The Bruce Springsteen song Stephen King couldn’t live without
As the most iconic and prolific living author, Stephen King is a true literary giant. Even if you’re not much of a reader and haven’t yet humoured his words, it’d be challenging to find someone who hasn’t sat down to watch one of the many film and television adaptations of his literary output. His most notable film-adapted novels include iconic pictures such as The Green Mile, The Shining, The Shawshank Redemption, Stand by Me, Cujo and many more.
Since his first published book, 1973’s Carrie, King’s talent for suspenseful storytelling has been rivalled only by his unbound imagination. His extraordinarily restless creative urge has so far led to 64 published fictional novels and over 200 short stories. However, when he’s not sat, tapping frantically at his typewriter, King can often be found with a guitar on his lap.
As a baby boomer, King was lucky enough to live through the extraordinary evolution of rock music in the latter 20th century. Like many Americans his age, King’s adolescent attachment to rock music was inspired to a large degree by The Beatles, the leaders of the British Invasion.
In 2006, King appeared as a guest on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs and picked out The Beatles’ ‘She Loves You’ as a favourite. “Of all The Beatles songs, it seems to me that it’s travelled the best over the years to my ear,” he said. “It still sounds totally fresh when I hear it today, as it did when I first heard it, when I was probably at 16 years old. It just gets in, it has only one thing to say, and it says it.”
After becoming famous in his own right, King acted on his passion for music over several notable collaborations, including those with Blue Öyster Cult, Michael Jackson, John Mellencamp, and the Rock Bottom Remainders, King’s band comprised mainly of authors.
Elsewhere in his Desert Island Discs selections, King picked out classic songs by Bob Dylan, Pretenders, Ryan Adams and Bruce Springsteen. The biggest surprise was the inclusion of ‘Pon De Replay,’ a modern pop classic by Rihanna.
“For me, disco never died,” King said, explaining his choice. “I always liked punk, but I never put on my punk jacket that said ‘Disco Sucks’ or ‘Burn your Disco records.’ I like this because it has a great beat and you can dance to it. What’s wrong with that?”
Returning to more predictable territory, King picked out ‘Ramrod’, a roof-raiser from Bruce Springsteen’s seminal 1980 album, The River, as another all-time favourite. “It’s just straight-ahead rock and roll, I think it’s what Bruce Springsteen does best,” King said. “It’s just guitar-driven balls-to-the-wall rock.”
Listen to Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Ramrod’ below.
