's not very well rehearsed. They say really, yeah. Uh, under rehearsed,

underprepared, they say, but she's just kind of thrown into the lion's den. And, um, Bruce Springsteen also talks in his book about how, uh, he let anyone wear whatever they wanted to wear on the born in the usa tour right and how

awful everyone looked he says one of the guys is wearing like a cosby sweater and um he's wearing the denim and the bandanas so did he eventually start zeroing in on like how everyone looked yeah like before this tour i think he he was more of a task master about it of like hey we all have to wear this kind of thing but for this tour he was just like hey whatever you guys wear whatever and everyone looked like shit they looked insane so uh patty i think comes into his dressing room on opening night and is like what do you think about this and she's got like a white blouse and some jeans or something and he's like uh lose the blouse it looks too formal or something here's a bunch of my t-shirts do you want to wear one of those and so she wears his t-shirt on stage i think was exciting to him

um and so they go on this boarding the usa tour they start in arenas i think and then they graduates to stadiums by the end of it they're going all around the world it's just a super long tour um everyone feels like uh patty and bruce are maybe gonna get together there's obvious like tension between them romantic tension between them but springsteen also admits he goes like this is i'm not in a relationship anymore i'm suddenly really famous um i'm gonna go out there and date so he starts to sort of like date around he doesn't go for the groupies he says but this is you know pre-riah or pre-e-harmony you know how bruce wait there was a time when riah didn't exist what are you talking about this is you know nowadays if bruce springsteen were single he he'd go on eHarmony.

Right. That makes sense. But back then he couldn't. So he's just sort of like dating people. And then out of nowhere, Bruce starts dating a little person.

Julianne Phillips? By the name of Julianne Phillips. Model actress Julianne Phillips. They have a sort of tabloid love affair, whirlwind tabloid love affair. So can I just jump in here for a sec? So when he meets Julianne Phillips, there had been some chemistry and romantic tension with patty yes but they had never never hooked up consummated or hooked up or whatever in fact she is in the band and can see what bruce is doing in terms of his dating and just life and

it's just kind of like okay like whatever dude I see. That's interesting. And so he starts dating Julianne Phillips, and in his mind, he's thinking about how every single relationship he's ever been in has only lasted about two years, right? Uh-huh. And he goes, at two years, that's when the masks start coming off, and for him, everyone realizes he's a piece of shit, right? Uh-huh. And that's how he feels. It's like he's not worth love he says he learned it from his dad that his dad kind of treated anyone who loved him like shit yeah uh because they because he felt like he wasn't worth love so if they loved him they must be not worth love either pushing everyone away so that's what he his patterns were right but he's six months into dating julianne

phillips and proposes and she says yes they go off and and the press is following them trying to figure out when they're going to get married i remember this i remember not having a firm grasp on who exactly i mean i knew his brief bruce springsteen was but it was a huge deal it was a huge deal they had to get married at midnight in italy or something like that in order to throw the press off the scent um his family is there everyone's there but this is only six months into the relationship and bruce in his mind is saying like okay well when does she figure out i'm a piece of shit yeah and um so they go and do by the way patty weirdly enough starts dating tom cruise that's right i totally forgot about that it's just a bizarre side story wow she really one-ups springsteen yeah wow so good for her they they finished this super super long tour and uh patty just goes back to do it like i think she wasn't i don't think she

had the expectation she was a member of the band she just was on that tour right so she goes off and she's working on her solo record and bruce says like at this point i'm all bruised out like the whole bruce springsteen persona right i'm sick of it right i'm over it right it's been not only has it been the born in the usa tour but it's been like since the 70s that he's been doing the same you know the same street band show yeah the music has evolved but his like persona has essentially stayed the same. And it's gotten as big as it could go. They put out the, the live record,

which was the box set, uh, called, uh, 75 to 85, 75 to 85. Yeah. Which was a,

how many records was it? It was a lot. It's, uh, five records, a five LP set of just live cuts. He has this rep of being the best live performer. And so they took live cuts for the past 10 years and put it on this box set. It's a smash hit. I remember that being such a big deal too.

Yeah, anything he touches is turning to gold. But at a big deal too yeah anything he's touches is turning to gold but at the end of the tour he's like oh god i just can't even imagine being bruce springsteen anymore there's a funny thing where like his manager john lando says oh um okay well it's time for you to meet your accountant and he's never had an accountant before and he's like accountant what and he never had an accountant no one one interesting thing i just found out was you know how he's broke all the time in a lot of the our previous episodes i guess he he was a tax dodge guy he he never paid the right taxes until finally he was on the cover of time and newsweek in the same week and they started paying attention to him the irs was like wait a second yeah so

never heard of him i think they audited all his all his money and he's he's had to pay back like so much so much money at this point so but finally at the the end of this tour john lando's like okay well this was a big success do you want to meet your accountants and he's like i've never had okay yeah and the accountant basically writes down a figure which is like the biggest amount of money he's ever seen like this is the your money this is your money now do you remember because like in my 20s before i like had acquired life skills and I was doing guest spots and stuff, so I had all these W-2s from all these different places. And then I would save all my receipts. I used to go into H&R Block with W-2s and a plastic garbage bag filled with receipts and just sit down and spend the entire day there with someone.

I did my own taxes. You did? Yeah. But I had to save all those receipts and all that kind of stuff. And yeah, such a pain in the ass. But when you're an actor, you can write off so much stuff because you're using it as research. Yeah. Like, for instance, I bought this album, Tunnel of Love.

