From: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org (LuckyTown Digest) To: luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Subject: LuckyTown Digest V9 #24 Reply-To: luckytown@luckytown.org Sender: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Errors-To: owner-luckytown-digest@luckytown.org Precedence: bulk LuckyTown Digest Wednesday, June 26 2002 Volume 09 : Number 024 NOTE: Sale/trade posts should be emailed to luckytown-ads, *NOT* to luckytown. That includes tix wanted/tix grovels, post them to luckytown-ads, please. Contents: The Mary Reference & One Person's Take on "The Rising" ["Bernardo, Thomas] Resurrection / The after life / Firefighters / Raising kids [ROUSSEAU RIC] The Rising & multiple narrators ["Kevin Kinder" ] listening parties ["Kevin Kinder" ] Bruce's web presence ["Eric Douglas" ] website hidden links [Bill Daverne ] I REALLY wanted to love the new song but... ["Antonia J Byers" ] That New Song, Take 2 (they're small) [OmanIV@aol.com] The Rising [GaryMaz1@aol.com] The Rising [Jim ganley ] Re: LuckyTown Digest V9 #23 [JSchle9336@cs.com] RealPlayer [Jim McCullough ] A&E ' Live By Request ' [melissa turner ] Re: Live By Request ["Debbie Gray" ] A&E Concert [elvisagrrl ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2002 11:03:43 -0400 From: "Bernardo, Thomas" Subject: The Mary Reference & One Person's Take on "The Rising" Rich Kortz wrote in LTD V9 #23: "Seems Mary is . . . now Mary the mother of God cradling the lost spirits from the WTC attack. . . . Bruce's artistic journey with her as a metaphoric device has always been creative and powerful, but now it's heartbreaking, too." Interesting take, Rich. Although I tend to think the Mary-reference in "The Rising" is perhaps an extension of the character from "Thunder Road," "Racing," and "The River." I mean this as no disrespect to practicing Roman Catholics (as I am one) or the Blessed Mother. While certainly open to reasonable interpretation, I simply think the Mary in "The Rising" is the narrator's wife in a cemetery (i.e., "garden of a thousand sighs" -- subtle Shakespearean reference, incidentally). Of course, my take on the song (which, granted, doesn't seem to be the popular one) is that the protagonist dies. The song's bridge, for example, seems to support this position ("spirit's above and behind me . . . may their precious blood bind me, Lord, as I stand before your fiery light"). Invoking the religious symbolism of blood -- and all of its covenantal connotations (in both the Jewish and Christian faiths) -- is very powerful here, as is the reference to a person's spirit and the fact that the man is calling on (praying for?) these things as he stands before the Lord's fiery light. After the character dies, his spirit dwells, seeing his wife in the garden (as opposed to being *with* her in a physical sense); the beautiful gifts of their love as husband & wife reflected as visions in the sky (holy pictures of our children); and, finally, the character asks his wife (and, again, in a passive way) "may I feel your arms around me/may I feel your blood mix with mine." It's as if he doesn't want to leave her or this life, hence the attachment to the flesh (he wants to feel her arms around him) and their sense of oneness (her blood mixed with his). But then a "dream of life" echoes and seemingly calls him (in fact, tugs at him, hence the catfish simile). When read in this way, the final minute of the song becomes all the more transcendental. It's as if the character's spirit is rising away from his wife and above all of those dark, but very real after-effects of death (blackness and sorrow; tears, sadness, and fears; memory, shadows, longing, and emptiness -- hardly a catalogue of perks celebrating *this* life). At this point, though, the song builds in tempo, with background vocals suggesting a choir of angels accompanying the character's spirit through the litany of darkness and on to his resurrection toward fullness and ultimately BLESSED LIFE. When the song kicks into its final chorus and li,li,li's, the entire musical arrangement comes together for a celebration and triumph of life over death. After 4 minutes and 37 seconds of this anthem, you are either dancing in the street naked, swaying side-to-side with upraised arms like a gospel singer, or tripping over yourself to hit the 'repeat' button on the stereo. It's *that* powerful and uplifting. What's most striking about this song is the fact that Bruce Springsteen is challenging his audience to reflect and feel on a level typically avoided by rock music, or, at best, suggested on its periphery. This may explain why some initial reactions to the song (either reading the lyrics and/or listening to it) were negative. As a culture, we've become so stridently knee-jerk secular, we completely shun anything with a faint whiff of the religious. And as far as interpretations are concerned, if people had problems grasping "Born in the U.S.A.," I can only