There’s not much that can be said about Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA that hasn’t already been said. Each of its dozen tracks are iconic in their own right and most, if not all, are a staple of The Boss’ live repertoire at this point. And with the recent news of Springsteen selling his catalog to Sony for an eye-watering $500 million, it’s glory days for him (sorry), Mary Spender has taken it upon herself to record and film a timely cover of “I’m on Fire”.
As one of the more stripped back songs on Springsteen’s legendary opus, the guitarist/singer/songwriter/YouTuber has stripped it back further to a haunting and soulful rendition. With its clean guitar tones and reverb-backed vocals, the less-is-more approach makes the lyrics even more powerful and sounds like a Spender original (many of which you can see/hear on her YouTube channel as well as other covers) yet similarly evokes hints of the darker and sombre notes on Springsteen’s Letter to You.
Spender may not be the first or last artist to cover The Boss (I’m still waiting on a Frog Leap version of any of his work – and since Spender has collaborated with him previously, maybe she can put a word in?) but she’s certainly made one of the most interesting interpretations of a classic as she pays homage to one of the finest songwriters the world has produced.
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Header image by Olly Curtis
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