Springsteen "Gave It a Name"--and Some Were Better Than Others (PART 2)

For ground rules and Bruce's first 8 albums, read PART 1 here.


9.  HUMAN TOUCH (1992)
Pop:  It's a cliche, which means the pop could probably max out at about a 3.  So 1, 2, or 3?  As cliches go, this one has an average amount of pop.
2 strings out of 6

Appropriateness:
*What’s the theme of this album?
Without the title as a guide, the theme of "Human Touch" is murky (notoriously so, among Springsteen connoisseurs).  Using the title as a guide (which is circular), one could suggest that the songs of "Human Touch" collectively focus on relationships.  Chronologically, thematically, and even musically, "Human Touch" is a transition between the hardships of "Tunnel of Love" and the peace and contentedness of "Lucky Town."  The Boss is still searching for what relationships are all about and--literally and metaphorically--he finds stability in the "human touch" of another.
*Does the album title capture this theme?
In a self-fulfilling sort of way, yes.  In a vacuum, would a neutral party independently listen to the album then choose "Human Touch" as the name of the album?  It's iffy.
3.5 strings out of 6

Memorability/Longevity:  Did Bruce want this album to be immediately forgotten?  He released it alongside the superior and more-memorably named "Lucky Town"; he titled it with a cliche; bizarrely, the title track isn't even the most memorable song called "Human Touch" by people who either are, or who have been mistaken for, Bruce Springsteen.  He had to know this last point, right?  Was it an inside joke?  If it was, that's kind of funny, kind of memorable, I guess.
1.5 strings out of 6

Alternatives:  In Springsteen's defense (sort of), he didn't have a lot to work with.  Most of the other song titles--say, 9 out of 14--are "plain-yogurt bland": "Cross My Heart," "All or Nothin' at All," "Roll of the Dice," "Real Man," "Man's Job," "Real World."  Those last three make me wonder if he used a starter set of refrigerator poetry magnets as a song-title prompt.  Most of the songs are as generic sounding as their titles.  Case in point: this is the Springsteen album that I cut my teeth on, and have probably listened to it from beginning to end a good 50 times--and I can't even think of how "Real Man" goes!  I don't even think it's on the tip of my tongue.  "Real World," both as a song and a theme-capture-er, rises above the competition, but its title isn't memorable and it doesn't exactly roll off the tongue (for a 2 syllable title, it takes about 3.5 syllables worth of time to say).  Could "Soul Driver" be a dark horse candidate?  Maybe--thematically it fits pretty well, and it's memorable and easy to say.  On the other hand, I think I like that song more than most Springsteen fans (a longtime friend of mine and Springsteen convert hates it).  And it just doesn't feel like an album title.  Where does that leave us?  Right back to where we started...  "Human Touch" it is.
5 strings out of 6

Average Strings for the Title: "Human Touch":

3 strings out of 6

10.  LUCKY TOWN (1992)
Pop:  Distinct enough--it's a figure of speech, but not one that anyone uses earnestly.  Short.  Easy to say.  Objectively, it's fine.  Subjectively...  well, I'll get to that.
4.5 strings out of 6

Appropriateness:
*What’s the theme of this album?
Bruce finds something like happiness.
*Does the album title capture this theme?
Almost.  What doesn't quite sit is that most of the songs attribute this happiness to an array of causes, and to Bruce opening his eyes and seeing them.  Maybe luck is a contributing factor, and I'm probably reading too much into it.  I mean, it's OK for Bruce to feel like the luckiest man alive.  But the songs betray a more nuanced and effort-driven arrival into "Lucky Town", and for Bruce to title the album as he did undercuts those complexities.  Of course, album titles are supposed to distill complexities into soundbites--it just feels like Bruce distilled in the wrong (or at least the shallowest) direction.
4 strings out of 6

Memorability/Longevity:  Bear with me here, but my brain doesn't know how to remember "Lucky Town" in any meaningful way.  It knows that a "Lucky Town" is a place, a concrete noun.  But it can't picture anything concrete.  Compare with "Nebraska".  I hear "Nebraska" and my brain pictures Nebraska: fields, silos, thunderstorms, corn, etc.  I hear "Born to Run" and my brain immediately knows we're talking about abstract concepts, and begins to wonder abstractly what it means to be "born to run."  But when I hear "Lucky Town," the part of my brain that interprets "Nebraska" tries to do the same with "Lucky Town," but there are no pictures evoked, nothing concrete at all.  My brain, with no concrete images, and not finding the phrase very alluring in the abstract, kind of just gets bored and decides that "Lucky Town," as an album title, is functional but forgettable.
2 strings out of 6

Alternatives:  Oh, what could have been.  "Better Days" is an obvious choice, and would have been a good one.  "Living Proof" is a highly regarded song on the album and distills better than "Lucky Town" does what the album is all about.  "Leap of Faith" is cliched, but also better describes what Bruce is talking about.  "My Beautiful Reward" spells it out a little much, but at least sounds personal.  Even "If I Should Fall Behind" (though long) would have provided a layered and humble introduction to the album (and perhaps shined some light on Bruce's best love song).
1.5 strings out of 6

Average Strings for the Title: "Lucky Town":

3 strings out of 6

11.  THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD (1995)

Pop:  Unconventional pop, but pop nonetheless.  A shout-out to "to the protagonist of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath" (quoting wikipedia) may not excite the younger crowd, but you gotta tip your cap for trying something different.

5 strings out of 6

Appropriateness:

*What’s the theme of this album?

Stories, characters, despair--think "Nebraska," but with a southwest flare.

*Does the album title capture this theme?

Confession time: I have neither read nor seen "The Grapes of Wrath".  I have some idea what it's about, and Tom Joad could have easily been a character that Springsteen came up with on his own and sang about on this album (or "Nebraska").  The characters on this album are modern day (mostly), hence their summoning Tom Joad's ghost, since Tom has long since passed away.  In a way, they are Tom Joad, continuing to provide new bodies and settings to the anguished spirit that he is.

6 strings out of 6

Memorability/Longevity:  I like the album OK, but I never forget the title.  Like a relief sculpture, both the album and its title are shaped by what is missing: it is the absence of easily interpreted choruses, enhanced instrumentation, and radio-friendly catchphrases that define "The Ghost of Tom Joad."  Paradoxically, these absences create a memorability of their own--indeed, like a ghost in the corner of a photograph.

