Bruce Springsteen NYT op-ed today: "Chords for Change"

[DeepModem Mom]

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
Chords for Change
By BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

Published: August 5, 2004

A nation's artists and musicians have a particular place in its social and political life. Over the years I've tried to think long and hard about what it means to be American: about the distinctive identity and position we have in the world, and how that position is best carried. I've tried to write songs that speak to our pride and criticize our failures.

These questions are at the heart of this election: who we are, what we stand for, why we fight. Personally, for the last 25 years I have always stayed one step away from partisan politics. Instead, I have been partisan about a set of ideals: economic justice, civil rights, a humane foreign policy, freedom and a decent life for all of our citizens. This year, however, for many of us the stakes have risen too high to sit this election out....

***

I don't think John Kerry and John Edwards have all the answers. I do believe they are sincerely interested in asking the right questions and working their way toward honest solutions. They understand that we need an administration that places a priority on fairness, curiosity, openness, humility, concern for all America's citizens, courage and faith.

People have different notions of these values, and they live them out in different ways. I've tried to sing about some of them in my songs. But I have my own ideas about what they mean, too. That is why I plan to join with many fellow artists, including the Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., the Dixie Chicks, Jurassic 5, James Taylor and Jackson Browne, in touring the country this October. We will be performing under the umbrella of a new group called Vote for Change. Our goal is to change the direction of the government and change the current administration come November....

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/05/opinion/05bruce.html

[KharmaTrain]

1. Bless The Boss!!!

My son & I watched Nightline last night. He knows I'm a big Springsteen fan (have been since I got a copy of "The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle in 1974, and have been hooked since)...and was impressed with hearing Bruce talk with Koppel last night.

I watched in rapt silence...this is a rare treat indeed. I can't remember Springsteen ever being interviewed (he's one of the most camera shy people around...he avoided doing videos until he couldn't hold out any more) and has never spoken out publicly like this. You can see his genuine worry and sincerity...that he gave this whole thing a great deal of thought and now ready to give it a lot more.

After the show was over, my son looked at me and said he enjoyed the interview and made a beeline to my Springsteen music collection...I pointed out a few tunes for his to check into (he's 16)...about 10 minutes later I heard him checking out "Growing Up"...made this old man proud!

BTW...I still expect more names to pop on this tour. This is very, very exciting and could really be the straw that breaks this regime's back once and for all. One week of mega concerts in swing states...a major media event that the networks can't ignore (or do so at their ratings peril) that is sure to energize a lot of young voters...the ones the GOOP was hoping would stay "Nintendoized".

After the show, I couldn't help but think will a certain Mr. Zimmerman also re-emerge at this time? Or at least a lot of his words and music of 40 years ago. They have a fresh new meaning these days.

Cheers! And The Boss Rules!

[burythehatchet]

7. very excellent story about your son

you have reason to be proud.

[Merlin]

9. The Boss has arrived. The Jester is overdue.

Maybe Mr. Z. will find it in his heart to rethink the relevance of his early lyrics. I find his statements that he was were simply writing to the market to be some kind of deep denial or a cover for his unwillingness to do that kind of hard work again.

Can you imagine if the Jester could find himself again!

Meantime, you're right about the potential for this tour. If the Boss can stir people like your son, maybe this tour can bring out some of the non-voters. That could make all the difference.

[KharmaTrain]

13. It'll Also Energize Us Old Farts...

While I despise the thought my son may have face a draft and the havoc this regime has done in dividing generations, this tour is part of a cultural awakening I haven't seen since the early 80's...just about the time MTV and Michael Jackson arrived.

We were talking about other people who should be included, and I expect will...

- Carole King: She played at Kerry fundraisers during the primaries, played at the Convention (and sounded and looked great!)...I expect she'll join Sweet Baby James.

- Willie Nelson: He played at the Convention, too...maybe he's out stocking up on all the weed that'll be needed...LOL. And maybe he'll bring Toby Keith along so we all can have a good laugh.

- Jon Bon Jovi: Imagine The Boss & Bon Jovi on stage...it'd put New Jersey into spasms. Imagine this happening in Miami's Orange Bowl...and don't say you heard it here first...LOL

- Don Henley: Hope you saw the crap he's been getting lately...He'll hop on with Jackson Browne & Bonnie Raitt...Dirty Laundry, Little Tin God, New York Minute, Johnny Can't Read, Pretender, You're Gonna Get What's Coming...damn...this is getting to be too much fun.

