Why Bruce Springsteen had to consciously avoid Bob Dylan: “I steered away”
There’s money to be made in the singer-songwriter game. Don’t believe me? Just ask Soundgarden.
Soundgarden have always managed to stun audiences with their musicianship, but it wasn’t until Chris Cornell embraced his inner singer-songwriter that they had a hit single. This came in the form of ‘Black Hole Sun’, a track which is still considered a rock classic to this day.
“We’d had singles before. But that was easily our biggest hit,” said Kim Thayil discussing the track, “That was more singer/songwriterish. Chris went that direction of singer/songwriter guy, and the band was more accepting because of the success of singer/songwriting stuff as opposed to more guitar oriented rock. It was more vocal accompaniment rock, some guitar. So we started utilizing a little bit more of that.”
‘Black Hole Sun’ was released in 1994, but that style of music had been popular decades before that. There was something about the connection a musician could make with their audience that went unrivaled. Bob Dylan was one of the artists to popularise it, as his music wasn’t just good to listen to, it was also a reflection of the world in which it was conceived, it spoke to people in a way where they could enjoy the music but also connect with it.
One of the budding artists who connected with such music was Bruce Springsteen. While he enjoyed the work of The Beatles and Rolling Stones, he knew he wanted his lyrics to be reflective of Bob Dylan. He went into making music with the intention of giving people the same feeling he had when he listened to Dylan.
“I want people to get the same experience from listening to one of my records as I had when I listened to Highway 61 Revisited,” said Springsteen, “The idea that something was revealed to them that was fundamentally true and essential, and gave you a view of your world, your country, your town, your neighbours, your family.”
That Dylan influence could certainly be heard on Springsteen’s debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J, to the extent that many people who listened to the album saw similarities in their style. Springsteen believed it was likely this comparison that got him signed to a major record label in the first place, as many companies were on the search for the next Bob Dylan.
“The stock was way up on singer-songwriters in those days,” he said, “The charts were full of them, with James Taylor leading the pack. I was signed to Columbia, along with Elliott Murphy, John Prine, and Loudon Wainwright, ‘new Dylan’s all, to compete in acoustic battle at the top of the charts with our contemporaries.’”
While Springsteen was undoubtedly influenced by Dylan, he also didn’t like the idea of sounding like a copycat, especially given so many other artists were attempting to nail down the Bob Dylan sound. As such, for his next record, he opted to step away from the Dylan influence and try to make something that sounded more unique. There was a conscious effort to steer away from anything that sounded too Dylan-esque at risk of sounding like he was mimicking him.
“I never wrote completely in that style again,” he said, “Once the record was released, I heard all the Dylan comparisons, so I steered away from it. But the lyrics and spirit of ‘Greetings’ came from an un-self-conscious place. Your early songs emerge from a moment when you’re writing with no sure prospect of ever being heard. Up until then, it’s been just you and your music. That only happens once.”
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