The cover of “Runaway American Dream: Innovative Interpretations of Springsteen 50 Years Later.”
In September, a symposium at Monmouth University in West Long Branch examined the history of Bruce Springsteen’s landmark Born to Run album, which celebrated its 50th anniversary that month. That same month, though, the university’s student-run record label, Blue Hawk, looked to the future by releasing an EP, Runaway American Dream: Innovative Interpretations of Springsteen 50 Years Later, featuring recordings of five Born to Run songs by Monmouth University students.
The album takes its title, of course, from a line in the Born to Run title track. Even the cover art represents an updating of the original cover art.
The album’s title track appears on the EP, along with “Backstreets,” “Thunder Road,” “She’s the One” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze-out.” You can listen to the five songs below.
As you will hear, these aren’t straightforward versions of these familiar songs, but new takes on them, with modern beats and arrangements that are very different from Springsteen’s own. Michael Anthony Rocks and Kristen Wilczewski’s “She’s the One” is, perhaps, the biggest surprise — a duet with a feverish dance-pop edge. “Tenth Avenue Freeze-out,” by John Terista, Amani Lillian, Antonia Bongiorno and Taylor Wichterman, looks both backward and forward, with doo-wop style group vocals but also a sunny, contemporary sound.
“Backstreets,” by Amani Lillian, turns Springsteen’s haunted epic into something far gentler, with Lillian using a warm, almost breezy, heart-to-heart delivery. “Thunder Road,” by Abby Garcia, has a dreamy sense of atmosphere that represents quite a departure for this song.
DANNY CLINCH
Bruce Springsteen with the “Runaway American Dream” album cover.
The cover of the title track, by Elijah Elias & Kristen Wilczewski, is perhaps the most conventional-sounding of the five songs — though, like “She’s the One,” it is a duet, which seems particularly fitting when Elias sings, “Wendy, let me in, I want to be your friend,” after Wilczewski handles the first verse.
The Boss himself has given his seal of approval to the project, by posing with the album cover.
The label was founded in 2013, and takes its name from the university’s mascot: A blue hawk.
As part of the Light of Day WinterFest, The Berkeley Hotel in Asbury Park will host a “Blue Hawk Boardwalk Jam,” Jan. 15 at 7:30 p.m., featuring musicians affiliated with the Blue Hawk record label, including Elijah Elias, Amani Lillian, Abby Garcia, Corine Rose, Sam Spano, The Peach Trees, Sam Jordan and The Blue Hawk House Band. Joe Rapolla — a singer-songwriter who is the chair of the Department of Music and Theatre Arts at Monmouth University, and the founding advisor of Blue Hawk Records — will co-host with Zack Sandler. For information, visit lightofday.org.
For more about the label, visit bluehawkrecords.com.
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