Posted on 08/05/2004 6:05:49 AM PDT by presidio9
"I packed my bags and I'm heading straight into the storm"
Bruce Springsteen, "The Promised Land," 1978
By joining dozens of musicians on the Vote for Change tour through a half-dozen swing states this election season, Bruce Springsteen pushes up the intensity and profile of the dump-Bush whirlwind sweep.
But by making the most direct political statement of his career, he also rolls his personal dice.
It's no secret Springsteen has often tilted to the left side of the political spectrum. He played "No Nukes" in 1979, sang Bob Dylan's "Chimes of Freedom" on the Amnesty tour in 1988 and says things like "Nobody wins unless everybody wins."
But many conservatives like his music, too, which he knows, and he has largely avoided pigeonholing by focusing raw songs like "Johnny 99," "Born in the USA" and "American Skin (41 Shots)" on the human side of his subjects - though "American Skin," about the death of Amadou Diallo, was still labeled anti-cop by some police groups in 2000.
As recently as his 2002-2003 tour, when he broached political matters, he was careful to say he wasn't being "Republican or Democrat," just thinking everybody wants peace and justice.
True enough. But he also understands that even a whiff of partisanship can alienate old fans without necessarily adding new ones. If you don't like "Thunder Road," agreeing with Bruce's politics isn't going to make it sound any better.
Still, he now clearly feels he has to go out on the hill with everything he's got. When the Dixie Chicks were scalded last year for criticizing President Bush and radio stations dropped their music, Springsteen rushed to their defense fast and hard.
The Dixie Chicks are on this new tour, too. But even if they weren't, the participants know they will be ridiculed by conservatives and Republicans as clueless, elitist celebrity leftists who must hate America.
To which Springsteen will reply, in song, that he isn't and he doesn't:
Mister I ain't no boy, no I'm a man And I believe in a promised land.
"I felt like I couldn't have written the music I've written and been on stage singing about the things I've sung about for the last 25 years," Springsteen said yesterday, "and not take part in this particular election.
"This wasn't one that a concerned citizen felt comfortable sitting out."
I think the issue is more about raising tens of millions of dollars to circumvent McCain-Feingold.
The screen door slams
Mary's 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
Don't run back inside
darling you know just what I'm here for
So you're scared and you're thinking
That maybe we ain't that young anymore
Show a little faith, there's magic in the night
You ain't a beauty, but hey you're alright
Oh and that's alright with meYou can hide `neath your covers
And study your pain
Make crosses from your lovers
Throw roses in the rain
Waste your summer praying in vain
For a savior to rise from these streets
Well now I'm no hero
That's understood
All the redemption I can offer, girl
Is beneath this dirty hood
With a chance to make it good somehow
Hey what else can we do now
Except roll down the window
And let the wind blow back your hair
Well the night's busting open
These two lanes will take us anywhere
We got one last chance to make it real
To trade in these wings on some wheels
Climb in back
Heaven's waiting on down the tracks
Oh oh come take my hand
Riding out tonight to case the promised land
Oh oh Thunder Road, oh Thunder Road
oh Thunder Road
Lying out there like a killer in the sun
Hey I know it's late we can make it if we run
Oh Thunder Road, sit tight take hold
Thunder RoadWell I got this guitar
And I learned how to make it talk
And my car's out back
If you're ready to take that long walk
From your front porch to my front seat
The door's open but the ride it ain't free
And I know you're lonely
For words that I ain't spoken
But tonight we'll be free
All the promises'll be broken
There were ghosts in the eyes
Of all the boys you sent away
They haunt this dusty beach road
In the skeleton frames of burned out ChevroletsThey scream your name at night in the street
Your graduation gown lies in rags at their feet
And in the lonely cool before dawn
You hear their engines roaring on
But when you get to the porch they're gone
On the wind, so Mary climb in
It's a town full of losers
And I'm pulling out of here to win.
Great song, especially on the live album.
Too bad I'll never give him another dollar...
The difference between them and the liberal show is that they don't announce to the world their intentions.
Maybe they should.
Perhaps if they are passionate about their candidate or party, they might take the initiative themselves?
Nothing but "has beens" and "never weres" on that tour.
You and me both. I've never understood what the big deal was over this guy.
My name is Joe Roberts I work for the state
I'm a sergeant out of Perrineville barracks number 8
I always done an honest job as honest as I could
I got a brother named Franky and Franky ain't no good
Now ever since we was young kids it's been the same come down
I get a call over the radio Franky's in trouble downtown
Well if it was any other man, I'd put him straight away
But when it's your brother sometimes you look the other way
Me and Franky laughin' and drinkin' nothin' feels better than blood on blood
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's strayin' like any brother would
Man turns his back on his family well he just ain't no good
Well Franky went in the army back in 1965 I got a farm deferment, settled down, took Maria for my wife
But them wheat prices kept on droppin' till it was like we were gettin' robbed
Franky came home in `68, and me, I took this job
Yea we're laughin' and drinkin' nothin' feels better than blood on blood
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's strayin', teach him how to walk that line
Man turns his back on his family he ain't no friend of mine
Well the night was like any other, I got a call `bout quarter to nine
There was trouble in a roadhouse out on the Michigan line
There was a kid lyin' on the floor lookin' bad bleedin' hard from his head there was a girl cryin' at a table and it was Frank, they said
Well I went out and I jumped in my car and I hit the lights
Well I must of done one hundred and ten through Michigan county that night
It was out at the crossroads, down round Willow bank
Seen a Buick with Ohio plates behind the wheel was Frank
Well I chased him through them county roads till a sign said Canadian border five miles from here
I pulled over the side of the highway and watched his taillights disappear
Me and Franky laughin' and drinkin'
Nothin' feels better than blood on blood
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's strayin' like any brother would
Man turns his back on his family well he just ain't no good
There were a couple of bands at this year's Ozzfest who paid tribute to America's troops, and the crowd roared with approval.
