Born to Run de Bruce Springsteen
Álbum de Bruce Springsteen
- Fecha de lanzamiento: 25 de Agosto de 1975
- Sello Discográfico: Columbia
- Compositores: Bruce Springsteen
- Productores: Bruce Springsteen, Mike Appel, Jon Landau
Born to Run es un álbum de Bruce Springsteen, publicado en 1975 por Columbia. El disco incluye 8 canciones, entre ellas «Thunder Road», «Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out», «Night» y «Backstreets».
Antecedentes: la última oportunidad
En 1974, la carrera de Bruce Springsteen pendía de un hilo. Sus dos primeros álbumes habían sido aclamados por la crítica pero ignorados por el público. Columbia Records estaba perdiendo la paciencia, y Springsteen sabía que su tercer álbum era su última oportunidad para lograr el éxito. Con esta presión de "todo o nada", se propuso crear el álbum de rock and roll más grande y épico jamás grabado.
Un momento clave en este período fue cuando el crítico de rock Jon Landau vio un concierto de Springsteen y escribió una famosa reseña que decía: "He visto el futuro del rock and roll, y su nombre es Bruce Springsteen". Esta reseña no solo le dio a Springsteen un impulso de confianza muy necesario, sino que también llamó la atención de la industria. Landau se convertiría más tarde en el coproductor y mánager de Springsteen, una asociación que dura hasta el día de hoy.
Proceso de grabación: la búsqueda de la perfección
La grabación de "Born to Run" fue un proceso legendariamente largo y arduo, que duró más de 14 meses. Springsteen estaba obsesionado con lograr un sonido grandioso y cinematográfico, inspirado en el "Wall of Sound" (Muro de Sonido) del productor Phil Spector, la energía de Roy Orbison y el lirismo de Bob Dylan. Quería que cada canción sonara como una mini-ópera.
Las sesiones, principalmente en los Record Plant Studios de Nueva York, fueron agotadoras. Springsteen era un perfeccionista implacable, obligando a la E Street Band a hacer innumerables tomas y experimentando con complejas capas de instrumentos. Solo la grabación de la canción principal, "Born to Run", llevó seis meses. El proceso estuvo a punto de quebrar a Springsteen física y emocionalmente, pero el resultado fue un sonido monumental que redefinió el rock de los años 70.
Estilo y contenido de las letras
"Born to Run" es un álbum conceptual sobre el deseo de escapar de una vida sin futuro. Las letras de Springsteen abandonan la jerga callejera de sus primeros trabajos en favor de un lenguaje más poético y universal. Las canciones están pobladas de personajes desesperados que ven el coche y la carretera como su única salvación, buscando una "tierra prometida" en algún lugar más allá del horizonte de Nueva Jersey.
Musicalmente, el álbum es una pieza redonda de producción. El "Wall of Sound" se logra a través de múltiples capas de guitarras, pianos, glockenspiels, saxofones y arreglos de cuerda. Cada canción está diseñada para construir una tensión dramática que explota en un estribillo catártico. Es un sonido que es a la vez grandioso y detallado, una síntesis perfecta de la historia del rock and roll.
Los temas más destacados
"Thunder Road": La icónica apertura del álbum, que comienza con una melodía de armónica y piano. Es una invitación a la escapatoria, una súplica a una chica llamada Mary para que deje atrás su "pueblo de perdedores" y se arriesgue en la carretera. Es una de las canciones más queridas y citadas de Springsteen, un himno de esperanza y posibilidad.
"Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out": Una canción de R&B y soul que cuenta la historia mitológica de la formación de la E Street Band, incluyendo la llegada del saxofonista Clarence "The Big Man" Clemons. Es una celebración de la camaradería y el poder de la música.
"Born to Run": La canción que da título al álbum es el himno definitivo de Springsteen. Es una explosión de energía rock and roll, una epopeya de cuatro minutos sobre la necesidad desesperada de escapar. Con su famoso riff de guitarra y su letra apasionada, la canción se convirtió en un himno generacional que encapsuló el espíritu del rock.
"Jungleland": La épica de más de nueve minutos que cierra el álbum. Es una trágica ópera rock sobre la vida y la muerte en las calles de la ciudad, con una narrativa cinematográfica y uno de los solos de saxofón más famosos de la historia del rock, interpretado por Clarence Clemons. Es la culminación de la ambición artística del álbum.
