IFLTS: 'State Trooper,' Bruce Springsteen

'State Trooper,' Bruce Springsteen
From 1982's 'Nebraska'

'State Trooper' -- off Bruce Springsteen's 1982 album 'Nebraska' -- haunts with its sparsity. It certainly leaves me with shivers. The song starts with a lone guitar moving from one note to another, while Springsteen's deeply melancholic voice begs the State Trooper on the New Jersey Turnpike to not stop him. It's not clear why the driver would need to be stopped but it's clear that the driver fears just that.

"Maybe you got a kid, maybe you got a pretty wife/The only thing that I got, been bothering me my whole life/Mr. State Trooper, please don't stop me/Please don't you stop me," Springsteen sings.

When Springsteen entered the studio to record 'Nebraska,' it was decided the stark nature of the 4-track recordings of the demos was the most suitable sound for the final product. This worked especially well for 'State Trooper.' Springsteen's few whelps -- like the song itself -- are better served raw.

What song do you freakin' love? Write our next IFLTS. Send it to us at spinnereditor@aim.com