Wrote it off. I'm able to write it off, if you can imagine. You can still feel that, too. The fact that you were able to write i was 1299 glowing this morning oh those 1987 write-offs they sure feel good um so he's he's super rich uh and um but he's sick of bruce springsteen he he gets married to this uh julian phillips the the model actress fletch lives from fletch lives exactly she meanwhile is like going off and doing movies like fletch lives and he's on tour they don't spend a lot of time together and bruce springsteen starts kind of resenting her and at one point he starts feeling like and he says this was not the case but

in his mind he's like is she only with me because of my money and because i'm famous and he says she's that was not the case but that was the insidious thing that was like in his mind particularly if you're not a person is not around you can start coming up with whatever you want right and so at some point he is just like really having trouble with this relationship so and he feels like he's achieved everything he can achieve with the edible street band and doesn't really know how to kind of vocalize that to him right so he's sort of at the point where he wants to do what he did with the album Nebraska, which is just put out a record of him doing solo stuff.

So he starts working at his new home studio, which back when he did Nebraska was just a four track, which had just been invented, mixing it to a boom box. Like in a barn. Yeah, and now he has in his house he has a 24 track studio so it still is semi-rudimentary but it's way it sounds everything sounds way better yeah and he starts off to thinking he's gonna write an album of love songs because he just got married yeah and so that's where he starts there are there are songs that are just love

pure love songs of like a you know devotion you know expressions of devotion but the more he starts writing it and the more he's having trouble with his marriage the more other songs dark songs about love start to seep in and it turns out to be uh in terms of the lyrics a very kind of mixed bag of love songs and songs that are doubting that love even exists i would say predominantly pretty dark pretty dark songs love songs so he in terms of the recording uh who do we have? We have produced by Bruce Springsteen, John Landau, and guess who's back? Chucky Plotz. The Plotster. The Plotster's back.

And what I think happens is Springsteen records all these at home, playing all the instruments, and he uses a drum machine on it, which is the same drum machine that Prince used on when doves cry. And, um, then starts to kind of go like, okay, how do we, do we replace some of the instruments,

like the drums with real drums? What at some point, I think Chucky plot says like, why don't we just rerecord everything with the edible street band and Springsteen just like shoots him a look like yeah because he's looking to kind of redefine his sound who he is he doesn't want to do the whole east band thing again so they'll so someone else starts to mix it and make it sound a little more professional i have a question yeah is it before or around this time that he officially disbands the east street band no that's later that's later he's still he he

everyone is kind of getting the hint so basically like he'll call up max and say hey do you want to come down and re-record some of these drums that i've put on drum machine but max will just be sitting there just like hitting the snare right and that's it right there's not much to do there's not much to do at one point he says springsteen flew him out just to do a drum fill into the chorus like he's like okay thanks max yeah and so max starts getting the hint and goes like okay i think i need to go back to law school yeah so he goes back to law school he goes back to law like he doesn't have enough money from touring for 10 years sandwiches oh okay so he had plenty of sandwiches oh yeah okay he sold them though to jared from subway but he was oh that's not good no he was probably also just looking for something to do yeah it's

weird that he wouldn't like start a band i don don't know. Or join someone else's band or whatever. Or be the band leader on a talk show. Yeah, it's so weird that he wouldn't do that. Yeah. But Nils Lofgren has brought in just to play a solo on one song. Tunnel of Love. Tunnel of Love, yeah. And he's like, oh, wow, it's so flattering you want me to play.

He's never played on a Springsteen record at this point. But he's like, it's so flattering's so flattering you want me to play. He's never played on a Springsteen record at this point, but he's like, it's so flattering because Bruce is such a good guitar player. Springsteen just tells him, like, it's in C. That's all he tells him. So he sort of practices some stuff in C and then flies out and lays some stuff

down. They spend all day just kind of like fucking around and putting together a bunch of stuff, but that's all he does on it. think clarence sings on one song but you can't really hear him uh it's really just a solo record and a solo record where he's it's got a lot of like drum machine stuff on it now everyone from the east street band plays on it right? But it's disparate and kind of hodgepodge. I think. Little Steven's not on it, right? Gary Talent.

Oh, he would do this thing where he would say, okay, if you can beat what I did on the recording, I'll keep it. So Gary Talent, he comes in and only plays bass on spare parts. Everything else they don't use right um patty comes in and sings backing vocals on three songs because he really likes her voice right um nils only does the guitar solo on tunnel of love and he does backing vocals on a song danny federici does organ on three songs clarence only does backing vocals on one you can't hear him roy bitten does a piano on brilliant disguise and synth on tunnel of love wow so like they're

they're barely on this record and whereas bruce is like vocals backing vocals guitar mandolin bass like everything if you're guessing yeah he did that's that's all i'm off the top of your head guessing um yeah so it's it's james woods the actor is harmonica on spare parts which is super cool i don't think it's the actor james wood no it's someone named james james wood um so he this is here's another thing he plays it for little he plays the record for little steven who's not on the album because he's quit he's quit yeah yeah yeah but he plays it for little steven because he and little steven are still buddies yeah there's a funny story in bruce's book where they get kicked out of disney Disneyland for wearing bandanas because everyone thinks they're either a blood or a crib.

