boss

I have a friend, (those of you who know me well, will know exactly who this friend is...) that loves Bruce Springsteen. It is one of the first things that you learn about him. He truly has a passion for Bruce's music. I worked close with this friend for 5 years and have very fond memories of sitting on a couch with music blaring and him hitting the pause button on the CD player to tell me why he liked the song. Great memories.

Bruce was recently honored at the Kennedy Center Honors. (for those of you that don't know what that is- they are awarded annually for lifetime achievement.) This year on of those honorees was Bruce. And I watched and realized that there are more fans out there of Springsteen that feel the same way that my friend does. And I was really moved by this ... passion that was shown during the broadcast of the KCH. So much so- that I asked my friend to send me a list of his "top 12 Bruce songs". In turn, I received a long email detailing why he selected these certain songs, and what they meant to him in his life.

"The magic of Bruce, and why I enjoy his writing so much is his ability to tell
a story without being literal; his ability to sound optimistic in the
pessimistic songs, and vice versa. Each is a mini-movie, yet very few of
them have an actual ending. His music is about friendship, romance….the
search for something more than you have today. It transcends gender,
economic means, cities or hick towns, rock or country, the blues or soul.
He once explained that he “put a lot of people in a lot of cars, with no idea
where they were going”. He sometimes chooses to use androgynous names,
leaving the listener to ponder whether it’s about a relationship with a girl, or
about friendship with a guy – about love nonetheless. Most of the time,
there is no end, leaving its interpretation open and up to you to decide what
can happen."

I have come to love and appreciate Bruce. Maybe not as much as my friend, but I have grown to really dig Springsteen.