If I Was a Priest by Bruce Springsteen

A couple of weeks ago a Springsteen fan site tweeted out an old recording of this unreleased song. Interestingly I had just a week or so earlier read somewhere about Springsteen's original audition and the record company executive being stunned by the lyrics that Springsteen sang.

This song was the song that stunned the record man. Still the song never found it's way to an album. I guess even in 1973 Bruce had more material than he needed.

The lyrics in question? " If Jesus was the Sheriff and I was the priest, if my lady was an heiress and my mother was a thief." Certainly this was an indication of many of the songs to come, the characters like Blind Terry and the Rat that we would soon be meeting.

It was true in 1972 when he appeared, he was the next Dylan, and in 1974 when Jon Landau called him the future of rock and roll he was not wrong. He was more right than he could have ever imagined.

Find this song online. It is a masterpiece.