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The River - Side 4

Posted at 3:00 PM on November 2, 2007 by Mac Wilson

Ramrod -- Everything about the song indicates that we're turning that last corner and entering the homestretch of the album (is it a coincidence that Bruce opens Side 4 with a 1-2-3-4! call?) and is essentially one last chance to rock out before things get tidied up. Maybe this is why "Ramrod" tends to pop up in Springsteen's encores -- a simple jolt of energy that's virtually impossible not to clap along to. My only caveat is with the live version: the studio version's prominent organ line is pushed almost completely to the side.
The Price You Pay -- A stark yet rousing track, with plenty of biblical references. The theme of working one's way through endless tribulations is directly descended from Darkness on the Edge of Town (there's even a mention of the promised land!) yet the tone is still hopeful and defiant. Bruce breaks out the harmonica for a few bars at the song's end, but it fades out after about ten seconds; I'm always disappointed by the fade and I wish that portion were longer. Still, an underrated track near the record's end.
Drive All Night -- The eight-minute epic. For years, I thought it was terribly overwrought (at least the "heart and soul" section certainly is), but the steadiness of Garry Tallent's bass is downright hypnotic, making for a moody, atmospheric penultimate track. Unfortunately, I think this may be the song that sounds the most dated now: that guitar line sounds more like something from The Roger Whittaker Christmas Album. Not as bad as I once thought, but along with "Crush on You", it's the album's low point.
Wreck on the Highway -- After complex sagas swathed in layers of interpretation, we get the seemingly-straightforward account of a man who comes across an accident on his way home late one night, stays with the unfortunate victim until the authorities arrive, then silently heads home back to his wife. Although the narrator makes it home safe, he is haunted by the horror of what he has encountered: has the victim died? how will the victim's wife react? was it all a dream? "Wreck on the Highway" has always made a vivid impression on me; its characters and imagery haunt my mind much the same way the memory of the accident haunts the narrator. Out of all the scenes from The River, the most memorable and the most touching is the mental image of the song's narrator climbing into bed at night, resting safely next to his wife, yet wide-eyed, haunted (yes, I know I used the word 'haunt' four/five times in this paragraph) and glad to be alive. It's deeply unsettling, but the narrator is alive and ready to face a new day. After the soft organ fades, the song slowly starts up again for a lovely acoustic guitar part, sounding much like the first hints of sunlight on the horizon.

I hope you enjoyed my chronicle of The River. I'm even more excited for the big show tonight at XCel! I'll try to post a recap sometime Saturday. Until then, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that he plays "Further On (Up the Road)".

November 2007
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30

Master Archive

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