Monday, April 25, 2005

Must Watch: Bruce Springsteen Storytellers on VH1 Saturday night was the premiere of the Bruce Springsteen episode of the VH1 series Storytellers. The format of the show is well-established: an artist plays some of his songs in front of a small audience, then talks about what he was thinking when he wrote it, or what the song means to him. The hour-long show highlighted songs both old and new, including a pair from his new Devils & Dust CD that comes out Tuesday. I've been a Bruce Springsteen fan for nearly 20 years, and this was one of the most riveting performances I can remember. The performance was almost entirely Bruce on his own, accompanying himself either on guitar or piano. Springsteen's wife, Patti Scialfa, came out to join him on "Brilliant Disguise", and it turned out to be one of the highlights. To me, "Brilliant Disguise" had always been about Bruce and his bad experience in marriage to Julianne Phillips. And at the time, it likely was. But he explained that songs can change over the years, depending on how they're sung and who you sing them with. What once had been a song about betrayal had changed into a song about questioning: Are you the man you should be? He closed with "Thunder Road", a song that has retained its power since it debuted nearly 30 years ago. Bruce called it an invitation: to the album, to his fans, to rock and roll. Consider this my invitation. Don't miss this show. To find out more, check out this account from Caryn Rose, who was at the performance a few weeks ago. 1:11:30 PM    comment []