El diseño de la portada
La portada de "Born to Run", fotografiada por Eric Meola, es una de las más icónicas de la historia del rock. La imagen en blanco y negro muestra a Springsteen apoyado en su saxofonista, Clarence Clemons. La foto captura perfectamente la camaradería y la energía del álbum. La pose relajada pero segura de Springsteen, con su chaqueta de cuero y su Fender Telecaster, lo convirtió en un icono instantáneo. La imagen representa la amistad interracial entre Bruce y Clarence, un poderoso símbolo en la América de los años 70.
Rendimiento comercial y "El Futuro del Rock and Roll"
"Born to Run" fue el éxito masivo que Springsteen necesitaba desesperadamente. El álbum alcanzó el número 3 en la lista Billboard 200 y se convirtió en un éxito de ventas en todo el mundo. El avance fue tan significativo que, en una hazaña sin precedentes, Springsteen apareció simultáneamente en las portadas de las revistas Time y Newsweek en la misma semana de octubre de 1975.
El álbum fue aclamado universalmente por la crítica como una pieza redonda. Fue el disco que cumplió la promesa de la famosa cita de Jon Landau. "Born to Run" no solo salvó la carrera de Springsteen, sino que lo catapultó al estatus de superestrella y lo estableció como una de las voces más importantes de su generación.
Posición en listas:
- Estados Unidos (USA): 3
- Reino Unido (UK): 17
- Canadá: 16
- Suecia: 7
- España: 1 (en 2005, reedición)
Listado de Canciones
- Thunder Road4:50
Letra
The screen door slams Mary's dress waves Like a vision she dances across the porch As the radio plays Roy Orbison singing for the lonely Hey that's me and I want you only Don't turn me home again I just can't face myself alone again Don't run back inside darling you know just what I'm here for So you're scared and you're thinking That maybe we ain't that young anymore Show a little faith, there's magic in the night You ain't a beauty, but hey you're alright Oh and that's alright with me You can hide `neath your covers And study your pain Make crosses from your lovers Throw roses in the rain Waste your summer praying in vain For a savior to rise from these streets Well now I'm no hero That's understood All the redemption I can offer, girl Is beneath this dirty hood With a chance to make it good somehow Hey what else can we do now Except roll down the window And let the wind blow back your hair Well the night's busting open These two lanes will take us anywhere We got one last chance to make it real To trade in these wings on some wheels Climb in back Heaven's waiting on down the tracks Oh oh come take my hand Riding out tonight to case the promised land Oh oh Thunder Road, oh Thunder Road oh Thunder Road Lying out there like a killer in the sun Hey I know it's late we can make it if we run Oh Thunder Road, sit tight take hold Thunder Road Well I got this guitar And I learned how to make it talk And my car's out back If you're ready to take that long walk >From your front porch to my front seat The door's open but the ride it ain't free And I know you're lonely For words that I ain't spoken But tonight we'll be free All the promises'll be broken There were ghosts in the eyes Of all the boys you sent away They haunt this dusty beach road In the skeleton frames of burned out Chevrolets They scream your name at night in the street Your graduation gown lies in rags at their feet And in the lonely cool before dawn You hear their engines roaring on But when you get to the porch they're gone On the wind, so Mary climb in It's a town full of losers And I'm pulling out of here to win. - Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out3:11
Letra
Tear drops on the city Bad Scooter searching for his groove Seem like the whole world walking pretty And you can't find the room to move Well everybody better move over, that's all 'Cause I'm running on the bad side And I got my back to the wall Tenth Avenue freeze-out, Tenth Avenue freeze-out Well I was stranded in the jungle Trying to take in all the heat they was giving The night is dark but the sidewalk's bright And lined with the light of the living From a tenement window a transistor blasts Turn around the corner things got real quite real fast I walked into a Tenth Avenue freeze-out Tenth Avenue freeze-out And I'm all alone, I'm all alone And kid you better get the picture And I'm on my own, I'm on my own And I can't go home When the changes was made uptown And the Big Man joined the band From the coastline to the city All the little pretties raise their hands I'm gonna sit back right easy and laugh When Scooter and the Big Man bust this city in half With the Tenth Avenue freeze-out, Tenth Avenue freeze-out Tenth Avenue freeze-out... - Night3:01
Letra
