When a Song is actually a Movie

Seriously, "New York City Serenade" by Bruce Springsteen may be one of the best songs ever. I'll get this out in the open: It's not for everyone. And it's thirty-three years old.

It starts off with the opening sequence - an amazing piano intro by David Sancious (pronounced Sanchez - how awesome is that?). Then we're introduced to the hero of our story - Bruce's acoustic guitar, followed by his narrative. Walk tall, or baby, don't walk at all.

What follows is nearly ten minutes of character development - told through Bruce's vocal, the interaction between the guitar, piano and the violins. It's not your typical verse/chorus/verse framework for a song. I don't even think that any of the lines rhyme. (Unless you count repeating phrases such as "She won't take the train" as rhymes.) Wait, who is that new character, is it Clarence's saxophone? It is!

This song is it's own soundtrack to the movie that it paints aurally. In fact, visuals would probably ruin the song. Every time I hear it, it transports me to another time and place. A dark, smoky, sexy Saturday night, somewhere off the NJ turnpike - off the beaten path...where a jazz man or blues man can play a serenade...where a junkman can sing...and a girl in Los Angeles can get lost for a about nine minutes and fifty five seconds...