The Daily Feather — Thunder Road to the Promised Land

“You can hide 'neath your covers and study your pain
Make crosses from your lovers, throw roses in the rain
Waste your summer praying in vain
For a savior to rise from these streets”

Bruce Springsteen, 1974

In the words of The Boss himself, it was written to be a “big invitation to (my) audience… to a long and very earthly journey.” Of all Springsteen’s epic repertoire, “Thunder Road” is my anthem, evoking memories of the kid in me who dreamed of escape. On Friday night, I heard it performed live. The four lifetime concerts that preceded were Pink Floyd, Elton John & Billy Joel, The Rolling Stones, and the Police, the last of which was in June 2007. Words fail to describe how the 73-year-old performer still has “it,” as does his E Street Band, which with the inevitability of death has been forced to evolve. There were no guarantees that “Thunder Road” would be in the lineup. “Born in the U.S.A.” was not. I did not have to relive a moment that forever seared that song into my mind, when it was surreally still playing on the radio of a wrecked car in which a friend of mine was trapped and died that summer night of 1984 in Madison, Connecticut.

My dear friend Peter Boockvar occupies the opposite end of the concert attendance spectrum. He’d need a spreadsheet to track all he’s attended. Knowing he’d be thrilled, I tweeted out the following on Friday about an hour into Springsteen’s show: “Hey @pboockvar #Bruce just took me to the #PromisedLand. Here’s to the next stop being #ThunderRoad.” While most of the few comments that trailed in were positive, a handful expressed disappointment in my taste given the artist’s known political views. How sad.

Tellingly, the nation’s divisiveness is manifest in fresh data via the University of Michigan.