10.06.2007

"things that shouldn't happen here, happening here"

Last week, Bruce Springsteen played "The Today Show", which means he gave a free, early-morning concert in Rockefeller Plaza. (That's right outside my former workplace - but I wouldn't have been there at the time.) Allan found the show online and put it on DVD for me.

Springsteen and the E Street Band played a few songs from his new album "Magic," and a few older songs. Before "Living In The Future," Bruce went into storytelling mode; Allan helped me transcribe it for you. (A few words are missing.)

The band was already playing the intro when Bruce held up his hand to start speaking. This is live TV, so now there's no way NBC can cut to commercial.

Note that Today Show host Matt Lauer and NBC's Tim Russert are in the front rows.
I must really want to sell some records bad to be up this early singing these songs .. it's a little desperate but it's all right.

This is a song called "Living In The Future," but it's really about what's happening now. Right now.

It's kind of about how the things we love about America -- cheeseburgers, French fries, the Yankees battlin' Boston, the Bill of Rights [hold microphone to crowd to cheer] [which they did not do loudly enough!], [?] motorcycles, Tim Russert's haircut, [?] and the Jersey shore.

We love all those things the way the women folk love ol' Matt Lauer. [crowd cheers] That's right.

But how for the past six years, we've had to add to the American picture:
rendition,
illegal wiretapping,
voter suppression,
no habeas corpus,
the neglect of our great city New Orleans and her people,
attacks on the Constitution,
and the loss of our best young men and woman in a tragic war.

This is a song about things that shouldn't happen here, happening here.

And so right now we plan to do something about it, we plan to sing about it.

I know it's early - but it's late. So come and join us.

If you're an E Street fan, "Magic" is an excellent album. Springsteen said he wanted to get back to writing catchy pop songs with great hooks, then thread them with lyrics that would be off-centre, and make people uncomfortable.

Some video of the Today Show performance is here.

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