Ramrod

The first time I heard this song on the River I was relatively unimpressed and didn't get what made fans so excited to hear it the few times it was performed live...

...Then I heard it live...

It was the November 8, 2009 Madison Square Garden show where the River in its entirety was played (for the first and only time)!  The parts of the song played by a synthesizer on the studio version were replaced by a standard piano, and the energy on stage was unreal.  What resulted was a fun and exciting song that I then realized was obviously influenced by the piano heavy early days of rock and roll, championed by rockers such as Jerry Lee Lewis.  Springsteen has a few song like this that are obviously inspired by the likes of "Great Balls of Fire" and "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going on" (such as "Stand on it" from Tracks) but "Ramrod" is the most fun, and the most innovative on that genre.

This version from the Barcelona '01 concert might be my favorite:

On the album, this song wraps up the louder rocking set of songs (you could argue "The Price you Pay" does this, although I think its probably a bit too heavy for that job).  It's a more careless fun song where the E. Street Band just kinda goes wild, but it's well placed in the album, and it makes for a great dance song at a concert.  I don't think its as a good song as "Out in the Street," (which shares a similar theme) but its a more spontaneous and energetic one, and that energy is infectious with a live audience.  For those who dismissed the studio version of this song as silly and unexciting, I recommend checking out the live version....