#92 Independence Day by Bruce Springsteen

"But they Can't Touch Me Now

And You Can't Touch Me Now

They Ain't Gonna Do To Me

What I Watched Them Do To You"

Raising children includes passing down ideas, beliefs, and values from one generation to another. Religion, politics, a general worldview, ways of coping with life (healthy and unhealthy), habits, talents, strengths, weaknesses – these all play a part in building a foundation for the growing child. But the time will come, and oh how it must come, when these children will begin to make decisions based on what they’ve come to believe in, to mature their inheritances, to leave them behind, or to embrace them as their own.

Not everyone responds the same way to breaking away from their upbringing. “Boys run away”, instinctually rebelling against everything they see in their fathers and everything they see in themselves and everything they do not want to be. However, like a newborn country, called the U.S. of A, on its Independence Day, they physically break away and then become exactly what they needed to so desperately leave behind.

“Men make their way”. A choice is made. They recognize that they and the world in which they live is constantly changing. New people bring new ideas, and they constantly search for new reasons why, expanding their vision, and encompass a world greater than the one they are born into. They willfully and inevitably break free from one’s past physically, spiritually, or emotionally.

In either case, it is a mournful process. Recognizing the weaknesses in those that have raised and loved you is a painful experience. Surpassing them in intellectual or emotional growth seems to move against the natural process of life. Yet, it is a necessary process. Springsteen sings “I never meant to take those things away” as a child who knows that their own personal growth will shatter the protective barrier of beliefs and ideas their parent has embraced throughout their life, their means of survival. The child must break away and then “make their way”. Though, they’ll never truly be free from everything, the good and the bad. Remnants of love, splinters of “the darkness”, and slivers of the light remain and there’s celebration and there’s bound to be devastation – come Independence Day.


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

#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