Springsteen: "Born To Run" & "The Rising"

I've never seen Bruce Springsteen in concert and I don't know if I'd call myself a fan. I love some of his stuff and I have maybe half of his albums. On the other hand, I buy a lot of albums, so… I'm aware of what he's doing at any given time, but I'm more of an interested outsider than a fan.

Then there's the album "Born To Run."

"Born To Run" is in my Top Ten albums of all time; no, my Top Five. It was released when I was in high school and I borrowed it from my friend Mitch (some of you might know Mitch as Captin Krunch) and recorded it to my father's reel-to-reel tape recorder. I gave the LP back to Mitch and listened to the tape over the next week or two, and I was so blown away by the lyrics (I'd never paid much attention to lyrics before) I borrowed the record again so I could type the words out on my mother's old manual typewriter. (Do you remember that, Mitch?)

It was the first time I'd related to what a rock album had to say. Bruce sings about the Jersey shore on this record and I KNEW those people, I'd SEEN them. I lived in the suburbs, but I'd go to the shore and this album talked about something familiar. I was blown away. A rock album made me consider the world in a way I hadn't before. It was the first time I saw popular music as art I guess, or as something that could move me and change my perceptions and experiences, or maybe affirm them; I don't know, it's a complicated thing when art moves you.

I followed Bruce's career after that. I got "Darkness On The Edge Of Town" released an agonizingly long three years later. The wait was caused by Bruce's legal dispute with his previous manager. I remember first hearing "Darkness" on an FM station at night, they played an advanced copy in its entirety, and I'd expected it to be "Born To Run - Part II." But of course it wasn't, it isn't. "Darkness" is an album by an older artist exploring different themes. I wasn't ready for that, and I was disappointed.

I followed Bruce's stuff over the years. I was in the Air Force when "Born In The USA" was released and became the monster hit of his career with all those top-ten songs. But just as the hit single "Born To Run" never grabbed me much, the album "Born In The USA" didn't do much for me. It was good, but it didn't match the greatness of the "Born To Run" album; nothing did.

I kept buying maybe every-other Bruce album over the years and was always a little disappointed.

Then 9/11 happened and the things that were important before took a back seat to the fears of the world. A few pop music artists released albums and songs responding to this event - Neil Young for one - but nothing registered for me.

Then Bruce released "The Rising."

I cry like a baby every time I put "The Rising" on. That's why I'll never listen to it in front of you, I can't. "The Rising" did for the country what "Born To Run" did for New Jersey. It brought to vivid life a people in a place at a time with magical artistry in a way no one else did or maybe could do.

And it does so much more.

"The Rising" is tender, loving, and tries to understand. "The Rising" isn't judgmental, it doesn't point fingers, and it doesn't accuse. It comes from a place of humanity. It knows people all have the same needs and concerns, and it tries to make sense of the tragedy of 9/11 in a way that leaves me in utter awe. I'm not kidding when I say I cry every time I put this CD on.

What an achievement this record is. It articulates the depth of absence, something we usually never consider.

This album is as great as the best work of any popular artist living in their time; da Vinci, Mozart, Twain, Pollack, Kerouac, Beatles, Dylan… and Bruce. All popular artists of their day who remain inspiring and influential. It's hard to appreciate a prophet in his home town, and we - especially in America - dismiss our own easily. But this album is one of the best.

If you haven't heard "The Rising," listen to it. Keep in mind when you do this was released ten months after 9/11 and is a direct response to it. Though not all the songs were written after 9/11, they were included for the way they reflect on that tragedy. Be aware of that, and think about how this album is about the permanence of absence. I like to think this record makes us better people.


(I'd love to hear from you. Feel free to comment.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_to_run
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rising_(album)