Jon Stewart's Moment of Zen

We interrupt Born To Run Month to give you this performance by Bruce and the E Street Band.  On Jon Stewart's final Daily Show last Thursday, he quoted "an artist [he] really admired",  saying,

"He thinks of his career as a long conversation with his audience...I liked that idea for many different reasons, the main one is that it takes away the idea of finality....This show isn't ending.  We're merely taking a small pause in the conversation."  

After his speech, the identity of this "artist" became clear, as he cut to Springsteen and the entirety of the E Street Band, to play him off to "Land of Hope and Dreams".  While Bruce has been making various cameos all summer long, it was great to see him back with the entirety of the E Street Band.  The Daily Show has never really accommodated musical acts very well, which makes this performance even more impressive.  Hopefully, our conversation with the E Street Band will be continuing again in the near future.

Bruce Springsteen on The Daily Show, November 10th

The Daily Show
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The Outlaw Pete promotional book tour is in full swing, and yes, I feel as strange typing that as you felt reading it.  Earlier this week, Bruce appeared on The Daily Show with illustrator Frank Caruso.  There isn't much insight here, as they giggle through a short interview that was basically like Jay Sherman's "Buy My Book!" prop.  It may be worth noting that Frank Caruso looks like the love-child of Bruce and Little Steven (the key words being "may be").  As you can tell, I'm not particularly enthused by the Outlaw Pete project, but with no shows or albums on the horizon, it's what we die-hards will have to make due with for now.

Bruce Performing At "Stand Up For Heroes", November 6th, 2013

Today, we're treating you to a longer video, so pull up a chair and relax for 20 minutes.  Earlier this month, Bruce performed with other musicians and comedians at Stand Up For Heroes, a charity event focused on raising money to support troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.  Here, Bruce performs a stripped down set, featuring an acoustic "Dancing In The Dark", Patti Scialfa assisting him on "If I Should Fall Behind", and "Dream Baby Dream", which seems to be getting heavy promotion recently.  However, rather than the touching, personal stories we are used to from Bruce, each song is introduced by a "dirty" joke.  And, boy, are they groaners - Bruce becomes the proverbial drunk uncle of the party, and you feel forced to laugh if only to not make the situation any more awkward.  At the end of the set, Bruce quips he should have been a stand up comedian.  After seeing this, it is safe to say he made the right choice.

However, in some sense, it is a wistful insight into Bruce's off-stage persona.  In Clarence Clemons' autobiography, he claims that he was the king of dirty jokes.  It is easy to imagine Clarence telling all these jokes to Bruce in a dilapidated bus going to their next gig, and Bruce cracking up like a madman.  So, if you factor in that unsubstantiated sentimental notion into the video, it could make it more enjoyable.  But, you should probably just stick to listening to the songs.

Springsteen Video of the Week - Jon Stewart's Tribute At The Kennedy Center Honors

As mentioned in the first week of the blog, Jon Stewart is a huge Bruce Springsteen fan. When I saw The Daily Show live last December, the last song he played before emerging from the back to greet his audience was "Born To Run". In this video, Stewart, like your humble blog editors, claims not to be an expert on music or music history, but, like us, he "is from New Jersey." He delivers a beautiful, poignant, and funny speech, with some amazing lines. ("When you listen to Bruce's music, you aren't a loser - you are a character, in an epic poem....about losers") The latter half of the video regrettably ditches the comedy and focuses on the sentimentality, but is worth watching for some great old photos and concert footage. Plus, you have to love the Kennedy Center honor - a medallion with a rainbow collar. It's tough to make this award look masculine, but Bruce pulls it off.

Springsteen Lyrics of the Week - The River

I got a job working construction for the Johnstown Company
But lately there ain't been much work on account of the economy

When the Occupy Wall Street protests began, they started a blog where people shared their stories of tough economic times. It may be a touch insensitive, but as I read these, they immediately reminded me of Bruce Springsteen lyrics. Bruce has always been inspired by the working class poor, and it speaks loads that lyrics from 30 years ago are even more significant today.

In a 2009 interview on The Daily Show, Springsteen described the state of America and his role in it: "We've had an enormous moral, spiritual, economic collapse. People go to storytellers when times are like that. And our band was built from the beginning for hard times." When I look at story told in The River (and other classic story-songs like Atlantic City), it is somewhat depressing to see how little things have changed over the years. However, these songs are universal and serve as an inspiration to others.

In the same interview, Stewart said, "You introduced me to the concept of the other side. You introduce me to the concept of you go through the tunnel, and you take a chance, and you can work to get away from your circumstance. And by working to get away from your circumstance, you can make something better of yourself, but there's no guarantee." I've taken this message away from Springsteen's songs for years, but I've never been able to explain it this clearly and succinctly.