I was listening to E Street Radio recently and caught a clip of Brian Fallon, the lead singer of Gaslight Anthem, doing a Guest DJ spot. Fallon is a Jersey guy, in his early 30's, has played with Bruce and is even on the recent DVD release, London Calling, guesting on No Surrender.
The clip that I caught was of Fallon introducing Backstreets. He referred to Born To Run as an album that changed his life. I could certainly relate and all of a sudden found myself wondering:
"Will an album ever change my life again?"
The sad news is...I don't think so. I think when you are young and trying to figure out who you are, it's an amazing gift to find an artist, an album or even a song that can change your world or at least your perspective on the world. When you are young, your world is infinitely smaller. Music can open you up to what the world has to offer...what it might bring.
I remember driving at around 17 for hours listening to Bruce cassettes over and over. Hitting rewind and listening to Jungleland over and over. The romantic possibilities were intoxicating. The promise of something better that Born To Run offered made being a teenager a little easier.
Then in college, the world got a little bigger, but music could still make the same impact. Falling for a girl and then getting dumped by the same girl sucked, but it helped to know that there was somewhere somewhere who had gone through the same things. We knew because it was coming through the speakers in our dorm rooms. We knew because August and Everything After by Counting Crows was an album about being miserable about girls. Right?
At the time, it seemed like there was nothing better than these songs. Not to be overly dramatic, but they became entrenched in my soul. The songs that I connected with during those "growing up" years are the ones that I still listen to, still find comfort from, and still give me goosebumps at times. I was having a rough day last week and randomly Incident on 57th Street came on the radio.
For seven minutes and forty five seconds, everything was right in the world.
A piece of music might never change my life again, but I am certainly glad that there was a point in my life when it did.
Now that's not to say that new music doesn't move me or I don't fall in love with new records. Warren Zevon's last album, The Wind, was amazingly moving as he knew he was dying and wrote about it. It remains an amazing piece of work and gave me a new perspective I didn't have before. I don't remember enjoying a new album as much as Pills and Ammo, the new Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes record. It's tremendous. I just wish I was open enough to have them be life changing.
What music changed your life? I'd love to see a list from anyone who's reading.
"It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive." - BS
JN