5 strings out of 6

Alternatives:  There's some potential here.  "Youngstown" went on to become one of the best-known and best-loved songs on the album thanks to Bruce's full-band electrification of it on tour a few years later, but 1) you can't know the future, right?  2)  "Youngstown" is too similar to "Nebraska" as a title, and 3) geographically, "Youngstown" is something of an outlier concerning where most of the songs are set (or at least feel like they are set).  "Across the Border" would have worked, but you lose some subtlety.  "Dry Lightning" has some grip to it, and probably could have worked.  But "Joad," though a little long and beginning with "The" (usually a strike against a title, in my book), probably works as well as any alternative could have.

5.5 strings out of 6

Average Strings for the Title: "The Ghost of Tom Joad":

5.38 strings out of 6

12.  THE RISING (2002)

Pop:  A title with pop should both catch your attention and draw you to investigate.  This title does both of those things poorly, but not abysmally--think "D+" instead of "F".  The pop level increased for me when I really thought about it, but if I have to really think about it, it's not really pop--it's more like "intrigue". Thus, we have: [(not quite failing) x 2] + [intrigue / 3] =

2.5 strings out of 6

Appropriateness:

*What’s the theme of this album?

No other Springsteen album lends itself to using the album title as a legitimate self-fulfilling guide for establishing a theme.  One could listen to the album and ascribe either a dark or a hopeful theme.  There are some dark songs ("Nothing Man," "Empty Sky"), some brighter songs ("The Rising," "Mary's Place,") and some that are a mix of hope and despair, musically and/or lyrically ("Lonesome Day," "Into the Fire").

*Does the album title capture this theme?

Having just suggested that--thematically speaking--Springsteen could have reasonably gone either direction with the album title, here I'll go on record as saying that he chose correctly.  A darker title would have undercut the currents of hope more than a brighter title would have invalidated the sorrow.

5.5 strings out of 6

Memorability/Longevity:  For as little pop as I initially recognized in the title, "The Rising" has aged like a fine wine.  The song has absorbed character through the years, first as a post-9/11 anthem of resilience and later riding sidecar along with Barack Obama's "Yes We Can" campaign.  Like a prism that is clear to the naked eye, the song affects how we see the various contexts that shine through it.  As an album title, "The Rising" has proven to be similarly adaptable, framing the entire album first as a soundtrack for the heartache and hope following 9/11, but subsequently as a challenge to the downtrodden of every setting to not lose hope and, instead, to rise.  

5.5 strings out of 6

Alternatives:  While "The Rising" errs on the side of vagueness, other potential titles would have been too tied to their context to work well as album titles; or they would have leaned too far away from the theme of hope; or both.  The closest contenders are "Lonesome Day," "World's Apart," "Into the Fire," and "My City of Ruins," but none of these capture the album as "The Rising" does.

6 strings out of 6

Average Strings for the Title: "The Rising":

4.87 strings out of 6

13.  DEVILS & DUST (2005)

Pop:  An original phrase coined by Springsteen, one that piques curiosity, but leaves surprisingly little to the imagination: "Devils" is metaphorical, "dust" is literal.  Not his best, not his worst.

4 strings out of 6

Appropriateness:

*What’s the theme of this album?

See "Nebraska" and "The Ghost of Tom Joad."  I'm overstating some.  On the one hand, "D&D" certainly piggybacks on the styles and themes brought up in those albums (e.g., Wikipedia even points out that the song "Matamoros Banks"...seems to continue a story first told in 'Across the Border' in The Ghost of Tom Joad.").  There are lots of loner-types narrating the songs, telling their stories of struggle and desperation.  On the other hand, more than "Nebraska" or "TGOTJ," "Devils & Dust" has a few more seemingly-autobiographical songs interjected into the mix, creating am impression that Springsteen sees himself as a comrade of the characters.  Unstated but perhaps implied is the fact that Bruce has achieved some measure of victory in his struggles, and that in coming alongside his characters, he seeks to provide them with both empathy and assistance.
*Does the album title capture this theme?

The title track could be labeled (albeit simplistically) as a musical, political call to "Bring home the troops!"  As such, it captures well the twofold themes of "raising awareness" (empathy) and "offering help" (assistance) to those bound in difficult and/or desperate situations.  Furthermore, the metaphorical "devils" are not bound to (presumably) Iraq or Afghanistan; they live in America, too, in places like "Reno" and the "Matamoros Banks".  And dust?  Well, dust is everywhere, and is an image evoked many of the songs on this album.

5 strings out of 6

Memorability/Longevity:  I'm not typically a fan of having the first single of an album be the title cut, and this is a good example as to why.  The album title actually could have timelessly transcended the title cut more than it has.  But because the title track was released first, "Devils & Dust" was never really given a chance as a theme-capturing album title; it's just first track from the album.  That said, the name "Devils & Dust" is probably better remembered by the masses because of the promotional efforts regarding the title track, but it is likely recalled merely as a way of identifying the album rather than an artistic statement in its own right.

4 strings out of 6

Alternatives:  Not much competition on the track list.  An ultra-context-specific title like "The Hitter" or "Silver Palomino" would have been novel, but not as memorable or appropriate.  More general titles like "All the Way Home" or "Long Time Comin'" are too general and don't offer much to capture the themes of the album.  "D&D" was the best choice.

6 strings out of 6

Average Strings for the Title: "Devils & Dust":

4.75 strings out of 6

14.  MAGIC (2007)

Pop:  Oh-boy.  EW.com calls this Springsteen's "...best record since 'The River' in 1980."  I'm calling it the least-interestingly-titled album since then.  Please, make this title disappear... 

1.5 strings out of 6

Appropriateness:

*What’s the theme of this album?

This might be Springsteen's most political album, and with George W. in office, troops overseas, and individual rights being compromised left and right in the name of national security, Bruce isn't exactly conservative (pun intended) in expressing his opinions on the state of the union.  American liberties are being threatened, and the enemy is within at least as much as it is without.
*Does the album title capture this theme?

Meh.  There's nothing about the word "magic" that captures this theme.  The lyrics to the title track have a poignant moment or two, but you need to read the theme into the lyrics to make the connection.

2.5 strings out of 6

Memorability/Longevity:  If the effectiveness of "Devils & Dust" as an album title is compromised by the over-promotion and release of the title track, "Magic" suffers on the opposite end of the spectrum.  "Magic," the song, is lost in the shuffle, the last one I noticed and the first one I started skipping.  It certainly wasn't released as a single, and was played on a little more than half of the concerts in support of the album.  As an album identifier, "Magic" is OK, but it does little to bring the tracks together under a thematically distinct umbrella.

