2020-11-25 SiriusXM Studio, New York City, NY

Scheduled: 10:00 Local Start Time ??:??/ End Time ??:??

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Springsteen's 'From My Home To Yours' continues with Volume 15. Almost a month after "Farewell to the Thief", the episode just before the American presidential elections, this episode is called "We're A Winner", containing songs about music.

E Street Radio

Bruce Springsteen

We're a Winner

"Hello, everybody, this is Bruce Springsteen, 'From My Home to Yours', with our post-Election Day special, titled 'We're a Winner'."

"Talk about it, Curtis! Joe Biden is the 46th president of the United States, and democracy has squeaked by, one more time. So, we're not gonna sit here and gloat, at least not too much, to all our Trump friends out there. Um…., better luck next time. And let's move on, to something that feels a little relevant right now.

"All right. We dedicate this next one to President 45, wishing him better luck, and perhaps a little insight. Let's make him a little help."

"That was 'Your Own Worst Enemy', from the album Magic. We can all learn a little something from that one. I know I certainly have. But, that's it for our politics today. I'm not gonna drum on that. Today I want to do a set that's, music about music. There's been a lot of great rock 'n' roll made about rock 'n' roll out there. And so, let's get going."

"And that was The Raspberries with 'Overnight Sensation', one of my favorite all-time records about rock 'n' roll. What a fabulous production. Great sounds. The Raspberries had at least one full album of stone cold classics. At the time, considered not hip due to the fact that they had hit after hit after hit after hit, but damn, they were good. Coming up, MGMT. I saw MGMT when I played at Bonnaroo. They are an American band, formed in 2002 in Middletown, Connecticut. Just fabulous, and this is a great, great song about making it, and what comes with it. This is called 'Times To Pretend'."

"OK that was MGMT with 'Time To Pretend'. Coming up, 'Champagne Supernova' from the great Brit-pop band Oasis. Noel Gallagher and Liam Gallagher were known for fighting between one another, but damn, when they weren't fighting, they made some good music. I met Noel a few times, he's a great guy, and this is the fabulous 'Champagne Supernova'. "

"All right, before Oasis there was The Stone Roses. Out of Manchester, they started it all. And here's one that's every rock star's dream: 'I Wanna Be Adored'."

"Deep down in Louisiana close to New Orleans
Way back up in the woods among the evergreens
There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood
Where lived a country boy named Johnny B. Goode
Who never ever learned to read or write so well
But he could play a guitar just like ringin' a bell
Go, go Johnny go!"

"He used to carry his guitar in a gunny sack
Go sit beneath the tree by the railroad track
Oh, the engineers would see him sitting in the shade
Strumming with the rhythm that the drivers made
The people passing by would stop and say
'Oh my, what that little country boy could play'
Go, go Johnny go!"

"His mother told him, 'Someday you will be a man
And you will be the leader of a big old band
Many people coming from miles around
To hear you play your music when the sun goes down
Maybe someday your name will be in lights
Saying 'Johnny B. Goode Tonight'"

"That was 'Johnny B. Goode', by the Mark Twain of rock 'n' roll, the great, never-to-be-equaled Chuck Berry. So The Byrds had a great question for us back in, I don't know, '65 or so. 'So you wanna be a rock 'n' roll star?' I heard this record and said, 'Fuck yes'."

"That was Bread. I am generally not a huge fan of Bread, but I love that song. It does kind of say a lot about what it's like to be a guitar player, and I just love the general sound of it."

"Coming up, Joe Strummer. Now Joe Strummer was a regular fixture at the Glastonbury Festival, and I believe that's what he wrote this song about. 'Coma Girl'."

"This was one of my favorite records from an early CBGB's compilation by a band called Tuff Darts. Now if I'm correct, Tuff Darts had as its member Robert Gordon, my good friend Robert Gordon. But I just love this song, and I've thought about covering it many times. 'All For The Love Of Rock N' Roll'."

"And that was for all you 12-string guitar, Tom Petty/Byrds lovers out there. That's Les Fradkin, who wrote your anthem. It's called 'Jangleholic.' Les gets an incredible sound on his records, and out of his 12-string. 'Jangleholic.'

"Coming up, we have Jeffrey Foskett. Now, Jeffrey Foskett is often seen playing behind either Brian Wilson or one of the Beach Boy bands that are out there. I believe he plays with Mike Love right now. But he cut a song called 'Cool and Gone'. 'Cool and Gone' was written by Bill Lloyd, but it's one of my very favorite songs about the arc of a rock 'n' roll career:

"A hundred million years ago,
Running to the record store,
All out of breath for you,
I caught my death for you.
That was me inside your song.
But now it feels like something's wrong,
Like somehow you've let me down,
No King left to wear that crown.
Cool and gone, cool and gone,
Nothing stays the same for long.
How could anything so strong
Be so cool and then be gone?"

"Next up, now, yours truly, with 'Last Man Standing.' I enjoyed writing this song because I had a chance to relive going back to all the little bars I played at when we first started. Firemen's halls and union halls and veterans organizations and county fairs. And it just reminded me of those pretty innocent moments, you know, playing for five, 10, 15 dollars with local guys from your high school. And of course I wrote this after the death of George Theiss, which left me the last man alive in my very first band. And I was surprised at how very much I miss them all."

"All right, that's it. That's our show today. Shoutin' out congratulations to Joe Biden and to the American people.

"We're gonna leave you with perhaps the most beautiful song ever written about the essence of rock 'n' roll, The Lovin' Spoonfull and 'Do You Believe In Magic'."

^{By Bruce Springsteen via E Street Radio.}

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