Like most people today, I have a healthy amount of disdain for Bruce Springsteen's 80s output (apart from Dancing in the Dark, which I've loved since I was a kid).
So while I made an effort to listen to his 70's music, and to a lesser extent his 90's music, I never heard this gem, one of the trillion hit singles from Born In the USA.
In fact, the first time I heard it was when Tori Amos covered it, beautifully and hauntingly, and I just thought, my god that's one HELL of a song. It went straight through me, especially the piano solo.
Somehow the original version of the song is even moodier than Tori's version, despite having 80s synthesizers and guitar effects. Everytime I hear it I start shaking and have to stop doing whatever I'm doing, or risk some sort of horrific accident.
Now I haven't bothered to research Bruce's 'original intent', but there is a school of thought that believes this song is from the perspective of a pedophile, lying in bed and thinking of what he can't have. I think that's too literal though. But I'll leave it to you folks to argue it out.
MP3: Bruce Springsteen - I'm On Fire