2 strings out of 6

Alternatives:  "Your Own Worst Enemy" immediately jumped out at me as a pretty bad--s title, and the cover photo of Bruce looks like it was taken with that track in mind; and it would have nailed the theme to a T.  "Radio Nowhere" and "Livin' in the Future" each have more character than "Magic" does, and sacrifice nothing regarding thematic significance.  "Long Walk Home" would have scored high on pop, appropriateness, and memorability, and is arguably the best song on the album.  Or, we could go with the track that was best known as the title of an Olivia Newton John song, until it became even better known as the title of a Cars song.  Sigh.

1 string out of 6

Average Strings for the Title: "Magic":

1.75 strings out of 6

15.  WORKING ON A DREAM (2009)

Pop:  My normal response to one of Bruce's album titles is to wonder, "What does that mean?"  For the best ones, I ask the question with sincere curiosity, eager to unwrap the plastic and find out the story behind the cover.  For the less-good ones, I ask, "What does that mean?" in a skeptical manner, as in, "What does that even mean?"  These less-good titles err in their failure to evoke a specific, meaningful image or idea.  Guilty parties include (to varying degrees) "Darkness on the Edge of Town," "Human Touch," "Lucky Town," and... (drum roll) "Working on a Dream."  These titles--and probably "Working on a Dream" more than any other--offer something like an "unpersuasive specificity," which is to say that I'll assume that Bruce really did have something specific in mind when he coined "working on a dream", but my image receptors find nothing tangible or emotive about the phrase.  My mind says, "This is fine."  My heart just shrugs.
2 strings out of 6

Appropriateness:

*What’s the theme of this album?

This Bruce's least thematic album since "Human Touch" (or maybe ever; I'm not counting "Tracks").  Word is this album evolved out of "Magic" sessions, and the content backs that up.  It's like someone tried to make a consistent meal out of what they had left in their refrigerator after a weekend of entertaining guests.  On a song-level, that's fine.  Some are good.  And I don't have any problem with Bruce mixing together different styles and themes within one album.  Could that in itself be the theme?

*Does the album title capture this theme?

Maybe the title "Working on a Dream" does capture the implied optimism demonstrated by Bruce's relaxing of his legendarily rigorous criteria for a song's inclusion on an album (even Bruce eventually admitted that including "Because the Night" on "Darkness on the Edge of Town" would not have reduced the album to an incoherent pile of sludge).  And the album does have a more hopeful feel than any album since "Lucky Town," so it's not as if there is a gross detachment between the title and the content.

4 strings out of 6

Memorability/Longevity:  "The Rising" proved to be a title that--though vague--absorbed life and detail from its contexts, like a once-blank passport stamped with ink from exotic and varied locales; each stamp holds a memory and--by association--the passport itself becomes a powerful symbol of a life well-traveled.  If "Working on a Dream" started off as a blank passport, well, it still kind of is.  Maybe a civil rights movement or politician will adopt the title track as a theme, but until then...

1.5 strings out of 6

Alternatives:  While "Working on a Dream" is pretty ho-hum as a title, there's not a whole lot of competition.  We can probably agree that neither "Outlaw Pete" nor "Queen of the Supermarket" would have been good, timeless choices.  Other options are broad and bland: "Life Itself," "This Life," "My Lucky Day," "What Love Can Do".  Maybe the best alternative would have been an outside-the-box choice like "Surprise, Surprise," which would have both captured the optimism of the album and served as a double entendre, bragging, "Hey, bet you weren't expecting an album like this!"  I actually kind of like it, but can see that it's not a slam dunk.  "Working on a Dream" may have been this album's equivalent to being the best beach volleyball team in Tibet.

4 strings out of 6

Average Strings for the Title: "Working on a Dream":

2.88 strings out of 6

16.  THE PROMISE (2010)

Pop:  Ah, "The Pattern", the mashed potatoes and meatloaf of Springsteen album titles: comfortable, easy, bland, nourishing enough, but nothing to write home about.  As far as single words modified by a definite article in a 2-word album title, "Promise" has more pop than "River," but less than "Rising".
1.5 strings out of 6

Appropriateness:

*What’s the theme of this album?

Unlike Springsteen's other multi-disc release of previously-recorded tracks (that would be "Tracks"), "The Promise" indeed petitions to be an actual "lost album" of sorts, and not just a collection of rarities and B-sides.  And for a double album with 30 years between its recording and release, "The Promise" succeeds surprisingly well in creating at least a consistent motif, if not a full-fledged theme.  The songs have the radio-friendly structure of "The River", but are still set in (presumably) the streets and bars of Jersey.  They're simultaneously gritty and romantic, exuberant and longing.  A couple of reviews call this album something like "blue-collar soul".  That sounds right.

*Does the album title capture this theme?

"The Promise," as a title, doesn't really communicate anything.  It's not until we listen to the title track that we can see that said promise was more broken than kept, and that the track might be the most somber song on the album, both musically and lyrically.  As a song, it's an outlier that should have been placed on "Darkness..." or "Nebraska," and as such, no, it doesn't capture the theme of this album very well.  It seems as though this album wasn't named so much to reflect its content as it was to honor Springsteen's faithful who have, for decades, heard tell of this long, lost treasure known as "The Promise".

1.5 strings out of 6

Memorability/Longevity:  Even though "The Promise" is not even a year released, the above-mentioned "legend of 'The Promise'," offered a significant dose of advanced memorability.  But that's kind of cheating.  Trying to imagine a world where Springsteen fans had never heard of "The Promise" until it hit the shelves leaves us, well, kind of forgetting about it.

2 strings out of 6

Alternatives:  With 20 potential alternatives, it's not surprising to find a few gems.  "Because the Night" is a legendary song, and sentence fragment titles have a personal allure to me--I want to find out how they end!  But "night" is such an overdone image, incorporating it into an album title is risky.  "Wrong Side of the Street" is also overdone, but it's hard to argue with how perfectly appropriate that would match the "blue collar soul" motif of the album, and "Wrong Side..." would have been a brief but distinct shorthand way to reference the album.  "Breakaway" stands out as a track and a title, and had this album been released 30 years ago may have been the slam dunk choice; Kelly Clarkson kind of messed it up though, with her #1 hit of the same name.  These are still good choices, but the winning "what could have been" title in my book (uh, blog) is "Outside Looking In".  The image captures the album, as does the pace and feel of the song.  It's short, catchy, familiar but not too overdone, and memorable.  It may have even turned the track into another "Hungry Heart" in terms of radio play.

