This one is an excellent power pop song. This is what power pop is all about. It’s a radio-friendly catchy song with some power behind it. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at listening to his solo works and his 70’s band Grin.
Across The Tracks was on the 1983 album Wonderland. The album is very accessible with catchy songs and his vocals are strong.
Most people know Nils Lofgren from The E-Street Band. He joined them in 1984 to replace Steven Van Zandt. When Van Zandt came back, Bruce made the correct decision to keep both guitar players. Nils also played for Neil Young in the seventies. Lofgren joined Neil Young’s band in 1968 at age 17, playing piano on the album After the Gold Rush. Lofgren would maintain a close relationship with Young, appearing on his Tonight’s the Night album and tour among others. He was also briefly a member of Crazy Horse, appearing on their 1971 LP and contributing songs to their catalog.
He was born in Chicago and he moved to the Washington, D.C., area as a teenager. His first instrument was the accordion. He was also a competitive gymnast in high school, a skill that popped up later in his career. I remember seeing him with the E Street Band and he would do a flip from a trampoline. You can also see it in this video.
From 1971 to 1974 Lofgren was in a band he founded in 1969, a band named Grin. After landing a record deal in ’71 the band released 4 critically-acclaimed albums but met with little commercial success. He followed that band up with some solo albums that weren’t huge commercial successes but he earned the respect of his peers as an excellent guitarist and singer-songwriter.
Across The Tracks
Across the tracks there’s a girl who loves meJust as much as I love herWe are unified still crucifiedJust because we live across the tracks, yeah
White or black, day or nightWhat’s the difference when you’ve hurt someone?You can walk tall, you can act smallAny fool can fire a gun
Across the tracks there’s a girl who loves meJust as much as I love herWe are unified still crucifiedJust because we live across the tracks, yeah alright yeah
So we slip away and pretend to playAnd it said how families make you runIf my daddy ever caught me kissing herI believe he would shoot his son
But we’re growin’ up and there’ll come a dayWhen the real world makes us run awayNow we live in shame and play their silly gameSoon we’ll be gone and I don’t have to say, yeah
Across the tracks there’s a girl who loves meJust as much as I love herWe are unified still we’re crucifiedJust because we live across the tracks, yeah
Across the tracks, across the tracksWe won’t stand forever across the tracksAcross the tracks, across the tracks, oh
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