57 Channels (And Nothin' On)

57 channels doesn't seem like a lot these days, but in 1992 it was overwhelming. This was when new cable channels were popping up all the time, thinning out the quality of programming and making it hard to choose what to watch. Springsteen used this landscape to tell as story in this song about a guy who buys a big house, hooks up his cable TV, and settles in with his girl to enjoy it. But even with all those channels, there's nothing on that the girl wants to watch, and she ends up leaving him. That's when he loses his marbles and blasts the TV with his .44 Magnum. At his trial, when the judge asks why he shot up his TV, he answers, "57 channels and nothin' on."

"57 Channels" was the second single from Springsteen's Human Touch album, following the title track. A lot happened to him in the previous few years. After releasing his Tunnel Of Love album in 1987 and finish the tour in 1989, he broke up the E Street Band so he could scale back. His first marriage (to Julianne Phillips) ended that year, and in 1991 he married Patti Scialfa, a singer in the E Street Band. They had their first child in 1990 and another in 1991. Springsteen had a new perspective on life that he channeled into his new music. He came up with so many songs that he quickly filled up Human Touch and went right to work on another, Lucky Town. He released both albums on the same day - March 31, 1992 - à la Guns N' Roses with their two Use Your Illusion albums in 1991. Those GnR albums at the top two spots on the US albums chart, but Human Touch (#2) and Lucky Town (#3) couldn't supplant the Wayne's World soundtrack at #1. (In promos for his SNL episode, Wayne and Garth did their "we're not worthy" bit, bowing to Springsteen.)

Apropos considering the song meaning, Springsteen performed "57 Channels (And Nothin' On)," along with "Lucky Town" and "Living Proof," on Saturday Night Live when he was the musical guest May 9, 1992. Remarkably, this was his first TV performance in the US. Bruce had a standing offer to appear on the show (and many others) since 1975, but he preferred to carpet bomb the country with concerts when he had an album to promote instead of trying to get his message across on a studio set. And as you can glean from the lyrics to this song, he didn't think much of television in general. He only appeared on the show because he wanted to boost sales of the two albums he had released and sell tickets for his tour, and he wasn't having much luck with radio. He started doing more TV, including a concert for MTV (MTV Plugged) and an appearance on Late Night With David Letterman.