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The Great Depression

Bobby_GBobby_GHoney I'm...
Around the time Bruce recorded Nebraska (early '82), he has spoken of going into something of a depression. In an interview (the'92 one?) he spoke of being alone and feeling 'really really bad off' or something to that effect.

You can certainly hear it in the 'Nebraska' album, as well as other material from this period, like 'Stolen Car', 'Follow That Dream', 'County Fair', 'Shut Out The Light' 'Wreck On The Highway'. Not that all of these songs are depressing per se, but a lot of the music from this period seemed to have a strange, mournful, almost ethereal quality to it.

To me, depression is a fascinating subject, and Bruce is a fascinating artist. You could argue that this period in Bruce's career produced some of his richest work. However, details seem to be sketchy. I know when I met him in late '82, he looked pretty bad (see my Holiday post).

Does anybody have any details about what might have been happening during this period?
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NighthawksNighthawksMember
Bruce was pretty fucked up for a long time. Girl issues, daddy issues, authority issues, you name it, he had it. He couldn't talk about it, so he wrote it about it and produced some of the greatest music ever.

Then he moved to California, got counseling, got married, resolved his differences with his pop, and started to suck. Now he's pissed off again and so he's writing decent music (Magic).

A happy musician can't create meaningful, powerful music.
ZanzibarZanzibarMember
Originally Posted By: Morey
On one of the Christic nights, I can't remember which one, he talks about having a shrink before he sings My Father's House. One of the most poignant raps ever, where he talks about driving past his childhood home, again and again.

Here it is. From Brucebase/Storyteller:
Quote:
16.11.90 Los Angeles, CA, intro to ?My Father?s House?:
?I used to, uh... I had this habit for a long time, I used to get in my car and I would drive back through my old neighborhood in the town I grew up in, and uh... I?d always drive past the old house I used to live in, and I?d do it and sometimes late at night if I was... when I used to be up at nights (chuckles) and I got so I would do it really regularly, for two or three, four times a week... for years... and I eventually got to wondering ?What the hell am I doing?? (chuckles). So I went to see a psychiatrist (laughter)... this is true (chuckles)... and you know, I sat down and I said, ?Doc, for years I been getting in my car at night, drive back to my town, and I pass my house late at night... and you know, what am I doing?? And he said ?I want you to tell me what you think you?re doing? (laughter). So I go ?That?s what I?m paying you for?... So he says ?Well... what you?re doing?, he says, ?Something bad happened... and you?re going back... you know, thinking you can make it right again. Something went wrong and you keep going back, to see if you can fix it, or somehow make it right?... And I sat there and I said ?That is what I?m doing?... and he said ?Well, you can?t?......

Handle every situation like a dog:
If you can't eat it or hump it, piss on it and walk away.

BuddhaboneBuddhaboneMember
This is a topic that I find fascinating.

I think Bruce could have been classified as a person who had issues with Identity. Children who are brought up in homes where a Parent is abusive oftentimes will create a child that has trouble finding themselves. Children from this kind of household generally have a lack of confidence.

Based on Dave Marsh's account of the Nebraska period would be considered the great depression.
MoreyMoreyMember
From what I can put together, I wouldn't say Bruce's father was abusive.

Neglectful? Probably. A prick? To the young Bruce.

But abusive? Nah...he wasn't even verbally abusive. He was just a boomer generation Dad. To an overly sensitive kid, he might've been extremely intimidating.

I wish there was some type of interview with his dad. It would be ridiculously interesting. He was Bruce, sans art and music.
Bobby_GBobby_GHoney I'm...
Originally Posted By: Buddhabone
Based on Dave Marsh's account of the Nebraska period would be considered the great depression.


Bruce has said that the Nebraska stuff reminded him of his childhood. So this was probably a period of intense thought & reflection about his childhood.

I'm only a 20 minute drive from Freehold. Even though the album is entitled 'Nebraska', I always thought it should have been titled 'Freehold'. To me, or anyone who has driven around there, the album sounds, feels, even smells like Freehold. It's pretty uncanny.
ZanzibarZanzibarMember
Originally Posted By: Bobby_G
Even though the album is entitled 'Nebraska', I always thought it should have been titled 'Freehold'.

Other than the title track and Highway Patrolman, the album is set in Jersey -- quite explicitly in many cases:

"Atlantic City", obviously
"...here in Linden Town" (Linden, NJ) - Mansion on the Hill
"...auto plant in Mahwah" (Mahwah, NJ) - Johnny 99
"New Jersey Turnpike..." - State Trooper
"Early north Jersey industrial skyline..." - Open All Night
"...standin' out on highway 31" - Reason to Believe

Handle every situation like a dog:
If you can't eat it or hump it, piss on it and walk away.

Bobby_GBobby_GHoney I'm...
As many of you already know, Nebraska was recorded in a small, nondescript house he was renting at the time on the Monmouth Reservoir (now called Swimming River Reservoir). In fact, the famous 1980 Rolling Stone ice skating cover was shot out behind the house. I used to play ice hockey there as a kid. For some reason it was always the first local pond to freeze.

Anyway, I drive past the house from time to time, and I wonder if the current residents have any idea that a landmark album was recorded there. I doubt it. Bruce's childhood homes in Freehold get lots of tourist attention, but this house seems to get none. I kinda like that.

Maybe someday I'll buy it...
S SoulBoogieAlexMember
I know Bruce has often said that the songs on HT and LT have been his attempt to write happy songs, but I always had the impression he wasn't really happy when he wrote them, especially with his professional live. I suspect that getting married and having children was hard on him, caused a need to reevaluate his relationship with his father and posed very difficult questions about his identity. I remember him saying something recently to the effect of "Born to Run but run to where". The focus was missing in the period between '89 and '92 when the songs for HT/LT were written, that must have been frustrating for him. Maybe it was because his focus was more on getting his family live together, but I do think Springsteen didn't become to be more at ease with himself until after '92. So I'm questioning if we can attribute the '92 output to actually being happy.
MoreyMoreyMember
He was out of the spotlight from 89 to 91 because he was rebuilding with Patti, and finally putting to use some of the more mature ideas he'd been writing about in his career.

His writing wasn't focused because his life outside music was actually fulfilling for once, which you mention, but that's a happy thing.

quantequanteTougher Than The Rest
Originally Posted By: Zanzibar
Originally Posted By: Morey

So I went to see a psychiatrist (laughter)... this is true (chuckles)... and you know, I sat down and I said, ?Doc, for years I been getting in my car at night, drive back to my town, and I pass my house late at night... and you know, what am I doing?? And he said ?I want you to tell me what you think you?re doing? (laughter).


Definitely saw a shrink smirk
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