You get up every morning at the sound of the bell You get to work late and the boss man's giving you hell Till you're out on a midnight run Losing your heart to a beautiful one And it feels right as you lock up the house Turn out the lights and step out into the night And the world is busting at its seams And you're just a prisoner of your dreams Holding on for your life 'cause you work all day To blow 'em away in the night The rat traps filled with soul crusaders The circuits lined and jammed with chromed invaders And she's so pretty that you're lost in the stars As you jockey your way through the cars And sit at the light, as it changes to green With your faith in your machine off you scream into the night And you're in love with all the wonder it brings And every muscle in your body sings as the highway ignites You work nine to five and somehow you survive till the night Hell all day they're busting you up on the outside But tonight you're gonna break on through to the inside And it'll be right, it'll be right, and it'll be tonight And you know she will be waiting there And you'll find her somehow you swear Somewhere tonight you run sad and free Until all you can see is the night - Backstreets6:29
Letra
One soft infested summer, me and Terry became friends Trying in vain to breathe the fire we was born in Catching rides to the outskirts, tying faith between our teeth Sleeping in that old abandoned beach house, getting wasted in the heat And hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets With a love so hard and filled with defeat Running for our lives at night on them backstreets Slow dancing in the dark on the beach at Stockton's Wing Where desperate lovers park, we sat with the last of the Duke Street Kings Huddled in our cars, waiting for the bells that ring In the deep heart of the night, we cut loose from everything To go running on the backstreets Running on the backstreets Terry, we swore we'd live forever Takin' it on them backstreets together Endless juke joints and Valentino drag Where dancers scraped the tears up off the streets dressed down in rags Running into the darkness, some hurt bad, some really dying At night sometimes, it seemed you could hear the whole damn city crying Blame it on the lies that killed us Blame it on the truth that ran us down You can blame it all on me Terry It don't matter to me now When the breakdown hit at midnight There was nothin’ left to say But I hated him and I hated you when you went away Whoa, ah, whoa, oooh (Musical Interlude) Laying in the dark, you're like an angel on my chest Just another tramp of hearts crying tears of faithlessness Remember all the movies, Terry, we'd go see Trying to learn how to walk like the heroes, we thought we had to be And after all this time, to find, we're just like all the rest Stranded on the park and forced to confess To, hide on the backstreets Hiding on the backstreets Where, we swore forever friends On the backstreets, until the end Hiding on the backstreets Hiding on the backstreets Hiding on the backstreets Hiding on the backstreets Hiding on the backstreets Hiding on the backstreets Hiding on the backstreets Hiding on the backstreets Hiding on the backstreets Hiding on the backstreets Hiding on the backstreets Hiding on the backstreets Hiding on the backstreets Hiding on the backstreets Hiding on the backstreets Hiding on the backstreets Hiding on the backstreets Hiding on the backstreets It was alright We’ll go hiding on the backstreets, tonight Hiding on the backstreets Hiding on the backstreets Hiding on the backstreets Hiding on the backstreets Hiding on the backstreets Hiding on the backstreets Hiding on the backstreets Whoa, girl, ooo Whoa, ooo, oh, oooo Ah, whoa, oooo, oooo - Born to Run4:30In the day we sweat it out on the streets of a runaway American Dream At night we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines Sprung from cages on Highway Nine Chrome wheeled, fuel injected and steppin’ out over the line Oh, baby, this town rips the bones from your back It’s a death trap, it's a suicide rap We gotta get out while we’re young Cause tramps like us, baby, we were born to run Yes, girl, we are Wendy, let me in I wanna be your friend I wanna guard your dreams and visions Just wrap your legs ‘round these velvet rims And strap your hands ‘cross my engines Together we could break this trap We’ll run till we drop, baby we’ll never go back Oh, will you walk with me out on the wire? Cause baby I'm just a scared and lonely rider But I gotta know how it feels I wanna know if love is wild, babe, I wanna know if love is real Oh, can ya show me Huh, sax (Sax Solo) Beyond the palace, hemi-powered drones scream down the boulevard Girls comb their hair in rearview mirrors And the boys try to look so hard The amusement park rises bold and stark Kids are huddled on the beach in the mist I wanna die with ya, Wendy, on the street tonight In an everlastin’ kiss, ha (Guitar Solo) One, two, three, four The highway’s jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive Well, everybody’s out on the run tonight, but there's no place left to hide Together Wendy we can live with the sadness I’ll love you with all the madness in my soul Oh, someday girl, I don't know when we’re gonna get to that place Where we really wanna go and we’ll walk in the sun But till then, tramps like us, baby, we were born to run Come on, Honey, tramps like us Baby, we were born to run Come on Wendy, tramps like us Baby, we were born to run Whoa, a-whoa, mmm, mmm, ahh, ahh, aah Whoa, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, oo, ooo Mmm, mmm, whoa, ooo, ooo, whoa, oh, oh, oh, ooo, ooo
