Standing, clapping and singing on Monday like I had done dozens of other times, the sense of belonging, of inclusiveness that I’ve felt before but had lately been ground out of me by life, by age and by responsibilities, returned and could not have made me feel more alive. There’s something about 18,000 plus singing “because the night belongs to us” in unison that is life affirming. But even more so was what was taking place next to me. My daughter and her roommate were doing likewise, singing, dancing, and clapping without pretension and with total commitment to songs that were written well before their births. The ties that bind indeed.

When the kids are young, you always think you’ll be the guiding influence on their choices, musical and otherwise. Play enough Springsteen, eventually they’ll love the music and learn something along the way, or so the theory goes. But generation to generation, kids don’t change all that much. Parents have their music, the kids have theirs and you have to let them find their own musical way, hoping that maybe they’ll pick up an influence or two from you. But sometimes you just have to grab the bull by the horns, or in this case the kid by the hair, and drag them to something important. Fortunately, it required nothing more than a little Target shopping before hand, a nice dinner, and a couple of beers.

The particular symmetry of my daughter’s (and her roommate’s) first Springsteen concert was not necessarily planned, but the intent was there. Springsteen has been the defining musical voice for nearly three-quarters of my life and I certainly had every intention of sharing that connection in the most meaningful way possible. It was a matter of timing. The show in Columbus, on her campus, was the harmonic convergence. The albums and CDs are one thing, but what has made Springsteen such a transformational figure has been his live show. See it once and it makes every other show before or after pale in comparison.

I don’t necessarily harbor exactly the same hopes for her, but she at least ought to understand that there’s more to music than the flavor of the week making a quick buck by mailing in another 86-minute performance. Introducing her to the core of my music passion by the best there’s ever been presented only a moderate amount of risk for a far greater return.