Bruce Springsteen, Winter Song, Randolph Street

I'm easing into this new year with a bit of a cold that I've just about killed.  It has been fairly cold around here lately, and I've noticed that winter seems to have a pretty icy pair of vice grips on much of the continent.  Such thoughts led me to think, "Today, I need a winter song".  Fortunately for us, Bruce once wrote something called 'Winter Song'.  I guess that's close enough.

'Greetings From Asbury Park' had already been released a month earlier and on February 20, 1973, Bruce Springsteen was at 914 Sound Studios in Blauvelt, New York, working on material for his next album.  'Winter Song' didn't make the cut to appear on 'The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle', although the intro sounds like a musical idea that would survive and evolve into the intro to 'New York City Serenade'.

Bruce wrote prolifically between 1971 and 1973, and seems to have recorded a great many of those songs.  'Randolph Street', also known as 'Master of Electricity', was likely also recorded at 914 Sound Studios, in the summer of 1972.  It sounds like Bruce was nostalgic, and maybe a little wistful, thinking back to his grandfather who according to the lyrics may have been a self-employed electrician that passed away in the winter of 1963, followed by Bruce's grandmother in August of 1964. 

Happy Friday!

Comments

[Monica]

Randolph Street was beautiful. I hope if shows uo on E Street Radio some time.

[Friday Bruce Fix]

Thanks, Frank. Glad you enjoyed it. I think that sparse arrangement really works to let the lyrics draw us in.

[Frank October]

Thank you so much. I heard 'Winter Song' before but this is the first time for 'Randolph Street'. It bought tears to my eyes. This is just a wonderful song.
He took me right there, watching those old cartoons.