Sparks Fly On E Street: Bruce Springsteen, “Real Man” (1992)

Here we have the sister track to The Long Goodbye. Thematically? No, but certainly musically: it again goes almost nowhere.

I know that Bruce was going for some happier, lighter weight pop tunes on this album, but some of these things needed a little more work. Not even the presence of David Sancious and Ian McLagan can help.

You can see our man trying to sell the tune at it’s premier in Stockholm. For me the problem is lack of dynamics. He gives it a shot (and so does Roy), but there’s really not much to work with.

Up next: Pony Boy, supposedly the worst song in the Springsteen canon. Or is it?

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Mark Saleski

Mark Saleski is a writer and music obsessive based out of the woods of central New Hampshire. A past contributor to Jazz.com, Blogcritics.org and Salon, he originated several of our weekly features including the Friday Morning Listen, (Cross the) Heartland, WTF! Wednesday, and Sparks Fly on E Street. Follow him on Twitter: @msaleski. Contact Something Else! at [email protected].

Latest posts by Mark Saleski (see all)

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• How Deep Cuts Propelled Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born in the U.S.A.’ - June 4, 2024
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