Depending on which generation you more strongly identify with, you’ll consider “Big Schools” a colossal rip-off of either Bruce Springsteen or the Hold Steady. Where do I stand? Well, as much as I love the Boss, I think this song bites the Hold Steady (particularly last year’s phenomenal “Stuck Between Stations”) even harder. That being said, Roy Bittan of the E-Street Band remains one of my all-time rock piano heroes… just a few notes from him, and my eyes are filled with tears. The intro and bridge sections are a sincere tribute to him.
For you statistics nuts out there, this track is the largest file ever uploaded to this blog — a whopping six point seven megabytes, and clocking in at almost six minutes in length. Overall, I think the song structure justifies its big waistband; it doesn’t feel particularly long to me. Is it too ambitious lyrically? Well… is it too much for a verse-chorus-verse pop song to follow its hero from his collegiate bliss to his suburban victory lap, through his tempestuous relationship with his three unappreciative, Atlantic Monthly-reading children, all the way to his eventual concession that his college days really were the best years of his life? I’m gonna say maybe so.
But enough with the caveats… overall, I consider this one of the better songs I’ve posted here, and worthy of your six minutes. This song is dedicated to my favorite big school, the University of Louisville, as the Cardinals steamroll their way into the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. Can they keep the dream alive this week?
