Music / Classic Covers

Springsteen, Like You’ve Never Seen Him Before

You think you know a guy….

Before you read any further, watch this video. Put aside all distractions for four minutes and fifty-three seconds and don’t do anything else, besides listening at the same time.

I’m not sure if this video has been around for a while and somehow slipped by me, or if it’s hot off the press new. Either way, I have never seen Bruce Springsteen quite like this before and I’m guessing, even if you are a huge fan, you haven’t either.

What’s the first thing you noticed?

For me, it’s the tailored grey suit he’s wearing. That’s not a look we typically associate with the Boss, as the working man’s millionaire his outfit is usually quite denim-forward and leather boot oriented.

These days, he has put aside the Born in the USA era white t-shirt and is usually seen on stage in some ensemble of black t-shirt covered by black vest or black collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up and black tie all covered by the same black vest. And jeans. Always jeans. And everything dripping about halfway through the open number.

But a suit? Never. Maybe we shouldn’t be all that surprised, since he said himself that he’s “never seen the inside of a factory.” Maybe this is the way he dresses when he thinks people aren’t looking.

The next thing I noticed was the look on his face at the opening. Somber, almost a bit overwhelmed with nothing between him and the camera, and as though without his guitar he didn’t know what to do with his arms. But it doesn’t take long for the showman to come out and insert some theatrical gestures in the performance of the song. You get the feeling it was all he could do to put the guitar down for a minute and let us see the real him.

Hand in hand with this was the restraint he showed in singing this classic. We already know it’s possible since we’ve heard it before, on tracks like “The River,” “Streets of Philadelphia,” “I’m on Fire,” or “Tougher than the Rest.” But it’s in stark contrast to the way we also know him, belting out “Badlands,” “Jungleland,” or “10th Avenue Freeze Out.”

Here, his approach seems to be bordering on reverence.

His voice is instantly recognizable but somehow different — more soulful and deeper — than I’ve heard it before. Maybe he is trying to emulate his icons from the 50s and 60s that the song is about — Marvin Gaye and Jackie Wilson. Is it fair to say he is almost crooning?

The song itself is “Night Shift,” originally by the Commodores in 1985. Springsteen is not trying to be the centre of the song, rather he makes his rendition about the song itself and the subjects in it. As a result, it stays true to its original sound and purpose as a tribute, but with a Springsteen spin on it.

Give yourself five minutes to close your eyes to a classic tune from long ago. And then open them towards the end. We haven’t seen the Boss cut a rug like that since “Dancing in the Dark.”

Here is the original, by the Commodores

I really do hope that you like what you have just read. If you want unlimited access to thousands of writers, consider a subscription to Medium. It will set you back $5 a month and if you use the link below, then I get a slice of that and will put it towards a ticket to “Showtunes by the Boss” when he tours it.