credit: Elizabeth Weinberg
In honour of The Boss’s birthday, Lucy Dacus has released a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Dancing In The Dark,’ which can be heard HERE. This is the fourth instalment of her 2019 holiday song series, following her Valentine’s Day cover of ‘La Vie En Rose,’ and original songs ‘My Mother & I’ and ‘Forever Half Mast,’ celebrating Mother’s Day and Independence Day, respectively. Lucy’s ongoing 2019 singles series will also include tracks tied to Halloween, Christmas, and New Year’s, with a physical EP coming soon.
In ‘Dancing In the Dark,’ Lucy pays tribute to one of her role models with an inspired Bruce Springsteen cover that foregrounds her ebullient guitar playing. She swaps out the synth line of the original tune in favour of uptempo strumming patterns that coalesce with her arresting vocals to reinvigorate an American classic. “Happy birthday to Bruce,” says Dacus, “but also happy birthday to my dad, the biggest Bruce fan I know and the reason I’ve listened to The Boss since birth. I resisted it when I was younger as a rebellion to my dad’s taste, but I have come to love his music on my own time. His lyricism is embedded in my own songwriting inextricably at this point.”
ICYMI, this past July Lucy taped an episode of Austin City Limits TV that will air this fall on PBS. Austin American-Statesman wrote of the performance, “Dacus is making the best music of her life right now… this is the real thing.” She also published an op-ed in the New York Times this month as part of their Woodstock anniversary package, marking her debut as a bylined writer.
