The video is entirely black and white, adding a sense of lonely isolation. To me it tells the story of life in a changing world.
photo by: Michael S Fleischmann
Transposing shots of traditional stone and 'modern' architecture is architecturally one of my favourite 'moments' about exploring cities with history. The cold heartlessness of sleek modern design against the artistic, fancy stonework, with traditional works that date back to ancient Greek and Roman designs always sends a shiver down my spine. This video places the contrast beautifully midway through, sending home the coldness of the modern world.
I'm pretty poor with words, more so when I'm limited to a 15 minute window or so to type uninterrupted! Nonetheless I will have a go at capturing what the video emphasizes so beautifully about the song, reflecting a strong social commentary.
I'm getting things all mixed up because there is just so much packed into this one song, but Bruce Springsteen has captured the incredible social troubles underpinning all that there is about gambling. Australia at the moment has significant gambling addiction issues, and we are feeding that with one of the highest rates of poker machines (slot machines) per capita in the world. Gambling problems, like other addictions, create their own secondary social issues, like petty crime, unemployment, transience due to housing stress to name a few.
Seaside resort towns reliant on tourism often also exhibit the same patterns of social problems. Springsteen reflects these perfectly with his imagery, providing a poignant background to the lyrics, delivering a real sense of how stark and unforgiving it can be to find yourself "on the wrong side of that line" of winners and losers.
I am thrilled to see the video track over the words "progress and industry" before settling on Atlantic City. I feel like this brings home the question asked by this song, and which we all should continue to ask "At what price, progress?"
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