In “Atlantic City,” Bruce Springsteen sings “Everything dies, baby that’s a fact. But maybe everything that dies someday comes back.”
He never could have known that more than 40 years after releasing those ruminative words how true they’d become to his own legacy.
For decades, Springsteen disciples clamored for the fabled “Electric Nebraska” sessions, the full band versions of the plaintive songs he wrote and released on 1982’s stark “Nebraska” album.
As revisited in the new film “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere,” he pulled one of the most incredible musical detours in modern music history when he slammed on the momentum brakes following his star-nudging tour behind “The River” to retreat to his New Jersey bedroom with a four-track recorder.
The final version of “Nebraska” sounded much like his original sparse recordings, not so much an artistic vision as a necessary emotional purge. But before insisting the songs be released in their raw form, Springsteen corralled his band to record many of his acoustic-rooted creations – some that would be shelved until his 1984 legacy record “Born in the U.S.A.” – in signature E Street style.
He hated them, and for decades insisted that no tapes remained from those ill-fated sessions. But Springsteen seemed as surprised as anyone at the recent discovery of the recordings, and “Electric Nebraska” is now packaged as part of a five-disc box set available now.
“Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition” includes the previously undiscovered recordings featuring E Streeters Max Weinberg, Danny Federici, Roy Bittan, Steven Van Zandt and Garry Tallent as well as demos and outtakes of Springsteen solo songs (“On the Prowl”) and an early version of “Born in the U.S.A.” with only Weinberg and Tallent backing The Boss.
A 2025 remaster of the original “Nebraska” and a present-day performance film of the “Nebraska” album, played in sequence for the first time ever and filmed at New Jersey’s Count Basie Theatre, are also included.
Not every song on “Nebraska” was given a full band tryout, as “Highway Patrolman,” “State Trooper,” “My Father’s House” and “Used Cars” are absent from the unearthed recordings. But here are some interesting comparisons from the latest Springsteen trove.
‘Born in the U.S.A.’
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Perhaps the most misunderstood rock song ever (once again, it is not about rah-rah patriotism), “Born” offers repeated listening appeal in its early band form. The lyrics are the same and the cadence slightly more fleet than the military snare of the 1984 version, while a honking guitar solo and Springsteen’s soaked-in-gravel voice provide gravitas. A nice touch lands when the music briefly ceases to emphasize the “nowhere to run, nowhere to go” lyric.
‘Atlantic City’
Where the original “Nebraska” rendition is tinged with weariness, the electric rendition offers a pleasant swagger in the bass line and background vocals that give the song a romantic bent. Harmonica flutters in the same space on both versions, but on “Electric Nebraska” it makes the song sound inviting rather than desolate.
‘Pink Cadillac’
Included as a “Nebraska” outtake, this original is drastically different than the “Born in the U.S.A” version. In its early form, there is quiet thumping of guitar strings and lyrics delivered as a murmured come on. In contrast, there is a subtle sexiness and bouncing bass line in the eventual “Born” rebirth.
‘Johnny 99’
The “Nebraska” read starts with a plaintive wail and urgently strummed acoustic guitar that escalates into a peppy story song. The electric version starts the same, but that plaintive wail sounds more like a call to mischief. The boogie-woogie vibe instilled by Federici’s jangly piano pegs it as a pool hall hit rather than the headphones-listening and ponderous nature of the original. But how cool to hear Springsteen chuckle at songs end and tell the band, “That’s good. Let’s try another one.”
‘Downbound Train’
The song was recorded for “Electric Nebraska” as a breathless lament to lost love that barrels with intensity over lines such as, “I heard that long whistle whine, and I dropped to my knees, hung my head and cried.” By the time “Downbound” landed on “Born in the U.S.A.,” it was given a more deliberate pace and a layer of synthesizers to mitigate the desperation. Some might call it neutered, but the tweaks better suited the mainstream pop-rock vibe of “Born.”