Why Bruce Why? Dammit where you been? Bruce is a leftist from way back, remember him suing Dole to quit using his born in the USA at his rallies? THere is nothing suprising about Bruce being anti-Bush.
To quote that famous Zen philosopher, Forrest Gump, "Stupid is as stupid does."
Bruce just lost half of his audience...but he may not care. He made his millions already. For entertainers who are commiting themselves...its your own situation...you may feel good about yourself or complain about losses, but its your situation. Its interesting that Bob Hope never committed to anyone, nor did Frank Sinatra or Sammy Davis or Elvis. They stayed neutral for a reason...and maybe some of our entertainers of today ought to think about that reason.
Yep, it sure was Bruce, you putz, thanks to your hero Bill Clinton's 8 years of enabling and appeasing Muslim extremists around the globe, and the refusal of his AG Reno to pursue, tap and prosecute Muslim extremists in our very country, who later harbored the 9/11 goons. Yes, Bruce, our city was in ruins, and if we elect Kerry, it won't be the last. Shut up and sing!
As the noted late 20th century American philosopher and personality-cult founder Michael Jordan once pointed out, "Conservatives buy sneakers too."
And I thought he got it after 9-11
Lyrics to "Empty Sky":
I woke up this morning
I could barely breathe
Just an empty impression
In the bed there you used to be
I want a kiss from your lips
I want an eye for an eye
I woke up this morning to an empty sky
Empty sky, empty sky
I woke up this morning to an empty sky
Empty sky, empty sky
I woke up this morning to an empty sky
Blood on the streets
Blood flowin’ down
I hear the blood of my blood
Cryin’ from the ground
Empty sky, empty sky
I woke up this morning to an empty sky
Empty sky, empty sky
I woke up this morning to an empty sky
On the plains of jordan
I cut my bow from the wood
Of this tree of evil
Of this tree of good
I want a kiss from your lips
I want an eye for an eye
I woke up this morning to the empty sky
Careers die because of choices, not abilities. God can make or break a career through prayers of others....Springsteen is going down. Kings have been brought down to eating grass by God, read about Nebechenezzer.
Had me foaming at the mouth when he had the nerve to perform for the 9/11 fund raiser after he wrote that wonderful little ditty entitled "41 shots"
I grew up in the same hometown, and I am a big fan of the music. I have always been disappointed with the leftward lean. Now, I am fed-up.
Bruce, I dedicate one of your songs to you -- as your lastest actions must be a desperate attempt to remain relevant.
I Don't Want to Fade Away
Well now you say you've found another man
Who does things to you that I can't
And that no matter what I do
It's all over now between me and you girl
But I can't believe what you say
No I can't believe what you say
'cause baby
I don't wanna fade away
Oh I don't wanna fade away
Tell me what can I do what can I say
Cause darlin' I don't wanna fade away
Well now you say that you've made up your mind
It's been such a long, long time since it's been good with us
And that somewhere back along the line
You lost your love and I lost your trust
Now rooms that once were so bright
Are filled with the coming night, darlin'
I don't wanna fade away
Oh I don't wanna fade away
Tell me what can I do what can I say
Cause darlin' I don't wanna fade away
You say it's not easy for you
And that you've been so lonely
While other girls go out doing what they want to do
You say that you miss the nights when we'd go out dancing
The days when you and I walked as two
Well girl I miss them too
Oh I swear that I do
Oh girl
Now baby I don't wanna be just another useless memory holding you tight
Or just some other ghost out on the street
To whom you stop and politely speak
When you pass on by vanishing into the night
Left to vanish into the night
No baby
I don't wanna fade away
Oh I don't wanna fade away
Tell me what can I do what can I say
Cause darlin' I don't wanna fade away
You are right, but money does not matter for John Kerry! His campaign and his surrogates (the 527s) have spent millions and it still has not helped him. The DNC also cost millions and did absolutely nothing for John Kerry or, worse yet, the city and people of Boston! The problem is the product (John Kerry) is fatally flawed. The man has no convictions, cannot take a stand and has a wife that leads him around like a puppy dog. To top all of this off, Ms. Heinz Kerry is a blue ribbon nutcase! See what kind of candidate you get when hate rules the day!
Springsteen is a hell of a songwriter, I'll give him that. Once he got over his "I want to gabble deep-sounding alliterative nonsense so people will think I'm Bob Dylan" phase ("Blinded By The Light," "Lost In The Flood") and really starting writing his own stuff, that is. "Born To Run" and "Darkness" really are two fantastic albums, and I always thought the songwriting on "Nebraska" was underrated.
Personally, I don't have a huge problem with entertainers who express liberal politics; I can choose whether or not to support them easily enough. (Example: My wife and I are big Emmylou Harris fans even though she's a lefty; she's got the talent to make us forget it.) The ones that frost me are the ones that support liberal politics and then whine about it when they take heat for it (are you listening, Natalie Maines?).
If you're going to inject politics into an entertainment performance, you'd damn well better have the nads to take the consequences that may come your way because of it. Actions have consequences, and some of these spoiled-brat celebrities just can't figure that out. So if Springsteen does this, and loses sales over it, and just says "Oh well, I think this is important and I'm going to keep doing it"...I don't agree with him but at least I can give him a little respect for being a man about it. But if he starts with the "waaah, I'm being censored" shtick a la Linda Ronstadt and the Blixie Chix...he's a puss.
}:-)4
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