The door's open, but the ride, it ain't free
Published August 19, 2002
But the biggest highlight for me is Mary's Place. With Mary's Place, I can imagine Bruce saying to Brendan something like, "look, I know exactly what I want here. This is me and the band, acknowledging the pain and rocking the house. Celebrating it and everything else. Celebrating life. We're just gonna rock here, okay? You can go take a coffee break or somethin."
We remember Mary, she danced across her front porch, she got in the car, let the wind blow back her hair, laughed and trailed her fingers in our hair. She married somebody else, but, hey, we're still friends. And tonight, we're gonna meet at her place and have a party. All our old friends are gonna be there. We're much older now. Wrapped up in our own problems, making our way, reconciling youthful dreams and reality. We could use a little life-affirming action right now. So meet me at Mary's place. We're gonna have a party.
I got a picture of you in my locket
I keep it close to my heart
It's a light shining in my breast
Leading me through the dark
Seven days, seven candles
In my window lighting your way
Your favorite record's on the turntable
I drop the needle and pray (Turn it up)
Turn it up, turn it up, turn it up
Turn it up, turn it up, turn it up, turn it up
- The door's open, but the ride, it ain't free
- Published: August 19, 2002
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Pop, Music: Rock
- Writer: George Partington
- George Partington's BC Writer page
- George Partington's personal site
- Spread the Word
- Like this article?
- Email this
Save to del.icio.us
Comments
Thanks, Jimmy Jazz. I only wish I had discovered Bruce before his 1978 visit to the Fox Theater in Atlanta, Ga. The show was broadcast, and I did pick up a copy of it a couple years later. Oh my, was Bruce ever on fire then. If you can find it, I highly recommend that show, or some others from that tour I'm aware of (many were broadcast on FM radio) such as Winterland and Philadelphia.
Well, Bruce is back to his best.




The glory of Bruce in the mid-70's is one of the few things that makes me wish I were older.
Good piece.