1.5 strings out of 6

Average Strings for the Title: "The Promise":

1.63 strings out of 6

17.  WRECKING BALL (2012)

Pop:  A piece of construction equipment that swings around and smashes buildings?  You had me at "smashes buildings."  Quaint but cool, the only detriment to the pop of this album title is that a live version of the song "Wrecking Ball" had already been released months prior to the album, robbing the title of much of its mystique.
5 strings out of 6

Appropriateness:

*What’s the theme of this album?

Steve Leftridge at Popmatters.com suggests that "Wrecking Ball" will be remembered as Springsteen's "occupy album."  The explicitness of that theme may be a bit overstated, but it's a fair summary, especially given Springsteen's recent history of crafting his albums within the rumblings of his culture.  That the narrators of his songs are angry and broke is nothing new; what is new is the culprits.  Usually, the culprits are a mix of bad luck, bad decisions, and the bad crowd.  On "Wrecking Ball," the culprits are anything but street-level, and are frustratingly nameless and faceless.  On the other hand, perhaps because of the distance between the narrators and their antagonists, there is a distinct "ah, screw 'em" vibe in many of the songs.  How else could someone sing "Death to My Hometown" with such jolly and carefree melody?  One moment, the narrators lash out at being reduced to anonymous economic casualties; in the next, they seem to be relishing the feelings of liberation that come with such anonymity.  At least, it seems, there is no longer any pretense of us all being on the same side.  The fat cats are on their side, and us rats are on the other.

*Does the album title capture this theme?

Beautifully so.  What could smash away all pretenses better than a wrecking ball?  More literally, consider what wrecking balls are used for: dramatically tearing down old structures to make way for new.  Something is dying so that something new can live.  A wrecking ball is a condemnation of the failure and/or outdatedness of past decisions.  And it is a condemnation far more decisive than passively assuming that that old, boarded-up building can be repainted and reused.  No, screams the narrator: "Bring on your wrecking ball."  The structure is flawed.  Boarding up the windows or painting the walls will not do.  There is no hope in that, no life, no opportunity.  If we are going to rise up above this "Rocky Ground" to a "Land of Hope and Dreams," we need don't need bailouts or legislation.  We need a wrecking ball.

6 strings out of 6

Memorability/Longevity:  Jury is still out, but so far it's looking good.  The phrase is specific and brief.  The theme is clear.  It's even better than memorable--it's hard to forget.

5.5 strings out of 6

Alternatives:  There are some good options here.  "Shackled and Drawn" certainly conjures up some images.  "We Are Alive" is striking, but not very nuanced.  "We Take Care of Our Own" as a song captures the ambivalence of an album full of death and life (a form of each of these words can be found in the titles of songs on this album); as an album title, though, "We Take Care of Our Own" is a little long and nondescript.  There are some contenders, but "Wrecking Ball" was the best choice.
6 strings out of 6

Average Strings for the Title: "Wrecking Ball":

5.63 strings out of 6

With that, we wrap up our critique of Springsteen album titles.  For people like me who like to skip to the bottom line, or who just like to review how they spent their last 20 minutes, here's the final ranking of Springsteen's album titles in best-to-worst order, followed by their scores out of 6:

1. Born to Run (6)
2. Wrecking Ball (5.63)
3. Nebraska (5.5)
4. The Ghost of Tom Joad (5.38)
5. Born in the U.S.A. (5.25)
6. The Rising (4.87)
7. Tunnel of Love (4.75)
8. Devils & Dust (4.75)
9. The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle (4.38)
10. Darkness on the Edge of Town (3.13)
11. Human Touch (3)
12. Lucky Town (3)
13. Working on a Dream (2.88)
14. Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (2.17)
15. The River (1.88)
16. Magic (1.75)
17. The Promise (1.63)

Thanks for reading, and keep an eye out for updates a couple of weeks after the release of #18.  'Til then...

-THP

"Huh?"--Eighties Edition

When I was kid, if we wanted to look up song lyrics on the internet, we first had to invent the internet--which we totally would have done had it not been for the 10 feet of snow we had to walk through to get to the internet supply store.

So what was a lad to do if he heard a song on the radio and couldn't quite make out the words?

As late as college, I sent a dollar and a SASE to a band asking for a lyrics sheet, as per their advice printed in the liner notes.  I still have that lyrics sheet in a file upstairs, next to the "abacuses & sundials" bin.

Most artists didn't offer the SASE option, so one could only hope that the lyrics might be printed in the liner notes of the cassette tape packaging.  Not wanting to buy a copy of, say, "Too-Rye-Ay" by Dexy's Midnight Runners in the HOPE that it MIGHT have the lyrics printed to the one song I cared about, I had a couple of options at my disposal.

One option was taking a road trip to the used record store located on the mean streets of St. Louis city.  There, I could look for used (re: non-cellophane wrapped) copies of albums with mysterious lyrics.  All I needed was the Yellow Pages and a St. Louis City street map.  Soon enough, I learned of a store called "The Record Exchange".

Would I have to drive for almost 30 minutes from my west county, suburban home to get there?  Yes.  Was I likely to be the victim of a drive-by shooting while visiting this business?  Absolutely--I mean, the address was on Hampton for goodness' sake, a street we'd pass on the way to Busch Stadium in downtown, which is where I once saw someone peeing in a park!  Was it a school night?  Yes.  But sacrifices had to be made.

I made several of these trips, and was never once shot.  I'd walk in with a list of songs the lyrics to which I hoped to discover.  I soon learned that vinyl records were often more likely to have the lyrics printed on their sleeves than cassette tapes were.  Folding was probably expensive.

Some trips were more successful than others.  One notable failure came when I spied a "Dexy's Midnight Runner's" album, excitedly pulled it open, only to discover that it was NOT the album with "Come on Eileen" on it.  "Are you freaking kidding me?  Why do they have ANOTHER album, and why did anyone in St. Louis ever buy it?"

Oh well.  In the absence of definitive, objective lyrical clarification, an awkward high schooler with few friends and no known access to drugs, booze, or sex had another option: Buy or record a copy of the song in question, and listen to the lyrics over and over and over.  Play.  Pause.  Rewind.  Play.  Pause.  Rewind.  Move the sliding volume things on the stereo to try to isolate the lyrics.  Hypothesize.  Test.  Re-hypothesize.  Discuss.

Oh, yeah: discuss.  I actually sometimes had a partner in these investigations, my friend Keith.  Keith, like me, has very little musical talent but writes lyrics and poems.  Together, we're like a couple of Bernie Taupins, perhaps shaping ourselves to be such in the hours we spent discerning and dissecting lyrics to some of our favorite 80's songs.