imagine what they'll do with this one. Rest assured, though, the song has a fantastic hook, a great sing along, and it seems open to at least a few different levels of meaning. Bruce once said during an interview that people aren't taught to think hard enough. I couldn't agree more. Not only do we, as a society, not think hard enough, we don't expect our art to challenge us to think on different levels (or to think, at all). Pop culture can be a great vehicle for artistic expression, and hence make the necessary connection for healing and understanding, but it can also be a vapid cesspool of the fundamental things that make up our human experience. This album has a ton of potential, and not simply from a commercial standpoint. I'm referring to something much more than that. If songs like "My City of Ruins," "Further On (Up the Road)," and "The Rising" are any indication, this album seems like the next artistic step for Bruce Springsteen. It could be the fruition of many of the themes he's explored his entire career. Miraculously, the man has actually gained momentum as an artist. Those who want him to recycle material he wrote (or sound like he did) in his 20s and 30s, I fear, completely miss the point. They want Bruce frozen in time because he represents something to them. But if you're really willing to think and listen, he's giving you so much more. His work is not just a soundtrack to your restless youth, or your search for love and purpose. It's all of those things, plus a great companion as you continue to search for what it means to be a human being, both in this life and as we contemplate and strive for the next. Come on up for the rising Come on up, lay your hands in mine (Sorry for such a long post. I just felt the song and his work deserved a different take for a change.) All the best, Tom Bernardo ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2002 05:58:41 -0700 From: ROUSSEAU RICHARD Subject: Resurrection / The after life / Firefighters / Raising kids Yesterday I got another piece of puzzle from Bruce and Co. And I'm sure this one will grow on me like so many others have and will likely work in ways I can't yet fathom; there's obviously no single reading. Here's what the song does for me right now: I don't know any of the victims personally. After all that has been said and done, in many ways the event has remained surreal for me. The Rising puts me in the tower at the moment of realization - the proverbial life that flashes before your eyes. First time I've actually wept thinking about it. I'm trying to imagine how I'd feel as a fireman's wife/husband or kid listenting to this song... Right out of the gate the song puts me somewhere in one of the towers, and I can't really know exactly where. I've got a duty, I've got to climb, I have a burden, and a line that connects me. With no time to understand it, I'm coming to help you. I don't know you, lay your hands in mine. Left the house, got the call, burden of the calling, roll down there on wheels of fire - very matter of factly, like every morning. But whats going on here is not a falling, but a rising! Faces gone black, eyes burning bright, oh so precious blood, and the moment of realization that its our time to leave. Resurrection. I'm singing, and I'm not sad. Li,li li,li,li.... A dream of life.... I didn't initially think of Mary as Mother of God. It works that way I guess. I thought of Mary as the wife I left behind. There's a thousand Maries. I miss her. A dream of life could be our kids together, our mixed blood. They'll need to be raised. By the way: you know that question - "What is the meaning of life?" The best answer I've ever heard: "like a catfish dancing on the end of my line." Lay your hands in mine. See ya up the road, Bruce. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2002 01:28:40 -0500 From: "Kevin Kinder" Subject: The Rising & multiple narrators Tom's take on the song is interesting, but I think there's another twist to it. It seems to me that The Rising has not a single narrator (Tom's "protagonist"), but a different one in each verse. Verse 1 clearly seems to be a firefighter. The person in verse 2 has the "cross of his calling," which I take to mean a priest, and may be a reference to NYFD Chaplain Mychal Judge who perished on 9/11. Verse 3 could be any victim trapped in the fire. Verse 4 could be any of the above looking down on their spouse in the cemetery, placing pictures of their children on the grave. But your mileage may vary. - ----- Kevin Kinder kvk@luckytown.org ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2002 08:26:03 -0500 From: "Kevin Kinder" Subject: listening parties Sony is having a contest to distribute tickets to 19 listening parties for "The Rising" nationwide. See http://www.columbiarecords.com/contest/springsteen if interested. - ----- Kevin Kinder kinder@luckytown.org ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2002 06:31:59 -0700 From: "Eric Douglas" Subject: Bruce's web presence > Is anyone else just amazed/annoyed by the way that Bruce's official site > www.brucespringsteen.net has been looks like/has been designed? I think > it really seems like one of the most un-professional, disorganized web > sites I've ever come across from a major (or even more smaller) > recording artist. Just another sign in a long line of them of Bruce's poor presence on the web, and lack of a desire to reach out to the 20-something internet fan base. Pales in comparison to sites like U2, or Counting Crows' presence on the web. Having the AOL/Netscape downloads is a step in the right direction, though. Eric. