Darkness On The Edge of Town is great, I’ve been listening to it a lot this week. But that’s a post for another day (later this year, when the album gets reissued). Instead we should consider Working On A Dream, because that hits stores today and you’ll be watching a performance of the title track on Superbowl Sunday. Some reviewers say the Boss’s 16th studio album is “classic” (that’s what 5 stars in Rolling Stone means), but most are not that kind. What critics around the country do agree upon, however, is that track #4 is the worst song Springsteen has ever written.
“Queen Of The Supermarket” is a hokey ode to the girl behind the checkout counter at the grocery store.
With my shopping cart I move through the heart
Of a sea of fools so blissfully unaware
That they’re in the presence of something wonderful and rare
The way she moves behind the counter
Beneath her white apron her secret remains hers
This is a sampling of the critical response:
“The worst song Bruce Springsteen has ever written.”
- Detroit News
“At the 3:00 mark, it accidentally turns into a Meatloaf song.”
- Blender
“Removes this record from consideration as one of the best releases of his career.”
- Chicago Tribune
“Unintentionally ludicrous.”
- San Jose Mercury News
“Unbelievably melodramatic … sounds like someone doing a Springsteen parody.”
- Orlando Sentinel
“Might be the worst song Springsteen has ever released.”
- Philadelphia Inquirer
“May be the worst thing he’s ever written.”
- Pitchfork
Can it really be that bad? I investigated via YouTube, where one inspired fan has used the song to score footage of a grocery store. Always a good idea.
Yeah, it’s pretty bad. What’s for dinner?
Working On A Dream is out now on Columbia.
You Might Also Like
 Bruce Springsteen – “Rocky Ground” Video |  Bruce Springsteen Covers “The Weight” |  Watch Springsteen Joined By Arcade Fire, Tom Morello, Eric… |  Stream Springsteen Wrecking Ball, Watch Him Cover LMFAO On… |
 |
 |
Doesn’t seem that bad to me.
People are stupid. He explains the basis of the song here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/jan/18/bruce-springsteen-interview
Open mindedly, I read his explanation of that song. Now the only thing I’m convinced of is that Bruce is retarded.
And that song still sucks.
It should be the theme song for The United States of Tara. That way they could both suck together eternally.
That explanation doesn’t make the song any better.
if anything that interview just makes this song even more retarded.
Anyone notice that Bruce drops the f-bomb during the bridge? Not that I don’t think Bruce shouldn’t drop one now and then, but this has to be the weirdest, most anodyne song in which the lyric “blow this fucking place apart” appears
Fucked Up should cover this song.
I thought EXACTLY the same thing. Talk about random.
it’s a silly song, but not that bad as a bruce song. his worst is still ’57 channels and nothin on.’
this should be the official video, btw.
Thank you. How soon we forget.
I don’t really like a lot of Bruce so to me this supermarket song sounds like every other “I gotta union card and I gotta meet Mary at the edge of town” song to me.
“57 Channels” separates itself from the rest of the Springsteen canon with unprecedented suckitude.
This video made me want to watch Supermarket Sweep.
It makes me wanna do the Super Broker Shuffle
http://videogum.com/archives/free-advertising/these-guys-could-sell-water-to_043731.html
Reno.
Thank you.
Um, I’m sorry, but “Real Man” from “Human Touch” has such a big lead in this category that the question in the headline need not be asked.
“57 Channels” in it’s original solo acoustic guise is actually not bad, btw…
I don’t mind this song. I think the video’s pretty bad, but the song is catchy enough.
I am a huge Springsteen fan but unfortunatly I think this album, just like the last 2 he made with The E St Band are mostly weak efforts. Brendan O’Brian is Bruce’s new righthand man these days. His production + sub-par songs are the problem in my opinion. Luckily they are still incredible live. Last summer at Giant Stadium were the best shows I have ever seen in the 30 years+ that I’ve been going to see him. The one show was 3 1/2 hours and the crowd still wanted more! Let’s see one of these boring, dopey indie bands pull that off.
Sounds like a theme song for some 80s sitcom.
He has written way worst songs than that. Namely thunder road.
It’s one thing to be dumb. It’s another thing to actively want to be dumb and to succeed in a spectacularly dumb way. Congratulations, Brent
Go away.
