Dear DBIS:

I am just a novice Bruce Springsteen fan, I'll admit.

Even with all of the cuts that sliced the airwaves of the 80's, I have never heard all of the album that spawned "Born in the USA." (What was that album called again?)

I have never listened to all of "Nebraska."

I do, oddly, have the man's box-set of rarities and outtakes. It was a Christmas present years ago, and it gets played sometimes.

So you can see, when it comes to Springsteenalia, I'm quite the novice.

But I like the guy's voice, and I like his songwriting. And I think he is (to date) the one who wrote the best-ever album about 9/11, and the best-ever song to mention Forrest Gump, and the best-ever song to mention a Steinbeck character directly.

"The highway is alive tonight Nobody's kiddin nobody about where it goes . . . "

I have heard only the hits off of the two back-to-back CD releases from 1990 or so. (What were those called again? Lucky Touch and Human Town?)

Some voice keeps nagging me to go and listen to more Springsteen. Should I ignore it? What should I do?

Yours sincerely,

Herring405