Bruce Springsteen: America's Local Hero
All of this, of course, has me looking back at Springsteen's career. It also has me remembering my own, because the wonder that I get to write for publication has much of its roots in Bruce Springsteen.
The year was 1987. I graduated from college five years earlier, with a degree in English and not much direction. I always wanted to write (and even had my first professional success at age 12!) but in those years following Watergate, there was a flood of would-be Woodwards and Bernsteins, so I felt fortunate (no pun intended) to have a steady job in banking. I knew it was nothing I would have chosen for myself, but by 1987 I was five years away from any publication credits (and they were just college newspapers). I lacked the confidence to even compete for an opportunity to write.
Clark DeLeon, then the Metro columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, wrote a column about being a so-called "adult" and still falling for the magic that is rock and roll and Bruce Springsteen. He spoke of waiting in line for tickets long after the age of reason, as it is defined in our society. He said that, even though colleagues laughed and loved ones watched skeptically, he would continue to do what he had to for Bruce tickets. He was one of those Bruce spoke of in "Badlands" when he sang, "For the ones who had a notion/a notion deep inside/It ain't no sin/To be glad you're alive."
And I was one of them too. At that point in my life, I had seen Bruce numerous times. I had seen other things too - the darkness on the edge of town - including an assault that left me hospitalized with head injuries and a car mishap which left me burnt and hurting. And I had seen good times too, including the birth of my daughter. Through all these times, the good and the bad, Bruce Springsteen's music was with me, reminding me that "at the end of every hard-earned day" I still can "find some reason to believe."
In other words, I understood. So I wrote to DeLeon to tell him just that. I said Springsteen himself wasn't the reason to believe - my family, my friends, health, love; those were the reasons - but Bruce reminded me to hold onto these. I thanked Bruce for that, and for the "magic in the night."
I sent the letter,
Latest Articles