4. September 2018 By Walter Price 0

A Take You Higher Three Way: Bruce Springsteen – “I’m On Fire”

Bruce Springsteen – Born in the U.S.A.” is available @ iTunes.

In 1984 the rock and pop worlds were embracing the synthesizer-driven sounds fueling the decade of decadence. But New Jersey blue-collar rock poet Bruce Springsteen found a way to use rock n roll standards to kind of emulate the sentiments of this new era of eclecticism. His album Born in the U.S.A. was somewhat of a deviation from what fans had come to know Springsteen for. While most critics dug the album, I remember some common folk wishing it was more Nebraska and less an expansion of Born to Run. But honestly, I didn’t know either one of those previous albums. Not yet anyway.

I wouldn’t delve into those albums until the release of the fourth single from Born in the U.S.A, “I’m On Fire”. I already had the album title Nebraska in my head but didn’t think much of it until I heard a radio DJ mention that this new track was originally intended for that seminal album but didn’t make the cut in ’82.

The track explores the lusty nature of desire going full tilt on a person’s senses. A seemingly unobtainable conquest causing sweaty heart pounding sleepless nights.

Sometimes it’s like someone took a knife, baby, edgy and dull
And cut a six-inch valley through the middle of my soul
At night I wake up with the sheets soaking wet
And a freight train running through the middle of my head
Only you can cool my desire

We’ve all been there. So much so that this track, in particular, has been one of Springsteen’s most covered songs. Reimagined versions in nearly every music genre. Fortunately, almost all of them have been heartfelt odes to the original. So it was difficult to choose just three to highlight here But I went with the ones that have a good chance of taking you higher.