How to Appreciate Bruce Springsteen's Singing Voice

It is a general precept that Bruce Springsteen does not have the best singing voice in the world. This is a point that is often made by detractors who don't understand why this man has won multiple awards for his music. Here we will learn both why and how to better appreciate the singing voice of this icon of American music and culture.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Appreciation of various forms of music
• An interest in the history of the folk/blues/rock idiom
• Good speakers (or headphones)

1. Know that rock music comes from the folk idiom. Like the various forms of folk art, be it painting or sculpture, folk music should be sung "by folks for folks." If a singer writes a song he should sing that song to the people around him. This is considered a more authentic presentation of the song as opposed to, say, Tin Pan Alley.
2. What was Tin Pan Alley? It was a music factory, in essence, where brilliant songwriters who couldn't sing that well wrote songs for people who could. The nexus of Tin Pan Alley was an actual building called the Brill building, where music publishers cranked out songs, as if on an assembly line.
3. Bruce Springsteen is the antithesis of Tin Pan Alley. Though his songs have been covered far and wide, it is his original recordings of his own songs that remain the more popular versions. As opposed to, say, Paul Anka, who wrote "My Way," which most people would say was a Frank Sinatra song.
4. It is this authenticity from Springsteen, relayed by the emotion in his presentation and not the technical aspects of his singing voice, that make him a popular singer.
5. Remember, there is no accounting for taste. This has been said over and over for for decades, especially concerning Bruce Springsteen's singing voice, as well as many other singer's in the folk/rock idiom. No doubt this trend will continue. Try to tap into the emotion of the song rather than the technique.