In response to @fredhincanada's challenge, I present...
Oh for fuck sake, I have so many favourite songs, jeez, this is harder than I could ever imagined. I'm gonna have to go with this one:
The River by Bruce Springsteen. I can't explain it, because it is very much, American and I'm based in the UK. But there is something about this song that just resonates with me. Call me a lover of stories told within song. And Bruce tells stories like no other songwriter. Bruce confirmed that this is about his sister and brother-in-law and how they struggled to adjust to a "shotgun wedding" during the seventies, which was a decade I wasn't even born in. You hear and, I suppose, read the story of a couple who are rather prematurely thrust into a life that they never imagined, when our "protagonist" gets Mary pregnant (And man that was all she wrote.)
"For my nineteenth birthday, I got a union card and a wedding coat" - This young couple get rushed into the courthouse to marry, there's no procession, "no wedding day smiles, no walk down the aisle, no flowers, no wedding dress." It is hardly the wedding that Mary dreamed of, and I'd put a bet on this: It is not the life they both dreamed of.
Our protagonist gets a job but the economy is struggling, leading to him not getting a lot of work, and he and Mary forget about anything that seemed important "Well mister, they vanished right into the air, now I just act like I don't remember, and Mary acts like she don't care."
Just when you start to believe that this is leading to hopelessness, Bruce comes out with this banger of a line.
"But I remember us riding in my brother's car.
Her body tan and wet, down at the reservoir.
At night on them banks I'd lie awake.
And pull her close just to feel each breath she'd take."
The man, our protagonist, is telling a story of hopelessness and perhaps not living the American Dream he imagined, but he is also telling a story of love. You can get dealt the shittiest hand but as long as you have love, what else really matters?
"Is a dream a lie if it don't come true
Or is it something worse
That sends me down to the river
Though I know the river is dry"
Possibly one of the most haunting lines in any song ever and it is one that still troubles me. I have read a few accounts that it is ultimately suicide that ends this song but I ain't so sure, the lyrics do kinda lend to the idea that he goes to the river to kill himself, but I think it is more that this man keeps going down to this metaphorical river to find hope, although he knows there is no more hope there. It is a maudlin ending, but I think it gives hope that one day, there might be something in that river that will rejuvenate him, and by proxy, Mary.
Or maybe I’m an idiot who completely missed the point of the song. Who knows?
Now, you’re probably wondering why I picked this video performance of the song. It’s simple really, it’s Glastonbury, which is a rather famous festival in the UK. Bruce showed up there in 2009 and basically put on a performance that should have put everyone on notice. This is how you should perform for your fans. You can see smoke rising from him because of the hard work he’s put in to this whole gig. The man is 75 right now, so in 2009, he would have been, what, 60? I have seen artists far younger, pull out of gigs because of tummy aches. Not Mr. Springsteen. If you have forked out the ticket price to see him, regardless of your job or holding in life, he will make it worth it. The true epitome of a showman, IMHO.
Tags: @fredhincanada, @rare @dicentra @kungfury @avecalluna @penny @missy @eirenne @spirit @xheartswornx @bookcouple @solostella