Linda Rondstadt: Back-up on the above

Bo Deans: Get them and lock up Wisconsin.

Neil Young: I've said it before...he's come home, he's pissed and hearing Ohio sung near Kent State would send chills through a lot of us who remember then.

Feel free to add on...this is really something positive and a great way to celebrate our long held and repressed values and take this country back...the dream is starting to flicker alive.

Cheers!

[latebloomer]

18. actually Koppell interviewed him for a whole hour

last year, when "The Rising" came out--in the same setting, Bruce's horse farm in New Jersey. That was impressive as well- he is a very thoughtful, intelligent, funny and compassionate man.

Cool that your son is starting to dig the Boss- my kids run screaming from the sight of him-- Mom likes him, so I guess he can't be any good. They're 12 and 10-- there's still hope for evolution.

Re Mr. Z-- wouldn't that be great? I just heard a snippet from Springsteen doing "Chimes of Freedom" on "Democracy Now."

[KharmaTrain]

20. Start 'Em On The "Fun Stuff"...

We got both our kids hooked on the Beatles as youngers. Then as they got into their pre-teens I encouraged them to listen around...and would listen to what they found interesting...opening that door, I share with them what I like. Over the years it's turned into a mutual appreciation society.

There's still hope for your kids...hormones haven't kicked in yet. LOL. Just don't turn into your parents when it comes to their music. You'd be surprised if you take an interest how you can start a whole new dialogue.

[kokokelli]

22. Dylan

I'm new here...

But I encourage everyone to pull out their copies of The Times They Are A-Changin' and listen to With God on Our Side. My god! I heard Buddy Miller play it a few months back and it sent chills through me. I hadn't heard it in forever.

Kinda suprising that Steve Earle isn't on some of these dates isn't it?

[newyawker99]

23. Hi kokokelli!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[DeepModem Mom]

24. Thanks for the tip, kokokelli, and welcome to DU!

[Egnever]

2. Outstanding!

hope the tour lands near me

[No Mandate Here.]

3. At the very least, we should all buy a DVD and/or CD

of this historic, diverse group. Hope it sells out and, better yet, hope it energizes people even more. Hopefully they will hand out absentee ballots to everyone- No BBV.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. I emailed this op ed piece

to others. This thoughtful, soul-searching editorial is one that should be read far and wide.

[Tansy_Gold]

12. I also sent this around, and will print out a hardcopy or two

for friends who are STILL not "connected."

I have believed for a long time that what we really need is a cultural revolution in this country. The people who say "You can't legislate morality" are probably right; changes in laws come about because there's been a change in public attitude. The Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts could not have succeeded in an atmosphere of continued jim crowism; attitudes were changed enough in enough parts of the country that these legislative changes were accepted.

My great fear is that without a cultural revolution, much of what's going on under the booshies will continue no matter who sits in the White House. And the impact of popular culture on the social mindset is, IMHO, enormous.

[dbt]

5. "The country we carry in our hearts is waiting."

Damned if Springsteen ain't utterly BRILLIANT:

"Like many others, in the aftermath of 9/11, I felt the country's unity. I don't remember anything quite like it. I supported the decision to enter Afghanistan and I hoped that the seriousness of the times would bring forth strength, humility and wisdom in our leaders. Instead, we dived headlong into an unnecessary war in Iraq, offering up the lives of our young men and women under circumstances that are now discredited. We ran record deficits, while simultaneously cutting and squeezing services like afterschool programs. We granted tax cuts to the richest 1 percent (corporate bigwigs, well-to-do guitar players), increasing the division of wealth that threatens to destroy our social contract with one another and render mute the promise of 'one nation indivisible.'

"It is through the truthful exercising of the best of human qualities - respect for others, honesty about ourselves, faith in our ideals - that we come to life in God's eyes. It is how our soul, as a nation and as individuals, is revealed. Our American government has strayed too far from American values. It is time to move forward. The country we carry in our hearts is waiting."

(Emphasis added)

:bounce:
dbt

Memo to John C. Fogerty: let us hear from you, please!

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

10. "We carry in our hearts the true country..."

"...and that can not be stolen"

....where did that lyric come from?

Any guesses?

