KARTA PRACY UCZNIA – Streets of Philadelphia – Bruce
Springsteen (Top Musicians 7)
GROUP 1
Ex.1 Read the story about the beginnings of Bruce Springsteen’s career. Make short
notes covering what you’ve read and get ready to retell the story.
Bruce Frederick Springsteen was born on September 23, 1949. He was Douglas and Adele Springsteen
first and only son. Eventually, they’d have two daughters. Live in the Springsteen household wasn’t
easy. Adele worked as a secretary earning minimum money. Douglas moved from job to job and
struggled to make ends meet. Over the years he worked as a prison guard, in the factory and as a
bus driver.
Bruce: “My father felt his invisibility very extremely, very intensively. And my mother was someone who
pressed everyday to make herself visible, to present herself and to have impact upon even that limited
world that she was a part of. And she took a great pride in that.
She’s a very, very inspirational presence“.
As a student, Bruce never fit in. He once said ”I was invisible at school, wasn’t even a class clown“.
Bruce found refuge in rock’n’roll. He loved the early records by The Animals, Rolling Stones and Bob
Dylan.
Bruce: “For me, my education was listening to records. That was it. There was more life than I could see
around, there was more than they could teach me at school“.
Bruce wanted the guitar. His mom wanted him to have one. So she took out a loan to buy him this
guitar.
Bruce: “I remember staying outside in the window in terrible cold. That was probably on of the cheapest
guitars that was in the window. But one picked up, it was a Kent guitar, it was barely tunable. But it was
electric and you could plug it in. It was an enormous investment. I don’t think I’d ever seen 60 dollars
in one place in that one time in anyone’s hand, you know. I knew what could I do having an electric
guitar? – I could get a job“.
At 16 Bruce joined his first band, The Castiles. In May of 1966 they recorded an album. Bruce and his
band mate wrote the two songs in the car on the way to the session.
Springsteen’s identification with rock’n’roll brought him nothing but trouble. His long hair made him a
target for ridicule n the streets and caused fights with his father.
Bruce: “When I was growing up we were always going at it all the time. And we got to fight so much
sometimes that I spent a lot of time out of the house. And he’d always been saying <Man, I can’t wait till
the army gets you. They’re gonna make you man out there. I can’t wait till they cut that hair off>”.
It was the beginning of Vietnam War…
Bruce: “But I remember going in the kitchen and my pap saying <Man, where have you been for three
days?> My mother was there. And I told them that I took my physical exam. And he said <What
happened?> And I said I failed. And he said <That’s good!>”.
Bruce bucked the system. He had convinced the army that he was 4 F.
When Bruce was 19, his dad decided to move the family to California to seek the better life. Bruce
stayed behind to make life in music. There were rock clubs in the nearby tourist town, at Asbury Park.
Bruce formed the string of bands. There was Earth, Steelmill, Child and Doctor Zoom and the Sonic
Boom. He was living in a south port factory and playing with his friend, Steve Van Zandt. Like
Springsteen, Steve wanted a record contract.
Bruce: “When me and Steve started playing together we wanted to be The Rolling Stones and meet
people. We wanted to make girls, we wanted to make friends and we wanted the endless amounts of
good times“.
(Adapted from TV programme - VH 1 Legends)
Ex. 2 Now match the words highlighted in the text with their definitions.
household
money which is spent on sth
struggle to make ends meet
earn money
have impact upon sth/ sb
a group of people, often a family, who live together
press
to push
refuge
a series of bands
take out a loan
melodic
plug sth in
to laugh at someone in an unkind way
investment
to have a powerful effect on a situation or person
tunable
to refuse to follow the rules of an organization
ridicule
to try to find or get something, especially something which is
not a physical object
buck the system
to experience difficulty and make a very great effort in order to
have money to live
seek
to borrow something
make life
(a place which gives) protection or shelter from danger, trouble,
unhappiness
string of bands
to connect an electrical device to an electrical system or device
so that it can be used, by pushing its plug into a socket
GROUP 2
In 1972 Bruce signed a management contract. The deal was with Mike Appel. The guy whose
biggest claim to fame was writing a hit for the Partridge Family.
“It seemed like this was someone who saw value in me. He was connected to the music
business and this was sort of his close to the real music business I’d never seen”.
Appel was abrasive and aggressive. But he believed in Springsteen. He scored him an
audition with John Hammond, the man who discovered Billy Holliday, Aretha Franklin and
Bob Dylan.
“It was one of those moments when the impossible happened. When something that seemed
just fantastic and that you would dream about actually had happened. How was that possible?
When I heard the words <You have to be on Columbia Records> and walked out, it was like
the world had transformed, nothing was the same“.
Hammond signed Bruce but warned him that his agreement with Appel was a bad deal. But
Springsteen stayed loyal to his manager. The decision would come back to haunt him.
Columbia saw Bruce as a solo folk singer. Springsteen wanted to make a rock’ n’ roll record.
