Gli anni ’80 tra Brighton e Londra. Insegne al neon. Gente con la cresta colorata. Io, un ragazzo in piena ondata pop e punk, comprai, in Inghilterra, ironia, "The River" di Springsteen. In vinile. Tornai con il doppio Lp. Le canzoni mi colpirono con una grande forza. Una forza nostalgica e malinconica. Ad oggi rimane il mio disco preferito di Springsteen. Mi emoziona parlarne, perché per una bella parte della mia vita mi ha tenuto compagnia. Succede, ogni tanto, con qualche disco che ci sta più a cuore. Un disco che, arrivando al momento giusto, diventa la colonna sonora della propria esistenza. Non è un parlare retorico, il mio, se pensate, soprattutto se avete superato gli ’enta, a quante volte riascoltando qualche canzone della vostra giovinezza, improvvisamente, riemergono vecchie emozioni. Qui ho ritrovato parecchie cose che cercavo in quel periodo della mia vita. Questo album parla di sesso, matrimonio, amori persi, crisi economica, rapporti tra padre e figlio, morte... Ero (e sono) portato ad immedesimarmi in quelle storie che non appartengono più a figure idealizzate, ma all’eroe qualunque. All’uomo.

Diciannove canzoni, nette ed orecchiabili. Canzoni che rimarranno per sempre nel mio dna. "The River", per cominciare, che Bruce considera la sua migliore canzone. E’ una ballata folk amara, introdotta da un lancinante assolo di armonica, che parla della durezza della vita, attraverso la storia di due ragazzi. Una storia di adolescenti che si conoscono, e si innamorano. Una gravidanza in giovane età, ed il conseguente matrimonio forzato spazzano via il romanticismo e l’innocenza. Solo una passeggiata al fiume riporta i dolci ricordi dell’adolescenza. Ma la vita continua come un treno merci. Lui perde il lavoro e l’amore svanisce. E solo giù al fiume l’ uomo ricorda l’amore svanito. Una storia comune narrata magistralmente e con una melodia che la farà restare per sempre nell’ anima di chi l'ha ascoltata. Poi c’è "Point Blank". Risentimento per la fine di una relazione d’ amore. Una delle più belle ballate di Springsteen. Possente, corposa, dall’andamento sontuoso. Stupende e struggenti "Drive All Night" e "Wreck On The Highway", quest’ultima sul senso della vita, riposando a fianco della propria donna, dopo aver assistito ad un incidente mortale. Fanno da contr’altare canzoni più tipicamente rock n’roll, brillanti ed esaltanti dal vivo come "Hungry Heart", scritta per i Ramones. "Out In The Street", sul lavoro e la voglia di evasione, "Cadillac Ranch", puro rock di grande impatto, un inno alle auto, alle corse ed al divertimento. You Can Look e Ramrod cavalli di battaglia live. E Two Hearts, un rock positivo e solare. Una menzione particolare merita Indipendence Day. Si tratta di un discorso che Springsteen fa al padre. Come dice il titolo, essa descrive il giorno del distacco del figlio dal padre. Ovvero “l’indipendenza” dal padre. Un figlio che diventa adulto si preoccupa per il padre che diventa anziano. Bruce sceglie le parole da dire al padre con assoluta delicatezza. Un giorno amarissimo e definitivo, chi l’ha già vissuto può comprendere. Ma alla fine emerge il grande affetto che il cantante ha per il padre:Perciò dimmi arrivederci, è il giorno dell’Indipendenza. Papà adesso capisco le cose che volevi e non riuscivi a dire.

Con questo disco, Springsteen chiuse la splendida trilogia che inziò con Born To Run e proseguì con Darkness On The Edge Of Town. Il suo, irripetibile, apice creativo.

