tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9991864.post116100886589159322..comments2023-08-10T05:24:20.775-04:00Comments on Razing the Bar: The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in AmericaAndy Whitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04010130934552315074noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9991864.post-1161617763070777402006-10-23T11:36:00.000-04:002006-10-23T11:36:00.000-04:00Bill, it's the perceived satisfaction with less-th...Bill, it's the perceived satisfaction with less-than-satisfactory lives that keeps me from going absolutely nuts over this album. <BR/><BR/>Still, it's a great album, full of wonderful songwriting and wonderful rock 'n roll. I'd bet you'd like it a lot. It's the difference between, say, a 5-star album and a 4.5 star album. I'd say it's a 4.5 star album that is still very, very worthwhile.Andy Whitmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04010130934552315074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9991864.post-1161612695569521582006-10-23T10:11:00.000-04:002006-10-23T10:11:00.000-04:00Many years ago, before Born to Run came out, I pul...Many years ago, before Born to Run came out, I pulled out of there to win. I had a lot of company. It's sad to think that that impulse is not there in today's typical American youth. I'll check out the album, but I can tell already that I won't like it as much as I love my old Springsteen albums (as opposed to his newer ones, by the way).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9991864.post-1161270096327767162006-10-19T11:01:00.000-04:002006-10-19T11:01:00.000-04:00From an ongoing dialogue on the Arts and Faith for...From an ongoing dialogue on the Arts and Faith forum: <BR/><BR/>---------------------------------<BR/><BR/>Josh Hurst wrote: <BR/><BR/>Andy, I really appreciate your interpretation of this album. Even this brief exchange has heightened my appreciation for this record's complexity. <BR/><BR/>I guess a big part of my disagreement comes from the fact that I'm not on board with your interpretation of Springsteen. You say there's a lot more hope in his songs. I think a lot of folks would say that. But I've never found his songs to be too optimistic. Usually, his definition of hope involves skipping town, getting out on the open road and leaving your problems far behind. Only, I've been there, and it doesn't work. With characters as messed up as Springsteen's and Finn's, I don't think leavng town is the answer. The problems are only going to follow these poor souls. <BR/><BR/>I hear a lot of defiance in Springsteen's songs, but in Finn's I hear something more akin to brokenness. And that probably won't come across as optimistic to many people, but I think it's the first and most crucial step toward healing. I don't think Finn is being sarcastic when he sings that he finds hope in the lost souls collected in the barroom and the taverns, and the fact that Holly is unhinged and uncontrollable is what grounds her Christian profession in reality, at least to my ears. I think a lot of these characters are at the end of their rope... and I think that's precisely what makes the album optimistic. <BR/><BR/>But again, I think your take on the album makes total sense. And I'm ever so glad that you love the album. If you haven't already, go back and listen to their first two albums; they're great as well. <BR/><BR/>And I responded: <BR/><BR/>I'll certainly do that. <BR/><BR/>You know, it's a pleasure to encounter an album that is so meaty and substantial. Most albums don't warrant an extended discussion of the lyrics, or the overarching themes. This one does. So, from that standpoint alone, I'm thrilled to have heard it. As a nice little bonus, it's also great rock 'n roll. <BR/><BR/>The Springsteen comparisons are there for several reasons, in my opinion. Finn's voice is almost indistinguishable from Springsteen's voice in the mid-'70s, and some of his phrasing seems consciously patterned after Springsteen. For example, listen to the "clicks and hisses" verse at the end of "Stuck Between Stations," then listen to "Rosalita" from "The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle." The Hold Steady's keyboard player obviously worships at the shrine of St. Roy Bittan. And both Finn and the early Springsteen aspire to the kind of gutter poetry that finds beauty (and some extraordinary imagery) in the mud and vomit. "Boys and Girls in America" is an English major's dream. <BR/><BR/>But, for me, Finn is at a disadvantage here. Granted, it's a highly skewed comparison. I've only heard one Hold Steady album, whereas I'm familiar with 30+ years and 20+ albums of Springsteen's music. So I don't know what I'm missing from Craig Finn, nor can I possibly project what he'll do in the future. But based on what I know, Springsteen wins the songwriting comparison. Sure, some of his most famous songs concern hitting the open road and driving away from your problems. But that's only a small part of the bigger picture. He has songs about getting married and settling down and finding peace and meaning in the mudane ("The Ties That Bind"). He has songs about finding hope in the midst of tragedy (most of the songs from "The Rising"). He has songs about, God help me, joy, something I wouldn't expect to encounter in a poet of the gutter: <BR/><BR/>Well now all that's sure on the boulevard <BR/>Is that life is just a house of cards <BR/>As fragile as each and every breath <BR/>Of this boy sleepin' in our bed <BR/>Tonight let's lie beneath the eaves <BR/>Just a close band of happy thieves <BR/>And when that train comes we'll get on board <BR/>And steal what we can from the treasures of the Lord <BR/>It's been a long long drought baby <BR/>Tonight the rain's pourin' down on our roof <BR/>Looking for a little bit of God's mercy <BR/>I found living proof <BR/><BR/>This doesn't look like escape to me, and it seems far more balanced and healthy than what Finn is offering. <BR/><BR/>I absolutely agree with you that a recognition of brokenness is the first and necessary step toward healing. That's pretty biblical, I'd say, and it forms the cornerstone of the Sermon on the Mount. And yes, there's brokenness aplenty in Craig Finn's songs. But sometimes people at the end of their ropes simply run out of rope, and that's the end. There's no healing. And that's the place that most of Craig Finn's characters appear to inhabit. You see some glimmers of hope there, which is fine. I wish I saw more of them. That's all. There's a myth in rock 'n roll -- the whole "It's better to burn out than to fade away" romantic sufferer shtick -- that I've grown increasingly weary of. And maybe I'm reacting to some of that in Finn's music. Here's the truth: it's not better to burn out. It's better to live. There's no glory in an early, tragic death. I think it's great that Finn wants to write about desperate characters. But I also hope that he finds the hope, the maturity, whatever it is -- to bring them back from the edge of the abyss. I've spent some time there, and it's no place to live, or die. <BR/><BR/>So that probably informs part of my reaction to this album. I really like it. I've been talking about it for days, ever since I first heard it. So I appreciate the opportunity to spout off. I'm just trying to explain a little more clearly why I react the way I do.Andy Whitmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04010130934552315074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9991864.post-1161030597980083042006-10-16T16:29:00.000-04:002006-10-16T16:29:00.000-04:00Damn, Andy can you WRITE! I read your blog about ...Damn, Andy can you WRITE! I read your blog about music I've never even heard and you pull me *right there* <BR/><BR/>The best compliment I have (even though it reveals a bit too much about me): your writing makes me sick-jealous. But in a good way. Wow.<BR/><BR/>BethKC's Momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00375968201150339066noreply@blogger.com