Intriguing New Version of Bruce’s ‘No Surrender’ by Rowe
The story goes that Bruce didn’t even want to include “No Surrender” on 1984’s Born In The USA but did so at the insistence of Stevie Van Zandt. It’s since become a concert staple, one of the most beloved songs in the Bruce catalog. It’s been covered 19 times by artists from all around the world but not like the one-named singer-songwriter Rowe from Hopewell in Mercer County. Its unique piano-violin-cello arrangement turns it rather introspective, far from the triumphant anthem it started out as. Bruce wrote years later that “it was a song I was uncomfortable with. You don’t hold out and triumph all the time in life. You compromise, you suffer defeat, you slip into life’s gray areas.”
Rowe grew up in New England before moving south to New Jersey. At one time he had a duo, Goodbye Blue, but now stands solo with his Some New England Night debut. A multi-instrumentalist who can play piano, violin, bass and drums, he’s composed for string quartets, played bluegrass for a while, sang in gospel choirs, kicked around Paris and writes poetry.
He's been quoted as saying, “I’ve always been a huge Springsteen fan. My respect and admiration for him has continued to increase over the past decade since we’ve been living and raising kids in New Jersey. In listening to the original version of ‘No Surrender,’ I could hear some reflective themes within the song that, as a younger person, I hadn’t realized were there. This inspired me to do this new take on a classic song.”
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