"One Step Up" is a song by

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

from his eighth studio album, '' Tunnel of Love'' (1987). It was released as the third single from the album, following " Brilliant Disguise" and the title track. It reached position #13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, #3 on the

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

chart in the United States, and #23 in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

. It also reached #2 on the U.S.

Album Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

chart, giving Springsteen three straight top two tracks from the album. The song was only released as a single in America. One of the unreleased songs from 1980's ''

The River The River may refer to: Films * ''The River'' (1929 film), an American film by Frank Borzage * ''The River'' (1933 film), a Czech film by Josef Rovenský * ''The River'' (1938 film), an American film by Pare Lorentz * ''The River'' (1951 fi ...

'', "Roulette", recorded April 3, 1979, was released as the b-side, using an alternate vocal mixed on April 12, 1980, that would also be used in 1998, when it was chosen for '' Tracks''.

History

Unlike much of the ''Tunnel of Love'' album, "One Step Up" was not recorded in Springsteen's home studio (Thrill Hill East). Rather, it was recorded at

A&M Studios The Jim Henson Company Lot, formerly A&M Studios, is a studio property located just south of the southeast corner of North La Brea Avenue and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Originally established by film star Charlie Chaplin, the property se ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

, between May and June 1987. Springsteen plays all instruments, and future wife

Patti Scialfa Vivienne Patricia Scialfa ( ; born July 29, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Scialfa has been a member of the E Street Band since 1984 and has been married to Bruce Springsteen since 1991. In 2014, Scialfa was inducted into ...

provided backing vocals. No other members of Springsteen's usual backing group, the

E Street Band The E Street Band is an American rock band, and has been musician Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band since 1972. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. For the bulk of Springsteen's recording and performing caree ...

, played on the recording. Like several other songs on the album, the song reflects the impending breakup of the marriage between Springsteen and then-wife

Julianne Phillips Julianne Phillips (born May 6, 1960 Dave Marsh, ''Glory Days: Bruce Springsteen in the 1980s'', Pantheon Books, 1987; . pp. 303, 316-18.) is an American model and actress. She began her career as a model in the early 1980s before moving on to a ...

. The song's lyrics are poetic, understated, emotional and eloquent. The song begins by describing a house with a broken furnace and a car that doesn't start, which serve as

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...

s for the couple's relationship. Similar metaphors in the song are a bird that won't sing and church bells that won't ring for a new bride-to-be. Although the couple has been together for some time, they haven't learned from their experiences and continue to fight and slam doors. The lyrics refer to the couple's relationship as their "dirty little war." Finally, the singer finds himself at a bar wondering whether to hook up with another woman there, while remembering a dream he had the night before about dancing with his wife, with the dance poignantly echoing the song's title (one step up and two steps back). The singer is self-aware enough to recognize his share of responsibility for the couple's difficulties, as demonstrated in particular by the line: "When I look at myself I don't see/The man I wanted to be". Music critic Dave Marsh describes the song as being "as miserable a cheating song as even Nashville ever knew." The music for the song has a bare arrangement, reflecting how personal the song is. It is a quiet ballad with a reassuring melody. The backing vocal provides a haunting echo to Springsteen's lead vocal. Although this is a song about a marriage breaking up, the backing vocals were sung by the woman who eventually became Springsteen's wife,

Reception

'' Cash Box'' said that "it's the interplay between the wistful message and pringsteen'splaintive music that makes this song, and the album such a wonderfully honest and insightful treatise on the state of the modem heart."

Music video

Like several other videos from the ''Tunnel of Love'' album, including "Brilliant Disguise", "Tunnel of Love" and "Tougher Than the Rest", the video for "One Step Up" was directed by

Meiert Avis Meiert Avis is an Irish music video and commercial director. Avis has directed videos for artists such as Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Avril Lavigne, Paramore, Alanis Morissette, Flyleaf, Jennifer Lopez, New Found Glory and Josh Gro ...

