#108 Living Proof by Bruce Springsteen

"You shot through my anger and rage

To show me my prison was just an open cage

There were no keys no guards

Just one frightened man and some old shadows for bars"

Today was a birthday party for my son who is turning four next week. We had his party at a historical carousel. It was magic. Not the carousel or the presents or all the people who came because of their love for him. It was his face. I saw pure happiness as he rode around on the carousel horse with his friends around him. 

Pure happiness and my heart ached with the "missing words to some prayer...a prayer I could never make". A prayer of love, thankfulness, and a knowing. I had a moment of "undying light" where I knew what all this was for. It was a glimpse only and with a quick return to earthly matters I locked it away quickly in my heart. I don't know what it was or of what it was proof, but it was real and fragile and came from my son. You gave me the greatest gift today and every day. 

Happy Birthday bud!!!

For complete lyrics:  http://m.brucespringsteen.net/songs/living-proof#sid-409

#springsteen

@springsteen

#107 Livin' in the Future by Bruce Springsteen

"I'm Rollin' through town

A lost cowboy at sundown 

got my monkey on a leash 

got my ear turned to the ground 

My Faith's been torn asunder 

tell me is that rolling thunder 

Or just a sinking sound of something righteous going under"

A call to action.  Everyone still says "we live in the greatest country";"this is the land of the free". Well is it? Just because that is what it's supposed to be, it does not mean we're living up to that ideal in any way. In some areas we have made a lot of progress toward giving that level of personal freedom, and in other ways we have taken it back from certain people in certain groups at certain times as is deemed necessary. It is no longer just a fear of what may happen in our uncertain world, but it is now the reality we live in. Our country and the rest of the world has taken us many steps back in terms of progress as a civilization. We can no longer just sit back and make the claims mentioned at the outset and expect it to be so. We need to demand more from ourselves, our leaders, and each other.  

#springsteen

@springsteen

For complete lyrics visit: 

http://m.brucespringsteen.net/songs/livin-in-the-future

#106 Light of Day by Bruce Springsteen

"Things can't get any worse, they got to get better"

Any day now. I'll be done with school. I'll have paid off my debt. I'll lose weight. I'll have time to be with and do what I really want to do. Just about there. Almost. Living in a perpetual state of what is around the bend. Is it hope? Is it denial? Is it blind faith?  Yes and yes and yes...I've been going to school since 2005 off and on - mostly on. I have my Bachelors and I am in my second graduate program. I have pursued psychology, occupational therapy, and this December I will have my Masters in Accounting. Yep - just around the corner. I can taste it. I will be done with school finally and forever. And I still just want to be a writer...that's just around the corner too.

I saw Bruce and the band two nights ago in Albany. Bruce never fails to inspire me to get back to what I want in life. There's my practical life and my "light of day life". Maybe something will come from this writing pursuit or maybe it will be only my small way of staying in touch with my creative side...god knows I can't be a "creative accountant" (that's a major nerd accounting joke for all you regular people) or maybe it always be just around the corner...whatever IT may be...

#springsteen

For complete lyrics: http://m.brucespringsteen.net/songs/light-of-day#sid-726

#105 Last To Die by Bruce Springsteen

"We don't measure the blood we've drawn anymore

We just stack the bodies outside the door"

Springsteen's lyrics never fail to call to mind other lyrics. When looking at this song through a personal lens "if I had one wish in this god forsaken world ..that your sins would be your own" rings in my head. How many parents raise their children with little thought about the tapes (or downloads) they are passing on to their kids? If we're not stopping to examine our own "tapes" or paradigms we live out of, we do our children and ourselves a great disservice. 

For individuals with horrific stories to tell this is never more true if you're "brought up to do like your daddy done". How many generations suffer for the mistake of another and how many left to die? Being the last to die takes courage. Taking control of now and the future is a feat not accomplished by many. Having a vision for yourself outside of your experience is where the power is. Not just letting life fall apart. 

#springsteen

Read complete lyrics:  http://m.brucespringsteen.net/songs/last-to-die#sid-509