I mentioned previously that, in my opinion, Don’t Worry Baby by the Beach Boys is the greatest love song in Rock and Roll. That’s just my opinion. This week’s subtitle seems to be a challenge to that opinion. What the Beach Boys achieved through subtlety, I feel Bruce delivers with in your face honesty. So clear that we all understand him. He never released this song on any of his studio albums, and I’ve read that he never really liked this song, although I think it’s his best. One of my favorite songs by anybody, for that matter.
I’m from New Jersey, and I even live in a town he references in Spirits in the Night, but no one could ever call me a fan of Bruce Springsteen. There are quite a few songs of his that I do like, mostly off his albums released in the 70s though. His subsequent recordings did little to endear him to me. I’d say that, personally, he lost that raw energy that appealed to me in his earlier work. Then his political statements, both within his music and elsewhere, really turned me off. It’s the old, shut up and just play your guitar mindset that I have. I’ll still listen to music that I love, regardless of the artist’s politics, it’s just that I lose interest in them in a general sense. I’d add that I don’t want to hear their politics even if we are in agreement. Music transcends politics for me, and I like them separate.
This recording is a studio outtake that predates his first album. Growing up I only heard this song on WMMR 93.3 FM out of Philadelphia. And only when Pierre Robert was spinning records (see my post on House of the Rising Sun), if memory serves me correctly. Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes have a respectable cover of this song. (I’ve never seen Bruce live, but I did catch Southside Johnny, with Foghat, when they opened for ZZ Top.) For me, Bruce’s rendition is IT. As far as capturing the feeling of When a Man Loves a Woman, even more than Percy Sledge.
The Fever
Recorded May 16, 1973 at 914 Sound Studios Blauvelt, NY
Bruce Springsteen - Guitar
Danny Federici - Keys
Garry Tallent - Bass
Clarence Clemons - Saxophone
Vini Lopez - Drums.
The Fever
Alright
When I get home from my job, I turn on the TV
But I can't keep my mind on the show
When I lay down at night, I don't get no sleep
So I turn on the radio
But Lord, the only thing I hear is you whispering in my ear
The words that you used to say
Well now the days grow longer
My love grows stronger
The fever gets worse every day
I got the fever for this girl
(He's got the fever, oh he's got the fever)
Nothing that a boy can do
(When he's got the fever for a girl)
(He's got the fever, oh he's got the fever)
Left this little boy blue
Well I can remember coming home
See you standing at the stove
With the dishes on the table
Dinner ready to go
Well maybe out to a movie show
Something that you like to see
Because you were my sun in the morning
You are my moon at night
When I think about it, make me feel alright
Well now the days grow longer
The love just grows stronger, baby
And the fever gets so bad at night
I got the fever for the girl
(He's got the fever, oh he's got the fever)
Nothing that a boy can do
(When he's got the fever for a girl)
(He's got the fever, oh he's got the fever)
Left this little boy blue
Alright
Sax solo
(Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright)
(Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright)
Baby alright
(Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright)
Baby alright
(Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright)
Let's make it alright
Well I can remember coming home, turning on my TV
(But he can't keep his mind on the show)
When I lay down at night I cannot get no sleep
Though I turn on the radio
But still the only thing I hear is you whispering in my ear
Them words that you used to say
And now the days grow longer
And the love just grow stronger
And the fever gets bad every day
I got the fever for this girl
(He's got the fever, oh he's got the fever)
Nothing a boy can do
(When he's got the fever for a girl)
(He's got the fever, oh he's got the fever)
Left this little boy blue
Alright
(He's got the fever, oh he's got the fever)
Nothing a boy can do
(When he's got the fever for a girl)
(He's got the fever, oh he's got the fever)
Left this little boy blue
(Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright)
Alright
(Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright)
Everybody
(Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright)
Everybody
(Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright)
(Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright)
Alright
(Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright)
With my love
(Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright) My love
Alright now
(Ooh ooh ooh he's gonna be alright)
Springsteenlyrics.com
This band is raw, and by that I don’t mean, not good. This is pure, unadulterated Rock and Roll, smothered in Blues with a spritz of Jazz. No overproduction here. This was one take, live.
I have no way of knowing his intentions, and I’m sure that I’ll never meet him to ask (even though I live 20 minutes from him, depending on traffic), but I have my theories.
In the first verse he uses the phrase “though I turn on the radio” when he “don’t get no sleep” while the repeat of this verse for the third, he uses “so I turn on the radio.” Slight difference and could be the same meaning (or maybe I’m just hearing it wrong), but I feel a difference. The first time around he turns on the radio to help him fall asleep but it doesn’t help, and the second mention hints that knowing it won’t help he does it anyway. But the fever is too strong to overcome. Also, he goes back and forth with “this girl”, “the girl“ and back to “this girl”, personal and specific, general and back to personal. Yet when Clarence and the others sing, it’s “a girl”, purely generic so we all feel it.
Musically, the lead up to the last verse, after the sax solo and chorus, there’s a tempo buildup that’s straight out of Ravel’s Bolero.
Just some thoughts on a song that really does it for me.
Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day.
Or buy me a coffee.
Didn't do it for me. Lost interest at 1.07. The Beach Boys. Well, always been a fan. I bet you don't know who the only Beach Girl was! Toured with them for a year on keyboards.
Also, listen to 'Hey Girl' by Carole King. If that is not a Beach Boys song by any other name I am a Matzah.
The long intro put me off too. As far as love songs go, I'd put Sting's "When we Dance," or Sinead's "Nothing Compares 2 U", or her "This Is to Mother You" ahead of "Fever." Leonard Cohen's "I'm Your Man" is probably the sexiest love song I've ever heard, and his "Dance Me to the End of Love" is right up there too. But it's interesting hearing what songs others are drawn to.