(http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/springsteen.gif)
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen werd geboren op 23 september 1949 als zoon van de Iers-Nederlandse
buschauffeur Douglas
'Dutch' Springsteen en Italiaans-Amerikaanse Adéle Springsteen, meisjesnaam Zirilli.
Hij was het eerste kind van Douglas en Adéle.
De ouders woonden in een huis dat eigendom was van opa en oma (de ouders van Douglas).
Na een aantal jaren van hard sparen kochten ze hun eigen huis,
waar Bruce zijn zus Virginia ('Ginny') werd geboren in 1950.
Douglas Springsteen heeft nooit een noot gezongen.
Maar zijn zoon maakte hem de beroemdste vader in de geschiedenis van rock 'n roll.
Bruce vertelde begin jaren zeventig voordat hij doorbrak dat hij zich als kind
elke nacht kon herinneren waarin zijn vader foeterend thuis kwam van werk,
scheldend van
"My fuckin' boss this en my fuckin' boss that." Bruce zei:
"Als ik later groot ben, dan wil IK die fuckin' boss worden." Toen het gezin in Freehold woonde, had Douglas verscheidene banen gehad waaronder dus buschauffeur.
Midden jaren zestig verhuisde het gezin naar Californie.
Hij was koppig en ongeduldig mannetje en botste dus veel met Bruce.
Op het podium vertelde Bruce van zijn vader, zittend in het donker, alleen, bier drinkend en rokend.
Over alles wond Douglas zich op, over Bruce zijn haar en muziek tot en met iemand die het licht aandoet.
Het was een klassieke generatiekloof dat als basis diende voor rock 'n roll rebellie.
Deze teksten en nummers hielpen van Bruce een icoon te maken voor eenieder die zich niet begrepen voelt
en het gevoel heeft te willen ontsnappen.
Maar begin jaren tachtig begon Bruce te verkondigen dat hij steeds minder woede voelde voor zijn vader,
en steeds meer sympathie voor hem begon te krijgen.
Dat was ook te merken in enkele nummers van het "Nebraska" album zoals in "Used Cars",
"Mansion on the Hill" en "My Father's House".
Toch schreef Bruce nog "Glory Days" dat in 1985 een grote hit was.
Een nummer over Douglas mislukte dromen, refererend aan "Glory Days" die hij nooit had gehad.
In 1987 echter nam Bruce het nummer "Walk Like a Man" op.
Het was een nummer over de waardering die Bruce had voor wat zijn vader hem allemaal geleerd had.
En na al die jaren waren ze de laatste tiental jaren erg close geworden.
Bruce omschreef zijn moeder ooit eens als een Superwoman.
Zij deed alles overal en altijd.
Zijn moeder werkte toen als een secretaresse.
Het gezin verhuisde dus naar Californie.
Bruce bleef achter met slechts rottige herinneringen op een nonnenschool met een 18 dollar gitaar.
Op zijn achttiende bedacht Bruce dat hij wel erg veel op zijn vader leek.
Zijn neef Frankie leert hem gitaar spelen.
In de zomer van 1964 speelt Springsteen voor het eerst in een band: The Rogues
Nadat hij door voorgewende homosexualiteit aan de militaire dienst ontkomen was,
stichtte hij verschillende bands, voordat hij in 1971 naar new york naar de artiestenbuurt
greenwich Village verhuisde, om daar als solomusicus carriére te maken.
Hij kreeg de kans om zich te presenteren bij de platenfirma "Columbia Records"
met zelf gecomponeerde en van eigen tekst voorziene songs.
Waarop hij in 1972 een contract ontving en niet veel later de formatie "E Street Band" stichtte,
die pas 20 jaar later weer ontbonden werd.
Na twee platenproducties zonder succes maakte hij in 1974 zijn doorbraak.
Men noemde hem de "toekomst van de rock-'n-roll" en beschouwde hem als waardige opvolger van Bob Dylan.
Wereldwijde erkenning oogstte Springsteen met het album "Born in the USA" (1984).
Het Thema van dit album is de vietnam oorlog en zijn sociale gevolgen voor de Amerikaanse soldaten,
die daar vochten.
Bruce Springsteen zette zich door middel van talrijke ruimhartige giften voor daklozen en werklozen in
en heeft reeds meerdere benefit-concerten voor de hongerenden in Afrika gegeven.
(http://www.lesjones.com/www/images/posts/bruce-springsteen.jpg)
Douglas en zijn vrouw hebben nog nooit een concert van Bruce gezien.
