wow.

Wow. Is all I've got to say. At this moment.

Wow.

Wow. Is all I've got to say. At this moment.

Wow.

Thanks. Thanks a lot. That last bit, the Springsteen one, I worked and worked on. I wrote it, edited it and then let it sit for weeks. Then wrote a different take and let it sit some more. Finally I got it right (I hope) and here it is.

Powerful stuff. Thanks.

I've long believed that "My City of Ruins" should be sung in every church in America. That's a powerful hymn right there.

Well done, Sir Brewster.

It's a great song. The first time I hear it actually was on that trip and it nearly destroyed me. It still does actually. That final rise up is just awesome.

Exceptional blend of times good and bad.

"Sometimes I think my whole filthy life is nothing but one long mistake. There are dark nights when I regret the whole thing, and want to start fresh and clean."

Ay, that's the bane of aging with introspection. Well said Sir Brewster.

The verse you note regarding "...tears on my pillow" is my favorite Springsteen lyric of all time and I'm a major Springsteen fan from way, way back and all the way to the present. The song itself was really written with 9/11 in mind and that particular verse really refers to someone who is gone involuntarily, for example but not specifically, someone who died in the towers. But the great thing about Springsteen and his writing is how he can take that kind of situation and make it more universal, to apply under any number of circumstances including, of course, the situation you wrote about.

Thanks Bennett. It sucks to get old sometimes.

Gary, I thought "My City of Ruins" was written before 9/11 and was actually about the decay of Springsteens hometown. It came in handy after 9/11 but I read it was written before those events.

Is that false? Or did he write those more personal lyrics after 9/11?

Great song no matter what.

I think "My City" was actually written about Sprinsgteen's hometown, so you didn't get that wrong, Brewster.

The way it was applied to the 9/11 tragedy in it's latter use on the Rising speaks volumes about Sprinsgteen as a writer whose songs can mean so many things, and be applied to so many different situations. Universal I belive is the appropo word, here.

Oh, and Mat...that really was a great piece you wrote here...which is the actual reason I'm chiming in here. Really good stuff.

-Glen

Sprinsgsteen...well, at least my speed typing is consistent...as in consistently bad.

-Glen

Thanks for clearing that up Glen. I was pretty sure that was the case, but as I'm not the biggest Springsteen fan on the block I wasn't sure. Pretty awesome that it was written about one thing, but then is so easily appropriated into the 9/11 tragedy and just as easily speaks to personal matters.

Oh, and thanks.

My City of Ruins was written about Asbury Park, Bruce's adopted city. He was and is heartbroken with the deterioration of this once fine shore/ocean community. You gotta love him! And yes it's totally associated with 9/11, however, having lost someone very near and dear to me on that tragic Tuesday, You're Missing totally resonates the feelings of that day for me and my family. Bruce's music is so cathartic.
CAR