Springsteen Challenge Day 24: Favorite Bruce Collaboration with another Band/Artist (Studio)

I’m part Irish.  So is Bruce.  Clearly, we’re blood brothers.  Kidding.  For whatever reason, despite not having much Irish about me that you can readily see – I’m not redheaded, I don’t have a lilt to my pronunciation of things, and I don’t actually know which side of the Northern Ireland/Britain discussion I’m on, because I really don’t know that much about it.  I suspect I’m in favor of the Northern Irish, because I’m never in favor of colonialism and empire versus home rule. But that’s neither here nor there. I will say, I’m a big fan of Irish/British Isles cuisine. My wife, on the other hand, has a very Irish first name and Maiden name. It has the “Mc” and everything. All of this is not necessarily non sequitur.  I promise, I’m going somewhere.  My favorite Bruce collaboration with another Band/Artist (Studio) involves this Irish heritage and love of the Irish culture (minus Riverdance), as well as my wedding (I know, you’re shocked.)

I like Irish folk music. When my one of my RAs used to sit at the desk, he’d play his “Celtic Thunder” DVD in his computer, which I always appreciated.  I’d hear the soft plucks of the Irish music drifting through the wall, and it’d add just a bit to my evening reading on my grad school homework.  I downloaded The Corrs’ two greatest hits albums; on each, there were a few traditional Irish folk songs, which were always my favorite, including a few in Gaelic.  For whatever reason, I find the Irish to be an amazing people, their history so rife with conflict, and yet they persist.  Not only do they persist, they celebrate themselves in a way that is endearing and inclusive.

In late 2010/early 2011, Backstreets.com announced that Bruce was in the Studio (YAY!) with the Dropkick Murphys (oh.)  The Dropkick Murphys are a punk Irish band from the US that play lots of punk songs with an Irish twist.  I don’t mind them – they have some good songs, but by and large, punk isn’t my thing. Plus, they are Boston based, and support the Red Sox.  The Dude does not abide. I had, actually, seen one of the members of the Dropkick Murphys propose to his girlfriend on stage at one of the Bruce shows in Boston in April of 2009.

Come the summer (this was the summer before my wedding) my friend Erik asked me if I’d heard the new collaboration with Bruce and the Dropkick Murphys.  I said “no” and he told me “It’s pretty good.”  For Erik, that means “I like it.”  If he really likes something, he’ll say something like “Oh, it’s awesome!” or “Oh, I’m lovin’ it!”

In the midst of my wedding prep and moving from Long Island to New Jersey (closer to Bruce!), I hadn’t heard the song.  When I went home to northern New York to get married, Erik put it on to play.  I liked it.  There was something about it that had that Irish quality to it.

Any Bruce fan worth their salt knows I’m referring to the song “Peg O’ My Heart.” I didn’t think much about it after Erik played it for me (I had bigger things to think about that weekend, like saying “I do.”)  But, a few months later, as I was wandering around the internet after work, I thought, “I’ve got a hankering for something Irish, AND some Bruce.”  I listened to “Mrs. McGrath” off of the Seeger Sessions album, and then “American Land” from the special edition of the Seeger Sessions. It kind of did it for me, but I needed a bit more.  So I put on some of the Corrs folk songs.  Getting closer, but still not quite there.  Then I remembered the Dropkick Murphys.

I surfed to Youtube, and found the video for “Peg O’ My Heart.”  I loved it. For whatever reason, with my mind clear of other things, I was in on “Peg O’ My Heart.” 

What’s funny is, Bruce doesn’t do an awful lot of studio collaboration with other artists.  He does lots of live collaborations (FOREshadow…) because, in my mind, he wanders the countryside with his guitar, putting his ear to the ground listening for the sound of amplified guitars, and then shows up, does his whole “I’m the Boss!” bit with the security guards, wanders onstage, and says “Hey there! Let’s do this thing!” While Gaslight Anthem freaks out onstage because BRUCE!

When I heard Peg O’ My Heart, I listened to it basically on repeat. I probably played it 15-20 times that night (it’s only 2:21 in duration), and then the next morning, and with any CAs who wandered in to my office.  I played it in the car.  My wife liked it until she recognized the voice singing the second verse.

For the song itself, it’s a song written for Ziegfield Follies, which fits perfectly with Bruce’s new mantra of the great keeper of all things American Song.  His song American Land is an immigrant song in the style of an old Irish shanty. Like I said before, Bruce is a collector of American Musical tradition.  This falls into the same tradition – an old song, made new, and performed in collaboration with a band that turned it into a rollicking rocker. I highly recommend it – it won’t be a two and a half minutes you wish you had back.

Tomorrow’s topic: Favorite Bruce Collaboration with another band/artist (live)