Complex Numbers

A Runaway American Dream

In the day we sweat it out in the streets of a runaway American dream
At night we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines...

Today is Bruce Springsteen's birthday.

(Today was also my day for doing a prompt in "The Writer's Cramp" , so naturally I made it about Bruce.)

Back in the faraway reaches of the past, I used to celebrate by playing all his albums, in order. Now, of course, doing that would take more than one day (about 27:45, according to my Bruce playlist that includes every song from every album), so I just play them at random.

"But Robert the Bruce Fan, don't you listen to Springsteen every day?"

Well, sure... almost. But I also like other artists, like Counting Crows and Pink Floyd; Brandi Carlile and Bright Eyes and The Waterboys and Dire Straits and this obscure British band called Sniff 'n' the Tears and many more. So normally, I mix it up some.

The real question is why I bother celebrating someone else's birthday, and that I can't really answer. I just know that, over the years (about 30 now), the one artist whose work speaks to me with the most clarity is Bruce.

There are few gimmicks in his music. No popping drum track, no rap whistles, no overproduction. Well, maybe a little bit on "Dancing In The Dark"

I'm dying for some action
I'm sick of sitting 'round here trying to write this book

I think I remember the first time I heard "Born To Run" and, thus, Bruce. My parents listened, kind of by default, to country music, because the local country station was all our cheap-ass radio picked up, and Dad liked to listen to the news between Conway Twitty and Willie Nelson.

And then, one day, we were in the car, I was fiddling with the stations while he was driving, and I found the more distant rock and roll station. It played "Born To Run," and I never looked back.

Well, that's not entirely true. I pretended to dislike country for a while, to be "cool" with the high school crowd, but I still like a good deal of country music. Don't tell anybody, though.

I gradually found out that many of the other songs I liked, such as "Fire" and "Blinded By The Light" were performed by others, but actually written by Springsteen.

Mama always told me not to look into the sights of the sun
Oh but mama that's where the fun is

(It's "Cut loose like a deuce," by the way. Not "Wrapped up like a douche." Christ.)

Hell, that song's one of the main reasons I use the "sun" costumicon on this site.

I ended up seeking out the other albums, in addition to Born To Run, and my obsession was born.

Anyway, enough about that. Just wanted to get it on record (ha) that while there have been a lot of changes over the last 30 years, there's one thing that has stayed constant in my life.

It's important to have some continuity, I think.

Well here's to your good looks baby now here's to my health
Here's to the loaded places that we take ourselves
When it comes to luck you make your own
Tonight I got dirt on my hands but I'm building me a new home