Great description - thanks! I've heard that from others - it's hard to "enjoy" Nebraska, because of its dark content and mood, but it's nearly impossible not to respect and appreciate it.

For Nebraska, Bruce stripped everything away except the details of his lyrics, combined with his acoustic guitar, quiet vocals & harmonica. Not a single drum, sax, or piano/keyboard on the entire record. All of the optimism and romanticism of his earlier records are gone. Nebraska is like the most despondent moment from Darkness on the Edge of Town times 1000.

Bruce never intended to release Nebraska from the original demos he cut. But every time he tried recording songs with the band, the intimacy of the original demos was lost. Simply singing louder is necessary when there are drums. I can't remember if it was Steve Van Zandt or Jon Landau who suggested that Bruce stop trying to tinker with the demos and just release them. But I always found it interesting that in his live shows, Bruce played "Atlantic City" as a full rock song. In 2003, Bruce started playing "Johnny 99" as a rockabilly.

You can hear the anguish in Bruce's voice during "Used Cars," recounting bitterly the poor days of his youth. The sarcasm of "Reason to Believe" and the haunting voice in which he sings "My Father's House" are unbelievable. My favorite song is "Highway Patrolman" because of the storyline told in the lyrics. The listener gets a glimpse into the life of patrolman Joe Roberts and his criminal of a brother Frank.

I find it just as interesting as to the songs Bruce did not include on Nebraska that were in a similar style: "Shut out the Lights" was written about Ron Kovek, the author of the book (and later Tom Cruise movie) called "Born on the Fourth of July." There was also a song about a farmer being destroyed economically and spiritually called "Sugarland."

Bruce also wrote a good deal of what would become Born in the USA during the same period that Nebraska was coming together: the title track, Working on the Highway, My Hometown, Follow That Dream, and Downbound Train.