Iceman Lyric

Addicted To Romance

A new Bruce Springsteen song released on 29 Sep 2023

Bruce Springsteen wrote ADDICTED TO ROMANCE for the 2023 film She Came To Me. It was produced by Ron Aniello and Bryce Dessner, orchestrated by Dessner, and mixed by David Chalmin. Springsteen is backed by Patti Scialfa on vocals, Benjamin Lanz on trombone, and Kyle Resnick on trumpet. The song plays over the film’s closing credits.

ADDICTED TO ROMANCE was included on the film’s soundtrack album, released on 29 Sep 2023. The album is available as a single-disc CD and as a single-disc LP, as well as digital download and streaming.

Film writer, director, and co-producer Rebecca Miller had previously used Springsteen’s DANCING IN THE DARK in her 2015 film Maggie’s Plan. “I really love Bruce’s music. For the end of ‘She Came To Me,’ we wanted an original song,” she told Variety in a February 2023 interview. “I had a secret wish it might be Bruce, but I was reluctant to ask because I felt it was so unlikely, and frankly I was a bit shy.”

Composer Bryce Dessner encouraged Miller to ask Springsteen. “He was sure Bruce would love the film, so I approached him,” she told Variety. Springsteen and Patti Scialfa ended up watching the film and, according to Miller, they both loved it. “Bruce said he’d take a few days to see if anything came to him for a song,” she said. Then he ended up writing ADDICTED TO ROMANCE.

“It has been a lifelong dream of mine to collaborate directly with Bruce Springsteen,” Dessner told Variety. “I was so honored to help produce and orchestrate his song ‘Addicted To Romance’ for the movie.”

She Came To Me was directed by Rebecca Miller and stars Peter Dinklage, Anne Hathaway, and Marisa Tomei. It had its world premiere on 16 Feb 2023, opening 73rd Berlin International Film Festival. In May 2023, Vertical Entertainment acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film. It will be released in theaters in the United States on 06 Oct 2023.

Only The Strong Survive

Bruce Springsteen’s 21st studio album released on 11 Nov 2022 on Columbia Records

Only The Strong Survive is Bruce Springsteen’s twenty-first studio album. It was officially released on 11 Nov 2022 on Columbia Records. It consists of 15 tracks, all of which are covers. This marks the second time that Springsteen releases a cover album following We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions in 2006.

The album is “a collection of fifteen soul music greats,” as described in the press release. It “celebrates soul music gems from the legendary catalogues of Motown, Gamble and Huff, Stax and many more.” Springsteen commented: “I wanted to make an album where I just sang. And what better music to work with than the great American songbook of the Sixties and Seventies? I’ve taken my inspiration from Levi Stubbs, David Ruffin, Jimmy Ruffin, the Iceman Jerry Butler, Diana Ross, Dobie Gray, and Scott Walker, among many others. I’ve tried to do justice to them all and to the fabulous writers of this glorious music. My goal is for the modern audience to experience its beauty and joy, just as I have since I first heard it. I hope you love listening to it as much as I loved making it.”

Only The Strong Survive was tracked at Thrill Hill Recording (Springsteen’s home studio) in Colts Neck, NJ, following the sessions for Letter To You, which took place around November 2020. The core recording featured only Bruce Springsteen and producer Ron Aniello. In addition to lead vocals, Springsteen played guitar and keys on some tracks and Aniello played virtually every other instrument. Additional parts, including horns, strings, and background vocals were recorded at Power Station At BerkleeNYC in New York City, NY. Sam Moore makes a guest appearance on the album, singing harmony vocals on two tracks. His parts were recorded at Bullseye Studios in Miami, FL, with Andres Bermudezat engineering. Only The Strong Survive was produced by Ron Aniello with Bruce Springsteen, executive produced by Jon Landau, engineered by Rob Lebret and Ron Aniello at Thrill Hill Recording, mixed by Rob Lebret with Ron Aniello at Thrill Hill Recording, and mixed by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios in Portland, ME.