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2002 09:09:56 -0400 From: Bill Daverne Subject: website hidden links <> There are some hidden links at the website and some are "under construction". Try this one: http://www.brucespringsteen.net/lyrics.html and check out the other links. It's a start. Bill Daverne ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2002 06:30:09 -0700 From: "Antonia J Byers" Subject: I REALLY wanted to love the new song but... As I sit at my computer there is a hand drawn portrait of Bruce to my right a framed "The River" Poster on the wall to my left and a special place for Bruce and the band in my heart! HOWEVER... I just heard the Rising and was under whelmed. I am HOPING it was just my lousy computer speakers?? To me..Bruce's voice was mucked up, mono tone. Way to many La La's and if there was passion I could not hear it. The words were OK... but if that song is about 9/11 then I can only say that even Bruce is still in shock....I imagined Bruce's voice... screaming with an intensity that would rival the screams of Born in the USA... not a LA LA LA... That being said I Love You Bruce and Band and I look forward to hearing the rest. Antonia [text/html attachment deleted] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2002 19:04:58 +0000 From: "E W" Subject: The Rising/This Hard Land After several listenings on AOL, I realized the familiarity with "The Rising" wasn't in the "Li, li, li's" but that the melody was similar in places to "This Hard Land." Give the two a listening and you'll hear it. Speaking of tossing away songs, I wonder what Bruce was working on pre-9/11? Hopefully we'll find out someday the good way! E. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2002 14:28:51 EDT From: OmanIV@aol.com Subject: That New Song, Take 2 (they're small) As Dinah Washington would say, "What a difference a day and an MP3 makes." Never liked Real (Bad) Audio, but aside from the fact that you couldn't "keep" the song (try playing that little link that you download when you're offline) except by recording off the speaking jacks of your computer, which is by then analog (thanks for reminding me, Fred) I couldn't put my trackball on why. It's as clear as mud. The mud (not the UK teeny-bop group) is the comparative quality of the sound on the AOHell First Listen, vs the great MP3 I got from "Amy" - thank you, Amy!! Gosharootie, Bruce is singing the words... the whole sound is better. I like the way the guitar lead in the instrumental part doesn't rise above the (sound) level of the rest, but it seems to have it's own little "clearing" (like a forest) in the mix. I'm still looking for the Big Man and the Cello, but don't tell me, I wanna be surprised. And it definitely gets better with listenings. Which, course, goes against the not-so-real audio idea of not downloading, and probably not listening too often. This is fine if you're at some online cd store, and want to hear a snippet of a song you're not sure about, but this is the way millions will hear your new song, and formed those ever important "first impressions"? And then there are the "cease and desist" orders. Mebbe people will just "crease and persist" :-) When I had a record store in the City, Columbia (or some attorneys) sent me cease and desist orders on Billy Joel bootlegs. He really didn't have too many (aside from the ever-present "Cold Spring Harbor" knockoff), and I didn't like Billy Joel, and didn't sell too much of ANY Billy Joel. But I wanted to comply, so I sent them a letter saying that, "to my knowledge, (and absolutely true) I had never sold any Billy Joel bootlegs, but since I wanted to make sure that I complied with the law, I would instruct my employees not to sell ANY Billy Joel records at all, lest they make a mistake." ;-) So I like it a lot better. I couldn't not like Bruce (well, Daniel In The Lion's Den really tested my loyalty, and the whole idea that Bruce throws away better songs....... Why not "None but the Brave" or "County Fair"?) The metaphor of "rising up" is reaching the end of its useful life, and there seem to be a lot of people on the AOHell "listening board" who think there are too many "La-la-la-la's" (Hey, get your "la-la's" out!) And Gosharootie! it might even get played on Lite-FM. altho it might actually awaken a listener or two. (Go on, Valerie, it'll keep your brain alive!) Sorry, Bruce, "I should've known better with a.............." The other e-mail came from Mr. Stupid, who sometime sneaks in and messes with my computer. This is Johnno in NJ PS Somebody e-mailed me that Rush Limbaugh owns part of Snapple. There is something incredibly bizarre in the idea that Rush Limbaugh owns part of a company which has gotten a lot of promotion and publicity from Howard Stern. THIS is weird. I still endorse the idea of some sponsor.............. