Weekend Guide: 10.30.2020
It could be said that my love for Bruce is a bit off-putting. I totally get it. In my old age I have stopped trying to push Bruce (or any other music) on my friends and extended network. In retrospect I regret sharing my obsession the way I did. It was all a bit childish. Like so many other people I built Bruce up to such a mythical status that it’s been hard to come back from. It only takes the first few piano hits of Thunder Road to put me in full on tears.
If you were born in Central New Jersey in the 1980’s you, like myself, have been imprinted with some sort of Bruce microchip. For some, its influence is apparent right away. In others, it may take some time to manifest. One way or another we all find ourselves lost in the backstreets.
I’ve been influenced by Bruce in many ways. I love his image, charisma, his fearlessness, and his desire to speak out against injustice (“in the end, nobody wins unless everybody wins”). All departments where I (we) could use a bit of guidance.
Most importantly i’ve used his words, the stories he tells, the pictures he paints, to give life to the lost childhood of my Dad. He doesn’t speak much about his past. I used to ask him for stories about his youth and growing up on the Jersey Shore. Nothing. He would always change the subject. For him, the past is closed off, it’s not something he wants to revisit. But every-time Bruce would sing “Sprung from cages on Highway 9” he would light up with a sense of pride. I took that and ran with it. So, for my origin story. I’ve chosen the Bruce Springsteen catalog.
This all sounds a bit silly when you write it out. But, we’ve all got our things - some adults like Harry Potter.
Last week Bruce put out his 20th studio album “Letter to You”. Like every-time I see Bruce in the headlines, I got excited. Needless to say I quickly queued it up on the Spotify streaming service, and like everything Bruce has done since 2002’s ‘The Rising’ - tried really hard to fall in love.
It didn’t take. Maybe I will give it another try, or maybe I won’t. It’ll never change the way I feel about the man. We shouldn’t have to work for love. So, I probably won’t. I will keep going back to my favorites over and over again - letting the stories paint the pretty pictures that I long to see.
For all of the list-heads out there. Here are my ten favorite songs by Bruce (not in order). I have linked out to my favorite live performance of each.
In keeping with the reading theme of the newsletter. If you are interested in digging into the written word, there are two Bruce books I would recommend. The first, by the man himself, Born to Run (skip the broadway thing on Netflix). And for more of a fan perspective, Bruce by Peter Ames Carlin.
We will be back to regularly scheduled programming next week. I hope everything is OK by then. I have some new poetry to share. If you have any questions, or if you would like to discuss my list, or Bruce, or writing poetry. Please feel free to email me. It is a fantastic medium!
Peace and love,
Dan
Dan, old pal! I love this and have been having a lot of similar Bruce feelings recently. Post-Rising is more miss than hit for me, too, but there are a handful of treasures tucked away in there.
As a fellow list-head I want to say that I have zero substantial objections to any of your picks and, in fact, I passionately agree with most of them. But since you asked... if I was to tweak for my personal taste, I’m swapping—in no specific order—Racing In The Street for Incident on 57th Street, E Street Shuffle for Freeze Out, State Trooper for Dancing In The Dark (no apologies for this), and Badlands for Prove It All Night (which I just can’t get escape these days).
And Bruce’s autobiography? Even better in audiobook read by the man himself.