• Bruce Springsteen appears on all of the album’s tracks. He sings lead vocal and background vocals and plays guitar, keyboards, and piano.
• Ron Aniello appears on all of the album’s tracks. He plays drums, bass, percussion, guitar, vibes, piano, organ, keyboards, glockenspiel, Farfisa, Timpani, and chimes and sings background vocals.
• Rob Lebret plays additional guitar on track 8.
• Sam Moore makes a guest appearance on the album, singing harmony vocal (tracks 2 and 12) and second vocal (track 2).
• Soozie Tyrell sings background vocals on tracks 2, 4, 6, and 15.
• Lisa Lowell sings background vocals on tracks 2, 4, 6, and 15.
• Michelle Moore sings background vocals on tracks 4 and 6.
• Curtis King Jr. sings background vocals on tracks 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, and 15.
• Fonzi Thornton sings background vocals on tracks 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, and 14.
• Dennis Colins sings background vocals on tracks 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, and 14.
• E Street Horns is a horn section consisting of Curt Ramm (trumpet), Barry Danielian (trumpet), Clark Gayton (trombone), Bill Holloman (tenor saxophone), Ed Manion (baritone saxophone), and Toni Timko (baritone saxophone). They appear on all tracks.
• A strings section consisting of Rob Mathes (string arranger and conductor), Lisa Kim (concertmaster), and Sandy Park (string contractor) is listed in the album credits but it’s not clear on which tracks it appears.

Only The Strong Survive was officially announced on 29 Sep 2022 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time (02:00 p.m. GMT). The announcement was made by Springsteen himself who addressed fans in a pre-recorded video posted online a few minutes earlier.

In anticipation to the announcement, Springsteen dropped hints on his social media accounts over the course of the previous three days. On 26 and 27 September, he shared each morning a photo of a road and of a steering wheel respectively, without any caption or comment.

On 28 September, he posted a 26-second promo clip of a vintage car FM radio dial turning to different stations and listening in for a few seconds, each station playing a different song from the upcoming album.

Only The Strong Survive is available as a single-disc CD and as a two-disc LP set, as well as digital download and streaming. Three editions of the vinyl release were issued: a regular edition on black vinyl, a limited edition on nightshade green vinyl exclusive to Bruce Springsteen’s official webstore, and a limited edition on sundance orange or orbit orange vinyl exclusive to independent retailers.

Only The Strong Survive track list:

1. ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVE (Jerry Butler cover)
2. SOUL DAYS (Dobie Gray cover)
3. NIGHTSHIFT (Commodores cover)
4. DO I LOVE YOU (INDEED I DO) (Frank Wilson cover)
5. THE SUN AIN’T GONNA SHINE ANYMORE (The Walker Brothers cover, originally by Frankie Valli)
6. TURN BACK THE HANDS OF TIME (Tyrone Davis cover)
7. WHEN SHE WAS MY GIRL (Four Tops cover)
8. HEY, WESTERN UNION MAN (Jerry Butler cover)
9. I WISH IT WOULD RAIN (The Temptations cover)
10. DON’T PLAY THAT SONG (Aretha Franklin cover, originally by Ben E. King)
11. ANY OTHER WAY (William Bell cover)
12. I FORGOT TO BE YOUR LOVER (William Bell cover)
13. 7 ROOMS OF GLOOM (Four Tops cover)
14. WHAT BECOMES OF THE BROKENHEARTED (Jimmy Ruffin cover)
15. SOMEDAY WE’LL BE TOGETHER (Diana Ross & The Supremes cover, originally by Johnny & Jackey)

DO I LOVE YOU (INDEED I DO) is the leading single from Only The Strong Survive. It was released on digital platforms on 29 Sep 2022 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time (2:00 p.m. GMT), the same time the album was officially announced.

A music video for the song was simultaneously released on Bruce Springsteen’s YouTube channel to coincide with the single release. The video was shot on 01 Sep 2022 at Samson Stages in Brooklyn, NY and was directed and edited by Thom Zimny.

NIGHTSHIFT is the second single from Only The Strong Survive. It was released on digital platforms on 14 Oct 2022 at midnight in each time zone’s local time.

A music video for the song was also released on Bruce Springsteen’s YouTube channel on the same day at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time (4:00 a.m. GMT). The video was shot on 03 Oct 2022 at Samson Stages in Brooklyn, NY and was directed and edited by Thom Zimny.

DON’T PLAY THAT SONG is the third single from Only The Strong Survive. It was released on digital platforms on 28 Oct 2022 at midnight in each time zone’s local time.