I’m sorry your uncle touched you there.
Love the Boss, but leaning towards YES
I love Bruce Springsteen, but this is definitely the worst thing he’s ever written. The Wrestler is the only song on this album I like.
Is that Whole Foods? There’s hotter chicks at the Piggly Wiggly
The one legged dog that you will never see hopping along in his one leg because it got euthanized is in The Wrestler
You think that’s bad? What about this:
If you?ve ever seen a one trick pony then you?ve seen me.
Have you ever seen a one legged dog making its way down the street
If you?ve ever seen a one legged dog then you?ve seen me
A ONE LEGGED DOG????????????
clearly you didn’t read the liner notes. the dog is getting help from kind strangers as it makes its way down the street. sheesh.
Oh i must’ve missed the liner notes where Bruce says this one legged dog is inside the Queen of the Supermarket’s shopping cart being pushed around by the kindly strangers
still better than any song on the fleet foxes album
better for what, throwing at people you don’t like?
yeah throwing at the fleet foxes record
Damn the negative score, this is the funniest thing I’ve read on Stereogum.
Bravo to whoever put this together. Before the lyrics start, I thought, “My, those canned vegetables look plaintive.”
Yeah, this song is pretty terrible. Mostly because he’s singing about a woman at a supermarket. WTF? If he replaced it with some other image, something trite like a brown-eyed girl, the song would be not as offensive, but still not a great song. Even when he says “I’ll blow this whole fucking place apart,” it adds nothing cool to the song.
I heard the song “Outlaw Pete” on NPR.com (streaming the whole record) and I find it equally as terrible. Despite the figure of an outlaw (inherently more badass than the queen of the supermarket), the song is riddled with trite imagery of outlaws and native american maidens. These two songs have made me rethink wanting to buy the record. It seems like Springsteen has gone from badass sing-along anthems to really terrible and cheap stories. Plus now he’s selling a 12-song greatest hits record at Wal-Mart. Sounds like the Boss is more in love with some other market. I’ve lost faith in the working man’s hero.
PS He was so awesome, though, when he performed at Ohio State on behalf of Obama’s campaign! I just don’t understand.
Dear Stereogum,
Please don’t ever use Blender magazine as a reference to back up your point again. Thanks
The Hold Steady has written worse songs than this.
Your point? Oh course, other than pointing out the fact that you’re an idiot?
Not true.
i love the boss, i love melodrama and i love meatloaf. this song is pretty swell in my books.
And there she was at the supermarket her long hair flowing through the checkout checking me out. And she bagged the groceries with fear and grace cause she knew she had to feed 6 baby faces at home, on the edge of town and life is hard so I put back the mints I was gonna buy, and then she starts to cry. I said supermarket lady dont get down, the man is running you down, but here we are licking the food stamps of life but who’s gonna bag your groceries and tuck you into bed. Maybe tomorrow when I finish my shopping list, that I cant even read cause I didnt pass the 4th grade cause my dad made me work in the factory and I don’t know how to pick out a good tomato, but who cares supermarket queen woman. I feel your name tag pressed against the cigarettes in my pocket and I wonder if your boss’ll catch us. Young lovers like we were 17, still living the American dream. And you called my name on the intercom and told the whole store that I turned you on, and you felt like going to war and dyin’ for the supermarket life that you hold dear, and I hold you dear.
“And you called my name on the intercom and told the whole store that…”
The new brand of lube i was looking for is out of stock. What a bitch.
And i don’t care that you have 6 kids and no baby daddies to help you out, I’M RICH BITCH ((Llama squeal))
GENIUS, SIR!!!!!!!!!! I APPLAUD YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“Even when he says “I’ll blow this whole fucking place apart,” it adds nothing cool to the song.”
So he went to a new supermarket in his neighborhood and got wood witnessing such plenty. And out came this gem, like a nasty spill on aisle 4. WTF, he acts like he’s been on food stamps.
Oh i get it, this is like Bon Jovi’s ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’ but in an expensive supermarket in NJ. Gotcha.
Walbaums has some pretty good fruit. Nothing better than Fuji apples.
When you’ve written 5000 songs and 50 Top 10 hits, you’re allowed a stinker every now and then. Just ask Paul McCartney.
