#91 Incident on 57th Street by Bruce Springsteen

“We may find it out on the street tonight baby

Or we may walk until the daylight maybe”

This past weekend, I watched the movie “Public Enemies”, an insightful portrayal of John Dillinger, the infamous bank robber from the 1930’s. Dillinger stoles thousands of dollars from banks and killed and kidnapped when deemed necessary. He was a criminal. He was bad. He was wanted.

And he was sensitive. He was an intelligent, perceptive soul who found a way to survive in a world where he would always find himself on the losing end no matter what kind of life he led. Any possibilities of second chances were taken from him at a young age. So, he played the game of life the only way he could protect himself, by going on the offense.

Spanish Johnny plays the game of life not unlike Johnny Dillinger. Some experience or insight into his life has led him to conclude that the way for his heart to survive an unforgiving world is to get his any way any how. The world was made of winners and losers, and he was “tired of coming out on the losing end”.

Johnny, in the midst of his darker world, finds himself touched by someone who understands him and who will love him probably better than anyone else has loved him in his life. Jane’s a kindred spirit who still carries the hope that Johnny lost long ago. She, too, can see the futility in the games of the world, but she also still dreams for something more, a world where they come out the winners. Johnny gives a small piece of himself to her. They carve themselves out a piece of quiet sadness within their weary worlds, but Johnny can’t jump in completely.

Love becomes something not worth taking a risk for because “it falls apart so easy and you know hearts these days are cheap”. No matter love’s promises, he can’t take the risk of losing once again. There are no guarantees they will “find it out on the street tonight”, find what they’re searching for. He can no longer make or keep promises to himself or to anyone else. He’ll share a moment but not a lifetime. He is safer risking his life rather than his heart.

…next stop for Johnny – Atlantic City….some hearts are not made for this world…

For Complete Lyrics Visit: http://www.brucespringsteen.net/songs/IncidentOn57thStreet.html

#90 If I Should Fall Behind by Bruce Springsteen

“Now everyone dreams of a love lasting and true

But you and I know what this world can do”

This Saturday, I will be running my first 10k (6.2 mile) race. My husband is also running the race. He has a few of these races as well as a few marathons under his belt already. He naturally is a faster runner than I am being taller and stronger, so he’s promised that after each mile, he will stop and wait for me to catch up. He won’t let me finish the race alone. And if for some reason I come in last (please God no!), he will let me cross the finish line first.

That’s what marriage is. Two people going through life as individuals, with their own goals and at their own pace. At times, one is stronger than the other and their steps more certain. By taking the time to slow down and travel alongside their partner, they can become a guide during times of distress and a hiding place from the windstorms of life. At times they will fall out of step, but in the end, they arrive together for life’s triumphs and tribulations.

Marriage does not promise perfection and endless days of synchronicity. Two people cannot walk side by side for every step of their lives. That is just not possible, especially if both are struggling to grow in any area of their life, physically, emotionally, or spiritually.

Sometimes one will run ahead of the other, beyond the curve in the road or over the hill into the distant horizon, but they will not let the other lose sight for too long. They will go to their dark places and return to the light. One may lose momentum but will again quicken their pace. They will feel apathy and hopelessness but continue to return home again to passion and promise. At times, one will be the strength and at other times the same person will be counting on to the other to light their way. This is the promise of marriage. This is love.

For Complete Lyrics Visit: http://www.brucespringsteen.net/songs/IfIShouldFallBehind.html

#89 Iceman by Bruce Springsteen

“My baby was a lover and the world just blew her away”

“Don't check

Just balance on the fence

Don't answer

Don't ask

Don't try and make sense…

I feel numb”
(U2)

In Badlands, when Springsteen sings “I wanna find one face that ain’t lookin’ through me”, my stomach actually turns into knots…and the neurotransmitters in my brain fire YES! YES! – Where is that face? There’s got to be someone left with some hot blood in their veins…somebody “itchin’ for something to start”…Anyone? Anyone? Any? Going once, going twice…

We have become a society void of passionate conversation and connection. I’m so beyond sick of hearing people talking in clichés instead of really connecting – really saying what they think: We constantly hear “it’s for the best “, “think positive”, “I believe everything happens for a reason”, “it’s all good”. It’s pretty sad that I can predict the other side of a two way conversation most of the time.

Jesus F’n Christ! Does no one say what they really feel anymore? How about? This totally sucks…it’s not fair – it makes me want to kill myself…I think I will become alcohol dependent now that my friend was found raped and murdered in a dumpster..nope we get: “everything happens for a reason..she was raped and murdered so that I could become someone who helps rape victims” – “she was so kind – never said a bad thing about anyone” – really never?