[Demoiselle]

25. Please tell us, Waverly!

...When I got to the last line: "The country we carry in our hearts,"
I started to cry. It was a beautiful essay. Bless the Boss.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

29. The Dead Heart...Midnight Oil...here are the full lyrics...[i]

We don’t serve your country
Don’t serve your king
Know your custom don’t speak your tongue
White man came took everyone

We don’t serve your country
Don’t serve your king
White man listen to the songs we sing
White man came took everything

We carry in our hearts the true country
And that cannot be stolen
We follow in the steps of our ancestry
And that cannot be broken

We don’t need protection
Don’t need your land
Keep your promise on where we stand
We will listen we’ll understand

Mining companies, pastoral companies
Uranium companies
Collected companies
Got more right than people
Got more say than people

Forty thousand years can make a difference to the state of things

The dead heart lives here


...about the Australian aborignes, but a great song, too. From their Diesel and Dust album. One of the best alternative rock albums ever.

[Killarney]

6. the Boss has spoken

[burythehatchet]

8. BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE

baby you were born to run.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

11. Amended lyrics to Youngstown...

...one of my favorite Springsteen tunes:

Well my daddy come on the 0hio works
When he come home from world war two
Now the yards just scrap and rubble
He said, "Them big boys did what Hitler couldn't do"
These mills they built the tanks and bombs
That won this country's wars
We sent our sons to Iraq and Vietnam
Now we're wondering what they were dyin' for

[ASanders84]

14. Any artists actually support Shrub?

[GoneOffShore]

17. Artists? Or just hacks?

Let's see, there's Kid Rock, Toby Keith, Britney Spears - Wait, they're just celebraties (sic).
More of a hideous swelling than actual talent.

[Bread and Circus]

15. I am deeply grateful for his and other's efforts.....it's too bad most....

pop music these days is about "tappin' that ass" rather than a cry to social fairness and brotherhood.

The Boss has grown ten feet tall in my eyes.

[DeepModem Mom]

16. "Land of Hope and Dreams" has given me hope since I first heard it...

and when someone posted a thread asking what music we would play on election night if John Kerry is elected, I posted the words to that song about hope, and dreams, and faith, and this great train of a nation that carries all of us, and our dreams, and not just those who live in a certain way in someone's idea of our "heartland."

Land Of Hope And Dreams

Grab your ticket and your suitcase
Thunder's rolling down the tracks
You don't know where you're goin'
But you know you won't be back
Darlin' if you're weary
Lay your head upon my chest
We'll take what we can carry
And we'll leave the rest

Big Wheels rolling through fields
Where sunlight streams
Meet me in a land of hope and dreams

I will provide for you
And I'll stand by your side
You'll need a good companion for
This part of the ride
LEAVE BEHIND YOUR SORROWS
LET THIS DAY BE THE LAST
TOMORROW THERE'LL BE SUNSHINE
AND ALL THIS DARKNESS PAST

Big wheels roll through fields
Where sunlight streams
Meet me in a land of hope and dreams

This train
Carries saints and sinners
This train
Carries losers and winners
This Train
Carries whores and gamblers
This Train
Carries lost souls
This Train
Dreams will not be thwarted
This Train
Faith will be rewarded
This Train
Hear the steel wheels singin'
This Train
Bells of freedom ringin'
This Train
Carries broken-hearted
This Train
Thieves and sweet souls departed
This Train
Carries fools and kings
This Train
All aboard

This Train
Dreams will not be thwarted
This Train
Faith will be rewarded
This Train
Hear the steel wheels singin'
This Train
Bells of freedom ringin'

http://www.lyricscafe.com/s/springsteen_bruce/164.htm

[latebloomer]

19. Powerful!

Love that man!

[JerseygirlCT]

21. Goosebumps. Every time. nt

[ElsewheresDaughter]

26. makes me proud to be from the smae state as the Boss .....a Joisey girl

[ProfessorGAC]

27. "Well-to-do Guitar Players" Clever Stuff!

A reminder to the subsimians that he IS one of the rich who benefited from those cuts, and yet he doesn't support them because they're misplaced.

The Professor

[stanwyck]

28. This is how we win

in the trenches. We don't have hate-radio. We don't even have a balance from network news.(anyone hear anything about Afghanistan lately? Or hear our news media report like the BBC did about how dire the situation is in Iraq?) But we still have movie makers, musicians, writers, and ourselves. These people are citizens, too. And they share our deep concerns. Let's use their wattage to our advantage. We can beat these moneyed corporate whores and take back our country.

[DeepModem Mom]

30. kicking this for p.m. DUers

[Davis_X_Machina]

31. "The country we carry in our hearts is waiting." n/t

Is it necessary to say more?