The Boss bounces back.After a 6-3 defeat in week 1 Bruce weighs in with a 6-3 victory over the Band with Atlantic City with JC somewhat cruelly offering a no score draw.
The scores are now even The Boss 1 The Rest 1
Fairly recently after reading his autobiography I posted a couple of songs from his 1973 debut album Greetings From Asbury Park N.J. Little did I realize that I would be visiting it again so soon.
However as fate would have it Wednesday's Burnt Offerings 10 threw up a fairly rare and fairly interesting cover - David Bowie's 1974 version of It's Hard Being a Saint in the City.
Pretty much the first thing that Springsteen ever recorded and it shows as it is pretty rough round the edges.
Probably not the best thing that The Thin White Duke has ever recorded either but for me it is the stronger version by a distance.
As always, others may choose to disagree
Bruce Springsteen - It's Hard to be a Saint in the City
David Bowie - It's Hard to be a Saint in the City
I suspect I know which way the vote will go this week as Bowie's own canonisation leaves him untouchable, particularly in a world of boss nonbelievers.
ReplyDeleteMy vote may be the solitary one for Bruce then. I don't really like Bowie's version of It's Hard To Be A Saint. It's good, because it's a good song and it's Bowie. But it's an uncomfortable fit.
If you'd chosen his version of Growin' Up, it would have been a much harder choice for me. (Though Bruce would probably still have won.)
I agree with Rol's assessment, however I enjoy Bowie's interpretation a little more than he appears to. Another point for Bruce though.
ReplyDeleteI played the Bowie one first and thought there's no way Springsteen can beat this. Of course, I was pre-disposed to dislike the original but for me it didn't have that trademark Springsteen vocal that's drives me batty. I'm unsure who to vote for.
ReplyDeletePlayed Bruce first and thought this has got to be the one but then played Bowie's version, enjoyed it a lot and felt the lyrics were a better fit for him. It sounds as if I might be a lone voice!
ReplyDeleteProbably not, Alyson, I can see my vote going to Bowie. Or not.
DeleteI seem to suffering from aboulomania
ReplyDeleteThe decision is made (the ruling is final): Bowie.
ReplyDeleteAre you sure?
Delete+1 for the Boss. I like that Bowie gave it a shot, and that Growin' Up was the only American song he tried on for the Pin-Ups album, but, no, this is a straight up urban NYC tune and only Bruce's version sounds right. Bowie was already a gender-bending alien on his way to becoming the thin white duke, nothing like the "backstreet gambler with the luck to lose" that Bruce was when he wrote the song.
ReplyDeleteSo right JTFL. Springsteen is someone I have fallen in and out with over the years...I have a strange affection for the Darkness On The Edge Of Town album, but that said 'Saint' is a song that drips with Lower East Side and Greenwich Village club and bar performances as the young man from New Jersey tried to find his space among the growing sound of Lower Manhattan.
DeleteAbsolutely 100% Bowie. For many reasons, but i this instance mainly because he isn't Springsteen....
ReplyDelete(ouch)
I'm for Buce yet again, very much for the same reasons as the others. Rol is spot on with his assessment
ReplyDeleteMuch bigger Bowie fan, but this cover never worked for me. Bruce.
ReplyDelete