No Surrender

I saw Bruce’s LA show back on April 7th at the Forum and haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. Sure, he’s 75 and can’t do all the sprints or knee slides like he used to and his show clocks in at 2:45 instead of 4+ hours. But the experience was still deeply moving and inspiring for me. And despite all the politics and the mission statement of this current tour, to me, more than anything else, the show felt like a testament to everything he’s built over the span of his career. I know that sounds like a platitude or a generalization, but I mean it rather specifically.

Take the abovemetioned political sermonizing for instance - while it definitely resonated with me (I admit to being a fish in the proverbial barrel for everything he was saying), I also wondered if I would have stomached it from anyone else, even if I was politically aligned with what was being said, as I was in this case. Like if Petty or Dylan or Willie or Joni (or Fill-In-The-Titan-Shaped-Blank) would have so aggressively gone in on the contemporary political landscape, I don’t think it would have scanned in the same way. I think it works for Bruce because he’s built this role for himself, song by song, interview by interview, show by show, book by book, and that it’s only possible and palatable AFTER that much investment, that much work, that much time earning his position as an ambassador for the American ethos. At least one that is specific to him. There’s America and there’s Bruce Springsteen’s America and while his might be a bit more romantic and elegant than the real thing, there is a large overlap in their venn diagram that has allowed him to step into his role as an authority. And that isn’t me making a political statement, the mere fact that he is on this sold out tour and making such headlines with his pronouncements demonstrates that it’s an objective fact regardless of whether or not one agrees with him. He’s looked upon as a prophet and mouthpiece for a certain American point of view. And I guess I’m just marveling at the fact that he built that out of a steadfast commitment to his music.

(And for anyone thinking “but there are plenty of massive artists speaking out politically” - I realize that. I just don’t know if there’s anyone with this exact type of of gravitas or reach.)

Another thing I wanna talk about - his soul man routine. When I first heard Bruce, I couldn’t really get into it. I couldn’t take all the screams of “BIG MAN!” followed by a sax solo and all the reappropriating of R&B showman tricks that I associated with James Brown, Otis Redding, The Four Tops, etc. All of the call and response stuff, the “little bit louder now” bits, the arguably overwrought song/band intros. It all just hit me as a big “no-no” coming from a rocker like him. There was a coolness to the Bowies, the Pettys, the Lennons, the Reeds, that Bruce did not subscribe to. He is so open, so big, so excited, so desperate to connect. So I think my initial resistance was just my own discomfort at someone being so unapologetically themselves. It’s a bold statement and he is a potent dose. This quality of his then became what inspired me most about him, and eventually became a major factor in how I modeled my own relationship to my music and the way I deliver it. I don’t claim to have his bombast, but I do feel like he taught me what it means to commit to being me. In a world of stage names, brands, costumes, cultivated identities, angles, etc, it’s not easy to do. I’m not claiming to be great at it, but it remains an ambition of mine and it’s largely thanks to him. Now when he gets into his “Is anybody alive out there?!” or intros the band with his “ heart-stoppin’, pants-droppin’, hard-rockin’, booty-shakin’, earth-quakin’, love-makin’ E Street Band!”, I fucking love it.

Lastly, it’s worth mentioning that even the legendary lengths of his show are not only an example of him establishing his identity on his terms, but also his insistence on making sure the message is delivered, that the deepest connection possible has been made, that he left it all out there on the stage. When I describe my love for him and his music to anyone asking about it I often say that in order to “get it”, you need to subscribe to his entire cosmos, to the whole arc, to the vast mythology that he’s created, whether he did it all consciously or not. He’s not a “check-out-this-one-song-or-album” type recommendation. He’s someone you buy into and then enjoy the entire drama. And that’s what makes nights like April 7th so powerful. There’s such a rich history he’s drawing from and it feels so good to see him making the most of it.

For the paid subscribers - here’s an acoustic cover of No Surrender, which really ripped at the show.