Below are some brief clips to some of the songs that I/we tried to figure out.  Feel free to try your hand--ur, ear--at lyrical discernment.  Below each one, I'll share what was once my best guess, followed by the actual line, so you should be able to scroll down without giving the answer away.

Enjoy, and good luck.

-THP

1.  "Down Under," Men at Work

My Best Guess: "He just smiled and gave me a bit-of-my sandwich."
The Problem with my Best Guess: Why would the the guy give the singer of bite of the singer's own sandwich?
The Actual Line: "He just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich."
Looking Back:  Hard to blame a guy for having no idea what "Vegemite" was.  I didn't learn until after my sophomore year of college when a bunch of us went to Australia for a short term missions trip, which is where we all first learned about the existence of Vegemite, which was immediately followed by one of us saying, "THAT'S what he's saying in the song 'Down Under'!" and everyone else saying, "Ooooohhhhhhhh--THAT makes sense!"  What makes less sense is why anyone would ever, ever in a million, billion years choose to eat Vegemite, but that's for another post.

2.  "Pink Houses," John Mellencamp

My Best Guess: "And he looks at her and says, 'Hey, darlin', I can remember when you could starve a plow."

The Problem with My Best Guess:  In my defense, I was pretty sure "starve a plow" didn't make any sense.  I also STILL think it sounds like "starve a plow," even knowing what the actual line is.

The Actual Line: "And he looks at her and says, 'Hey, darlin', I can remember when you could stop a clock."

Looking Back:  Had I heard "stop a clock" instead of "starve a plow", I would have had the same nagging "that can't be right" feeling.  Turns out, "she has a face that could stop a clock" is an actual phrase.  Wiki Answers tell us "This means that she was so beautiful, that she even made the clock stop." Wiki continues: "It is also used by some mean so ugly, that she could stop a clock."  I would guess the speaker is going with the first definition, but methinks many ladies are a little ambivalent about being told that they "used to be pretty enough to stop a clock--you know, in the past." 

3.  "New Moon on Monday," Duran Duran

My Best Guess: "Shea, could you picture a Liz or mixture with your decks on the evening tide?"
The Problem with My Best Guess: A bit cryptic.
The Actual Line: "Shake up the picture the lizard mixture with your dance on the eventide."
Looking Back: Oh, OK.

4.  "Think I'm in Love," Eddie Money

My Best Guess: "Think I'm in love, and my life shook it off."
The Problem with My Best Guess: I actually like it.  His mind THINKS he's in love, but his day-to-day life would not allow for love, so his life "shook off" the thoughts of his mind.
The Actual Line: "Think I'm in love, and my life's lookin' up."
Looking Back: Seriously?  Your "life is looking up"?  I see how you play: Save the really vivid images for the chorus.  You sweet talker, you.  "Hey, baby, I just wanted to let you know that things are, you know, good and such.  And you're really, really neat.  I'm just sayin' what I think."

5.  "And We Danced," The Hooters

My Best Guess:  (it's a 2 parter) "As the band began to play our tune and we danced" / "The others speak, she's walkin' my way"
The Problem with My Best Guess: None, really.
The Actual Line: "As the band began to play out of tune and we danced" / "The endless beat, she's walkin' my way"
Looking Back: Keith and I debated this one a lot.  The chorus had yet another hard-to-discern line: "we were liars in love".  All in all, still love this song.

6.  "Come on Eileen," Dexy's Midnight Runners

My Best Guess: "These people 'round here blah-blah-blah blah-blah blah blah blah-blah blah-blah-blah blah-blah blah blah bla-AH / But not us (no never!) / No, not us (no never!) / We are far too young and clever."
The Problem with My Best Guess: It feels incomplete.
The Actual Line: "These people 'round here wear beaten down eyes sunk in smoke dried faces so resigned to what their fate is / But not us (no never!) / No, not us (no never!) / We are far too young and clever."
Looking Back: It's actually a great line and a great lyric all around.  As one who tries to cram a lot of syllables into a short amount of space, Dexy's Midnight Runners will always shine as a beacon of hope that such a technique CAN be effective--even if it fully comprehended without the use of sound equipment available to the intelligence agencies of only 3 or 4 countries in the world.

Springsteen "Gave It a Name"--and Some Were Better Than Others (PART 1)

Note: As of 10/14/2011, this post has been re-titled (for the second time) and re-posted to coincide with PART 2, which is being published for the first time later today.  If you've been a faithful reader of WPFF, you may have already read this, and have been eagerly waiting for the Hungry Preacher's analysis of Springsteen's album titles from "Tunnel of Love" to "The Promise."  That post is going through final proofs, and is on my "before I go to bed tonight" list.  Sorry for the confusion.


Willpreachforfood.com has literally scores of readers, whose interests range from “things” to “topics” to “themes”.  This being the case, some of my posts will necessarily be at least a little bit niche, so as to satisfy even the least mainstream of readers.  Today, I cater not to the masses, but to the little guy, provided that little guy happens to be a fan of Bruce Springsteen.

Springsteen is a songwriter—but he’s also a writer of albums.  And independent of the collective quality of the songs that he assembles for each of his albums is the quality of something else: the names of his albums.  Like the albums themselves, some of the names of the albums work better than others, and I aim to sort out which ones work and which ones work less (to put it nicely).


The criteria are as follows, with each album’s name being scored from 1 to 6 guitar strings:

Pop:  Does the name of this album “stand out”?  Does it grab you with its first impression and distinctiveness?  Or could it just as easily be the name of any album by any artist?

Appropriateness:  First we’ll consider the theme of each album, apart from the album title.  Then we’ll ask, “Does the name of the album communicate the theme of the album?”  This is a tricky question, because the name of the album could either reflect the overt theme of the album (e.g., “Darkness on the Edge of Town”) or it could itself help define the theme of the album (e.g., “The Rising” could have been called something less hopeful, and neither name would have necessarily been worse than the other; it just would have been a matter of the “feel” of the album that Bruce wanted to present).  So I’ll try to take into account artistic license in this category, but not so much that I grant uncritically that the title necessarily communicates the theme, just because that’s what the artist has decreed.

Memorability/Longevity:  Does the name stand the test of time?  Or did is start with a bang then take the first train to Forgettableville?

Alternatives:  Given that Bruce is usually inclined to name his albums after a track on the album, what were some leading alternatives?  Would any of them have made for a better name for the album?  If there were better choices, the title will score low here, even if--in a vacuum--the chosen title is not bad.

