This post is from Out the Other's 2009 Bonnaroo Artist Previews, where I will be posting previews of all the musical acts playing the 2009 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. Please check out and subscribe to the full site to learn more about all of this year's performers.
Editor's Note: This is a guest preview by Aaron Hartley of Theory 8 Records & Artist Management, the musical man about town (and the internet) who works with some of my favorite Nashville acts. You can reach Aaron through his website or via [email protected].
My sister once told a mutual friend of ours that the most important thing to me in life was music. She said the order was music first, family second and so on and so forth. When our friend looked back at me for a response, I simply had no argument to offer. My sister was correct.
Music is a huge part of my life. I can trace back certain times in life to specific albums or songs. If someone says something resembling a song lyric, I immediately start singing that song out loud. It is how my brain is hard wired. To me, everything can be said in a great song. I can be in the middle of a certain crisis and immediately think of a song that relates to what I'm going through.
That brings me to Bruce Springsteen. In short, I never got The Boss. In our early twenties my wife had a greatest hits record that she'd listen to and I never really cared about it. Looking back now, I realize what was missing and that certain something, for me, was life imitating art.
Let me explain...back in 2007 I spent an entire year about to turn thirty. I was twenty nine, working a full time job, paying a mortgage, married with two kids, running a cash strapped record label, managing an artist on a mega corporation (major label) and somehow, just trying to pay the bills. In the midst of this I stumbled upon a live cut of "Badlands" by Bruce Springsteen and immediately identified with the lyrics, "Talk about a dream; try to make it real/You wake up in the night with a fear so real/You spend your life waiting for a moment that just don't come".
That hit home in a big way. I dug deeper and found "Promised Land" which states, "I've done my best to live the right way, I get up every morning and go to work each day. But your eyes go blind and your blood runs cold, Sometimes I feel so weak I just want to explode. Explode and tear this whole town apart. Take a knife and cut this pain from my heart. Find somebody itching for something to start...Mister, I ain't a boy, no, I'm a man, And I believe in a promised land. "
And the kicker came from a song that I thought was just a cheesy hit, "Dancing In The Dark," "Message keeps getting clearer, radio's on and I'm moving 'round the place, I check my look in the mirror, I wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face, Man I ain't getting nowhere, I'm just living in a dump like this, There's something happening somewhere, baby I just know that there is..."
Turning thirty is just weird. Personally, I felt a certain responsibility to stop hoping that I was going to turn into what I thought I would as a kid and just accept that I have to work a regular job and pay my bills. It's a time where you wonder if your dreams are worth still dreaming and if reality is better to accept. All I wanted to do is run my own record label and manage artists. That cost me a lot of money, it still does. It's a big risk and I get to watch some people do this day in and day out and I have to work a full time day job to pay for a mortgage and health insurance. During this time in life I didn't need a flavor of the week band to give me a record I wouldn't care about in three months, I needed something I could relate to, something I understood.
What I'm trying to tell you is that Bruce Springsteen writes songs that at a certain point in your life you will have an A-HA moment where you will be listening to "No Surrender" or "The River" or "Hungry Heart" and you'll feel as if Bruce wrote that song just for you, to deal with whatever you're going through. You'll go home and see old friends and out of nowhere you'll think "Crap, this is just like 'Glory Days,'" where Bruce says, "Now I think I'm going down to the well tonight and I'm going to drink till I get my fill and I hope when I get old I don't sit around thinking about it, but I probably will. Yeah, just sitting back trying to recapture a little of the glory of, well time slips away and leaves you with nothing mister but boring stories of glory days..."
I have younger friends tell me they don't get Bruce Springsteen. I tell them to wait. Give it time. One day it will hit you and you will have to devour every song. It's like reading a book written specifically for you. And the beauty is, the hero doesn't always win and the guy doesn't always get the girl. The songs speak the truth and that truth will help you get through tough times.
I saw Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band perform twice last year. Both shows were life changing moments. The first time I thought I knew Bruce's catalog and I was sorely mistaken. I knew very little. I spent the next two months listening to every song on every record I owned. And then they announced a Nashville show. My wife and I went and I knew every single track. From start to finish I was blown away. And when I thought it could not get any better, Bruce played "I Fought The Law" - made famous by The Clash - because it was Joe Strummer's birthday. Why that is a big deal is a story for another time, but I could have died right there and been happy. My exact words to my wife, "I should just jump off this balcony now because I'm not sure anything could ever beat this".
I'm bummed because I will not see Bruce at Bonnaroo. And I have a feeling he's going to kill. What will be entertaining is to see a 59 year old possibly blow every other act out of that festival. Bonnaroo is unique because acts can play for a very long time (last year My Morning Jacket went for about four hours I think) and that's just when Bruce excels, when he has time to play. I imagine he'll have a special set for this occasion and there is a part of me that is sad that I'll miss it. But I would also encourage anyone who has never seen Bruce live to give it a shot. He's one of those classic artists who is trained in live performing. He always delivers. And who knows, he might just perform a song that you needed to hear at that time in your life. If he does, you'll be a fan forever.
"Badlands"
"Glory Days"
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will play the What Stage on Saturday from 9 p.m. - 12:30 a.m. Check out the full Bonnaroo schedule on the official Bonnaroo website.
Ok I might just be the biggest Bruce fan ever! thanks for posting about him! I actually just heard Fuse is airing a special on him tomorrow night for a couple hours! I'm psyched! especially for the Loaded episode where they'll show his good videos! the info is here: http://fusefest.fuse.tv/a/home
Posted by: Jackie S. | Thursday, June 11, 2009 at 04:16 PM
ahhh! I lied the Bruce Special is TONIGHT at 8pm! can't wait!
Posted by: Jackie S. | Thursday, June 11, 2009 at 04:31 PM