They went to Disneyland, just the two of them? Yeah, and Little Stephen's so excited and they get kicked out and they're like, fuck you, we're going to Knott's Berry Farm. And then they go to Knott's Berry Farm and they're like, we're not letting you in with these bandanas either. Why don't these take the fucking bandanas off? Because Little Stephen doesn't want to take his bandana off and so bruce backs him up and goes i'm not taking mine off either all right well that's what happens i guess um as springsteen says he's the little steven is the creator of the male babushka but he plays this record for little steven and little steven goes what is this shit and he goes i don't know like this is what

i'm going through right now yeah and little steven goes no one cares what you're going through like you're you're here singing for the common man you're singing about what they're going through no one gives a shit about what you're going through and they're like fuck you fuck you oh so they got like into it They got into a big argument about it. Whoa. And little Steven goes, I think he heard what I had to say, though. But he put it out. He put it out, so maybe he didn't.

So yeah, that's where this is when the album comes out. That's the background. And the E Street band is kind of left to be like, okay doesn't even we'll talk about it after we hear the record but there are no plans to even tour right at this point so that's where everything is at for this album that's the background we have to take a break when we come back we're going to listen to it and decide whether this album which is following up one of the biggest albums of all time we're going to listen to it and decide whether this album,

which is following up one of the biggest albums of all time, whether it's a righteous follow-up or whether it's a stinkeroonie. Let's find out. Let's find out. We're going to take a break.

We'll be right back with more You Spring and Springsteen on My Bean after this. It sounds like a Tom Petty song in a great way yeah rendezvous you know full moon fever was similar his first solo album for tom petty when he would have like all the heartbreakers are on it except for stan lynch i think and they all kind of came in and did little bits and pieces but the stan lynch the drummer was not invited that's right i remember i watched that uh peter bogdanoff oh yeah documentary really good yeah um yeah so uh tunnel of love uh it comes out on october 4th of 1987 now what was do you remember this coming out totally what

was your point of view on it? I remember because I was in high school and just starting. I guess I was like 15, 14, 15, and really plugged into MTV and everything. And Brilliant Disguise and Tunnel of Love were played constantly. The videos for those. So this is really strange to me because i was 17 yeah yeah i guess i was in acting school yeah i got maybe the year before was my peak mt or maybe the year after were my peak mtv 17 you're like not at home as much and i also was going to regular high school

during the day and then going to the School of the Arts in the afternoon. Yeah, you probably didn't have time to give a shit. But I remember it came out, but I never heard a single song from it for 10 years. Oh, wow. Until I heard covers of some of the songs by bands that I did like. As far as I was was concerned this album bricked because i never it made no cultural impact what is bricked mean i did poorly um like what was a a bomb yeah yeah because i i just never heard any of the songs it didn't seep in to the yeah

cultural consciousness the way born in the USA did. No, not at all. But it was, I mean, it was a big, I was a big Rolling Stone reader at a subscription. It was all over that. I felt like I read about it more than I ever heard any song from. And the whole thing about his relationship and the East street band,

not being as involved as someone that wasn't a Bruce Springsteen fan at the time. I got tons of info about it. Right. But the video is particularly Tunnel of Love. Brilliant Disguise was the first single, I think. Brilliant Disguise was first, then Tunnel of Love. And Tunnel of Love was on all the time,

and I thought it was annoying. I maybe heard Tunnel of Love, but I was surprised because when I looked up this record, it actually was kind of a hit. It was a number one record, which although that, you could have put out anything and it would have been a number one hit for Bruce. Because pre-orders would have been so huge that being a number one album is no big deal. But two of the songs, Brilliant Disguise brilliant disguise and tunnel of love were top 10 hits and then i think uh one step up was 13 went up to 13 or something tougher than the rest is huge i mean no well that was never even a single though in the but just culturally it's like oh my god this song it just it did not feel like it made any impact

to me and it kind of felt like Springsteen was over. Well, he was definitely, it was definitely kind of a boomer thing. And boomers at that point were young, young, like yuppies. They were like 15, 16 at that point. Yeah, they were like 12 years old. But the fact, but also him in like a suit on the cover with a completely different aesthetic. in like a suit on the cover with a completely different aesthetic. It was like this huge- It was another Annie Leibovitz cover,

but he's in a black suit- With a bolo tie. With a bolo tie. It looks very, very late 80s. Yes. It looks like everyone in the Roy Orbison- Tribute movie. Tribute movie, yeah.

But also the, what's the um he's leaning against a car i wonder what kind of car this is i mean i'll bet you it's a cadillac the beau diddly kind of rhythm of the first song it was right around the time of desire and yeah it was guess what? It's a Cadillac. Is it a Cadillac? T-Bird. Thunderbird. Ah, that's not a Cadillac.

