A song which has served as a perpetual B-side to Bruce Springsteen projects, The Big Payback seems to have come into its own. An oddity known to the most dedicated of fans, and with that, a reputation as a true deep cut. With Nebraska ‘82 and Electric Nebraska on the way, it’s time for Springsteen and his listeners to reflect on those deeper cuts. The Big Payback would serve as a B-side to both Open All Night and Leap of Faith a decade later. Not even The Boss knows why he released the song twice, now three times, with its inclusion on Nebraska ‘82. A song which holds firm to that honest travelling and Americana lifestyle which would be present on both Nebraska and Born in the U.S.A. Surplus to requirement at the time, but the song can be found here, given that necessary touch-up returning to classic albums often offers. The Big Payback is Springsteen’s decades of wisdom boiled down into a two-minute song.
Crucial to all the great Springsteen songs is an ongoing relevancy. What The Boss captures here is the hard and honest work so many offer, with little, if any, reward to follow. Any self-assured person would hope for payback. Wrongdoing like that is tailor-made to the blues rock, the Heartland style. Springsteen likely cut The Big Payback from Nebraska for its similarities, rather than it taking up space. But then it’s also a song for the drifter, for the person without a place to call their own. That style would inform the best of Springsteen as a songwriter, that sense of being on the road and working hard just to take the next step, let alone survive it. That much is clear on The Big Payback, a song which features on the little-known Bonus Tapes compilation. A compilation of riches there, well worth listening to as an introduction to a bulk of outtakes from before and during the Nebraska and Born in the U.S.A. recordings.
Quick as a flash delivery is what makes The Big Payback such a memorable slice of fun on the road. Springsteen has dedicated many songs to the working person, the survivor, but this is one of those rare moments where an action beyond loss is taken. A rage here which is only fair to those in the position of his protagonist, Bobby, becomes a rallying cry which would be refined on his 1984 masterclass. The Big Payback fits neither the softer defeatism of Nebraska nor the poison-tipped satire of Born in the U.S.A., but, like the other singles from Nebraska ‘82, it’s a brilliant listen which ties the two projects together. Punchy final moments and a fade out mean we will never know if justice was served, but it is nice to think it was. A glimmer of light and hope in a period of recordings tinged by a revolt against the country Springsteen loves falling to pieces.
Fall it has, and it still does. The Big Payback is, in hindsight, harder to connect with not because of the message but because of the lifestyle no longer being an option. An always online world makes it hard for the drifter, the person with no ties or place to call their own, to survive. Odd jobs are gone, the plot for revenge now falling on deaf ears as companies are insulated from their employees. No justice, no payback. But The Big Payback is a thunderous two-minute throwaway from Springsteen with worth beyond its brevity. To the point, but unpredictable all the same. Springsteen makes himself clear, as he would do through these career highs. His dissatisfaction is paired with an occasionally wild flourish of what it means for an artist to be a voice for the working people. Springsteen has never stopped being that, and a song like The Big Payback is ample proof of his continued strength.
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