A couple of other notes:
-Most of the time, when I refer to a title track, I am referring to it as a title.  If I'm referring to it as a song, I try to mention that (e.g., this is something that I could write: "'Born to Run' is a great image and completely works.  It's a shame that the song 'Born to Run' didn't chart higher.")
-I did not critique titles of live albums or compilations of hits and/or unreleased songs.  Hence, no "Tracks," "The Essential Bruce Springsteen," "Chimes of Freedom," et al.

So, without further ado:

1.  GREETINGS FROM ASBURY PARK, N.J. (1973)
Pop:  The font on the postcard on the album cover is 3-dimensional looking, so there’s some pop there.  And the title is more distinctive than just “Greetings from N.J.” would have been.  Yeah, I’m reaching.  Maybe there’s some irony being captured, since “Who would want to send a post card from Jersey?”—and the existence of irony provides pop.  Yes, still reaching.
2 strings out of 6

Appropriateness:
*What’s the theme of this album?
Springsteen introduces us to characters, to his stomping grounds, and to himself as a songwriter.  Lots of stories and images.  “Growin’ Up” gives the album a more autobiographical feel than is actually present.
*Does the album title capture this theme?
Yes, in a generic sort of way.  See, it was his first album, and he called it “Greetings from…” then put the place where he was from!  Get it?  So it’s appropriate in a literal sort of way.  But by that standard, so would the album title “My First Album”.  There is something of a “We’re Really Just Trying to Figure This Out” vibe to the title, and the songs reflect that adolescent search for a voice.  Was this appropriateness even intentional?  Hard to say.
2.5 strings out of 6

Memorability/Longevity:  As I reflect on this title and how it has stood up over the years, I realize that I’ll always think of “Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.” as “The Album that I Wish Had Been Named Something Else.”  The title is more timeless than some album titles, like REO’s “You Can Tune a Piano But You Can’t Tuna Fish,” so that’s something.  As it stands, the most longstanding question this title raises is “Were you silly-drunk with your friends at 3:00 in the morning, or were you tired and just trying to get your impatient record producer to stop nagging you for a title?”
2 strings out of 6

Alternatives:  N/A.  Since this album isn’t named after a track, I wouldn’t feel right imposing that “named after a song” concept retroactively.  But just for kicks, if Springsteen wanted something to capture his roots, maybe a simpler title like “Jersey” or “From Jersey” or “Asbury Park” or “New Jersey.”  This last suggestion, of course, begs the question of what Bon Jovi would have titled their follow up to their “Slippery When Wet” album, but even I’M not so tangential to explore that question (not in THIS post, anyway).

Average Strings for the Title: "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.":

2.17 strings out of 6


2.  THE WILD, THE INNOCENT AND THE E STREET SHUFFLE (1973)

Pop:  It’s at least more piquing of interest than “Greetings,” if one were to take the time to read the whole title.  It still sounds like another way of saying “We’re a Band!” but at least it’s a band with some character.  It’s just long as heck.

3 strings out of 6

Appropriateness:

*What’s the theme of this album?

More stories, more imagery, and more off-the-beaten-path instrumentation.  Stevie Wonder’s “Songs in the Key of Life” actually would serve well as a theme for this album, perhaps with the addendum “…life on the streets of Jersey, that is”.  Is that too long of a theme?  How about, “Oddballs looking for their place”?

*Does the album title capture this theme?

Weirdly so, actually.  The cumbersome and odd title of the album nicely mirrors the lyrics and arrangements of the tracks.  And each component of the title is mirrored by a specific song title on the album: “Wild Billy’s Circus Story,” “Incident [sounds like ‘Innocent’] on 57^th Street,” and “The E Street Shuffle."

5 strings out of 6

Memorability/Longevity:  I have a better lasting impression of this album title than I did an initial impression.  The title captures the experimental and identity-seeking vibe of the times that “Greetings…” was trying to capture, but in a more layered sort of way.  On the minus side, there’s no easy shorthand way for fans to refer to this album as they look back: “Greetings…” at least lends itself to being called, well, “Greetings.”  But this one—whew, it’s just so long.

5 strings out of 6

Alternatives:  N/A.

Average Strings for the Title: "The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle":

4.33 strings out of 6


3.  BORN TO RUN (1975)

Pop:  Long titles lend themselves to distinctiveness (see #2 above).  Short ones lend themselves to jumping out at you.  A short title that is also distinctive, capturing something new?  Wow.  I would love to take a time machine back and see what impression the title “Born to Run” would have had on me on first hearing.  As it stands, I don’t remember actually hearing it for the first time—I’m sure I stumbled across it in print or heard it mentioned enough times that it finally started registering.  But I would like to be listening to the radio in 1975 and hearing the DJ say, “This is the title track from the new album by Bruce Springsteen called ‘Born to Run’.”  What would I have thought of that title?  I’m pretty sure I would have at least thought, “That’s a heck of an image.  I gotta hear that.”  Short, sweet, new, profound, jarring.

6 strings out of 6

Appropriateness:

*What’s the theme of this album?
Running, drifting, wandering, escaping.  Being alone and/or misunderstood.  Not fitting in.  Running—away, yes, but also towards something—be it into the “Night,” out on the “Backstreets,” or down “Thunder Road”.  Running to where you think you’ll have a better chance of finding something or someone that will validate who you are.
*Does the album title capture this theme?
Yes.  Being “born” to do something can be constraining or even hopeless feeling.  But if that thing you were born to do is “run” towards “that place where we really want to go”?  There is hope there.  “Born to Run”: three words that perfectly captured the paradox of hopeless hopefulness that is this album. 

6 strings out of 6

Memorability/Longevity:  Fair to say the name caught on.  It’s familiar enough to be a cliché, but honored enough to be seldom used as one.  I’ve heard, read, or uttered the phrase “Born to Run” thousands of times, but it doesn’t take more than a moment of contemplation for me to recognize the mystique of the name.  For a name to cut through years of familiarity like that… whew.  This is the album name, period.

6 strings out of 6

Alternatives:  None better than what he picked.  “Thunder Road” is an obvious  second choice, but distant second.  “Jungleland” or “Backstreets” could have worked in a pinch.  But, no, there was nothing better that this album could have been named.

