Springsteen vs. *: Greetings from Asbury Park

[babylonsister]

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/09/25/springsteen/index.html

Greetings from Asbury Park

ASBURY PARK, N.J. -- Late into the first set of a concert tour that began Monday night and will stretch well into election season, Bruce Springsteen tore through his 9/11 anthem, "The Rising." Three or four years ago, that might have been the rollicking end to things. Now it's just the beginning. Before the last "li, li, li" of Springsteen's paean to the NYFD echoed down the Asbury Park boardwalk, the E Street Band had rumbled into one of Springsteen's newest songs: a full frontal attack on the Iraq war built around John Kerry's 1971 testimony on Vietnam.

The kids asleep in the backseat
We're just countin' the miles you and me
We don't measure the blood we've drawn anymore
We just stack the bodies outside the door.

Who'll be the last to die for our mistake
The last to die for our mistake
Whose blood will spill, whose heart will break
Who'll be the last to die for our mistake?

In the summer of 2004, Springsteen toured swing states with the "Vote for Change" tour, then followed it up with appearances alongside John Kerry in Wisconsin and Ohio. The change Springsteen wanted didn't come, of course, and his new album -- the not-yet-released "Magic" -- focuses on what we've lost as a result.

In "Long Walk Home," a father tells his son that the flag flying over the local courthouse means that "certain things are set in stone: who we are, what we'll do and what we won't." But introducing "Magic's" "Livin' in the Future" Monday night -- "Woke up election day, sky gunpowder and shades of gray" -- Springsteen said that some of those things we'd never do are the ones we're doing already: illegal rendition, voter suppression, the torture of people in the custody of our government.

Springsteen's list drifted off as the band started to play; at this, the first "rehearsal concert" for a tour that will last months, Springsteen's indictment of the current administration hadn't yet developed into the full poetic bill of particulars he delivered during the Vote for Change tour in 2004. But it's there nonetheless, fleshed out in the songs Springsteen sang and the way he put them together. Early on Monday night, he played "No Surrender," the hold-your-dreams-tight rocker Kerry chose for his campaign theme, then followed it with the mournful, Iraq-tinged "Gypsy Biker": "To the dead, well it don't matter much 'bout who's wrong or right ... To him that threw you away, you ain't nothing but gone."

On those autumn nights three years ago, Springsteen told us that the "country we carry in our hearts" was waiting for us. His show Monday night was a reminder that it's still there but only there, and that the long walk back to it hasn't even yet begun.

[blm]

1. The Boss always did 'get' Kerry and why he matters to this nation.

Bruce gets it. He always did and always will. Like John Lennon. Like Hunter Thompson.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

2. On Friday morning, Springsteen is going to be doing a mini concert on The Today Show

and I've been hoping that he's going to do an anti-war song.

[babylonsister]

4. His tour's going to last months; I bet he's just getting started! nt

[Hissyspit]

7. "Lonesome Day":

Better ask questions before you shoot/
The seed of betrayal is bitter fruit/
It's hard to swallow come time to pay/
That taste on your tongue don't easily slip away...

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - "Lonesome Day"

Released in June 2002.

Think he was trying to tell America something?

[Highway61]

18. OK...now ya got me started

Want to get moved? Here's a GREAT video of Bruce singing Dylan's "Chimes of Freedom" one of my favorites....enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL87kBq9aiE

[xxqqqzme]

21. 'Bring em Home'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CROgpqIPvUk

[peekaloo]

3. Bruce and the E Streeters are on the Today (or Toady) Show this Friday.

let it rip!

[Hissyspit]

5. Ack! I wisht I'd posted this, babylonsister.

Got a ticket for the Boston show in November! (People in Boston scares me, though :evilgrin:)

[babylonsister]

8. I can delete it!

And lucky you! I love Boston-you'll have a blast!

[madokie]

6. You bet there is more than one way to skin a cat as they say

we cant' get the message out through our msm but maybe we can with our music, our entertainment industry as a whole. There are a lot of folks who are having that OH SHIT moment like damn these traitors are serious aren't they, hopefully it isn't too late.

[Historic NY]

9. Thanks hope to see him in NJ soon..........

Bruce is the man..........he has given his voice to the cause. :yourock:

[Historic NY]

10. new link to his music

http://www.q1043.com/cc-common/mfeatures/test/player.html?apid=2627&son=9&tot=11&type=aud&mid=161735&gateway=exiting

[Jack Bone]

14. Thanx..for the link...listening now!!

GREAT STUFF!! THE BOSS IS BACK!!

:toast:

[vanboggie]

16. Woo hoo!

The Boss is rockin' in more ways than one!!

[Inuca]

23. WOW! What a song! n/t

[samdogmom]

11. I can't wait for this album!

Thanks for posting. I wish more people listened to him in 2003 when he worked so hard for Kerry. I was at his fabulous rally in Madison, WI right before the election (100,000+ in attendance as I recall).



I walked away from that Madison, WI event thinking that the tide had turned. But on election day, only a few days later, our country once again got robbed! Something dastardly happened during the past two national elections! I will always believe that "monkey business" happened and that the elections were stolen. Before I die, I hope the truth is revealed about these ULTIMATE CRIMES!

I'd also like to see someone punished, but, I'm afraid that's too much to ask!

[JerseygirlCT]

13. I'm with you

I get no end of abuse for it from my family. But I'm absolutely, positively convinced both 2000 and 2004 were stolen. Wide-spread fraud, making it harder to track decisively. I just know, and like you, I hope to be proven right before I die!

[JerseygirlCT]

12. I didn't get tickets to the CT show (first in the tour)

But just the thought of seeing him back in NJ, and better yet, back *home* at the beach in NJ, gives me goosebumps.

I heard his cover of Waits' Jersey Girl this morning, and nearly started crying! (I don't cry easily, either).

He's no dummy, and I'm so glad to hear he's still talking about what needs to be said.

Did anyone here have the luck to see one of the rehearsal concerts?

[DeepModem Mom]

15. A beautiful piece! Thank you! nt

[Highway61]

17. Bruce is BACK!!

If you love this guy and haven't seen him in concert, let me tell you...it is worth all the money and hassle. You will never be the same.
He is so politically cool and ROCKS! Just amazing.
Can't wait to see him again. WHOO HOOO

"IS THERE ANYBODY ALIVE OUT THERE???????????"
:yourock:

[Highway61]

19. See post #18

meant to put it here

[xxqqqzme]

20. 'Bring em Home'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CROgpqIPvUk

[mod mom]

22. I worked a Kerry Rally in '04 where Springsteen performed in Columbus OH.

(Unfortunately I was too sick -ended up having Whooping Cough, to enjoy it.) I did get to attend the Vote for Change Tour-which was outstanding.

[Historic NY]

24. Any DU'ers want to get together...........

The Boss is going to be at Giants Stadium and in albany if any NY Du'er want to get together and tailgate before the concert.