THE 50(ISH) GREATEST ALBUMS OF ALL TIME
Glory Days
Album #51 : Bruce Springsteen — Born In The USA
At one point this week, whilst I was on maybe my third or fourth listen through of this album, an old university friend text me to remind me of something (she had found an old conversation of ours in which we’d reminisced about some daft game we played at uni, comparing boys and girls who walked passed to chocolate bars). It just so happened I was listening to the track Glory Days at the time. It was fitting, that game was so long ago we were reminiscing about being nostalgic about it. We worked out that we had known each other for fourteen years, and I thought, man, old Bruce-y is right. Those glory days really do pass you by pretty quickly.
And then I thought, no, you can do better than that James. This is one of the best albums of all time, and Glory Days isn’t even the best song — surely that’s Born In The USA or Dancing In The Dark? You need to give it its proper dues rather than just pondering your own past.
As fate would have it though, another old friend text me a day later to say somebody we used to do stand up comedy with was on Live At The Apollo that evening. I found it absolutely astounding that I am saying this but, I don’t think at any point in the previous 50 weeks I have mentioned that I used to do stand-up comedy. Usually it is my opening gambit. And so what better homage to one of the greatest entertainers the world has ever seen than to talk about my own paltry career behind the microphone?
I do not miss stand-up comedy. I don’t. But, sometimes, when somebody I started out with gets a big break like this, I do think to myself… should I have stuck it out? There is nothing in this world better than making a room full of people cry with laughter. It is an incredible feeling that you cannot recreate anywhere else. It isn’t quite like playing live music, there’s always a bit of a rabble there. With live comedy there is no other noise but your voice delivering a punchline and then, snap, a wave of laughter bursts through. A dream.
But, in reality, there is a lot of it that isn’t fun. There are hours and hours of lonely driving, often minimal stage time available and legions of angry, frustrated promoters who either run bad gigs or who never made it themselves and feel they need to take it out on newcomers.
Really though they are just excuses. The truth is I wasn’t funny enough, I didn’t work hard enough, and I didn’t make the sacrifices required to make it ‘big’. But I have come to terms with that. I met some wonderful people doing stand-up (I met some arseholes as well) and I have memories I will treasure forever, but I don’t miss it.
The truth is that I don’t miss it because I am happy. There is no way I would want to go out five nights a week for a four-hour round trip and five minutes on stage. Nowadays, I am too settled with my wife and my dog — I am not that desperate for attention (although, if there’s any going spare do send it my way).
So, yes, maybe I am nostalgic for a time when a hangover didn’t take 3 days to clear and a roomful of people might hang off my every word. But those glory days pass you by, quickly, and what comes after is pretty glorious too.
Thanks for reading — over the course of 2021, I’ll be reviewing 50(ish) of the greatest albums ever recorded. You can see the list here:
There is also a playlist featuring the best song from each album here.