I know that we are forced to live through mind numbing jobs and most of us are just struggling to make it through whatever this world hands us, putting us into a stupor of easy submission (insert “your eyes go blind and your blood runs cold” lyrics here) to the forces around us telling us what we should be, what we should feel, what we should look like, and repeating each and every new slogan that comes our way because Oprah said it on her show last week. Oh and don’t forget this season’s hottest suede boot! Icemen…Icepeople (because you do have to be PC, you know! – If you’re not, then God help you!)…that’s what we’ve become.

Aaaaahhhhhh! Where is the hot blood that boils through our veins…where is the passion, the anger…are we really that anesthetized that we can’t feel anymore..or are we so afraid of feeling…that we just become another spoke in the wheel of what society dictates, not allowing us to question anything, not even allowing us to realize the trap that we are in? Just walk the straight and narrow – don’t worry your reward is in the heavens. A mind-numbing existence = salvation – sure it does – the preacher said so. No room for ache, no room for “the search”, no room for a passionate existence.

What? You mean the “white wedding, house on the hill, 2.3 children, working for the man, voting for president, celebrity obsessed, pill popping, you make your own luck, we only pretend we want to help the poor” society we live in is not the best way to live? This is blasphemy! Hack into her computer, shut down her blog and throw her in jail for these socialist, communist ideas. She’s a radical – she’s dangerous…she has the infection…her blood is not frozen like ours is…What shall we do? I know - I heard her middle name is Osama…die bitch die!

(Sigh) – that felt really good…

“Well Everybody wants to go forever…I just want to burn out hard and bright” (Ryan Adams)

For Complete Lyrics Visit: http://www.brucespringsteen.net/songs/Iceman.html

#88 I’m on Fire by Bruce Springsteen

“Sometimes it's like someone took a knife baby
edgy and dull and cut a six-inch valley
through the middle of my soul”

Obsessive love. Sarah McLaughlin sings about it in her song “Possession”: “My body aches to breathe your breath. Your words keep me alive…Nothing Stands between us here. And I won’t be denied”. Whoa! Sounds a bit stalkerish, doesn’t it? What happens when one person fixates on another and believes they are the only possible fulfillment of the lonely, empty places inside?

A “six-inch valley through the middle of my soul” paints a picture of mountains cut wide open, trees uprooted. The land is devastated and unprotected. Anything can flow through, in or out, without hindrance down the river of pain. There is something vital missing, and a fragile landscape remains. The person embodying such desolation feels as good as dead without this other person.

This fixation, call it love – call it obsession, has taken them over and leaves them raw and willing to ignore the voice inside that tells them no. They just need someone to say yes. They just need the object of their desire to give them the permission they’ve already given themselves, and they’ll be there, down the intense road of passion and obsession, into the arms of what they’ve long desired. They believe they are the fulfillment, and the one they crave is the fulfillment of each other’s each and every need and desire.

To have someone long for you with such intensity for some is a flattering experience. They, too, may feed on the fixation even when they don’t return the same feelings. What they may not realize, though, is that these kinds of obsessions just grow and grow, moving along like “a freight train”. And no matter the height of the pedestal the object of desire is held on, they will never be able to fulfill the fantasy or fill the eternal emptiness of their admirer. They will not ever be able to quench the fires of infatuation. They will always fall short, and intense “love” can quickly turn to intense hatred. And that’s where the danger begins…

…that being said – this is such a sexy song!

For Complete Lyrics Visit: http://www.brucespringsteen.net/songs/ImOnFire.html

#87 I’m Goin’ Down by Bruce Springsteen

“I'm sick and tired of you setting me up
Setting me up just to knock-a knock-a knock-a me down”

The music and vocals are what make this song so great. But my goal is to delve into lyrical content. Though catchy and playful, this song does capture a common and serious issue in many relationships.

I’ve observed many couples that make me wonder, “Then why are you together?” The woman thinks her husband is stupid and immature, and she lets the rest of the world know it by every roll of her eyes. She does nothing but complain about him, and in all too common conversations with her girlfriends agrees that men are “pigs”, “immature”, and just a "lesser species" compared to their perfect selves.

My question is this: If you’re so evolved and mature, why did you marry such a “loser”? You married him, so doesn’t what you think about him really serve as a reflection on yourself? She no longer takes pleasure in what first made her fall in love. Instead she takes his affections for granted and finds herself living with feelings of resentment and irritation. She continues to treat him with disdain oblivious to the sinking soul inside of him that will one day say “I’m sick and tired” and perhaps even walk away. Then she and her girlfriends, in a pathetic display of self pity, can cry about what an insensitive jerk he is to have left her this way.

For Complete Lyrics Visit: http://www.brucespringsteen.net/songs/ImGoinDown.html