It’s for good reason that the Gaslight Anthem have been drawing comparisons to Bruce Springsteen ever since they burst onto the modern rock scene with their 2008 song “The ’59 Sound.” Both acts hail from New Jersey; both sing good ol’ American rock songs with lyrics that paint sepia-toned pictures of memories from growing up on the East Coast in the ’50s and ’60s. But what’s hilarious is that the members of the Gaslight Anthem probably weren’t even born until the ’70s and ’80s.
Still, the Gaslight Anthem are good at what they do. The songs are catchy, and Springsteen himself is a fan. He’s performed onstage with the Gaslight Anthem, and the band’s singer, Brian Fallon, has performed with Springsteen—they’re all friends.
While imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, sometimes the Gaslight Anthem are really riding a thin line between homage and full-on ripping off. Looking through their lyrics, it’s nearly impossible not to hear Springsteen’s voice singing the words. So it’s time for a game! Of the five lyrics below, see if you can guess which ones are Springsteen and which ones are the Gaslight Anthem.
The answers are below—no peeking!
1. “It’s funny how the night moves/Humming a song from 1962/We were always waiting, always waiting/We were always waiting for something to happen.”
2. “And I spent time ‘neath the trestles/With the punks and the dime-store saints/Kept faith and a switchblade tucked beneath my coat.”
3. “Down in town, the circuit’s full/With switchblade lovers so fast, so shiny, so sharp/And the wizards play down on Pinball Way/On the boardwalk way past dark.”
4. “And I always dreamed of classic cars and movie screens/And trying to find some way to be redeemed/Baby darling, we will be in the cold, cold ground.”
5. “Well we busted out of class/Had to get away from those fools/We learned more from a three-minute record/Baby, than we ever learned in school.”
Fri Sept 10: Tera Melos at the Vera Project, 7:30 pm, $11.
Fri Sept 10: Menomena, Say Hi, Suckers at Showbox at the Market, 8 pm, $16 adv/$18 DOS.
Sat Sept 11: The Courage, Robert DeLong, Le Wrens at Crocodile, 8 pm, $12.
Sun Sept 12: Head Like a Kite, Ghost of Kyle Bradford, New Roman Times at Sonic Boom Records Capitol Hill, 10 am, free.
ANSWER KEY: 1. Gaslight Anthem, “Great Expecations.” 2. Gaslight Anthem, “The Navesink Banks.” 3. Bruce Springsteen, “4th of July, Asbury Park.” 4. Gaslight Anthem, “Old White Lincoln.” 5. Springsteen, “No Surrender.”