He created a band, called The E Street Band. They recorded an album Greetings from Asbury
Park.
As a singer and song writer, Bruce was immediately called the next Bob Dylan.
Bruce pushed forward and recorded his next album The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street
Shuffle. The reviews were great. But the songs were too long and strange for the radio.
Springsteen’s secret weapon was his live shows. He had a cult following from Boston to
Virginia. And every time he and The E Street Band played, they won new converts.
Music critic, Jon Landau saw Bruce in 1974. “He was so blown away”, he wrote, “I’ve seen
rock’n’roll future. And it’s name is Bruce Springsteen. “But for Bruce the immediate future
looked bleak. There was talked that some of the bosses on his label wanted to drop him.
Springsteen rushed back into the studio to record what he hoped would be his big hit single,
the song Born to Run.
“I was trying to make the greatest rock record ever that would explode in people’s homes and
minds, you know, change people’s live. Because that’s what rock was then for me”.
After presenting this single in the radio, Columbia decided to stick with Bruce. The pressure
on Springsteen was enormous. The critics and local fans had bought him time, but he knew
that if his third album flopped, he was finished. Born to Run was a great song, but now he
needed a whole album as good. And he had no idea how to get there.
Springsteen would spend a whole year sweating it out. It would be the hardest time of his
life. The time when his music would change, part of the E Street Band would leave and he’d
fall out with his manager and producer. Making Born to Run would change Bruce
Springsteen’s life in ways he could not even imagine.
Recording Born to Run was torture. Nothing sounded the way it did in Bruce’s head. But
managed Mike Appel still assisted on producing. Bruce began to doubt his ability. As he
usually did when things got bad, Springsteen reached out to his friends. His old friend
showed up one time and solved some problems. Bruce invited him to join The E Street Band.
He also began asking the advice of Jon Landau, the music critic, who had Bruce “the future of
rock’n’roll”.
Appel started to feel he was being replaced by Landau. He thought to hang on. The more
Appel tried to kick Landau out, the more Bruce wanted him in. Springsteen made Landau coproducer with himself and Appel. Appel was furious.
By summer Columbia had to have the album. They had taken out adds and booked the tour.
Springsteen was under the gun. On July 20, 1975, he finally finished Born to Run. That night,
he and The E Street Band started their tour. After months of hard work Bruce said that being
on stage felt like walking onto a beach.
By October Springsteen became the first entertainer to make the covers of both: Newsweek
and Time in the same week. Now he was famous...
(Adapted from TV ABC News)
Ex. 2 Now match the words highlighted in the text with their definitions.
value
to stop including someone in a group or team
score
like there is little or no hope for the future
haunt
to go somewhere and do something with someone, usually
something you plan and pay for
push forward
to consider something important
secret weapon
to cause repeated suffering or anxiety
convert
to work very hard using or doing something
blow away
to succeed in an activity or to achieve something
drop
to surprise or please someone very much
bleak
to arrange to have a seat, room, entertainer, etc. at a particular
time in the future
flop
to continue doing something or making advances in something,
with effort or enthusiasm
sweat sth out
someone who changes their beliefs, habits, or way of living
doubt
to hold or continue holding onto something
reach out to sb
to not feel certain or confident about something or to think that
something is not probable
hang on
something or someone that no one knows about and that will
give you an advantage over your competitors or enemies
take sth out
to fail
book
to try to communicate with a person or a group of people,
usually in order to help or involve them
Ex. 3 Listen to the song and fill in the spaces.
Bruce Springsteen – Streets Of Philadelphia
I WAS BRUISED AND BATTERED
AND I COULDN´T _______ WHAT I _______
I WAS UNRECOGNIZABLE TO _______
I SAW MY REFLECTION IN A WINDOW
I DIDN´T KNOW MY _______FACE
OH BROTHER ARE YOU GONNA LEAVE ME
WASTIN´_______
ON THE _______ OF PHILADELPHIA
I _______ THE AVENUE TILL MY
LEGS FELT LIKE STONE
I HEARD THE VOICES OF _______VANISHED AND GONE
AT NIGHT I COULD HEAR THE BLOOD IN MY VEINS
_______ AND WHISPERING AS THE RAIN
ON THE STREETS OF _______
AIN´T NO _______ GONNA GREET ME
IT´S JUST YOU AND I MY _______
MY CLOTHES DON´T FIT ME NO MORE
I WALKED A THOUSAND _______JUST TO SLIP THE _______
THE NIGHT HAS FALLEN, I´M LYIN´_______ I CAN FEEL _______ FADING
AWAY
SO RECEIVE ME BROTHER WITH YOUR FAITHLESS _______
OR WILL WE _______ EACH OTHER ALONE LIKE THIS
_______ THE STREETS OF PHILADELPHIA
Aleksandra Kazimierczyk
Nauczyciel języka angielskiego
British School
Warszawa