Bruce Springsteen - "The River" Quiz

Answer: The Ties That Bind

In 2015, Bruce Springsteen released a multi-CD box set called "The Ties That Bind". In the liner notes, he discussed the original 1979 single album version of "The Ties That Bind" was darker than he wanted it to be so he shelved the project and created the double album version of "The River" that came out in 1980.

In the box set, the first two CD's were the official released version but Disc Three is the original 1979 version that also features three songs that didn't eventually make it onto "The River", they are "Cindy", "Be True", and "Loose Ends".

Answer: Sherry

"Sherry Darling" is a New Jersey bar band party favorite with a sing-along chorus and some of the funniest lyrics Bruce has ever recorded. The song features an energetic saxophone solo by the late Clarence Clemons and incredible vocal chemistry between Springsteen and Steve Van Zandt.

Answer: Some new shoes

Clocking in at just over eight minutes, "Drive All Night" was actually first heard live in concert in 1978 when Bruce mixed in lyrics from the unreleased song into performances of "Darkness On The Edge Of Town". In the song, Bruce promises to drive all night to "taste your tender charms", "sleep tonight in your arms", and yes, to "buy you some new shoes".

Answer: The Ramones

"Hungry Heart" was the very first Billboard Top Ten hit for Bruce Springsteen. In 2015, Bruce reminded us of the song's origin on an episode of "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon". Bruce recanted how Joey Ramone approached him and asked if he could write a song for The Ramones. That very night, Springsteen penned "Hungry Heart", but decided to keep the song for himself after his manager, Jon Landau, told him it was a potential hit for Bruce. Bruce told Fallon that the song added another big bonus as it helped him win over a biggest female audience.

Answer: Romeo and Juliet

Midway through "Point Blank", the tempo slows and Bruce sings "I was going to be your Romeo and you were going to be my Juliet. These days you don't wait on Romeos, you wait on that welfare check." The song was released as a single in the U.K. but never in the U.S. where it remained a favorite album track on Rock Radio in the States.

Answer: The Grapes Of Wrath

"Rolling Stone" described the album as the culmination of Bruce's trilogy that started with "Born To Run". The album was very favorably reviewed and the pacing, sequence, and visual lyric content were all praised heavily. "The Grapes Of Wrath" was written by John Steinbeck in 1939 and told the story of an Oklahoma family leaving their farm during the Great Depression and heading to California to chase their dreams.

The book went on to win a Pulitzer Prize and Steinbeck won a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962.

Answer: False

"The River" was released in 1980 and Patti Scialfa didn't even join Bruce's group, The E Street Band, until 1984. While Bruce and Patti did marry in 1991, Bruce was very single when "I Wanna Marry You" was written years earlier. In fact, Patti is Bruce's second wife as he married actress Julianne Phillips in 1985 shortly after meeting her at Lake Oswego, Oregon in late 1984.

Answer: A black and white closeup picture of Bruce's face

While a picture of a sailboat in the water would probably best fit an album titled "The River", the striking black and white album cover was the better choice. Bruce's name and "The River" were written in a bold Carolina Blue font and positioned just right of his picture. Of course, the album with the red baseball hat was "Born In The USA" and the leather jacket cover was used on his "Born To Run" album.

Answer: I'm A Rocker

"I'm A Rocker" could have been released two decades earlier during the Rockabilly Era except for the song's references to more current pop culture icons like TV detectives, Kojak and Columbo. Up tempo guitar-heavy songs like "Out In The Street", "Ramrod", and "I'm A Rocker" were essential in balancing out the heavier themes of the album. "I'm On Fire" was released by Springsteen on his "Born In The USA" album a few years later.

Answer: A harmonica

There is something very haunting in that opening harmonica solo that opens "The River". The song tells the story of a young couple whose lives dramatically change after a rendezvous by the local river. What happens when your dreams take a major left turn? Do you give up on them or adjust? Bruce has stated "The River" was actually inspired as a true story about his sister and his brother-in-law.