I’m Bruce’d out.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s not the man, it’s his fans.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s no longer a living artist, but an encapsulation of their youth.\u00c2\u00a0 Just like U2 is for late Gen X’ers, Springsteen is for baby boomers.<\/p>\n
It’s funny if you think about it.\u00c2\u00a0 Bruce Springsteen is the kind of guy these fans wouldn’t have spoken to in high school.\u00c2\u00a0 The weirdo loner in the not smart classes.\u00c2\u00a0 Make no mistake, Bono and Mick Jagger were ALWAYS cool, always had friends, but the only thing Bruce had was his music.\u00c2\u00a0 Take his well-publicized feud with his father as evidence.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what music was for us, a REFUGE!\u00c2\u00a0 But that outsider status has not only been stripped from Bruce, but the business at large.\u00c2\u00a0 Now the business is one of INSIDERS.\u00c2\u00a0 Run by pricks who were goody-goodies in school, who did everything their parents told them to, so they could end up on top of the heap.\u00c2\u00a0 One of the reasons the business used to work is it was peopled by these same outsiders, who couldn’t work anywhere else.\u00c2\u00a0 All they had was their passion for the music.\u00c2\u00a0 And this translated.\u00c2\u00a0 They didn’t want to work acts that were salable, they wanted to promote acts that touched their hearts, that MOVED THEM!<\/p>\n
I guarantee you I reach more people every day than anybody on this list other than the rock stars.\u00c2\u00a0 But I’m still alienated, I still feel like an outsider, it’s who I am.\u00c2\u00a0 And the main reason I write is to touch those of you who feel the same way.\u00c2\u00a0 Who just couldn’t play by the rules.\u00c2\u00a0 Who just don’t give a shit about the system.<\/p>\n
And that’s who Bruce Springsteen is.<\/p>\n
And it’s this that drew me to his music.\u00c2\u00a0 It was "Spirit In The Night" off the first album that hooked me.\u00c2\u00a0 Every time I hear it I think of that summer night in Bennington, Vermont skinny-dipping with a girl I could have put myself inside of if I’d only tried, if my good buddy wasn’t under the illusion that he had a relationship with her.<\/p>\n
But what truly sold me was "The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle".\u00c2\u00a0 I didn’t LOVE the first album, he wasn’t the new Dylan, but I decided to give him one more chance.\u00c2\u00a0 And on his second album, Bruce Springsteen was imitating no one, he was suddenly himself.\u00c2\u00a0 He was the front man of a big band.\u00c2\u00a0 "Incident On 57th Street" into "Rosalita" was an epic.\u00c2\u00a0 I had to go see him at the Bottom Line.\u00c2\u00a0 That summer of ’74.<\/p>\n
You could still get a ticket.\u00c2\u00a0 "Born To Run" was fourteen months away.\u00c2\u00a0 But I got there early, so I could be right up close by the stage.<\/p>\n
Bruce killed.\u00c2\u00a0 He was everything that Jon Landau said he was.\u00c2\u00a0 And the yet to be released "Jungleland" played as an epic the first time through.\u00c2\u00a0 Meet me beneath that giant Exxon sign…<\/p>\n
History has been rewritten.\u00c2\u00a0 "Born To Run" was not a gangbusters success upon release.\u00c2\u00a0 Bruce didn’t become a cultural icon until "The River".\u00c2\u00a0 And then, with "Born In The U.S.A", it went over the top.\u00c2\u00a0 Suddenly, everybody was a Bruce Springsteen fan.\u00c2\u00a0 And nothing could be more of a turn-off.\u00c2\u00a0 I mean this guy was OURS!<\/p>\n
Bruce has floundered ever since.\u00c2\u00a0 Done some great stuff.\u00c2\u00a0 Like "Tunnel Of Love".\u00c2\u00a0 And "The Streets Of Philadelphia".\u00c2\u00a0 But the success spooked him.\u00c2\u00a0 For despite being the biggest act in the world, he was still an alienated guy from New Jersey.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s still an alienated guy from New Jersey.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s why "The Rising" fell so flat.\u00c2\u00a0 The real Bruce Springsteen didn’t make it by delivering what he thought we wanted, being who we wanted him to be, but by just following his muse, doing his best to connect with the raw power of the MUSIC!<\/p>\n
I’m not a fan of "Devils & Dust".\u00c2\u00a0 But I applaud him for trying.\u00c2\u00a0 For, if you continue to give the public what it wants, that’s artistic death.<\/p>\n
