Free Energy and Titus Andronicus, "I'm Going Down" (And Bruce Springsteen Covers Throughout History)

Philly’s Free Energy and Jersey’s Titus Andronicus just finished a tour together. At one of the last shows, last week in Atlanta, the Titus guys joined Free Energy for a beery, raucous rendition of “I’m Goin’ Down,” a song from Bruce Springsteen’s 1984 album, Born in the U.S.A. It’s pretty great.

Coincidentally, this is the same Springsteen song NYC’s Vampire Weekend has been playing lately. (Or maybe not so coincidentally? Maybe there’s some competitive tri-state-area one-upmanship going on?)

And for any hipster-hating Springsteenites who might sniff at the preponderance of tank-tops and skinny jeans in these videos, remember who practically invented the look. In fact, if you’re wondering about the phenomenon of young bands covering Born In the U.S.A.-era Bruce songs? Well, he told them to do it himself, didn’t he? While wearing a tank-top.

Here are a bunch of other Springsteen covers, recent to less recent: