The music David Bowie called “cringe-making”
David Bowie cherry-picked from the work of many artists across his long career. From the doo-wop melodies of the 1950s to heavy industrial synths inspired by Kraftwerk, the Londoner’s greatest trick was pulling aspects from other artists and mixing them into his great melting pot. Although he admired practically all forms of music, one surprising figure he looked to the work of was Bruce Springsteen.
Not only did Bowie maintain that the only genre he didn’t enjoy was country, but the nature of his art seems somewhat opposed to that of Springsteen’s. Bowie represents cerebral and experimental popular music, whereas The Boss is known for his rousing, socially conscious music that weaponises an anthemic chorus. This has meant that Springsteen has greater mass appeal than most artists, something that Bowie wasn’t exactly known for at the end of his career. With that, one is a distinctly British creative, and the other profoundly American.
Accordingly, it might seem strange that Bowie should look to Springsteen for inspiration, but this was the great David Bowie, after all, and he made a career out of surprising people. Notably, he recorded a version of Springsteen’s ‘It’s Hard To Be A Saint In The City’ during the sessions for 1974’s Diamond Dogs, and it made a significant impact on him, again while making the following year’s Young Americans.
Bowie first witnessed Springsteen performing a mostly acoustic set on February 5th, 1973, when he supported Biff Rose and New York’s Max’s Kansas City. Intriguingly, at first, he loathed Springsteen’s work and called it “cringe-making” until he swapped out his acoustic for his electric guitar and brought his band on, and the energy in the room changed completely.
Bowie recalled to Musician in 1987: “I used to go and see him. I hated him as a solo artist, when he came on and did this Bob Dylan thing. It was awful, so cringe-making. He’d sit there with his guitar and be folky, have these slow philosophical raps in between the songs. As soon as the band came on, it was like a different performer and he was just marvellous.”
‘It’s Hard To Be A Saint In The City’ is a highlight of Springsteen’s 1973 debut, Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J., and Bowie appreciated it so much that he acquired the rights to the song shortly after that show in New York City. It wouldn’t be the only number he covered from the album either, with him also recording a version of ‘Growin’ Up’, which featured Ronnie Wood on lead guitar.
Listen to Bowie’s ‘It’s Hard To Be A Saint In The City’ below.
