DVD - Bruce Springsteen: VH-1 Storytellers

If you'd rather hear Bruce Springsteen talk than sing or play, then this edition of VH-1 Storytellers is for you. That's not just faint praise. While it's obviously his music that has made his marathon concerts legendary, Springsteen is also a gifted raconteur; "storyteller" applies to no one if not to him. That's the case here, as he is effortlessly funny and wise, humble and self-deprecating, yet still the ineffably iconic Boss. Drawing from the full breadth of his immense catalogue, from early faves like "Blinded by the Light" (referring to Manfred Mann's hit version, he muses about how the British group managed to turn "deuce" into "douche") and "Thunder Road" to several tunes from his 2005 album Devils & Dust, Springsteen dissects his songs line by line, explaining how the music fuels, informs, and complements the lyrics. The insights are often fascinating, as is the reminder that he has always had the knack for taking any subject, be it personal or political, and expressing it in the simple poetry of the common man. Nevertheless, it's worth noting that he performs just eight songs, including two on piano, and that the actual music occupies less than forty minutes of this more than two hour show (counting the Q & A session with the fans). So if it's Bruce's music that you want, check out one of his several excellent concerts or video collections. Heck, the man himself seems to recognize that talking about his songs is somehow superfluous when, after going into great detail about the meaning of and motivation behind the Devils & Dust title song, he says, "How much of this was I thinking about when I wrote the song? None of it. How much of it was I feeling? All of it." --Sam Graham

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