- She's The One4:30
Letra
With her killer graces and her secret places That no boy can fill with her hands on her hips Oh and that smile on her lips Because she knows that it kills me With her soft french cream Standing in that doorway like a dream I wish she'd just leave me alone Because french cream won't soften them boots And french kisses will not break that heart of stone With her long hair falling And her eyes that shine like a midnight sun Oh-o she's the one, she's the one That Thunder in your heart At night when you're kneeling in the dark It says you're never gonna leave her But there's this angel in her eyes That tells such desperate lies And all you want to do is believe her And tonight you'll try just one more time To leave it all behind and to break on through Oh she can take you, but if she wants to break you She's gonna find out that ain't so easy to do And no matter where you sleep tonight or how far you run Oh-o she's the one, she's the one Oh-o and just one kiss She'd fill them long summer nights With her tenderness that secret pact you made Back when her love could save you from the bitterness Oh she's the one, oh she's the one Oh she's the one, oh she's the one Oh she's the one, oh she's the one - Meeting Across The River3:16
Letra
Hey Eddie, can you lend me a few bucks? And tonight can you get us a ride? Gotta make it through the tunnel Got a meetin’ with a man on the other side Hey Eddie, this guy, he's the real thing So if you wanna come along You gotta promise you won't say anything Cause this guy don't dance And the word's been passed This is our last chance We gotta stay cool tonight, Eddie Cause man, we got ourselves out on that line And if we blow this one They ain't gonna be lookin’ for just me this time And all we gotta do is hold up our end Here, stuff this in your pocket It'll look like you're carrying a friend Remember, just don't smile Change your shirt Cause tonight we got style Well, Cherry says she's gonna walk Cause she found I took the radio and hocked it But Eddie, man, she don't understand That two grand's practically sittin’ here in my pocket And tonight's gonna be everything that I said And when I walk through that door I'm just gonna throw that money on the bed She'll see this time I wasn't just talking Then I'm gonna go out walking Hey Eddie, can you catch us a ride? - Jungleland9:33
Letra
The Rangers had a homecomin’ in Harlem late last night And the Magic Rat drove his sleek machine, over the Jersey state line Barefoot Girl sitting on the hood of a Dodge Drinking warm beer in the soft summer rain The Rat pulls into town rolls up his pants Together they take a stab at romance And disappear down Flamingo Lane Well, the maximum lawman run down Flamingo Chasing the Rat and the Barefoot Girl And the kids ‘round here, look just like shadows Always quiet, holding hands From the churches to the jails Tonight all is silence in the world, as we take our stand Down in Jungleland The midnight gangs assembled And picked a rendezvous for the night They'll meet 'neath that giant Exxon sign That brings this fair city light Man, there's an opera out on the turnpike There's a ballet being fought out in the alley Until the local cop, cherry top, rips this holy night The street’s alive as debts are paid Contacts made, they vanished unseen Kids flash guitars just like switch-blades Hustling for the record machine The hungry and the hunted Explode into rock ‘n roll bands That face off against each other out in the street Down in Jungleland (Guitar solo) In the parking lot the visionaries dress in the latest rage Inside the backstreet girls Are dancing to the records that the D. J. plays Lonely-hearted lovers struggle in dark corners Desperate as the night moves on Just a look and a whisper, and they're gone (Soulful Sax Solo) Beneath the city two hearts beat Soul engines runnin’ through a night so tender In a bedroom locked In whispers of soft, refusal, and then surrender In the tunnels uptown The Rat’s own dream guns him down As shots echo down them hallways in the night No one watches, when the ambulance pulls away Or, as the girl shuts out the bedroom light Outside, the street’s on fire in a real death waltz Between what’s flesh and what's fantasy And then poets down here, don't write nothin’ at all They just stand back and let it all be And in the quick of the night They reach for their moment And try to make an honest stand But they wind up wounded, not even dead Tonight in Jungleland