I don’t like Bruce Springsteen but even I recognize he’s the motherfucking Boss and one song in the Boss’s canon doesn’t mean shit. You’re giving this way too much attention.
haven’t i heard this before? pretty sure its the second verse of jizz in my pants…
Well Bruce, you’d said it yourself:
Glory days well they’ll pass you by
Glory days in the wink of a young girl’s eye
Glory days, glory days…
Time to quit…
Actually, this is one of the few on the record I keep returning to (along with Outlaw Pete, The Wrestler and Good Eye). The production touches sorta work in its favor; I found myself liking the song despite itself. That being said, I would like Bruce to take back the mantle of “car song writer” from Neil Young, because Neil’s new stuff is putrid.
This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. The worst song he’s ever written? It’s probably the worst song on the album, which is an otherwise phenomenal record. It’s not even close to the worst Springsteen song ever though. For example…
57 Channels (Human Touch)
Soul Driver (Human Touch)
Worlds Apart (The Rising…if I want to hear a Sting record, I’ll buy a Sting record.)
I’m A Rocker (The River)
TV Movie (Tracks…not to mention about ten other songs from Tracks)
Born In the USA (Don’t pretend you dig that song, nobody does. The acoustic version was pretty sweet though. But Bruce ought not monkey around with synthesizers.)
Dancing In the Dark (ditto)
I disagree on “Dancing in the Dark” and maybe “Born in the U.S.A.” (I appreciate how it works on a subversive level, but it’s not that much fun to listen to), but Adam’s right on all of the others, “Worlds Apart,” especially.
Could it be that Springsteen is fully aware that the subject matter is silly? Plus, the lyrics aren’t “the song.” The music is actually pretty good, so it at least works on that level.
Whaaa?!?
No one likes “Born in the U.S.A.”? It’s not that “fun to listen to”??
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but have you actually listened to the song? It’s incredible!! The relentless snare, the arena-sized synthesizers, the girty lyrics, sustained Boss yell at the end — this song all but forces you to stand up and pump your first in the air when it comes on. It would be fun to listen to if the only thing it did was remind you of Bruce’s sweet denim-vest-over-leather-jacket combo and headband in the video. At the very least, me, my dad, and Win Butler like the song. Maybe you should try signing it in Karaoke — it’s one of personal favorites to do — then tell me its not a fun song
“I dunno, i though it was a twisted pop fantasia that has a Sixties AM-radio vibe reminiscent of Manfred Mann’s “Pretty Flamingo”. I’m also wildly pretentious.”
-Rolling Stone
Bruce is one of the most important songwriters of the last 50 years…but I have to admit this song blows. For every Backstreets, Lost In The Flood and Promised Land he’s allowed one of these – and overall the classic has outweighed the shit, by far.
For what it’s worth, I saw Neil Young a couple months ago and the new songs he played were flat out embarassing. 10x worse than Queen of the Supermarket.
I don’t dig the song. It’s a bit stupid but I don’t take it seriously. However, the rest of the album is fine. The best tracks on it (for me) are:
2. My Lucky Day
5. What Love Can Do
7. Good Eye
11. Surprise, Surprise <– best song (and most unexpected)
13. The Wrestler
The rest are fine, but these five really stand out for me.
Seriously….maybe he’s just messing with all of us and this is really a joke.
Please, please Bruce, tell us this is a joke.
I read the Meatloaf review comment, and I let this play while I looked at the comments. I suddenly snapped my head and said “holy shit this sounds like Meatloaf” and sure enough, it was at 3 minutes in.
It’s the only Bruce song my girlfriend says she likes. So it must be the worst.
This song is just so superfluous!
As a work of unintentional comedy, I love this.
I love Bruce. I really really do but this is worse than awful, it’s bland and uninspired and feels like the kind of thing John ‘Cougar’ Mellencamp made a career out of. And that is unforgivable. As an aside, I’ve noticed that there is a direct link between Bruce’s dodgy facial hair and dress sense and his churning out of bad music. Check out the happy trail on his chin and then look at the cover of Human Touch. However, good Serpico beard = Born To Run. Mussed up hair and cool leather jacket = darkness. Ponytail = Bruce fucking around with synthesizers. Oh and this might be bad but have you guys heard Mary Queen of Arkansas? Magic, as an album, was pretty poop. Someone needs to get him the fuck away from Brendan O’Brien and into bed with Rick Rubin. He’s the only one who can save this sorry mess
This literally sounds like Flight of the Conchords doing a parody of “Mary Queen of Arkansas”.