That's not a Cadillac. So close. I love the cover of the album. I think he looks awesome, and I love bolo ties. Cool, but it definitely is like, I feel like the the the conversation around it was like oh he's trying something different yes and then to me to me i felt like it sank like a stone because i never heard any song from it so i was just like oh okay well we don't need to pay attention to bruce springsteen anymore yeah um and i i never heard any of these songs until about 10 years later when i heard a couple of covers by a couple of artists i really liked we'll talk about that when the

songs come up but um so but did you ever buy this record i did like when you caught up with it the same a couple years later because i remember liking brilliant disguise but it wasn't my thing but then just a couple years later in the you know columbia uh oh yeah the record the record club again i know we always talk about i had so many aliases i mean friends would come over they'd be like how do you have like a hundred cds where did you get these um i got it then and brilliant disguise or something i always put on mixtapes and stuff oh alongside that cadillac song yes all right oh and the first song i would put on because it's short and catchy so

it was short meaning like it could fit on to the mixtape well if you had like a minute and a half at the isn't it a short two minutes and 11 seconds okay if you had two minutes and 11 seconds at the end of a tape if you only had two minutes and nine seconds you're out of luck you're just gonna get tape hiss yep you don't want that no um all right well let's uh you want to hear some of this yeah all right let's hear it this is how this is track one on side one this is how the new bruce springsteen sound starts and this is a song called ain't got you by bruce springsteen i got the fortunes of heaven and diamonds and gold i got all the bonds baby that the bank could hold well I got houses across the country, honey, end to end And everybody but him wants to be my friend

Well, I got all the riches, baby, any man ever knew But the only thing I ain't got, honey, I ain't got any I got a house full of Rembrandt and priceless art And all the little girls that want to tear me apart When I walk down the street, people stop and stare Well, you'd think I might be thrilled, but baby, I don't care Cause I got more good luck, honey, than old King Farouk Got the Bo Diddley beats. Yeah, it was this.

It was George Michael's Faith. It was Desire. It was a real thing at the time. Yeah. George Michael's Faith. It was Desire. It was a real thing at the time. Yeah. So this is, I mean, very stripped down.

No E Street, Edible Street Band. Yeah. I mean, barely any percussion. Yeah. Just a guy going... I presume that's Bruce Springsteen. The harmonica? That's James Wood. No, deek, deek. I presume that's Bruce Springsteen. The harmonica, that's James Wood.

No, I mean just going, deek, deek, on the little wood block. Oh, yeah, you're right. That's electronic, though. Probably. Maybe he bought one. He had enough money at the time. Really? Those are expensive.

Maybe he had like a woodshed out back and he just. Oh, he probably made one. Yeah. Maybe he got Nick Offerman to make him one. That's how he got famous. There's that video, I think, of this song where Bruce Springsteen is at a concert and he pulls someone up from the crowd and it's Nick Offerman and Nick Offerman just makes a woodblock for him.

Oh, God, I wish that was true. That would be amazing. So, I think standard issue love song kind of satirical he's got all this money but he doesn't have you but he's also acknowledging how his life has changed and how he's also kind of been putting himself down a little bit saying like i'm getting paid all this money to do what comes naturally it's easy for me right like i don't deserve that it kind of falls in line with what you were saying oh interesting yeah it's i don't know what do you think about it as an opener though i like it because it's such a statement it is a statement of like hey i'm not going to do the edible street band stuff anymore totally which i think is admirable but when i think about

the album as a whole in retrospect i wonder why it didn't start with tunnel of love but yeah or brilliant disguise right brilliant disguise doesn't actually sound like an opener i guess i don't think so either but i feel like tunnel of love is a mission statement as well of like yeah love is scary like what he ended up saying it's not as stripped down though so maybe he wanted it to start a little more spare because if he started with tunnel of love and we'll hear tunnel of love it's got so many keyboards that maybe people would have been like sell out but this is more of a statement of like hey we're gonna be doing stripped down songs we're gonna yes tunnel of love is also kind of a band song so it

yeah i don't know i i don't think it's a as far as a song goes it's not as a fleshed out and a full like bruce springsteen song it's just sort of a slight little kind of comment on on what he's doing but i i really like it i always liked it and especially if you have two minutes and 11 seconds two minutes 11 seconds you can Oh, two minutes, 11 seconds. You can't do any better. Yeah. There's got to be other two minute and 11 second songs. No, that's the only one.

No. Okay. All right. So that was Ain't Got You. And let's go to track two on this side. And also you got James Woods playing harmonica. This is Tougher Than The Rest. This is Tougher Than The Rest. Well, it's Saturday night

You're all dressed up in blue I've been watching you for a while Maybe you've been watching me too So somebody ran out Maybe you've been watching me too. So somebody ran out. Left somebody's heart in a mess. Well, if you're looking for love. Honey, I'm tougher than the rest. Some girls, they want a handsome dance

Or some good looking joke On their arms Some girls like a sweet talking Romeo Well around here baby We'll round here, baby I learned you get what you can get So if you're reppin' up for love Honey, I'm tougher than the rest Yeah, the road is dark

Tougher than the rest. This also is maybe more of a straight-ahead love song. Yeah, yeah. This was probably the first song from this record that I heard because in the mid-'90s, I heard the Everything But The Girl cover of it, which I think a couple people that i've dated have been really into that particular cover it's like stripped down and was that was this on

the jerry mcguire soundtrack too huh i know there's an original bruce springsteen song on Jerry Maguire, but... Or maybe a different Cameron Crowe movie. Huh. Huh. I don't know. Is this an episode of Huh? I think it is. Hey everyone, welcome to Huh. This is Scott. And this is Scott. And today we're just kind of saying... Huh. Huh.

There are things... It's similar to things that make you go, hmm, but it's different. It's a little too different. I don't think it's similar at all. Thank you. It's more like things that make you go, huh. Huh. Huh. Huh. Huh. Huh.

Huh. Huh. Huh. Huh. Huh. Uh-huh. Caw-caw. Caw.

Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. Oh, wow. By your command. Shh. Oh, heaven. Hello, son. You're dead. Right this way.

Huh. Huh. Bye. Bye. Okay. Huh. Huh. All right.

