Eerst een paar recensies toen dit nummer verscheen op het album ‘Working On A Dream’ uit 2009.

“The worst song Bruce Springsteen has ever written.”
– Detroit News

“Might be the worst song Springsteen has ever released.”
– Philadelphia Inquirer

“May be the worst thing he’s ever written.”
– Pitchfork

Zelf moest ik ook even lachen toen ik de tracklist zag en de titel van dit nummer. ‘Queen Of The Supermarket’ is geen publiekslieveling. Maar ik zelf vind het wel een mooi nummer. Springsteen vertelde in een interview met de ‘Observer Music Monthly’ hoe hij aan de inspiratie kwam voor dit nummer:

“They opened up this big, beautiful supermarket near where we lived. Patti and I would go down, and I remember walking through the aisles – I hadn’t been in one in a while – and I thought this place is spectacular…it’s a fantasy land!” “So I came home, said, ‘Wow, the supermarket is fantastic, it’s my new favorite place. And I’m gonna write a song about it!’ If there’s a supermarket and all these things are there, well, there has to be a queen. And if you go there, of course there is. There’s millions of them, so it’s kind of a song about finding beauty where it’s ignored or where it’s passed by.”

Muzikaal gezien trekt Springsteen weer zo’n fijne ‘wall of sound’ op met violen, belletjes en op het eind van het nummer eindigt zelfs de piepjes die je hoort als de kassamedewerker de boodschappen scant. Toegegeven dat is wel wat ‘cheesy’.

Het laatste couplet maakt het nummer helemaal af. En iedereen heeft dat wel eens meegemaakt en dan doel ik niet op het boodschappen in de auto pakken maar een glimlach zien van diegene waarop je verliefd bent.

As I lift my groceries into my cart
I turn back for a moment and catch a smile
That blows this whole fucking place apart

There’s a wonderful world where all you desire
And everything you’ve longed for is at your fingertips
Where the bittersweet taste of life is at your lips
Where aisles and aisles of dreams await you
And the cool promise of ecstasy fills the air
At the end of each working day she’s waiting there

I’m in love with the queen of the supermarket
As the evening sky turns blue
A dream awaits in aisle number two

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 secrets remain hers
As she bags the groceries, her eyes so bored
And sure she is unobserved

I’m in love with the queen of the supermarket
There’s nothing I can say
Each night I take my groceries and I drift away, and I drift away

With guidance from the gods above
At night I pray for the strength to tell the one I love
I love, I love, I love her so
I take my place in the checkout line
For one moment her eyes meet mine
And I’m lifted up, lifted up, lifted up, lifted up, lifted away

I’m in love with the queen of the supermarket
Though a company cap covers her hair
Nothing can hide the beauty waiting there
The beauty waiting there

As I lift my groceries into my cart
I turn back for a moment and catch a smile
That blows this whole fucking place apart
I’m in love with the queen of the supermarket
I’m in love with the queen of the supermarket