Callin Out Around the World I Cried At Work Today.

Callin Out Around the World I Cried At Work Today.
I have no problem admitting it to all the 3 or 4 people out there in blog land. Greg emailed me and notified in a few words that Danny Federici died. Greg knew me in the mid eighties in the height of my Springsteen mania. I still love his stuff but sometimes his library gets lost with all the other music I have learned in the last 20 years. Anyway the E Street band was a heck of a combo. It will take a long time to explain my long time love for Bruce Springsteen's music and Danny's contribution to that but let me give you some links later that might explain it better than I can.
The great musician/ song writer Nigel Tufnel once called the key of D Minor the saddest of all keys. Songs in that key made him "Weep Instantly". Well some of the songs I swear that are in D Minor include
Romeo and Juliet ( http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=5202) , quite a few Joe Jackson and Randy Newman songs and ultimately Racing in the Street by Bruce Springsteen. You can read about the actual song in one of the links below. I have included the original and the live version. As you can imagine this is the first song I think of when I think of the late Danny. The song itself is beautiful and haunting from the Bittan piano and the moment Bruce sings.
The Song is about finding hope from hopelessness.

"Some guys they just give up living /And start dying little by little, piece by piece".
It's about being transient.
"We only run for the money got no strings attached/ We shut 'em up and then we shut 'em down".
One of the saddest lines in a song with atmosphere to match
" She sits on the porch of her daddy's house /But all her pretty dreams are torn /She stares off alone into the night /With the eyes of one who hates for just being born."

Ultimately the attempt at redemption:
"Tonight my baby and me we're gonna ride to the sea
And wash these sins off our hands"

You don't owe me anything. Just take seven minutes and listen to this song. Listen to the outro that starts with Roy Bittan's trying to put the song to rest then Federici's organ coming in. Not to duel but to fill in the gaps . Just beautiful. The live version has a different interplay and must be heard as well. Both versions provided. Who knows , you might cry at the same parts as I did. God bless you Danny Federici.

Ed http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_Street_Band
http://www.mojo4music.com/blog/2008/04/springsteen_mourns_e_street_ke.html
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=984
Racing In The Street
I got a sixty-nine Chevy with a 396
Fuelie heads and a Hurst on the floor
She's waiting tonight down in the parking lot
Outside the Seven-Eleven store
Me and my partner Sonny built her straight out of scratch
And he rides with me from town to town
We only run for the money got no strings attached
We shut 'em up and then we shut 'em down
Tonight, tonight the strip's just right
I wanna blow 'em off in my first heat
Summer's here and the time is right
For goin' racin' in the street
We take all the action we can meet
And we cover all the northeast state
When the strip shuts down we run 'em in the street
From the fire roads to the interstate
Some guys they just give up living
And start dying little by little, piece by piece
Some guys come home from work and wash up
And go racin' in the street
Tonight, tonight the strip's just right
I wanna blow 'em all out of their seats
Calling out around the world, we're going racin' in the street
I met her on the strip three years ago
In a Camaro with this dude from L.A.
I blew that Camaro off my back and drove that little girl away
But now there's wrinkles around my baby's eyes
And she cries herself to sleep at night
When I come home the house is dark
She sighs "Baby did you make it all right"
She sits on the porch of her daddy's house
But all her pretty dreams are torn
She stares off alone into the night
With the eyes of one who hates for just being born
For all the shut down strangers and hot rod angels
Rumbling through this promised land
Tonight my baby and me we're gonna ride to the sea
And wash these sins off our hands
Tonight tonight the highway's bright
Out of our way mister you best keep
'Cause summer's here and the time is right
For goin' racin' in the street
Copyright © Bruce Springsteen (ASCAP)










http://www.mojo4music.com/blog/2008/04/springsteen_mourns_e_street_ke.html
Springsteen Mourns E Street Keys Man
He was the man whose keyboard part characterised Born In The USA, whose accordion defined Sandy, and whose solo on Hungry Heart added a sense of melodrama. Indeed, to many his playing lay at the very heart of the E Street Band’s rich and soulful sound, stretching back as it did to the late ‘60s when he and the young Bruce Springsteen played The Upstage Club in Astbury Park as punk kids. Hence, the death of E Street Band keyboard player Danny Federici on Thursday April 17 was announced with grave sadness which included a simple, heartfelt statement from Bruce on his own website.
The statement from Springtseen on www.brucespringsteen.net read as follows:
"Danny and I worked together for 40 years - he was the most wonderfully fluid keyboard player and a pure natural musician. I loved him very much...we grew up together."
Aside from Bruce’s comments, the website eulogized Federici further and confirmed that the 58 year-old had been battling melanoma for the last three years, before passing away at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.
Federici’s last appearance with the E Street Band was during a special performance in Indianapolis when he appeared onstage during parts of the set. His death has seen Springsteen cancel his shows in Fort Lauderdale and Orlando on Friday April 18 and Saturday April 19 respectively.
MOJO would like to send our condolences to the Federici and E Street Band families. A full appraisal of Federici’s talent will appear in a future issue of MOJO magazine.