Tag: bruce springsteen

Love, Sex, Death, and Springsteen’s “Sha La La”

Sha la la Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen remains one of the great living artists who connects us to early rock and roll. Perhaps as part of that connection, he is the artist most likely to sing the classic rock lyrics “sha-la-la.” The lyrics have appeared in several of his performances and recordings.

“Brown-Eyed Girl” Cover

In one example from a recent tour, Springsteen sang the line while covering Van Morrison’s classic “Brown-Eyed Girl” on April 19, 2014 in Charlotte, North Carolina: “Do you remember when we used to sing / Sha la la la la la la la la la la dee dah.”

“Darlington County” and “Jersey Girl”

The two “sha-la-la” songs most identified with Springsteen, though, are “Darlington County” and “Jersey Girl.” “Darlington County” first appeared on Born in the U.S.A. (1984), recounting the travels of the singer and “Wayne” heading down South from New York City to meet some girls. “We got rock and roll music blasting off the T-top singing / Sha la la la la la la la la.”

Below is a swinging performance of “Darlington County” in London in 2013. Although the original version highlighted Springsteen’s harmonies with Steven Van Zandt, when the band plays live, everyone sings on the “sha-la-la’s.”

Although California-born Tom Waits wrote “Jersey Girl,” fans also identify Springsteen with the song from his many performances and from his close connection to New Jersey. Springsteen began performing the song during The River tour in 1981, and it appeared as a B-side to Born in the U.S.A.‘s “Cover Me.” “Jersey Girl” finally appeared on an official Springsteen album when a live version closed the box set Live: 1975-85 (1986).

In “Jersey Girl,” the singer tells us he is in love with a girl from New Jersey. It is a touching song, tinged with real-life hope and regret. The singer pleads with a single mother who is exhausted from her job, asking that she go dancing on a Saturday night where everything will be all right.

And then, apparently, they will “Sha-la-la. . .” because the singer is “in love with a Jersey girl.” As in “Brown-Eyed Girl,” one might read the “Sha-la-la’s” as rock and roll talk for sexual relations. Below is an October 2009 performance at Giants Stadium . . . in New Jersey, of course.

“Breakaway”

Springsteen used “sha-la-la” in at least one other original song besides “Darlington County.” The phrase appearing in background vocals for his song “Breakaway.”

“Breakaway” was recorded during Springsteen’s 1977-’78 recording sessions around the time of Darkness on the Edge of Town.  But these sha-la-la’s did not see official release until Springsteen put together leftover songs from those sessions for the 2010 release The Promise.

Unlike the other sha-la-la’s in other songs in this post, the sha-la-la’s in “Breakaway” appear in the background, not up front in a chorus. Also, “Breakaway” is one of the rare times where “sha-la-la” does not have any sexual or love connotations.

In “Breakaway,” the “sha-la-la” phrase fills in the spaces in a song about broken dreams. Arguably, the phrase fills in for another topic we do not like to talk about: death. “Janie slid into a car last night (sha la la la, sha la la la) / In a parking lot she gave her soul away . . . .”

“Jole Blon”

On a much happier note, one of my favorite “sha-la-la” songs resulted when Springsteen joined Gary U.S. Bonds on a modern version of the Cajun classic “Jole Blon” on Bonds’s 1981 album Dedication. Among other things, Springsteen contributed some “sha la la’s.”

Here is a 2012 performance where the two men teamed up on stage at Metlife Stadium in New Jersey singing a great duet on “Jole Blon” from an excellent album. Again, it is a love song and the “sha-la-la’s” help fill in the blanks.

“Sha La La”

Finally, if “sha-la-la” is good enough for a chorus, it is good enough for a name of a song. In 1964, The Shirelles recorded a song called “Sha La La” that may have given Springsteen his first love of the “sha-la-la” phrase, even though a more famous song by The Shirelles, “Baby It’s You,” also used the phrase.

Springsteen recently performed The Shirelles’ “Sha La La” in 2009 during the Working on a Dream tour.  But prior to that, all of his other known performances of the song occurred in 1975.

Below is a live version of “Sha La La” Springsteen sang by request in 2009. Again, you can figure out what “sha-la-la” means: “When I kissed you and I held you tight / Baby, you made me feel alright / So this is the song that I sang all night / Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la.”

