Stacy JJun 20, 2023

It's my annual re-watch of Springsteen's "Brilliant Disguise"! Here's the absolutely haunting video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idnJnjV_8rg

I like how when you are uncomfortably close to his face, there are lines he sings looking directly at you, and others he seems to look beyond you, lost in a memory.

The song was released during a troubled time in his marriage, so it's assumed he was speaking his truth in the song. It's very much a song about the end of a marriage, where his doubts about his partner are co-mingled with doubts about himself.

This is the intro to the VH1 Storytellers version of the song, which has a funny rambling story about multiple selves, a strip club, and the Big Bang theory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THuosDWhJC4&list=PLJ3gKh8Ty5paM5xf3_yZM1agDxaMC_2Xu&index=6

Bruce Springsteen - Brilliant Disguise (Official Video)

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Show threadStacy J

And he prefaces the song with the declaration that the meaning of a song can change when you sing it with someone you love, which I've always been intrigued by as the song is so lyrically dark. But, I think that's maybe what he's getting at: that even long, loving partnerships have dark elements you wrestle within yourself. He sings this version much more peace and grace for himself than the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI622KkUHaI&list=PLJ3gKh8Ty5paM5xf3_yZM1agDxaMC_2Xu&index=7

One of my fave Gaslight Anthem songs is Halloween, which I feel is so thematically similar and ALSO was on a divorce album, so I wondered if Brian was inspired by it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQVxJ73YHv8

I'm also amused at how audience does not know what to do with this song lol.

Jun 20, 2023 at 6:19pmWeb