I don’t know if Bruce can ever regain his pitch.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s been bounced around too much.\u00c2\u00a0 It all worked best when he was on the outside.\u00c2\u00a0 Then he found himself on the inside, and when it didn’t solve all his problems he became disillusioned.\u00c2\u00a0 Nobody wants to hear the complaints of a rich millionaire.\u00c2\u00a0 But I believe it was never about the money with Springsteen, it was about ACCEPTANCE, on his own TERMS!\u00c2\u00a0 If he could just do it his way, you’d SEE!\u00c2\u00a0 Here’s hoping he continues to do it his way.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, we’ve got to tolerate the ongoing press hoopla.\u00c2\u00a0 Fed by those in control of the media who personify the fans I detailed above.\u00c2\u00a0 Johnny-come-latelies who put on their leather jackets for the show and then go back to suburbia in their German cars and drive back into the city the next morning to rape and pillage the country whilst filling their pocketbooks.\u00c2\u00a0 These aren’t Bruce Springsteen fans.\u00c2\u00a0 These are part of the problem, not part of the solution.<\/p>\n
And I thought Sirius’ 24\/7 Springsteen channel was going to be part of the problem too, until I heard a live take of "Wild Billy’s Circus Story".\u00c2\u00a0 Then I knew, somebody cared.<\/p>\n
Bruce doesn’t sound good next to other acts.\u00c2\u00a0 But give him his own station and it’s like reading a novel.\u00c2\u00a0 You only read one book at a time, it takes HOURS!\u00c2\u00a0 You revel in the experience, you marinate in the words.\u00c2\u00a0 Playing Sirius 10, you get down with Bruce Springsteen.<\/p>\n
Now I’m not a fan of the sound of Sirius.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s just too thin.<\/p>\n
But my car stereo is topnotch.\u00c2\u00a0 Now, with the subwoofer, it finally sings.\u00c2\u00a0 So, Sirius is somewhat tolerable, I’ve been listening.\u00c2\u00a0 And when I heard "My Lover Man" on the way to the shrink today I was reminded of the experience, the rock and roll experience.\u00c2\u00a0 I couldn’t get out of the car.\u00c2\u00a0 Fearful of being late, I finally wrote down the name of the track and bolted.<\/p>\n
I came home and futilely tried to download "My Lover Man".<\/p>\n
When it didn’t appear, I Googled Bruce.\u00c2\u00a0 Found out the song was on the boxed set, which I never really got into, it was just too much.\u00c2\u00a0 I’d given up with "Human Touch"…<\/p>\n
Once again, it takes a deejay to extract the greatness from a seemingly impenetrable collection.<\/p>\n
"My Lover Man" doesn’t have a killer hook.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s all feel.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s "My Hometown" with a beat.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s Bruce testifying.\u00c2\u00a0 It was cut in 1990, but it’s got the soul of the seventies, from before "Born In The U.S.A."<\/p>\n
Your life with her turned to black Life isn’t like it is in the movies.\u00c2\u00a0 Not like it is in a boy band record.\u00c2\u00a0 Not even like it is on a rap record.\u00c2\u00a0 Life is about losing more than winning.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s unpredictable.\u00c2\u00a0 Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, you’re surprised, turns out you don’t know shit.<\/p>\n You believe you’ve moved on to greener pastures.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ve left the bullshit behind for something better.\u00c2\u00a0 Then it all blows up in your face.\u00c2\u00a0 You find out you were better off where you were before.<\/p>\n This is the story that’s played out across America every day.\u00c2\u00a0 You leave your hometown, trying to reinvent yourself.\u00c2\u00a0 You get a beachhead, you might even get married.\u00c2\u00a0 But then you come home for your high school reunion, and you realize what you left behind is what’s truly meaningful.\u00c2\u00a0 You abandon your new life, if it hasn’t abandoned you first.<\/p>\n This is the life Bruce Springsteen illuminates.\u00c2\u00a0 The blind corners and back alleyways of EVERYBODY’S life.\u00c2\u00a0 Nobody’s got it wired.\u00c2\u00a0 Not Donald Trump, not the rest of the people on television.