Bruce Springsteen celebrated Joe Biden’s win on his 15th SiriusXM satellite radio DJ show.
The 15th show in Bruce Springsteen’s “From My Home to Yours” DJ series on SiriusXM satellite radio was subtitled “We’re a Winner” and Springsteen described it as a “post-Election Day special.” But The Boss said very little about Joe Biden orDonald Trump.
“Well, that’s it for our politics today,” he said after the show’s second song, his own “Your Own Worst Enemy.” “I’m not gonna drum on that. Today I want to do a set that’s, uh, music about music.”
Indeed, the rest of the show, which debuted Nov. 25, was dominated by songs that relate to Springsteen’s profession in some way, including Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” (before which Springsteen recited the lyrics), Raspberries’ “Overnight Sensation” and MGMT’s “Time to Pretend.” Springsteen also played his own “Ghosts” and “Last Man Standing,” which are about the connection he still feels to deceased bandmates.
You can read what Springsteen said here, and see videos for the songs that were played. In some cases, a version of the song may have been played that is different from what is embedded in this post.
Intro Music: “We’re a Winner,” The Impressions
“Hello, everybody, this is Bruce Springsteen, ‘From My Home to Yours,’ with our post-Election Day special, titled ‘We’re a Winner.’ Talk about it, Curtis (Mayfield)! Joe Biden is the 46th president of the United States, and democracy has squeaked by (laughs), one more time. So, we’re not gonna sit here and gloat, at least not too much, to all our Trump friends out there. Um, better luck next time. And let’s move on, to something that feels a little relevant right now.
“All right. We dedicate this next one to President 45, wishing him better luck, and perhaps a little insight. Let’s make him a little help.”
“Your Own Worst Enemy,” Bruce Springsteen
“That was ‘Your Own Worst Enemy,’ from the album Magic. We can all learn a little something from that one. I know I certainly have. Well, that’s it for our politics today. I’m not gonna drum on that. Today I want to do a set that’s, uh, music about music. There’s been a lot of great rock ‘n’ roll made about rock ‘n’ roll out there. And so, let’s get going.”
“Ghosts,” Bruce Springsteen
“Overnight Sensation,” Raspberries
“And that was The Raspberries with ‘Overnight Sensation,’ one of my favorite all-time records about rock ‘n’ roll. What a fabulous production. Great sounds. The Raspberries had at least one full album of stone cold classics. At the time, considered not hip due to the fact that they had hit after hit after hit after hit, but damn, they were good. Coming up, MGMT. I saw MGMT when I played at Bonnaroo. They are an American band, formed in 2002 in Middletown, Conn. Just fabulous, and this is a great, great song about making it, and what comes with it.”
“Time to Pretend,” MGMT
“Coming up, ‘Champagne Supernova’ from the great Brit-pop band Oasis. Noel Gallagher and Liam Gallagher were known for fighting between one another, but damn, when they weren’t fighting, they made some good music. I met Noel a few times, he’s a great guy, and this is the fabulous ‘Champagne Supernova.’ ”
“Champagne Supernova,” Oasis
“All right, before Oasis there was The Stone Roses. Out of Manchester, they started it all. And here’s one that’s every rock star’s dream: ‘I Wanna Be Adored.’ ”
“I Wanna Be Adored,” The Stone Roses
“Deep down in Louisiana close to New Orleans
“Way back up in the woods among the evergreens
“There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood
“Where lived a country boy named Johnny B. Goode
“Who never ever learned to read or write so well
“But he could play a guitar just like ringin’ a bell
“Go, go Johnny go!
“He used to carry his guitar in a gunny sack
“Go sit beneath the tree by the railroad track
“Oh, the engineers would see him sitting in the shade
“Strumming with the rhythm that the drivers made
“The people passing by would stop and say
” ‘Oh my, what that little country boy could play’
“Go, go Johnny go!
“His mother told him, ‘Someday you will be a man
“And you will be the leader of a big old band
“Many people coming from miles around
“To hear you play your music when the sun goes down
“Maybe someday your name will be in lights
“Saying “Johnny B. Goode Tonight” ‘ ”
“Johnny B. Goode,” Chuck Berry
“That was ‘Johnny B. Goode,’ by the Mark Twain of rock ‘n’ roll, the great, never-to-be-equaled Chuck Berry.