Hey. I don't know if it's in Jerry Maguire or not. Okay. Huh. Huh. All right. Hey, I don't know if it's in Jerry Maguire or not. Okay. But yeah, I heard the Everything But The Girl version. Let's hear a little bit of that. It made me appreciate the song because I kind of feel like the Springsteen version has very like 80s production. Yeah, I kind of like that about it. Oh, yeah. This is good.

Yeah, it just made me really like this song. I know a few people would put this on mixtapes and stuff. And I was like, oh, Bruce Springsteen song. Oh, wow, interesting. I'd never heard this album. That's a really nice song. It's Secret Garden on Jerry Maguire, but I thought that was in it too,

but I'm probably mistaken. Secret Garden, we'll be talking about that in a future ep. Well, too secret at this point. Yeah. He hadn't even written it. Yeah. Total secret. So what do we think of Tougher Than the Rest?

I love it. Great song. I love that song. Yeah. And I really like that big, thick keyboard sitting on top of it. Is that Roy Benton? You know, i don't know but yeah i do love that song i love that song weinberg does the snare and he hits one symbol during it but there's that big it starts with the drum is that not so let's let's hear it. It's because it's... The bass, I think, is a machine.

And he's hitting the snare. Whoa, wow. Stick, stick. And then there's a lot of echo on that drum. Yeah. Yeah, but a beautiful song. I think when he does it these days, too, all the 80s production is kind of stripped out of it in he does it these days too, he'll,

you know, all the 80s production is kind of stripped out of it in the live version these days, obviously, but really nice song. It's, it's Danny Federici

is the Hammond organ. Aha! Federici! Federici! Okay. Track three of side one. This is all that heaven will allow. This is by Bruce Springsteen.

I got a picture in a locket That says, baby, I love you Well, if you didn't look then, boy Then fellas, don't go looking now Well, if she comes a-walking Hell, that heaven will allow Early she comes a-walkin' Hell, that even will allow Say, hey there, Mr. Bouncer Now all I wanna do is dance But I swear I left my wallet

Back home in my workin' van Call a swim to slip me in, man I'll make it appear somehow I can't be late, I got a day With all that I've been through This is the most cheery song, I think, on the record. Yeah. Seems like the record might be starting with more straightforward love songs.

Yeah. And then getting darker and darker as it goes. But yeah, these first three are all like, oh, wow. Springsteen's in love. Great. That's a fun song. Yeah, I like it. Okay.

I like it. What do you think? I like it okay i like it what do you think i like it it's um i it's interesting because i i don't know that it's ever like risen to the top of my list of great springsteen songs but i enjoy it like if you put it on a playlist, I would, that's right. Um, okay. So then hard cut to track four of side one. This is spare parts. Bobby said,'d pull out Bobby stayed in

Jane had a baby Wasn't any sin They were set to marry On a summer day Bobby got scared And he ran away Jane moved in with a ma Out of Shawnee Lake

She said ma sometimes my whole life feels like one big mistake She settled in in her back room, time passed on Later that winter, her son come along Step off And broken heart Keep the world turning around Spare parts. Begins talking about Bobby promising to pull out. Spare parts.

Begins talking about Bobby promising to pull out, but he didn't. So they had a baby and Bobby said, later. Is that what he said? Yeah. Oh, wow. What did you think he said? I wasn't listening to the lyrics um yeah this is more hard and a little more pessimistic this was a single it was yeah this was a single it went up to oh wait no not in the u.s

is that right no it was not in the U.S. Is that right? No, it was not in the U.S., yeah. But single in other countries. Live favorite. You got James Woods on the harmonica going... I don't think that's James Woods, though. Well, according to Wikipedia, it is. Oh, okay.

What do we think of spare parts adam um oh yeah you're right that is james woods uh i uh yeah it's fine it's like a an album track that i don't wouldn't like reach for i think it's it's good like how if it was next to you, would you press play on it? Like if you didn't have to get up? Like if there was a machine there that only played that song, would I press play on it? Yeah. Sure. If it was like right now,

how far away would it have to be for you to say like, I'm not getting up and playing? It would have to be like all the way across town across town you wouldn't but if you were in the same room with you you would get up yeah okay all right interesting um i would imagine it's great live uh but it's not like one of my favorite uh bruce springsteen songs what about you scott it is feeling like this album that they're front loading all of the more classic it almost feels like elvis costello's king of america record you know where it's like

hey this is a classic rock record this is an east street band just rock meets soul almost even born in the usa what do you mean how they front-loaded that with the more kind of right right right i thought you were saying this is a lot like born in the usa in terms of the sound no but front-loaded that with the more kind of... Right, right, right. I thought you were saying this is a lot like Born in the USA in terms of the sound. No, but front-loading like the more kind of recognizably... All right, this is track five. You're the one that started making the point. This is called Cautious Man.

Cautious Man. The Lord was a cautious man of the road He walked looking over his shoulder And remained faithful to his code When something caught his eye He'd measure his knee And then very carefully he'd proceed But he met a young girl in the early days of May And it was there in her arms He let his cautiousness slip away.

In their lover's twilight, as the evening sky grew dim, he'd lay back in her arms and laugh at what had happened to him. And laugh at what had happened to him On his right hand Billy tattooed the word love And on his left hand was the word fear And in which hand he held his faith Was never clear Was never clear Come in dense summer He took his young lover for his bride

With his own hands Built her a great house Down by the riverside Cautious Man. Similar melody to Highway Patrolman. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it feels kind of like a Cautious Man. Similar melody to Highway Patron. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it feels kind of like a...