The Hold Steady Rocks and writes excellent songs, that is if you aren’t an idiot – ryuk!
It really does sound like Meatloaf….singing a late 70s promotional jingle for a grocery store.
i hope he plays this at the super bowl. it would make for a fantastic wtf moment.
Bruce just sucks in general.
Yeah. So do the Beatles, Hendrix, Dylan, The Clash, Neil Young, The Stones, and the Who. Love him or hate him, saying “Bruce just sucks in general,” is like saying “Robert Frost just sucks in general” when discussing American literature. You’re betraying that you simply don’t know what you’re talking about. Go spin your Slipknot albums and let the grown-ups have a conversation, Scooter.
I actually like this song a lot, it’s very catchy, the rhythm is good, reminds me of “I Wanna Marry You” from the River. By the way folks, it’s not how many bad songs somebody writes, because all artists writes bad songs, it’s how many good ones they write. Bruce has wrote a ton of great songs, and there is nobody better in concert, never will be either.
What? You mean he could be aware of the irony of singing about an everyday experience with such grand & sweeping music? He wasn’t the bloke who wrote Racing in the Street was he?
HI TEGAN QUIN, I see you reading this. Hahah.
Hey, Bruce can turn even supermarket drivel into
a decent tune. Rock on.
I don’t know. I was expecting a lot worse. I kind of liked it, actually. Admittedly, outside of the album, The River, I’m not the biggest Springsteen fan, but I feel like he’s done a lot worse in his career.
Absolutely not! It’s pure Springsteen! Together with “Outlow Pete”, the two most surprisingly good songs in the album.
I was not feeling it until he redeemed it with “Blow this whole fucking place apart…”
I had to skip back to make sure I heard it right. Then I had to look up the lyrics online, because I didn’t believe my ears. The brain couldn’t process that line from Bruce, especially in this fruity little song. But that line may have saved the song, and I usually am not a proponent of unnecessary cursing in songs…
His superbowl half time show is online now, everyone should watch that instead.
http://www.break.com/index/absolutely-hilarious-indian-music-video.html
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=NDddrjlh8yQ
I’ve had the thought a few times that this was a joke…the lyrics are so bad. I agree with whomever said it sounds like a parody of Springsteen. Oh well, the rest of the cd is pretty solid. Outlaw Pete will be fantastic in concert , I can just hear all of the call outs with the crowd…”Can you hear me ….”
I guess the song is meant to be whimsical, but the music behind it is so overdone and dramatic that everything turns out terrible.
First thing I thought when I heard this was it should be a Fountains of Wayne song. It really is a parody.
I saw Bruce solo in late 1996 and he did 3 “songs” that are much worse than this. “Red Headed Woman”, “Pilgrim In the Temple of Love” and “There Will Be Anyone For Me But You” have gross lyrical themes and musically they don’t even seem to be written. They never were recorded in any studio and they never made it onto any studio album. They don’t deserve to be either. When I saw Bruce with the E Street Band in late 1999 none of these dud songs were played. It was just rock’n'roll business, rock’n'roll redemption. He’s done a few clunkers but “Queen of the Supermarket” isn’t the worst thing he’s ever done by a long shot. It’s a bit silly, yeah, but not his worst. Also, don’t compare him to Meat Loaf. Bruce juice beats that pompous bloated wretched bufoonish Meat Loaf crap anyday. You can count on it.
On first listen I thought it was a silly song (just from the title, really) but I’ve listened to the album about 10 times now and I have to admit this is becoming one of the songs I really look forward to. It may be overblown musically, but it’s in good company, as a good argument could be made that lot of his best songs are, too (Jungleland, Sandy etc.). I love the music. As for the lyrics, I find it poignant. This poor guy, admiring this girl from afar, stopping to get his groceries every day just to catch a glimpse of her, finally getting a smile from her that, to him, is a major, monumentous occasion. I can just see him in the parking lot after getting that smile, punching the air with excitement. Springsteen evokes that image just be adding the word “fucking”. Brilliant. Definitely not the worst song he ever wrote. Not even close.
isnt every springsteen song his worst?
not so terrible , the worst of the album is surprise surprise…..