6 strings out of 6

Average Strings for the Title: "Born to Run":

6 strings out of 6


4.  DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN (1978)

Pop:  Long titles have a lot to make up for in the “pop” department (insert your own “long blog post” joke here), so they’d better be especially gripping.  This one is only moderately gripping, though I’ll concede an extra measure of subjectivity in this assessment.  Personally, the word “town” is just too nondescript.  I’m from a city, which I grew up thinking was a synonym for “town”.  So when I see this album title, I imagine what I think a “town” is, then imagine myself getting to the edge, and what do I see?  Suburbs.  Not very evocative.  So from my neck of the woods, “Darkness on the Edge of Town” is generic and wordy—two traits quite the opposite of “having pop”.
2 strings out of 6

Appropriateness:
*What’s the theme of the album?
In a word, “darkness” (though “bitterness” and “angst” will also be accepted).  Almost every song has at least one soul-piercing line.  My favorite is from “Racing in the Street”: “She stares off alone into the night / with the eyes of one who hates for just being born.”  Then there’s this from “Something in the Night”: “You’re born with nothing and better off that way / as soon as you got something they send someone to try and take it away.”  Oh, oh, and there’s “Streets of Fire”—the very first line to which is “When the night’s quiet and you don’t care anymore.”  And it just kinda goes from there.  From track 1 to track 10, you get the feeling that Bruce spent a lot of time wishing that Prozac had already been invented, but settled instead on solitude, six-packs, and his song-writing notebook.
*Does the album title capture the theme?

That, it does.  Should be pretty clear, but if you're not seeing it, come see me after class and we can talk.

6 strings out of 6

Memorability/Longevity:  Often referred to by fans simply as “Darkness…” which is history’s way of saying, “This album title is too long.”  As details of Bruce’s personal and legal battles during this time emerged, the shorthand title actually seems to capture the album better than the long version does.  In other words, what it was actually named has not grown on me, but the fan-abbreviated name for it has.  I’ll count that for something.

2.5 strings out of 6

Alternatives:  “Badlands” is probably the best-known and most-loved song from this album.  In concert, it often seems as appreciated by fans as “Born to Run” or “Thunder Road” are.  Additionally, both the title and lyrics of “Badlands” effectively reflect the darkness of the album, but it’s shorter and more distinct than “Darkness on the Edge of Town”.  Beyond "Badlands," “Something in the Night” would be a darkhorse candidate; its title is as generic sounding as “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” but a little bit shorter—plus the song always struck me as truer sounding than “DOTEOT” (I just can’t type the whole name anymore!).  So there was one very good alternative and probably 2-3 decent ones.

2 strings out of 6

Average Strings for the Title: "Darkness on the Edge of Town":

3.13 strings out of 6


5.  THE RIVER (1980)

Pop:  There’s no nice way to put this.  It’s as though Springsteen was going for generic.  Would it have been too much to ask for him to have given a name to this river?  Or, if the river doesn’t have a name, there’s even a way of saying that that has more pop: the “River Without a Name”.  In fact, Springsteen uses that phrase in “Shut Out the Light,” an outtake from “Born in the U.S.A.” so we know he’s familiar with it.  Instead, he went with the most overdone, bland name that has ever referred to any body of water—and perhaps even to any geographical feature whatsoever.  Boo.

1 string out of 6

Appropriateness:

*What’s the theme of this album?

Time for me to show my cards: “The River” has often been my least favorite Springsteen album (“often” because the list changes now and again).  So my answer to “What is its theme?” is going to reflect my opinion of the album.  Is “Bruce wants a radio hit” a theme?  That’s often what the album sounds like to me.  Not even “Born to Run” (the song) hit the charts like it deserved to (peaking at #23), and “Darkness…” (the album) failed to produce a bona fide hit.  So next came “The River,” a double disc packed full of 3-4 minute tracks written in the radio-friendly “verse-chorus-verse-chorus” structure.  Gone is much of the quirky but effective imagery of Bruce’s first 4 albums.  Gone also is much of the layered and surprising instrumentation of those albums.  Sadly—for me, at least—much of it was never to return.  “The River” marks a shift in Bruce’s songwriting, let’s say from “epic imagery” to “chorus based” songs.  My preferences aside, there’s nothing inherently wrong with that shift; but it appears that Bruce was still getting the hang of both writing these types of songs and piecing them together in a coherent album.  This is especially apparent when “The River” is compared with two of Bruce’s later albums, “Born in the U.S.A.” and “Tunnel of Love,” both of which are superior and more thematic collections of “chorus based” songs.

*Does the album title capture this theme?
It seems to depend on who you ask.  Peter Nelson wrote in his "Rolling Stone" review: “Bruce Springsteen didn't title his summational record The River for nothing.  Each song is just a drop in the bucket, and the water in the bucket is drawn from a river that can take you on a fast but invigorating ride, smash you in the rapids, let you float dreamily downstream or carry you relentlessly across some unknown county line."  If you ask me, I’d say that’s reading a lot into “The River.”  I would suggest the title is more appropriate when you consider that rivers are “catch alls”—all sorts of driftwood and debris float from streams into rivers, and rivers don’t discriminate what they carry along.  This double-album catches a little bit of everything and the ensuing mixture creates one of Bruce’s most theme-less albums.  So “The River” is actually a pretty appropriate title for this hodgepodge collection of tunes, but not likely in the way that Springsteen intended.  We’ll average out “intended appropriateness” with “unintended appropriateness,” and call it...
3.5 strings out of 6

Memorability/Longevity:  None to speak of.  Just sayin’.

1 string out of 6

Alternatives:  It’s hard to find a track on this album that would NOT have been a better title to the album.  Here’s a few, and why they would have been better:

“Independence Day”:  Song is about breaking free from expectations.  This album is a marked break from the styles (and lengths) of his previous albums.  “Independence Day” could have communicated that, hey, he knows that, and he’s not apologizing for it.  He’s a grown up and can do what he wants to do.

“Out on the Street”:  Captures the playful exuberance of the album

“Point Blank”:  Cliché like “The River,” but a better cliché and a better song.

“I’m a Rocker”:  Overt acknowledgement of song style shift; “This is an album of rock songs.”

“Fade Away”:  Ironic and gutsy choice.  What musician wants to fade away?  Could have been his way of saying, “I’m so NOT afraid of fading away that I’m going to call my album that.”

“Drive All Night”: Subversive reference to the length of the album, and certainly more evocative than “The River”

2 strings out of 6

Average Strings for the Title: "The River":

1.88 strings out of 6


6.  NEBRASKA (1982)

Pop:  High, especially for Nebraska residents.  And it’s obviously not a “home state shout-out”, so curiosity is all the more piqued.  “Why ‘Nebraska’, of all states?” a 1982 Springsteen fan surely wondered, perhaps even with a giddy anticipation.