Born to Run
In the day we sweat it out in the streets of a runaway American dream
At night we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines
Sprung from cages out on highway 9,
Chrome wheeled, fuel injected
and steppin' out over the line
Baby this town rips the bones from your back
It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap
We gotta get out while we're young
`Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run
Wendy let me in I wanna be your friend
I want to guard your dreams and visions
Just wrap your legs 'round these velvet rims
and strap your hands across my engines
Together we could break this trap
We'll run till we drop, baby we'll never go back
Will you walk with me out on the wire
`Cause baby I'm just a scared and lonely rider
But I gotta find out how it feels
I want to know if love is wild
girl I want to know if love is real
Well, can you show me!?
Beyond the Palace hemi-powered drones scream down the boulevard
The girls comb their hair in rearview mirrors
And the boys try to look so hard
The amusement park rises bold and stark
Kids are huddled on the beach in a mist
I wanna die with you Wendy on the streets tonight
In an everlasting kiss
The highway's jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive
Everybody's out on the run tonight
but there's no place left to hide
Together Wendy we'll live with the sadness
I'll love you with all the madness in my soul
Someday girl I don't know when
we're gonna get to that place
Where we really want to go
and we'll walk in the sun
But till then tramps like us
baby we were born to run
Tamps like us, baby we were born to run
(no retreat) No Surrender
We busted out of class had to get away from those fools
We learned more from a three-minute record than we ever learned in school
Tonight I heart the neighborhood drummer sound
I can feel my heart begin to pound
You say you're tired and you just want to close your eyes and follow your dreams down
We made a promise we swore we'd always remember
No retreat, baby, no surrender
Like soldiers in the winter's night with a vow to defend
No retreat, baby, no surrender
Now young faces grow sad and old and hearts of fire grow cold
We swore blood brothers against the wind
I'm ready to grow young again
And hear your sister's voice calling us home across the open yards
Believin' we could cut someplace of our own
With these drums and these guitars
We made a promise we swore we'd always remember
No retreat, baby, no surrender
Blood brothers in the stormy night with a vow to defend
No retreat, baby, no surrender
Now on the street tonight the lights grow dim
The walls of my room are closing in
But it's good to see your smiling face and to hear your voice again
We could sleep in the twilight by the river side
With a wide open country in our hearts
And these romantic dreams in our heads
We made a promise we swore we'd always remember
No retreat, baby, no surrender
Blood brothers in the stormy night with a vow to defend
No retreat, baby, no surrender
No retreat, baby, no surrender
In 1999 riskeerde Springsteen een boycot van de politie van New York
omdat hij het had gewaagd kritiek te hebben op het neerschieten van een onschuldige ongewapende immigrant.
De 22-jarige zwarte jongen pakt z'n portemonnee om z'n ID te laten zien nadat hij staande was gehouden
en wordt door 3 agenten doorzeeft met 41 schoten.
Hij schreef daarover het nummer ââ,¬Å"41 Shots".
American Skin (41 shots)
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
And we'll take that ride
Across this bloody river to the other side
41 shots they cut through the night
You're kneeling over his body in the vestibule
Praying for his life
Is it a gun?
Is it a knife?
Is it a wallet?
This is your life
It ain't no secret
It ain't no secret
Ain't no secret my friend
You can get killed just for living in your American skin
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
Lena gets her son ready for school
She says now on these streets Charles
You got to understand the rules
If an officer stops you
Promise me You'll always be polite
Never ever run away and promise momma
You'll keep your hands in sight
Cause is it a gun?
Is it a knife?
Is it a wallet?
This is your life
It ain't no secret
It ain't no secret
No secret my friend
You can get killed just for living in your American skin
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
Is it a gun?
Is it a knife?
Is it in heart?
Is it in your lies
It ain't no secret
It ain't no secret
It ain't no secret
41 shots and we'll take that ride
Across this bloody river to the other side
41 shots my boots caked in mud
We're baptized in these waters and in each other's blood
Is it a gun?
Is it a knife?
Is it a wallet?
This is your life
It ain't no secret
It ain't no secret
No secret my friend
You can get killed just for living in
Can get killed just for living in
You can get killed just for living in your American skin
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
41 shots
Born in the USA is wellicht het door politici meest misbruikte liedje aller tijden.
Reagan-aanhangers zagen Born in the USA als een "grand cheerful affirmation of American life".
Vreemd, want de song gaat over een jongen die naar Vietnam moet, daar zijn broer verliest
en bij terugkomst in Amerika moet constateren dat zijn baan is weggesaneerd.