“So The Byrds had a great question for us back in, I don’t know, ’65 or so. ‘So you wanna be a rock ‘n’ roll star?’ I heard this record and said, ‘Fuck yes.’ ”
“So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star,” The Byrds
“Guitar Man,” Bread
“I am generally not a huge fan of Bread, but I love that song. It does kind of say a lot about what it’s like to be a guitar player, and I just love the general sound of it.
“Coming up, Joe Strummer. Now Joe Strummer was a regular fixture at the Glastonbury Festival, and I believe that’s what he wrote this song about.”
“Coma Girl,” Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros
“This was one of my favorite records from an early CBGB’s compilation by a band called Tuff Darts. Now if I’m correct, Tuff Darts had as its member Robert Gordon, my good friend Robert Gordon. But I just love this song, and I’ve thought about covering it many times.”
“All For the Love of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” Tuff Darts
“Jangleholic,” Les Fradkin
“And that was for all you 12-string guitar, Tom Petty/Byrds lovers out there. That’s Les Fradkin, who wrote your anthem. It’s called ‘Jangleholic.’ Les gets an incredible sound on his records, and out of his 12-string. Uh, ‘Jangleholic.’
“Coming up, we have Jeffrey Foskett. Now, Jeffrey Foskett is often seen playing behind either Brian Wilson or one of the Beach Boy bands that are out there. I believe he plays with Mike Love right now. But he cut a song called ‘Cool and Gone.’ ‘Cool and Gone’ was written by Bill Lloyd, but it’s one of my very favorite songs about the arc of a rock ‘n’ roll career:
“100 million years ago,
“Running to the record store,
“All out of breath for you,
“I caught my death for you.
“That was me inside your song.
“But now it feels like something’s wrong,
“Like somehow you’ve let me down,
“No King left to wear that crown.
“Cool and gone, cool and gone,
“Nothing stays the same for long.
“How could anything so strong
“Be so cool and then be gone?”
“Cool and Gone,” Jeffrey Foskett
“Next up, now, yours truly, with ‘Last Man Standing.’ I enjoyed writing this song because I had a chance to relive going back to all the little bars I played at when we first started. Firemen’s halls and union halls and veterans organizations and county fairs. It just reminded me of those pretty innocent moments, playing for five, 10, 15 dollars with local guys from your high school. And of course I wrote this after the death of George Theiss, which left me the last man alive in my very first band. And I was surprised at how very much I miss them all.”
“Last Man Standing,” Bruce Springsteen
“All right, that’s it. That’s our show today. Shoutin’ out congratulations to Joe Biden and to the American people.
“We’re gonna leave you with perhaps the most beautiful song ever written about the essence of rock ‘n’ roll.”
“Do You Believe in Magic,” The Lovin’ Spoonful
You can read transcripts of what Springsteen has said on the previous 13 shows, and see YouTube videos of all the songs he has played, via these links:
APRIL 8 (a tribute to the late John Prine and more)
APRIL 24 (thoughts on life during pandemic, New York songs and more)
MAY 6 (when the pandemic is over, he promises, “50,000 people will once again scream their heads off somewhere in New Jersey”)
MAY 20 (a tribute to the late Little Richard and more)
JUNE 3 (protest songs and more)
JUNE 17 (a “rock ‘n’ roll requiem” for those who have died from coronavirus)
JULY 1 (discussion with and songs by Southside Johnny and Steven Van Zandt)
JULY 15 (summertime songs and memories)
JULY 29 (discussion with and songs by Patti Scialfa).
AUG. 14 (“In Dreams,” nocturnally themes songs and memories)
SEPT. 2 (songs about work, in honor of Labor Day)
SEPT. 16 (end of summer)
OCT. 7 (songs about cars)
OCT. 28 (Election Day and Halloween preview)
Also, click here for some of my thoughts on this ambitious series in general.
Springsteen has been doing these shows regularly since April.
The shows have lasted between one and two hours each, and are being broadcast on SiriusXM’s E Street Radio channel (channel 20), with repeats and on-demand availability following the initial broadcast. Vol. 15 can also be heard Nov. 25 at 6 p.m.; Nov. 26 at 6 a.m. and 3 p.m.; Nov. 27 at 10 a.m., 4 p.m. and midnight; Nov. 28 at 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.; Nov. 29 at 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.; Nov. 30 at 7 a.m., 4 p.m. and midnight; and Dec. 1 at 8 a.m.
Visit siriusxm.com.
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