“Where aisles and aisles of dreams await you
And the cool promise of ecstasy fills the air”
is the counterpoint to any of the above posters endorsing the song.
Boy, it sure is a good thing for listeners of this song that the worst Bruce Springsteen song is better than the best song by about anybody else.
Please, get lives. “Queen of the Supermarket” works within the context of the small, intimate songs Bruce Springsteen often writes today. Certainly it is not one of his epic, certainly not one he was gonna pull out for half-time at the Super Bowl. It is, however, intriguing, gentle, as its keys in on the narrator’s unspoken desire. This is not the self-confident young Romeo making his pitch for “Rosalita.” This is someone worn by life, daring once again to dream, working to build within himself the confidence he will need to ever realize the happiness he conceives. It is a compassionate work and deserves more perceptive criticism than the smarmy nonsense above.
“Secret Garden” from the Jerry Maguire soundtrack is infinitely worse than this song. But this one is pretty fucking bad. It’s also creepy to know that supermarkets turn Springsteen on…
Jeez I hate the way one reviewer says something on the net and every other reviewer lazily and mindlessly copies them, and they all start chanting in unison that this is his worst song ever. Yeah it’s cheesy and terrible, but by no means his worst song. It’s not worse than “57 Channels and Nothing On”.
Listening to this song gives me the same kind of cramps that I get from eating half a bag of prunes. After reading the interview in an attempt to find some sort of inside insight that would make this all a “ha-ha, gotcha”… and finding none…I am just stunned. But bad writing does not prevent a song from becoming a classic (“Sweet Child of Mine”).
Bruce really sounds like the old guy in the supermarket with pee stains surrounding his zipper and suspenders under the golf jacket. Newt Gingrich/Space Alien disconnects. Just intercoursin’ goofy.
Bruce, it’s time for Aricept.
Having listened to the CD several times now, “Queen of the Supermarket” is beginning to emerge as a classic. C’mon, folks, how many artists can write such a poignant song about shopping for groceries. There’s a sinister, lonely, creepy quality to it all, somewhat reminiscent of “Candy’s Room.” At 59, Da Boss is still gettin’ it done! How many artists can say the same?
There’s often a bit of self mocking irony in Bruce’s music! Sometimes we all get pissed off by the tedium of everyday things like supemarkets and channel after channel of uninspiring shit on the TV. Why not write an equally pointless little pop song to show how you feel. I think it’s a great track!
Sry, I LOVE IT!
Why the hell do people always expect MORE and MORE intellectual, thoroug-going lyrics? Cant’y you just imagine that there’s an imaginary guy who’s “in love with the ‘Queen’ of the Supermarket?” And why the hell are you here about to find fault with his “worst songs”? Why don’t you talk about his best ones? Sorry for my bad english knowledge.
hey, if you just lay back for a second you’ll realize its pretty catchy..i mean the lyrics are actually hillarious…haha wtf its SO melodramatic but give him a break its not horrendous and hes the freakin bosss………….magic was a kickass album for those who dont compare EVERYTHING to born to run and listen to it with open ears..radio nowheres an amazing song..and i cant get the rising out of my head either
I just have to say I’m a huge Springsteen fan, so I doubt I would recognize a bad song if I heard it. I LOVE Queen of the supermarket because that is how I met my husband 32 years ago. I was a cashier and he would always wait in my line with plans to talk to me, but then he would chicken out. One day he finally got up the nerve and he talked to me, asked for my phone number and the rest is history. I love the line about her smile blowing this whole f@*#ing place apart. My husband left the store so happy and excited he was practically skipping through the parking lot.
what do people want every Bruce Springsteen song to like Born to Run, I think Queen of the Supermarket is about a lot of things but mainly about having that crush that infatuation or just getting horny when you see someone who is often out of our reach. I challenge anyone to say they have not had a “queen or king of the super;market” Havent people got an imagination, the song is beautiful conjuring up all sorts of images. Bruce has probably written thousands of songs , this is far from his worst.
Mark