A music video for the song was also released on Bruce Springsteen’s YouTube channel on the same day at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time (4:00 a.m. GMT). The video was shot on 01 Sep 2022 at Samson Stages in Brooklyn, NY and was directed and edited by Thom Zimny.

TURN BACK THE HANDS OF TIME is the fourth single from Only The Strong Survive. It was released on digital platforms on 11 Nov 2022 at midnight in each time zone’s local time.

A music video for the song was also released on Bruce Springsteen’s YouTube channel on the same day at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time (5:00 a.m. GMT). The video was shot on 03 Oct 2022 at Samson Stages in Brooklyn, NY and was directed and edited by Thom Zimny.

The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts

Never-before-seen footage from Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band’s 21-22 Sep 1978 concerts released for the first time on 16 Nov 2021

The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts is a film released in November 2021 by Sony Music Entertainment’s Premium Content Division, in partnership with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The film consists of a 13-song selection from Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band’s sets from the 21 and the 22 Sep 1979 MUSE concerts.

The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts film, along with its accompanying soundtrack album of the same title, was released globally for digital download on 16 Nov 2021, as a 2-CD plus DVD set, as a 2-CD plus Blu-ray set, and as a 2-disc vinyl record set on 19 Nov 2021, and for digital rental on 23 Nov 2021. The 2-CD plus DVD and the 2-CD plus Blu-ray packages include a 24-page booklet, a sticker, and reproductions of a vintage ticket envelope and a ticket stub. The 2-disc vinyl record set comes in a gatefold sleeve and includes a 24-page booklet and a 33″x19″ poster showing a wider view of the cover shot. Film producer Jon Kilik, who served in the camera crew for the MUSE concerts, wrote liner notes for the release.

The film was newly edited by Springsteen’s longtime collaborator Thom Zimny from the original 16mm film, restored and remixed in HD. The audio was newly remixed by Bob Clearmountain and remastered. “A few years ago, I started re-examining the filmed archives for Bruce and the Band’s appearances at the No Nukes concerts of 1979,” Zimny said in the film’s press release. “I quickly realized that these were the best performances and best filming from the Band’s legendary Seventies, and dedicated myself to bringing out the full potential of the footage. Having worked as Bruce’s principal director and editor for the last 20 years, I can say without reservation that this newly re-edited, re-mixed and restored ninety-minute film is the gold standard for Bruce and the Band live during one of their greatest creative periods.”

Though first announced on 20 Jul 2021, an official press release for The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts came out on Springsteen’s 72nd birthday, on 23 Sep 2021. A trailer was simultaneously posted on Bruce Springsteen’s VEVO YouTube channel.

The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts track list:

1. PROVE IT ALL NIGHT [Live 22 Sep 1979 version]
2. BADLANDS [Live 22 Sep 1979 version]
3. THE PROMISED LAND [Live 22 Sep 1979 version]
4. THE RIVER [Live 22 Sep 1979 version]
5. SHERRY DARLING [Live 22 Sep 1979 version]
6. THUNDER ROAD [Live 21 Sep 1979 version]
7. JUNGLELAND [Live 21 Sep 1979 version]
8. ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) [Live 21 Sep 1979 version]
9. BORN TO RUN [Live 21 Sep 1979 version]
10. STAY [Live 22 Sep 1979 version]
11. DETROIT MEDLEY [Live 21 Sep 1979 version]
12. QUARTER TO THREE [Live 22 Sep 1979 version]
13. RAVE ON [Live 21 Sep 1979 version]

The video for SHERRY DARLING was posted on Bruce Springsteen’s VEVO YouTube channel as a preview clip from the upcoming release. It premiered globally on 08 Oct 2021 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time (01:00 p.m. GMT).

The video for BADLANDS was posted on Bruce Springsteen’s VEVO YouTube channel as a preview clip from the upcoming release. It premiered globally on 29 Oct 2021 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time (01:00 p.m. GMT).

Shortly after the Three Mile Island nuclear plant meltdown in Pennsylvania in March 1979, a coalition of performers and activists opposed the use of nuclear power and founded Musicians United For Safe Energy (MUSE). The anti-nuclear group was the brainchild of four performers (Jackson Browne, John Hall of the 70’s band Orleans, Bonnie Raitt, and Graham Nash) and four antinuclear activists (Sam Lovejoy, Howard Kohn, Tom Campbell, and David Fenton).

