As I wrote in my previous entry Lucky Town, reflecting on the dual album – Human Touch / Lucky Town ‘The more stripped down, folk-based sound on the Lucky Town record is my preferred of the two and contains many excellent songs‘.
Today’s featured track ‘My Beautiful Reward’ is one such song that compared to some songs which didn’t make it as studio releases. My Beautiful Reward and With Every Wish (from Human Touch) are the ones that didn’t get away. Never mind, the ones that did get away like Happy and Loose Change. They have been presented here in all the glory I could muster. They ain’t going anywhere!
My Beautiful Reward
[Verse]
Well I sought gold and diamond rings
My own drug to ease the pain that living brings
Walked from the mountain to the valley floor
Searching for my beautiful reward
Searching for my beautiful reward
[Verse]
From a house on a hill, a sacred light shines
I walk through these rooms, but none of them are mine
Down empty hallways, I went from door to door
Searching for my beautiful reward
Searching for my beautiful reward
[Verse]
Well your hair shone in the sun
I was so high, I was the lucky one
Then I came crashing down like a drunk on a barroom floor
Searching for my beautiful reward
Searching for my beautiful reward
Lucky Town is the tenth studio album by Bruce Springsteen. The album was released on March 31, 1992, the same day as Springsteen’s Human Touch album. I agree with the The Chicago Tribune who wrote that Lucky Town was “highly underrated…containing some of the strongest songwriting of Springsteen’s career and ranks as one of his most completely realized albums.” It focuses on more specific events in Springsteen’s life.
This song My Beautiful Reward is about the journey of life….trying to find that thing, that place, that person that will make you entirely happy…. albeit hopefully one day. My Beautiful Reward is another way of saying eternal reward or Heaven. We go through life looking for satisfaction from material things, but it never works. (“my own drug to ease the pain that living brings“).
The man knows, through experience in verse 1 – that fulfillment can’t be found in material things. He seems to have come up empty with religion in verse 2. In verse 3 he finds that romantic love is not the ultimate fulfillment either. Verse 4 simply shows a guy who hasn’t given up on the search. And so the cycle continues.
Searching for my beautiful reward
Reference:
1. Lucky Town – Wikipedia
2. Lucky Town (Song) – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
I didn’t remember it until I played the song…it then came back. This is my favorite album of the two that were released that day. I still didn’t like it as well as Tunnel Of Love but I liked it a lot.
It takes me back to when I bought the album. I was working a full time job, part time job, and us playing as the house band in a club from 8pm to 3am Fridays and Saturdays…exhausting but a lot of fun.
I listen to this song and the aforementioned ‘With Every Wish’, and the unreleased – ‘Happy’, and ‘Loose Change’ regularly. I heard a lot of the ‘Tunnel of Love’ record in my youth and I consider ‘Tougher Than the Rest’ one of his greatest songs post ‘Born in the USA’. I love his guitar in that. That live video he released of ‘Tougher..’ when him and Patti were becoming an item (if they had not been already) is fantastic. But now I listen way more to the songs from ‘Lucky Town’ than I do ‘Tunnel of Love’.
It sounds like you had a busy life back then Max! I was just ending secondary school when ‘Tunnel’ came out.
Tunnel of Love just connected with me more I guess. Yes Tougher Than The Rest, Spare Parts, Ain’t Got You, and one of his best singles Brilliant Disguise.
I was exhausted through that summer…but I wouldn’t trade it for anything now…now it would kill me lol.
Oh yeh, put ‘Brilliant Disguise’ into that mix. To be honest there are just too many to mention. It would require at least a double album of my essential post ‘USA’ Springsteen compilation. Also don’t forget his Oscar winning ‘Streets of Philadelphia’, ‘Dead Man Walking’, ‘Countin’ on a Miracle’, and all the unreleased gems. Have you heard his ‘Leap of Faith’ song Max? Also, ‘County Fair’ would be in my favourites as well. His latest ‘Western Stars’ (the song) is magnificent as well. Here’s ‘Leap of Faith’:
Yes…Leap of Faith is another one I forgot about.
Yeh. Awesome video they did of ‘Leap of Faith’.
I think if I was to highlight just one song from Bruce which never did anything, and I could have on repeat for ever; it would be ‘County Fair’. The lyrics are sublime:
‘Little girl with the long blond hair
Come win your daddy one of them stuffed bears
Baby, down at the country fair’
I think this song is more Bruce than anything he’s ever written at least to my ears. God, I love it!
That song always sounded like it would have fit on The River to me…thats just me though. I love the video also.
Gee whiz, you and the River!! lol I know it’s just you 😛
I can’t help it! He wrote this song around that time so that is why.
I know Max… and remember your reflections of your Sister in the main track. It was huge.
Hold on a minute. He wrote Country Fair at the time of The River? I thought it was post Lucky Town. You are one step ahead of me. Rolling Stone wrote:
‘Cut in 1983, this song didn’t get its first official release for another 20 years. And though “County Fair” was written in the wake of Nebraska, it feels worlds away from that album’s stark hard-luck tales. It opens with acoustic guitar and the sound of crickets chirping, as Springsteen sings about small-town romance on a summer evening, riding the roller coaster and dancing to a local band called James Young and the Immortal Ones.’
It was demo’d in 1983 three years after The River. It just has that feel to me. Yea it’s not anywhere near Nebraska. County Fair takes me back because the images on that video also. I would look forward going to our County Fair every August.
The fact you knew it’s resonance with The River is impressive and there – abouts when it was released. I wrote in the article ‘County Fair’ how I saw once a ‘fair’ like what Springsteen had depicted when I was located south of Sydney. I was by myself, which is by no means how to enjoy a carnival atmosphere.
My experience was more like this one by ‘My Friend the Chocolate Cake’ haha. Huge fan of this too.
I like this song and the video is spot on. No going by yourself is not as fun although I’ve done it before.
I still like going to fairs…especially at night. I tell Jennifer there is something magical about carnivals at night.
‘The Carnies’. Take Jenn to one if you haven’t already. Yeh, the magic of Carnivals at night! MFTCC, well more specifically David Bridie just killed it with his lyrics. May be Springsteen’s Wild Billy’s Circus Story is up there as well.