Bruce 65 I once saw Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band play at Jazz Fest. He was filled with youthful enthusiasm and boundless energy. “The Boss” played in the mid afternoon heat and humidity of New Orleans in May, dressed all in black, for 3 ½ hours. The crowd hung on his every word and seemed to sing every word of every song. During the improvised break in “Badlands,” the entire crowd bobbed up and down in unison and appeared to share a musical pulse. I managed to turn around and steal a peak of the masses assembled behind me- just a colossal seemingly endless sea of humanity smiling, singing, shouting, and... alive. The back and forth banter between Bruce and the crowd was the setup leading to Little Steven Van Zandt, Bruce’s rhythm guitarist and longtime sidekick, walking up to share the mic for the punchline that no doubt many had been getting wasted in the heat waiting to hear. A statement that means much to many, and represents a myriad of varied meanings, depending upon who’s doing the singing, the shouting, or the feeling, “For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside that it ain’t no shame to be glad that you’re alive. I wanna find one face that ain’t looking through me. I wanna find one face I wanna spit in the face of these badlands! You gotta live it every day. Let the broken hearts stand as the price you gotta pay. We’ll keep pushin’ till it’s understood and these badlands start treating us good!” For me it’s about being a part of that crowd- a cog in a great big wheel- a part of something big and important. It’s about fighting back after having been waaay down, lower than low. Its redemption. It’s triumph and beating impossible odds. It’s about the time in third grade when I punched an older kid who had been picking on me in the nose…and made him bleed…and made him cry. For the guy from New Jersey next to me, Joe, who was following the Springsteen tour and attending his 15th show in a row it was about his “tramp ex-wife.” I didn’t know the tramp, but I understood and so did the 19,998 other people with 19,998 other stories shouting along and glad to be alive…as did the folks from Barcelona, Spain (in the clip) many of whom did not speak English. Springsteen’s marathon live shows are legendary and at times more akin to a traveling tent revival than a rock concert. I’m sure Bruce can still “Prove It All Night” even today at 65 years of age. He was a mere 64 a few months ago when he made me fondly remember that bloody jerk from 3rd grade and helped Jersey Joe put behind that “Tramp from Trenton.” Not many artists can offer “The Ties that Bind,” but Bruce can. Happy Birthday, Boss.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 04:07:59 +0000
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