. It was filmed on February 15, 1988 at The Wonder Bar, Asbury Park, NJ. The video intersperses scenes of Springsteen singing the song with images reflecting the song's narrative. The video was later released on the VHS and DVD '' Video Anthology / 1978-88''.

Live performances

Perhaps due to the personal nature of the song, it has rarely been performed live. The song was a staple on the 1988

Tunnel of Love Express Tour The Tunnel of Love Express was a concert tour by Bruce Springsteen and featuring The E Street Band along with The Horns of Love that took place in 1988. It was followed by a four and a half months of the release of Springsteen's October 198 ...

, however, it vanished from the setlists until Springsteen briefly revived the song for some performances on the 2005

Devils & Dust Tour The Devils & Dust Tour was a 2005 concert tour featuring Bruce Springsteen performing alone on stage on a variety of instruments. It followed the release of his 2005 album ''Devils & Dust''. The tour was named the Top Small Venue Tour of 2005 b ...

. On May 6, 2014, the song was performed for the first time in 26 years with the E Street Band on their 2014

High Hopes Tour The High Hopes Tour was a concert tour by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band with special guest guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine. The tour was seen as a continuation of his previous tour and was in support of eighteenth ...

stop in Houston, Texas.

Personnel

According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon: *

– vocals, guitars, bass, synthesizers, percussion, drum machine programming (with

Toby Scott Toby Warren Scott is an American record producer, engineer and sound mixer. In addition to serving as an engineer on 18 Bruce Springsteen albums and numerous live performances, Scott has also recorded artists including Bob Dylan, Natalie Merchan ...

) *

– backing vocals

Cover versions

Cover versions of "One Step Up" have been recorded by

Clive Gregson Clive James Gregson (born 4 January 1955, Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside, England) is an English singer/songwriter, musician and record producer. He has toured in bands, provided backup for well-known musicians, and written songs that have been cov ...

and

Christine Collister Christine Collister (born 28 December 1961) is a Manx folk, blues and jazz singer-songwriter. She was born and grew up on the Isle of Man and first came to public attention in 1986 as the singer of the theme song for the BBC's television adap ...

Kenny Chesney Kenneth Arnold Chesney (born March 26, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has recorded more than 20 albums and has produced more than 40 Top 10 singles on the US ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs and Country ...

Bad Radio Bad Radio was a four-piece, American funk rock band that formed in San Diego, California in 1986. The band is most notable for having featured future Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder as its lead singer from 1988–1990. The band was a popular l ...

Martyn Joseph Martyn Joseph (born 15 July 1960) is a Welsh singer-songwriter whose music exhibits primarily a brand of Celtic and folk, while his songwriting is often focused on social lament or protest. From independently releasing his first studio release, ...

The Seldom Scene The Seldom Scene is an American bluegrass band that formed in 1971 in Bethesda, Maryland. The band's original line-up comprised John Starling on lead vocals and guitar, Mike Auldridge on Dobro and baritone vocals, Ben Eldridge on banjo, Tom G ...

Paul Cebar Paul Cebar (born 1956) is an American songwriter, singer, guitarist and bandleader from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who plays African, Latin American and Caribbean music. He has released four albums and an EP with his band, Paul Cebar & the Milwaukeeans, ...

and

Eddie Vedder Eddie Jerome Vedder (born Edward Louis Severson III; December 23, 1964) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter best known as the lead vocalist and one of four guitarists of the Rock music, rock band Pearl Jam. He also appeared as a guest ...

, among others.

References

External links

Lyrics & Audio clips from Brucespringsteen.net
{{Authority control 1987 songs 1988 singles Bruce Springsteen songs Songs written by Bruce Springsteen Music videos directed by Meiert Avis Song recordings produced by Jon Landau Rock ballads Columbia Records singles Song recordings produced by Bruce Springsteen Song recordings produced by Chuck Plotkin