I know what you mean, because I guess what I'm trying to say is it feels almost like an old song. You know how a lot of older, older songs have kind of similar melodies? Like they're all sort of classics. It's like not trying to do anything daring with the melody um he says springsteen says this is very autobiographical about a person who falls in love marries but fears his own wandering heart and uh this is kind of where everything starts to go bad on the record. Right. Yeah, I like this song. Yeah, it's good.

I don't know that I... Would I reach for this? I don't know. How far away would it need to be for you to not reach for it? I'm trying to tell if I never heard the song ever again would i be mad if it was 40 yards away and you had a segue would you zip over there and press play yeah okay you know i would all right no this album is vibes it's definitely a certain vibe more than i'm enjoying the songs there are there's an overall vibe to this album that more than any

of his albums preceding it i would say it's more of a snoozer than anything that came before right but i love the parts of it parts of it, yeah. But I feel like it's a little treading water a little bit. Right. Okay, well, let's hear the last song on side one. This is Walk Like a Man by Bruce Springsteen. I remember how rough your rain fell on my, on my way down there And the tears cried on my shoulder I couldn't turn away

So much has happened to me That I don't understand All I can think of is being Five years old Falling behind you at the beach Tracing your footprints in the sand Trying to walk like a man This is about his father.

This is a good song about his father, though. As opposed to all the other ones. Hmm. This is a good song about his father, though, as opposed to all the other ones. Hmm. About a guy standing up on at the altar waiting for his bride to come and he's thinking about his own father. Mm hmm. I've heard this song many times. I couldn't ever hum it to you, though.

Yeah, I know. Same. Not breaking through to me, but Walk Like a Man. Hey, some apes did it. And everything on this earth is different because of it. Yep, that's right. Yeah, it's a little boring, would you say? Yeah.

Yeah, it's a little boring, would you say? Yeah. Yeah, unfortunately. But, all right, so that's side one. What do we think about side one so far? There's a couple classics, a couple that are like a little. I'd say one classic. Yeah, tougher than the rest. Tougher than the rest, yeah. It was a classic.

And then some ones that I kind of harmless yeah nice songs yeah and then a few that are just like snoozers maybe yeah okay let's go to track uh one on side two this is a single this was the second single and um we were this is the last song that they recorded i believe or a late one of the latest editions where suddenly springsteen sort of figured out this song and he got a lot of the band to come in and play on it um this is tunnel of love the titular tunnel of love by bruce springsteen Thank you. That man sitting on a little stool Takes the money from my hand While his eyes take a walk all over you Hands made of tickets, smiles and whispers

Good luck, well, cuddle up, angel Cuddle up, cuddle up my little dove and we'll ride down baby into this tunnel of love Feel the soft silk of your blouse And through them soft grills in our little farmhouse And the lights go out and it's just the three of us, yeah You, me and all that stuff, we're so scared of Gotta ride down, baby, into this tunnel of love love Well there's a crazy mission I spoke

in 5D I'm laughing at you you're laughing at me there's a room of shadows that can't so dark brothers easy for two people to lose each other in this town of love

So definitely the most forward thing. Oh, here's the Nils Lofgren solo. The most forward sounding song on the record, I think. I almost feel like this sounds a lot like some of his 90s work, like Streets of Philadelphia and Secret Garden. It's the fullest band sound so far. But you thought it was annoying when you... Well, just because it was on all the time and it wasn't...

You know, on MTV, you would just watch waiting for the videos you wanted yeah and they would play just like such a random assortment of like heavy metal and that's right and i remember this and little little lies the the fleetwood max song were out at the same time tell me sweet had to sit through them so many times um this went to number nine this is i maybe heard it when it was out but i don't know um this is all about using the funhouse tunnel of love as a metaphor for his own marriage um you hear a lot of like sounds they recorded at an actual amusement park. Yeah. What do you think in retrospect now? I mean, I like it for all of the production touches of the time. I like that sound.

But it's not like the greatest song. Yeah, it's not like a Glory Days or no dancing in the dark but i i like it i think it i think it's one of my it's not as opposed to the three classics i think that are on this record it's like number four to me yeah me too i i really i would rather listen to a whole album of this than some of the stuff that's on sure record. Sure. I do. I've always liked the song since I've kind of become a Springsteen fan. And also an amusement park ride

operator. Yeah. I mean, it's a must to listen for any amusement park enthusiast. Okay. So let's go to track two on side two. This is Two Faces. Which is the theme to Face Off, I believe. Yeah, they played this constantly in that movie.

I met a girl and we ran away. I swore I'd make her happy every day And how I made her cry Two faces apart Sometimes, mister, I feel sunny and wild Oh, what a love to see my baby smile. When dark clouds come rolling by, two faces align. One that laughs, one that cries.

One says hello, one says goodbye. One does things I don't understand makes me feel like half of my head so this is a song that he talks about when someone asked him like okay but when he revealed that he had depression what what songs do you think that you sort of talked about this yeah this is the first one that he mentioned because he talks about having two faces yeah one's happy and one's kind of a cry for help kind of thing yeah um so this is this is smack dab and we're in the deep end of him trying to say hey my marriage is in trouble.

What do you think of Two Faces? I like it. This is one where I could do without some of that guitar part just then. I like the song, though. I really like the melody of it. Yeah. I like this song. Yeah.