5 strings out of 6

Appropriateness:
*What’s the theme of this album?
This is the first of 3 Springsteen albums comprised largely of first-person stories accompanied by understated instrumentation and choruses.  The characters have been through hard times (and/or caused them for others) and have been laid bare.  The narration—like the instrumentation—is stripped down, but still vivid and often jarring (e.g., “He came home too drunk from mixing Tanqueray and wine / got a gun shot a night clerk now they call him Johnny 99”).
*Does the album title capture this theme?
You bet.  Nebraska—the state, the song, and the album—is a flat landscape providing no hiding place for the troubled souls it collects.  You may hide in the crowds of California, the caves of Kentucky, the forests of Montana, the factories of New Jersey, and the mountains of Colorado—but on the plains of Nebraska, you will be exposed for what you are.  The title “Nebraska” juxtaposes the common impressions of the state seamlessly with the corresponding themes and feelings of the album.
6 strings out of 6

Memorability/Longevity:  Even now, the single word “Nebraska” immediately evokes for Springsteen fans the starkness of the songs it represents.  If anything, the effectiveness of the title has grown through the years as the album proved to be a drastic shift in style from both the preceding and subsequent albums.  Like the great plains of the United States, “Nebraska” the album achieves its distinctiveness in part on its own merits and in part based on its surrounding landscapes; like a pioneer discovering the Rockies and looking eastward over the just-traversed plains, the Springsteen fan can best appreciate the distinctiveness of “Nebraska” looking back from the majestic peaks of “Born in the U.S.A.”.  And, of course, if the pioneer looks back even further, he’ll see the river (get it?), which provides a contrasting landscape of its own.
5 strings out of 6

Alternatives:  “Atlantic City” would have captured the same hopelessness but with a different brush, but it might have been mistaken for just another home-state shout out.  “Nebraska” works better.
6 strings out of 6

Average Strings for the Title: "Nebraska":

5.5 strings out of 6


7.  BORN IN THE U.S.A. (1984)

Pop:  The familiarity of the title tempts one to underappreciate the pop of it, but as an album title it is striking.  Surely informed readers of the “Born in the U.S.A.” press-release suspected that the title track wasn't merely Bruce’s rewriting of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.”  But some themes of patriotism—misplaced or otherwise—had to abound, right?  The title gave Bruce’s fans plenty to chew on and speculate about, but prodded its would-be interpreters to the liner notes for a thorough explanation.  (And, it turns out the title may have had a hand in luring new fans into the fold.)
4.5 strings out of 6

Appropriateness:
*What’s the theme of this album?
A type of patriotism is woven into this album, but rather than a love song to America, this album is an expose of the imperfect lover that America is.  The American dream is enticing and Americana is endearing, but the pursuit of these ideals can lead to disillusionment or even destruction. 
*Does the album title capture this theme?
Perfectly.  America, like the title and cover photo of this album, is flashy on the surface, but complex and challenging underneath.  One has to wonder if Springsteen titled the album as he did expecting that it would be so misunderstood (as an unconditional patriotic anthem) with the goal of subversively exposing the tendencies of Americans to see what they want to see about their country, even if the small print lyric sheets tell a different story.
6 strings out of 6

Memorability/Longevity:  I’d say it lasted pretty well, with one caveat: Nearly any uber-popular piece of art runs the risk of becoming so familiar within its culture that it necessarily becomes a cliché of sorts, and that has happened a tad with “Born in the U.S.A.”  No fault of Springsteen, just the reality.

5 strings out of 6

Alternatives:  “Glory Days” and “Dancing in the Dark” are the other two best known tracks from this album, but neither would have done as a title: the former lacks any mystique, the latter is too general sounding, and both were more “hit singles” than album titles.  One very outside-the-box choice could have been “Bobbie Jean,” the use of which might have cultivated a more layered appreciation of the song as a metaphor for losing not just the love of a friend but the devotion to a country.  “Cover Me” is vague but brief, and mirrors the overt desperation communicated in some of the songs.  So there may have been some options, but none that could have done what “Born in the U.S.A.” did.  Good choice.

5.5 strings out of 6

Average Strings for the Title: "Born in the U.S.A.":
5.25 strings out of 6


8.  TUNNEL OF LOVE (1987)
Pop:  Surprisingly high.  A Springsteen album named after an amusement park ride?  I'll buy a ticket.
4.5 strings out of 6

Appropriateness:
*What’s the theme of this album?
Love, its grittiness (see “Tougher Than the Rest”), its dark underbelly (“One Step Up”), and its demand for introspection (“Brilliant Disguise,” “Two Faces”).
*Does the album title capture this theme?
Yes.  It’s a heck of a metaphor, really.  When you share your life with someone you love, you are entering a tunnel and taking a ride: tunnels and rides can be exciting, adventurous, and fun; and they can be scary, full of surprises, and—depending on how far you want to take the analogy—you can’t really switch cars mid-ride without someone getting hurt.  The only drawback is that the metaphor is so good that it almost feels too literal for conveying the album motif, and doesn’t quite leave enough to the imagination.
5.5 strings out of 6

Memorability/Longevity:  Tunnels of love (the rides) aren’t as prevalent as they once were.  I’m pretty sure I knew what one was before this album came out, but I’m not so sure my kids will.  And though it spawned hits, none of the tracks get the after-the-fact attention that say, “Born to Run,” “Hungry Heart,” or “Glory Days” have received, which further compromises the long term distinctiveness of the album and, by association, the album title.  Bruce fans of don’t struggle with this, of course, but as far as stimulating the popular consciousness for a prolonged period of time (an admittedly difficult feat), “Tunnel of Love” as a title is good, not great.
4 strings out of 6

Alternatives:  Most of the options would have been some combination of too blunt (“When You’re Alone,” “Ain’t Got You”), too nondescript (“One Step Up,” “Two Faces”), and too inconsistent with the feel of the album (“All That Heaven Will Allow,” “Tougher Than the Rest”).  “Brilliant Disguise” probably would have worked nearly as well as an album title, but it just doesn’t sound as crisp to say.  “Brilliant Disguise” is also (probably) the best-known track from the album, which I generally don't approve of for title tracks—let the 2^nd or 3^rd best known track get the album title; it’s called spreading the wealth.  “Tunnel of Love” was probably the right choice.
5 strings out of 6

Average Strings for the Title: "Tunnel of Love":

4.75 strings out of 6


We're half way to that place we really wanna go, so click here for PART 2.