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.

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.