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s just an illusion.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s the job of the rock star to cut through that illusion, and reveal truth.<\/p>\n That’s why Bruce Springsteen became an icon.\u00c2\u00a0 He revealed our truth.\u00c2\u00a0 And this resonated so much that he blinked.\u00c2\u00a0 Got a very public divorce.\u00c2\u00a0 Laid off his band.\u00c2\u00a0 The brass ring was always supposed to be out of reach.\u00c2\u00a0 Then again, maybe he was just living one of his own songs.<\/p>\n Don’t iconize Bruce Springsteen.\u00c2\u00a0 Don’t go to his shows yelling for your favorites.\u00c2\u00a0 Leave the man alone.\u00c2\u00a0 He bears no responsibility.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s not his duty to give a musical face to the nation’s 9\/11 grief.\u00c2\u00a0 That was a misstep.\u00c2\u00a0 What we want Bruce Springsteen to do is stay home.\u00c2\u00a0 Go for a long drive in his Thunderbird.\u00c2\u00a0 Go play arcade games at the beach.\u00c2\u00a0 And tell us how he FEELS about it.\u00c2\u00a0 Without worrying whether we identify.<\/p>\n Bruce Springsteen’s been swinging for the fences.\u00c2\u00a0 And missing.\u00c2\u00a0 And it’s painful to watch.\u00c2\u00a0 Bringing the E Street Band out of retirement so we can relive our youth.\u00c2\u00a0 Bruce was never a star on the field.\u00c2\u00a0 He was always the guy outside who couldn’t afford a ticket, who couldn’t get in.\u00c2\u00a0 He wasn’t a winner, he was a loser.<\/p>\n But, even the losers get lucky sometimes.<\/p>\n Oh, it’s not solely luck.\u00c2\u00a0 Everybody’s number comes up.\u00c2\u00a0 If they keep playing the game.\u00c2\u00a0 Someone recognizes your greatness, someone gets you.\u00c2\u00a0 Which is why it bothered us not a whit that Candy was BRUCE’S!\u00c2\u00a0 He wasn’t boasting like a rapper.\u00c2\u00a0 He didn’t get Candy because of his riches or his fame, but because of who he was, a hard-working musician with something to say.\u00c2\u00a0 We were happy for him.\u00c2\u00a0 Because we too were dreaming of the day the Candy in our lives would be ours too.<\/p>\n Instead of lionizing Bruce Springsteen, instead of going to the show and adoring him, why don’t you try to be Bruce-like in your own life.\u00c2\u00a0 Why don’t you say what you mean, instead of what’s expected of you.\u00c2\u00a0 Why don’t you lay out your truth.\u00c2\u00a0 Then, maybe you too will be successful.\u00c2\u00a0 But don’t be surprised if your success freaks you out, just as it did Bruce.\u00c2\u00a0 This isn’t the way it’s supposed to be.\u00c2\u00a0 You’re supposed to win by playing the game, not throwing the rule book out.\u00c2\u00a0 But that’s in the real world, not in the world of rock and roll.\u00c2\u00a0 I live in the world of rock and roll.\u00c2\u00a0 And it’s artists like Bruce Springsteen that let me know this was a place worth living, that I didn’t have to cross the river and reside in a land where no one understood me, where I had to be phony, where I was always on the bottom.\u00c2\u00a0 In the world of rock and roll, I’m a king.\u00c2\u00a0 Because I’m not alone.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m surrounded by people who get it, who know that a three minute song means more than anything the President might say.\u00c2\u00a0 Rock and roll is a whole life.\u00c2\u00a0 Don’t come to town, don’t come into the rock and roll pool unless you’re willing to leave all your emotional trappings behind, willing to chuck it all and let the music move and direct you.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s a full time job.\u00c2\u00a0 You can’t come to the show and then go home across the river to the other world.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ve got to have the mentality ALL THE TIME!\u00c2\u00a0 You’ve got to BELIEVE!<\/p>\n Bruce Springsteen believes.<\/p>\n And that’s why we believe in him.<\/p>\n 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It’s funny if you think about it.\u00c2\u00a0 Bruce Springsteen is the kind of guy these fans wouldn’t have spoken to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-music"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-3M","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
And now you want our love back
Well come into my arms and fall, my lover man<\/em><\/p>\n