The group organized a series of five benefit concerts billed as the “MUSE Concerts For A Non-Nuclear Future”, held at Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY, from 19 to 23 Sep 1979. The goal of the concerts, and an accompanying 200,000-person rally staged in Battery Park City in New York City, was to spread awareness about the dangers of radioactive-fueled energy and to raise funds for an anti-nuclear / pro-solar campaign.

MUSE’s Tom Campbell mentioned the subject to Bruce Springsteen on 03 Jun 1979 when the two met in Los Angeles at the wedding party of Springsteen’s lighting director Marc Brinkman. However, it was Jackson Browne who later convinced Springsteen to join the bill for the MUSE concerts. He agreed on the condition that no politicians be given microphone time or money from the event’s proceeds. He was the only musician who did not outline his reasons for joining the antinuclear movement in a short statement for publication in the MUSE program book. “Bruce felt that a statement wasn’t appropriate – the music was enough,” his manager, Jon Landau, explained.

The list of acts invited to play at the event included Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Graham Nash (who re-united Crosby, Stills & Nash for this one occasion), John Hall, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, James Taylor and Carly Simon, The Doobie Brothers, Jesse Colin Young, Gil Scott-Heron, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, among others.

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band were the highlight of the event. They performed on two nights; 21 and 22 Sep 1979. “The concerts Friday and Saturday night [21 and 22 Sep 1979] are different, and the reason is Bruce Springsteen”, Daisann McLane wrote in Rolling Stone. “He has the kind of drawing power in the New York area that will pack a house for two nights in a row”. The 21 Sep 1979 concert was the only sellout of the five nights. “The crowd is younger, and crazier; for the first time, I spot a few bloodied casualties being dragged down the aisles by security people. This is a Springsteen crowd, too, with little patience for preliminaries. On Friday [21 Sep 1979], Jesse Colin Young and Jackson Browne do short sets but fail to capture the allegiance of this revved-up bunch. Saturday [22 Sep 1979], Peter Tosh, who exuberantly performs twenty minutes of reggae, lopes back and forth across the stage in a burnoose and fares better, as does Tom Petty, who rocks hard but seems a little taken aback by the size of the stadium. This is a tough audience to crack. On Friday [21 Sep 1979], Chaka Khan leaves the stage in a huff. Seems she thought the audience was booing her; what she really heard was the sound of thousands of voices chanting Bruuuce! Bruuuce! […] The crowd is his; fans are on their feet, standing on chairs from the first note, mouthing the words to every song. For the first time all week, it feels like something special is happening at Madison Square Garden. […] The MUSE principals have been searching all week for the vibe, the feeling. Springsteen doesn’t have to search for it; he walks onstage and it’s there.”

The MUSE concerts produced a 1980 theatrical movie release titled No Nukes, which includes Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band’s performances of THE RIVER (the live 21 Sep 1979 version), THUNDER ROAD (a mix of the live 21 Sep 1979 version and the live 22 Sep 1979 version), and a cover of Gary U.S. Bonds’ QUARTER TO THREE (the live 22 Sep 1979 version). No Nukes was released on home video and a three-record live album was also created from the event. The album contains two Springsteen performances. His duet with Jackson Browne on STAY (the live 21 Sep 1979 version) was chosen for the album, but since the release was a three-record set, Springsteen was asked for a an additional track. According to Dave Marsh, the rendition of THUNDER ROAD was the one Springsteen, Browne, and Jon Landau wanted, but “playing ‘Stay’ over and over again, they heard and liked the transition, a particularly seamless one, from ‘Stay’ into the band’s medley of Mitch Ryder hits ‘Jenny Take a Ride’ and ‘Devil With a Blue Dress/Good Golly Miss Molly.’ Finally, Landau suggested that the Detroit Medley was probably what should go on the record with ‘Say.’ The others agreed.” DETROIT MEDLEY (the live 21 Sep 1979 version) became the second Springsteen track on the live album. The album was certified a gold record by the RIAA in September 1980. From the concert, record, and film, MUSE raised and donated over $1 Million to anti-nuclear and safe energy groups throughout the United States.