Elenco tracce testi e samples

01   The Ties That Bind (03:34)

You been hurt and you're all cried out you say
You walk down the street pushin' people outta your way
You packed your bags and all alone you wanna ride,
You don't want nothin', don't need no one by your side
You're walkin' tough baby, but you're walkin' blind
to the ties that bind

CHORUS
The ties that bind
Now you can't break the ties that bind

Cheap romance, it's all just a crutch
You don't want nothin' that anybody can touch
You're so afraid of being somebody's fool
Not walkin' tough baby, not walkin' cool
You walk cool, but darlin', can you walk the line
And face the ties that bind
The ties that bind
Now you can't break the ties that bind

I would rather feel the hurt inside, yes I would darlin',
Than know the emptiness your heart must hide,
Yes I would darlin', yes I would darlin',
Yes I would baby

You sit and wonder just who's gonna stop the rain
Who'll ease the sadness, who's gonna quiet the pain
It's a long dark highway and a thin white line
Connecting baby, your heart to mine
We're runnin' now but darlin' we will stand in time
To face the ties that bind
The ties that bind
Now you can't break the ties that bind
You can't forsake the ties that bind

02   Sherry Darling (04:03)

Your Mamma's yappin' in the back seat
Tell her to push over and move them big feet
Every Monday morning I gotta drive her down to the unemployment agency
Well this morning I ain't fighting tell her I give up
Tell her she wins if she'll just shut up
But it's the last time that she's gonna be ridin' with me

CHORUS
You can tell her there's a hot sun beatin' on the black top
She keeps talkin' she'll be walkin' that last block
She can take a subway back to the ghetto tonight
Well I got some beer and the highway's free
And I got you, and baby you've got me.
Hey, hey, hey what you say Sherry Darlin'

Now there's girls melting on the beach
And they're so fine but so far out of reach
Cause I'm stuck in traffic down here on 53rd street
Now Sherry my love for you is real
But I didn't count on this package deal
And baby this car just aint big enough for her and me

CHORUS
So you can tell her there's a hot sun beatin' on the black top
She keeps talkin' she'll be walkin' that last block
She can take a subway back to the ghetto tonight
Well I got some beer and the highway's free
And I got you, and baby you've got me.
Hey, hey, hey what you say Sherry Darlin'

Well let there be sunlight, let there be rain
Let the brokenhearted love again
Sherry we can run with our arms open before the tide
To all the girls down at Sacred Heart
And all you operators back in the Park
Say hey, hey, hey what you say Sherry Darlin'
Hey, hey, hey, what you say Sherry Darlin'

03   Jackson Cage (03:04)

Driving home she grabs something to eat
Turns a corner and drives down her street
Into a row of houses she just melts away
Like the scenery in another man's play
Into a house where the blinds are closed
To keep from seeing things she don't wanna know
She pulls the blinds and looks out on the street
The cool of the night takes the edge off the heat

In the Jackson Cage
Down in Jackson Cage
You can try with all your might
But you're reminded every night
That you been judged and handed life
Down in Jackson Cage

Every day ends in wasted motion
Just crossed swords on the killing floor
To settle back is to settle without knowing
The hard edge that you're settling for
Because there's always just one more day
And it's always gonna be that way
Little girl you've been down here so long
I can tell by the way that you move you belong to

The Jackson Cage
Down in Jackson Cage
And it don't matter just what you say
Are you tough enough to play the game they play
Or will you just do your time and fade away
Down into the Jackson Cage

Baby there's nights when I dream of a better world
But I wake up so downhearted girl
I see you feeling so tired and confused
I wonder what it's worth to me or you
Just waiting to see some sun
Never knowing if that day will ever come
Left alone standing out on the street
Till you become the hand that turns the key down in

Jackson Cage
Down in Jackson Cage
Well darlin' can you understand
The way that they will turn a man
Into a stranger to waste away
Down in the Jackson Cage

04   Two Hearts (02:45)

05   Independence Day (04:50)

06   Hungry Heart (03:19)

Got a wife and kids in Baltimore, Jack
I went out for a ride and I never went back
Like a river that don't know where it's flowing
I took a wrong turn and I just kept going

Everybody's got a hungry heart
Everybody's got a hungry heart
Lay down your money and you play your part
Everybody's got a hungry heart

I met her in a Kingstown bar
We fell in love I knew it had to end
We took what we had and we ripped it apart
Now here I am down in Kingstown again

Everybody's got a hungry heart...