Maybe a different arrangement, but yeah. I like the electronic drums in there too. They kind of go. Yeah. Okay. So then we're on to, I think, one of the three SCC Stone Cold Classics. Yeah. This is the first single top 10 hit.

This is Brilliant Disguise by Bruce Springsteen. Is the band playing? What are those words whispered, baby? Just as you turn away I saw you last night Out on the edge of town I want to read your mind And know just what I've got In this new thing I've found So tell me what I see when I look in your eyes. Is that you, baby, or just a bridge into the sky? Brilliant disguise

All about the masks we wear During Halloween Yeah, I was gonna say Isn't it a Halloween song? I think it might be It is such an interesting I was going to say, isn't it a Halloween song? I think it might be. It is such an interesting follow-up single to Born in the USA. Yeah.

Like, doesn't sound anything like... No. It's country-tinged, great melody, great harmony. He's harmonizing with himself. Yeah. But the drums are just these... Yeah. But great song i it's one of my very favorite songs of his and i'd never heard it when it was a single i didn't hear it until 10 years later elvis costello put out a cover the video as far as i remember it is just one push in on him singing

the song there's no cut as far as i remember interesting i'll have to fact should i say as far as i remember a couple more times yeah i think so um i love also the version the broad the springsteen on broadway yeah yeah that's a great one um let's hear a little of the elvis costello version this is i hold you in my arms this is the first version i ever heard so i thought that this song i was like oh this is bruce springsteen this must be a country what is this on what album is it uh it was a b-side but then it's on kojak variety uh like the expanded edition i saw you last night Out on the edge of town I want to read your mind And know just what I got In this new thing I found

Interesting, but this is the version that I like that That I was really familiar with for a long time So when I heard the Springsteen version I was like, oh, he does it faster Yeah I like Springsteen Is that you, baby yeah that's awesome um yeah brilliant disguise one of the classics on this but also a weird left turn for most people who were springsteen fans going like this is the

lead track yeah it was a good choice for a first single as far as you know making a statement or something yeah totally um okay so uh this is now track four on side two this is i would say the the third stone cold classic this is one step up by bruce springsteen woke up this morning the house was cold check the furnace she wasn't burning. Went out and hopped in my old Ford. Hit the engine, buddy, she ain't turning. Giving each other some hard lessons lately. We ain't learning. But the same sad story, that's a fact. One step up and two steps back Bird on a wire outside my motel room He ain't singing

Girl and wine inside a church engine But the church bells ain't singing Girl and wine inside a church engine But the church bells ain't ringing I'm sitting here in this bar tonight But all I'm thinking is I'm the same old story, same old past One step up and two steps up What do we think of One Step Up, Adam? Love it.

Yeah, one of the better melodies on this album. It is all about a couple arguing and slamming doors, and then at the end he sees his wife again and but only in his dreams seems like he's trying to tell us something i don't know i i don't get it um i guess eddie vetter loves the song because he covered it before he was in pearl jam with it uh You want to hear? I haven't heard any of this. This is on YouTube. Maybe we'll This is before he was in Pearl Jam?

Yeah. Like he just basically tried to recreate the exact studio version. Whoa. woke up this morning the house was cold took the barn and she wasn't burning whoa giving each other some hard lessons lately what do you think i like that yeah that's cool you think i like that yeah it's cool i've never heard that before that's cool that's on youtube uh www.youtube.com i believe is where i have not heard of that you can find that song um okay so we have two songs left on this record and i could not pick them out of a lineup, but let's listen to them. This is when you're alone.

As we're tough and love was not enough. So you said, sorry, Johnny, I'm gone, gone, gone. Said my act was funny,

but we both knew what was missing, honey. So you let out on your own. Now that pretty form that you've got, baby, will make sure you get along. But you're going to find out someday, honey, when you're alone, you're alone. When you're alone, you're alone. When you're alone, you're alone When you're alone, you're alone When you're alone, you ain't nothing but alone

I remember this now. Yeah, I remember it now. I think it suffers from being too samey to some of the vibe on the rest of the record. Yeah, that's sort of, for me, what this album suffers from generally is. Right. But a nice enough song. I like this song a lot, actually.

It's all about the emptiness of solitude. You think it might be about when you're alone. I guess you're right. Yeah, that's probably what it's about okay this is the final song this is Valentine's Day this is by Bruce Springsteen who's this one by?

oh Bruce Springsteen thanks I'm driving a big lazy car Rushing up the highway in the dark I got one hand steady on the wheel One hand's trembling over my heart. It's pounding, baby, like it's gonna bust right on through. And it ain't gonna stop till I'm alone again with you. This song has no chorus, so I'm just going to jump in.

Okay. It's fine. It's fine. Valentine's Day. What if you played this for your wife on Valentine's Day? Honey, honey, check this out. It's a 40-year-old song with no chorus. Okay, so that's Tunnel of Love.

