The Bruce Springsteen album Nebraska is a favorite of mine. So, when news broke that a movie would be made about the Boss, specifically about that time period of his career, I was extremely invested in it. And then they added Jeremy Allen White and I was sold.
The film is going to be based on Deliver Me From Nowhere by Warren Zanes, and is all about the album that was a personal project for Springsteen and one that was very dear to him. It is, given the success of The River before it, a fascinating part of Springsteen’s career, and a part often overlooked to explore his more popular songs and albums.
While promoting The Bear season 3, White has talked about the potential for the film and how he hopes it all works out. One of the things that White really wants to try and do is sing the songs himself. When asked about it, he was hopeful that he could do it. “We’re gonna try, we’re gonna try our best,” White told Variety. “Yeah, we’re gonna try.”
White went on to talk about whether he has met Springsteen yet. “We’ve, like, communicated a little bit through some other, some other people, but … I hope this still all comes together,” White said. “We have some timing stuff to work out, and I’m like trying to have a bit of, I think, my own process with it before, before meeting the man, too.”
He went on to say, “I wanna try and, yeah, have an understanding, so that when I meet him, you know, I’ll have a bit of confidence somewhere in me to stand there.” He also made it clear that he hopes this film works out, and honestly, I do, too.
White singing “Atlantic City” will mean a lot to me
I’m one of those people who grew up with Springsteen playing non-stop. My older brother discovered the artist himself, and my family has always been supportive of our musical loves and endeavors. So, my first concert as a young 5-year-old was seeing Springsteen near my hometown of Pittsburgh. I remember hearing “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out” and loving it, but my taste in Springsteen songs has changed through the years.
The song that is decidedly mine to my family is “Atlantic City.” It is beautiful, raw, and a song that has gotten me through a lot, and it is the reason I am so excited for this movie. Yes, you can have an actor pretend to sing, but I don’t really want that. You lose that raw emotion and energy that exists from a live performance, and from what I know, this movie is about the writing of the album. I don’t really want a movie where we have weird backing tracks in scenes as songs are being written.
I hope that White does sing, and I will listen to his “Atlantic City” with glee in my heart, because honestly, I wish people would cover the song more anyway.