Everybody needs a place to rest
Everybody wants to have a home
Don't make no difference what nobody says
Ain't nobody like to be alone

Everybody's got a hungry heart...

07   Out in the Street (04:18)

08   Crush on You (03:10)

My feets were flyin' down the street just the other night
When a Hong Kong special pulled up at the light
What was inside, man, was just c'est magnifique
I wanted to hold the bumper and let her drag me down the street

CHORUS
Ooh, ooh, I gotta crush on you
Ooh, ooh, I gotta crush on you
Ooh, ooh, I gotta crush on you tonight

Sometimes I spot a little stranger standing 'cross the room
My brain takes a vacation just to give my heart more room
For one kiss, darling I swear everything I would give
Cause you're a walking, talking reason to live

CHORUS

Well now she might be the talk of high society
She's probably got a lousy personality
She might be a heiress to Rockefeller
She might be a waitress or a bank teller
She makes the Venus de Milo look like she's got no style
She make Sheena of the Jungle look meek and mild
I need a quick shot, Doc, knock me off my feet
Cause I'll be minding my own business walking down the street... watchout!

CHORUS

09   You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch) (02:37)

10   I Wanna Marry You (03:30)

I see you walking, baby, down the street
Pushing that baby carriage at your feet
I see the lonely ribbon in your hair
Tell me I am the man for whom you put it there

You never smile girl, you never speak
You just walk on by, darlin' week after week
Raising two kids alone in this mixed up world
Must be a lonely life for a working girl

CHORUS
Little girl, I wanna marry you
Oh yeah, little girl, I wanna marry you
Yes I do
Little girl, I wanna marry you

Now honey, I don't wanna clip your wings
But a time comes when two people should think of these things
Having a home and a family
Facing up to their responsibilities
They say in the end true love prevails
But in the end true love can't be no fairytale
To say I'll make your dreams come true would be wrong
But maybe, darlin', I could help them along

CHORUS

My daddy said right before he died
That true, true love was just a lie
He went to his grave a broken heart
An unfulfilled life, makes a man hard

Oh, darlin'
There's something happy and there's something sad
'Bout wanting somebody, oh so bad,
I wear my love darlin', without shame
I'd be proud if you would wear my name

11   The River (05:01)

I come from down in the valley
Where mister when you're young
They bring you up to do like your daddy done
Me and Mary we met in high school
When she was just seventeen
We'd drive out of this valley down to where the fields were green

We'd go down to the river
And into the river we'd dive
Oh down to the river we'd ride

Then I got Mary pregnant
And man that was all she wrote
And for my nineteenth birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat
We went down to the courthouse
And the judge put it all to rest
No wedding day smiles, no walk down the aisle
No flowers no, wedding dress

That night we went down to the river
And into the river we'd dive
Oh down to the river we'd ride

I got a job working construction for the Johnstown Company
But lately there ain't been much work on account of the economy
Now all them things that seemed so important
Well mister they vanished right into the air
Now I just act like I don't remember
Mary acts like she don't care

But I remember us riding in my brother's car
Her body tanned and wet down at the reservoir
At night on them banks I'd lie awake
And pull her close just to feel each breath she'd take
Now those memories come back to haunt me
They haunt me like a curse
Is a dream a lie if it don't come true
Or is it something worse
That sends me down to the river
Though I know the river is dry
That sends me down to the river tonight

Down to the river
My baby and I
Oh down to the river we ride

Carico i commenti...  con calma

Altre recensioni

Di  VU

 "Il Boss ha creato il suo capolavoro definitivo e uno dei più bei cd della storia del rock."

 "La canzone omonima è uno dei momenti migliori, sia musicalmente che nella scrittura, raccontando una delle sue belle storie."


Di  Luck94

 The River è probabilmente il miglior lavoro in assoluto del Boss, la summa delle sue capacità e dei generi da lui attraversati.

 La titletrack, un brano dagli echi country che narra un amore appassionato, è il punto più alto dell'album.


Di  francescopisani

 The River è la favola amara di milioni di vite americane, e non solo.

 L'album unisce perfettamente il sound rock e pulito di Darkness con l'epica selvaggia e da strada di Born To Run.