What Sha-la-la Song Should Springsteen Sing Next?

With these six songs, four of which appear on official recordings, Bruce Springsteen may be the living artist most likely to “sha-la-la” in song. It has been awhile, though, since he has recorded a “sha-la-la” song. Let us suggest “Let’s Live for Today” (“Sha-la-la-la-la-la, live for today”) by the Grass Roots, which Springsteen apparently is yet to sing. Maybe it is time for another new sha-la-la.

Is there a “sha-la-la” Springsteen song we missed? What is your favorite Springsteen “sha-la-la”? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    One Hand’s Tremblin’ Over My Heart: Springsteen’s “Valentine’s Day”

    Love Birds

    In the video below, Bruce Springsteen sings “Valentine’s Day,” the closing song on his Tunnel of Love album. The song captures an underlying fear of any relationship, the fear of loss (“What scares me is losin’ you”). It’s one of the saddest songs about someone in a happy relationship.

    But sometimes thinking about the fear of loss can make you appreciate the value of what you have. Check it out.

    The performance is from October 15, 2005 in Madison, Wisconsin. Happy Valentine’s Day.

    Photo of love birds by Chimesfreedom. What is your favorite Valentine’s Day song? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Southside Johnny and Springsteen Don’t Wanna Go Home at Benefit

    Don't Wanna Go Home

    On January 17, 2015, Bruce Springsteen made his regular “surprise” appearance at the Light of Day Foundation charity event to raise money to fight Parkinson’s disease. The performance at the Paramount Theater in Asbury Park, New Jersey featured a number of deep cut Springsteen songs like “This Little Girl,” which was recorded by Gary U.S. Bonds.

    One of the highlights of the show featured an appearance by Southside Johnny, where the two New Jersey singers traded lines on Southside’s classic “I Don’t Want To Go Home,” backed by LaBamba’s Big Band. Check it out.

    Rolling Stone recently wrote about the top ten highlights from Springsteen’s performance at the charity event.

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    Tougher Than the Rest

    Springsteen Tougher than the Rest Columbia Records released Bruce Springsteen’s Tunnel of Love on October 9, 1987. While the album was a quieter follow-up to the mega-hit Born in the USA and modern fans often consider it shadowed by other albums like Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town, it is a great album.

    Had almost any other artist made Tunnel of Love, the album would have defined their careers. Instead it remains one of Springsteen’s somewhat overlooked albums.

    Tunnel of Love also remains one of Springsteen’s most personal and least political albums. While he has many other love songs, the songs on Tunnel of Love focus largely on the heart, isolated from any one time and place.

    Of course, Springsteen fans at the time sensed that the album reflected one particular troubled heart. In May 13, 1985, Springsteen had married actress Julianne Phillips after the two knew each other less than a year. Many thought Tunnel of Love reflected rocky waters for the marriage with lyrics in the title track such as “It’s easy for two people to lose each other in this tunnel of love.” The two had separated before the release of the album, and soon the couple filed for divorce on August 30, 1988.

    During the tour for the album, tabloids reported on Springsteen’s new love with backup singer Patti Scialfa. Within a few years of Springsteen’s divorce, he and Scialfa would get married and the two are still together today.

    In this video from the Tunnel of Love tour for “Tougher Than the Rest,” it may be acting, but one can sense some smoldering passion in the looks between the two on one of Springsteen’s greatest love songs.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Alt-Country Tribute to Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.”

    Producers Logan Rogers and Evan Schlansky have gathered some artists to put an alt-country spin on Bruce Springsteen’s 1984 album, Born in the U.S.A. The result, Dead Man’s Town: A Tribute to Born in U.S.A. (2014), features artists such as North Mississippi Allstars, Holly Williams, Joe Pug, Apache Relay, Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires, Justin Townes Earle, and Blitzen Trapper.

    For now, you can listen to a stream of the full album below. Each of the artists puts a new spin on the one of the twelve tracks on the album. Check it out.

    Standout tracks includes Holly Williams mining the sadness underlying “No Surrender,” Justin Townes Earle reworking and slowing down “Glory Days,” and Quaker City Nighthawks finding the country heart of “Darlington County.” Dead Man’s Town will be available September 16.

    What is your favorite song on the album? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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