A New Jersey Song with Western Influences

Songwriting, Storytelling and The Boss

When I tell people I’m from New Jersey, my lovely wife quickly reminds me that while I might have been born there, I grew up in Los Angeles. And this is true. Moving to the western San Fernando Valley the summer I started fifth grade means most of my formative memories were formed in Southern California.

But to paraphrase the trope, you can take the boy out of New Jersey, but you can’t take the Jersey out of the boy. Well, yes, you can. And besides an occasional slip of the tongue when saying “orange” after a few drinks, you’d never know I was from the Garden State.

But my love of Bruce Springsteen might give it away. It’s not like you can’t love the Boss if you live in other states. However, there is a significant amount of pride “we” Jerseyites have for Springsteen. And I’ve always loved him. I grew up — in New Jersey — asking my dad to put “Born in the U.S.A.” on the record player again.

There were other records on the family stereo— and I know some don’t love the production of that recording — but that album comprises my youngest musical memories. The way he shaped his songs on that album made a deep impression — even if I didn’t completely understand them as a kid. Springsteen’s storytelling stood far apart from nearly anything else I remember listening to as a child.

Nebraska wasn’t on my radar until much later in life. Which is why The Band introduced me to “Atlantic City.” The Band’s Jericho made its rounds with the cool older kids (read: stoners) I looked to for music recommendations in middle school. Knowing that the album’s most enduring song (in my opinion) was Springsteen’s just made it better.

In many ways, this song is The Band’s. Springsteen dropped Nebraska in 1982, eleven years before The Band covered “Atlantic City.” After The Band’s 1993 release, there have been more than a dozen more recorded and released versions of this song. Most of them mirroring The Band’s arrangement.

I like all of them — each taking a slightly different spin. But Springsteen’s original has a rough, dirty feel that seems missing from The Band’s rendition — it’s lacking that Jersey feel.

Springsteen has an urgency in the album version — no celebration, no joy in his voice, no doubt — it features the raw emotion of someone who needed to tell this story as if his life depended on it. But it’s not his story — which I suppose makes it all the more powerful.

I didn’t know who the Chicken Man was until I looked up the song's history for this piece. The version on Nebraska is nearly voyeuristic — I almost feel guilty listening in on the conversation.

Now I've been a-lookin' for a job, but it's hard to find
There's winners and there's losers
And I am south of the line
Well, I'm tired of gettin' caught out on the losin' end
But I talked to a man last night
Gonna do a little favor for him

Springsteen tells us the world isn’t fair, but he has a plan. And while he’ll most likely die trying to pay those “debts no honest man can pay,” he’s not going to waste time with the subject of his confession worrying about what he can’t control.

It’s a classic soliloquy — hope where there should be none. So let’s walk on the beach because all we have is tonight.

This song is raw. And it benefits greatly from a stripped-down production.

Cristina Vane, Hannah Juanita and Brennen Leigh collaborate with the support of Western AF to bring such a version to life.

With Vane on primary lead vocals and banjo, Juanita on perfect harmonies and guitar, and Leigh taking the critical role of mandolin and vocals — this version, while still reminiscent of The Band’s recording, leans deeply into the urgency Springsteen delivered.

The simplicity of the recording — three voices and three instruments — also allows the listener to dive deeper into the story. To feel it, even if they don’t understand it.

Unlike Springsteen’s original, where there was an element of autobiographical fear or an acceptance of the inevitable in the singer's voice, I’m left feeling sorry for a character in this version. It's more like seeing a revival of a great play performed by a great actor delivering someone else’s story with intensity — the connection isn’t direct but still powerful.

Vane, Juanita and Leigh bring honesty to a fictional story that needs telling. And no one provides a better story to tell than the Boss.