December, 2009, Kennedy Centre, Washington DC, USA
I am not a music critic. Nor historian, nor archivist. I cannot tell you where Bruce Springsteen falls in the pantheon of the American songbook. I can not illuminate the context of his work or his roots in the folk and oral history traditions of our great nation. But I am from New Jersey, and so I can tell you what I believe, and what I believe is this: I believe that Bob Dylan and James Brown had a baby. Yes! And they abandoned this child. As you can imagine at the time - interracial, same-sex relationships being what they were - they abandoned this child on the side of the road, between the exit interchanges of 8A and 9 on the New Jersey Turnpike. That child is Bruce Springsteen.
I didn't understand his music for a long time. Until I began to yearn. Until I began to question the things I was making and doing in my own life. Until I realised it wasn't just about the joyful parade on stage and the theatrics. It was about stories of lives that could be changed.
I was working in a bar in New Jersey as you would imagine; Central Jersey right off route 1. And every night, when I closed the bar, I would get in my car and I was driving at the time – a 1976 off-brown Gremlin. The Gremlin was a car that was invented for two reasons: 1) birth control for young males; and 2) it was invented so that the Pinto wouldn’t feel so bad about itself.
But I would get in my car every night and would put in the music of Bruce Springsteen, and everything changed. And I never again felt like a loser. When you listen to Bruce’s music, you aren’t a loser. You are a character in an epic poem about losers.
But that is not the power of Bruce Springsteen. It is that whenever I see Bruce Springsteen do anything, he empties the tank – everytime. And the beautiful thing about this man is that he empties that tank for his family, he empties that tank for his art, he empties that tank for his audience, and he empties it for his country. And we, on the receiving end of that beautiful gift are ourselves rejuvenated, if not redeemed, and I thank you.
On screen video
'The song writers who inspired me were searcher,' he said. 'Who spoke to our lives and our dreams, I searched for stories about the people I knew. In a small Jersey town life was factory jobs, making ends meet.'
[Bruce Springsteen – Thunder Road]
The screen door slams
Mary’ dress waves
Like a vision she dances across the porch
As the radio plays
Roy Orbison singing for the lonely
Hey that’s me and I want you only
Don’t turn me home again
I just can’t face myself alone again
[Jon Stewart:]
But he had a lot of heart and big dreams. And the one thing he was sure of was Rock N’ Roll.
Up and down the Jersey shore, little clubs went crazy for him. Word had gotten out. Something was happening.
[Bruce Springsteen: Tenth Avenue Freeze Out]
1, 2, 3, 4! Get down.
[Jon Stewart:] Source: LYBIO.net
A Springsteen concert is like a carnival ride that leaves you breathless and alive.
[Bruce Springsteen – Born in the U.S.A.]
Born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
[Bruce Springsteen – No Surrender]
We made a promise we swore we’d always remember
No retreat, baby, no surrender
[Jon Stewart:]
He found himself at the centre of the Rock And Roll Universe. The Boss.
[Bruce Springsteen – Born To Run]
Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run
Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run
Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run
[Jon Stewart:]
But the bigger his success, the more he questioned. For the favorite son of Rock N Roll; growing as an artist, meant taking on the bigger questions.
[Bruce Springsteen – The River]
I come from down in the valley
Where mister when you’re young
They bring you up to do like your daddy done
[Jon Stewart:]
He wanted his songs to bare witness to the hardships and heroism of everyday life.
[Bruce Springsteen – The Promised Land]
Blow away the dreams that tear you apart
Blow away the dreams that break your heart
Blow away the lies that leave you nothing but lost and brokenhearted
The dogs on Main Street howl cause they understand
If I could take this moment into my hands
Mister I ain’t a boy, no I’m a man
And I believe in a promised land
[Jon Stewart:]
“I try to melt my voice in the story I am telling. And when a moment comes in our common history I wanna be there”, he said.
[Bruce Springsteen – The Rising]
May I feel your blood mix with mine
A dream of life comes to me
Like a catfish dancin’ on the end of my line
Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
[Jon Stewart:]
Bruce doesn’t just sing, he testifies!
[Bruce Springsteen – Working On A Dream]
I’m working on a dream
Though sometimes it feels so far away
I’m working on a dream
Our love will make it real someday
[Jon Stewart:]
“I’m in the middle of a long conversation with my audience”, he said. It will be a life long journey for both of us by the time we’re done.
[Standing Ovation]