Tot op de dag van vandaag blijkt het liedje onbegrepen.
(http://www.br-online.de/bayern3/musik/meilensteine/80er/artikel/springsteen-bruce-born-in-the-usa/foto/springsteen_bruce_200_200_sony.jpg)
Born in the USA
Born down in a dead man's town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
You end up like a dog that's been beat too much
Till you spend half your life just covering up
Born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Got in a little hometown jam
So they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land
To go and kill the yellow man
Born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man says "Son if it was up to me"
Went down to see my V.A. man
He said "Son, don't you understand"
I had a brother at Khe Sahn fighting off the Viet Cong
They're still there, he's all gone
He had a woman he loved in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms now
Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run ain't got nowhere to go
Born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
I'm a long gone Daddy in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
I'm a cool rocking Daddy in the U.S.A
(http://dvdtoile.com/FILMS/1/1837_3.jpg)
Highway Patrolman
My name is Joe Roberts I work for the state
I'm a sergeant out of Perrineville barracks number 8
I always done an honest job as honest as I could
I got a brother named Franky and Franky ain't no good
Now ever since we was young kids it's been the same come down
I get a call over the radio Franky's in trouble downtown
Well if it was any other man, I'd put him straight away
But when it's your brother sometimes you look the other way
Me and Franky laughin' and drinkin' nothin' feels better than blood on blood
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's strayin' like any brother would
Man turns his back on his family well he just ain't no good
Well Franky went in the army back in 1965
I got a farm deferment, settled down, took Maria for my wife
But them wheat prices kept on droppin' till it was like we were gettin' robbed
Franky came home in '68, and me, I took this job
Yeah we're laughin' and drinkin' nothin' feels better than blood on blood
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's strayin', teach him how to walk that line
Man turns his back on his family he ain't no friend of mine
Well the night was like any other, I got a call 'bout quarter to nine
There was trouble in a roadhouse out on the Michigan line
There was a kid lyin' on the floor lookin' bad bleedin' hard from his head there
was a girl cryin' at a table and it was Frank, they said
Well I went out and I jumped in my car and I hit the lights
Well I must of done one hundred and ten through Michigan county that night
It was out at the crossroads, down round Willow bank
Seen a Buick with Ohio plates behind the wheel was Frank
Well I chased him through them county roads till a sign said Canadian border five miles from here
I pulled over the side of the highway and watched his taillights disappear
Me and Franky laughin' and drinkin'
Nothin' feels better than blood on blood
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's strayin' like any brother would
Man turns his back on his family well he just ain't no good
Blood Brothers
We played king of the mountain out on the end
The world come chargin' up the hill, and we were women and men
Now there's so much that time, time and memory fade away
We got our own roads to ride and chances we gotta take
We stood side by side each one fightin' for the other
We said until we died we'd always be blood brothers
Now the hardness of this world slowly grinds your dreams away
Makin' a fool's joke out of the promises we make
And what once seemed black and white turns to so many shades of gray
We lose ourselves in work to do and bills to pay
And it's a ride, ride, ride, and there ain't much cover
With no one runnin' by your side my blood brother
On through the houses of the dead past those fallen in their tracks
Always movin' ahead and never lookin' back
Now I don't know how I feel, I don't know how I feel tonight
If I've fallen 'neath the wheel, if I've lost or I've gained sight
I don't even know why, I don't know why I made this call
Or if any of this matters anymore after all
But the stars are burnin' bright like some mystery uncovered
I'll keep movin' through the dark with you in my heart
My blood brother
I'm Going Down
We sit in the car outside your house
I can feel the heat coming 'round
I go to put my arm around you
and you give me a look like I'm way out of bounds
well you let out one of your bored sighs
Well lately when I look into your eyes
I'm goin down, down down down
I'm goin down, down down down
I'm goin down, down down down
We get dressed up and we go out, baby, for the night
We come home early burning, burning in some fire fight
I'm sick and tired of you setting me up
Setting me up just to knock-a knock-a knock-a me down
down down down down
I'm goin down, down down down
I'm goin down, down down down
I'm goin down, down down down
I pull you close but when we kiss I can feel a doubt
I remember back when we started
My kisses used to turn you inside out
I used to drive you to work in the morning
Friday night I'd drive you all around
You used to love to drive me wild
But lately girl you get your kicks from just driving me down
down down down down
I'm goin down, down down down
I'm goin down, down down down
I'm goin down, down down down
I'm goin down, down down down
I'm goin down, down down down
I'm goin down, down down down