There are a few outtakes we don't have time to play. What do you think generally of the album? Like, I like the swing. I like the big swing of, hey, let's get rid of the edibles and let's put out just like he's obviously going through shit so i like it for that i would say it's not as successful as nebraska where it's yeah um it just kind of feels a little all over the place and sometimes a little samey yeah um i've heard other albums that are like an artist stripping things down like for instance

i mentioned elvis costello's king of america which i think are more successful yeah better songwriting on some of it some of these are just a little bland for me yeah it seems like on nebraska he had something he had to say whereas this it's sort of saying one thing over and over again. I think it also suffers from the fact that he was still with his wife and not delivering a straight up breakup album. He's trying to obscure it a little bit, you know, and if he if he just would have waited a little bit, he could have done a straight up breakup album. Yeah. So let's talk about what happened so um he puts this record out he's he doesn't even think he's gonna tour with it but i think i think he feels the vibe that people aren't paying attention to it all that much so he

schedules a tour a shorter tour and he calls it patty and he says like hey do you want do you want to come on this tour yeah and she says well i have my solo record i'm working on and he goes it'll be short it'll be short yeah it's not gonna be like the last one we're just gonna do a short one so uh they they call it the tunnel of love express tour um which means he's doing less nights, uh, in every city, which then of course, everyone's like, this is Bruce Springsteen on tour again. We all got to go. It makes like the ticket prices insane. Right. Cause he's doing smaller venues and less nights.

Right. With the East street band. And it's with the edible street band. He gathers the edible street band, but what he intentionally wants to say to the audience, we're not doing the Bruce Springsteen show. So he puts everyone in different places than they've ever been on stage. So if Clarence was on the left all the time, he puts him on the right and vice versa. You know, anyone who has their usual spot in the Edible Street Band, he puts him in a different place. And he puts Patty front and center.

spot in the edible street band he puts him in a different place and he puts patty front and center and then it also starts with like everything's carnival themed and it's he's got a ticket taker and the band enters two by with two at a time and like gives their tickets and rips it up before they get up on on stage they have um the miami horns who are uh it's uh the the horn section from conan um this is i think where max meets them oh interesting um they are doing horns uh bruce has always wanted to have a horn section on stage he's never been able to afford it until he had that fateful meeting with his accountant right where he learned that he's a rich person yeah um and then he eschews any song that they're known for playing right um like doesn't play born to run yeah he does do born he does born to run in a stripped down acoustic version but like all of the big e street band sort of staples yeah he doesn't play

and he instead plays b-sides and it's there's an intermission in the middle like the whole first section i think is very confusing to people because he's playing tunnel of love tracks and he's doing b-sides that are all in the vein of the the lyrics of tunnel of love and covers and stuff and then he sort of like does the second set he kind of ends on like he plays some of the a few of the old favorites but everyone is just sort of like what the fuck is going on here um and the band must have been weirded out that they were all rearranged yeah everyone's kind of like what why are why are we doing this meanwhile Meanwhile, he brings Patty on and he's been working with Patty

like in the studio for a while, working on, as he puts it in his book, on their duets, in quotes. And Julianne Phillips like joins the tour for a couple of dates and she dances on stage during part of it and then she's just gone. And everyone notices

Bruce doesn't have his wedding ring on uh i guess in his book there was a little overlap and he and patty get together and then he has to mention it to and and then he tells julianne phillips and they decide they're breaking up and but the the problem is is he's intentionally private about this so he says we're not putting out a statement no one gets deserves to hear about our public or our personal life yeah which then he's photographed in his underwear with patty on a balcony in a hotel during the tour i think i remember this and it's major news of like he's cheating on his wife yeah with patty uh which totally fucked up and he regrets he was like i should have put out a statement i it was the worst thing that i could have done to her to julianne phillips yeah so

just major tabloid news uh while all of this is happening and meanwhile he's with patty and she's seen she's already like because she was part of the band she's already seen the the some of the worst sides of him and so they're arguing a lot which he says is a good thing because he's never argued in a relationship before he's always been very passive aggressive and he goes like i don't have a problem you have the problem whereas he's obviously putting out a vibe of i have a problem um but he and patty are working through it and arguing and um he starts to feel like this is the most real relationship he's ever had because he's actually being honest with her he's also going to therapy um and they do the tunnel of love tour and it ends and uh patty says hey i'm pregnant

and with the baby with an actual baby it wasn't an alien aliens you know alien aliens type situation where it's like you know i have i have a creature xenomorph yeah bursting out of my chest um yeah she says i'm pregnant and he just totally like relaxes and gives into it and that is where the story ends for now very interesting and takes another chunk of time off yes we'll get to that in our next episode but um yeah so what do we think uh that's tunnel of love what do we think it's funny because i think of tunnel of love is one of my favorite bruce springsteen albums but then whenever i listen to it i remember like oh yeah this is kind of like a little boring and samey and some huge peaks but the thing is it's's got three great songs on it that you kind of go

like, I like the whole, and then even the album track, some of them are great, but then it's, it's, it's almost like, uh,

it wasn't pieced together correctly. Like it's a little too similar. Everything. If he just would have waited a year, he probably would have come out with something really interesting. Yeah. Um, he would have done

away with maybe all but then again he might have done away with tougher than the rest which is yeah yeah one of the best songs on the record but interesting and i mean it's definitely interesting but it definitely for a person who was not even really that into bruce springsteen it felt like a nail in the coffin and all the time he took off after it. Like if he had followed it up a year later with here's an E street band, edible street band, he clearly wanted to clear the decks and just not be that guy anymore. Yeah. And he wasn't.

Nope. All right. Well, that's going to do it for us. Um, Adam, anything else you want to say to the fans out there? Thank you very, very much for everything

wonderful sentiment from Adam Scott here we're going to see you next time until then we sincerely hope that you found what you're looking for bye what you're looking for. Bye.