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2002 18:44:23 EDT From: GaryMaz1@aol.com Subject: The Rising Downloaded the mp3 last night & played it a few times , i love it what a great song can't wait to hear the rest of the album/cd. a couple of weeks ago my plan was that i would ignore any reference to mp3's of new tracks and have the surprise element when i bought the cd & the thrill of the 1st listen when i put it on in the car but the temptation was far too great , so i've just got to try & avoid the other tracks that are going to be made available.It's going to be another great ride again in the next year or so with the greatest rock n roll band in the world.get ready visa it's going to be tough again! unless i can win some much needed cash. gary [text/html attachment deleted] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2002 09:23:18 -0700 (PDT) From: Jim ganley Subject: The Rising Heard the song Played on WPLJ in NYC at 12:10 this afternoon. Nice.... Great Beat, even the echo/under lyrics sound good. If the rest of the Album is this rockin, he may have another BTR on his hands. Not that I'm comparing the songs..... __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2002 11:58:52 EDT From: JSchle9336@cs.com Subject: Re: LuckyTown Digest V9 #23 More than anything, it's the Beatles'writing that made their songs timeless, much more than their vocals. They were a group with three composers who could write as well as Bruce (Or Berry,Spector,Dylan,Jagger/Richards,Petty,Garcia,Goffin/King, Simon, Boyce/Hart,Young,Lieber/Stoller,John/Taupin, Wilson, Wonder,Holland/Dozier/Holland,McGuinn,Joel,Cropper, or anyone else who has ever written pop (or blues or country or whatever). [text/html attachment deleted] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 03 Jun 2002 09:09:19 -0400 From: Jim McCullough Subject: RealPlayer Is it just me or was the audio quality of the RealPlayer clip absolutely horrible? I'm glad I was able to find a mp3 version that had much better quality. Please record companies, use QuickTime or Media Player in the future. Jim McCullough Zanesville, Ohio ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2002 00:34:13 -0700 (PDT) From: melissa turner Subject: A&E ' Live By Request ' Hey Rich, Yep - I just happened to see A&E 'Live by Request' broadcast, about a week and a half ago featuring David Bowie and it was more than fantastic....He performed a great mix of old,not so old,and material from his latest,'Heathen'( which by the way is very, very fine indeed )Bowie; Ne plus Ultra!!!.Yes,I think it would be a great place for Bruce to showcase his material. -------Former South Jerseyian __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2002 06:51:50 -0500 From: "Debbie Gray" Subject: Re: Live By Request I have stumbled upon this show many times & think it's terrific! I wish I knew what type of schedule it's on because I'm sure I've missed more than I've seen. The most recent ones I saw were Elton John & k.d. lang. Deb ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2002 11:55:14 -0700 (PDT) From: elvisagrrl Subject: A&E Concert I think that would be a great place for Bruce to play his new stuff! I've recently seen David Bowie on the call in live show and he was great! I've also seen others play and they've all seemed to enjoy talking to the callers and taking requests. I hope Bruce goes ahead with it. I will definitely have my tape set to record! Ellisa __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com ------------------------------ End of LuckyTown Digest V9 #24 ****************************** ********************************************************************* ** LuckyTown WWW URL ** The LuckyTown FAQ, back issues, web-based subscription/unsubscription, and many other things can be found on the LuckyTown WWW Page: http://www.luckytown.org ** LuckyTown mailing list addresses ** You can send email to go into the next LuckyTown Digest to: luckytown@luckytown.org You can send email to go into the next LuckyTown-Ads Digest to: luckytown-ads@luckytown.org Any questions for the list admin should be emailed to: owner-luckytown@luckytown.org To unsubscribe, send email to majordomo@luckytown.org with message body: unsubscribe luckytown-digest To get further information on how to subscribe/unsubscribe/change your subscription address, as well as the other available commands, send email to majordomo@luckytown.org with message body: help ********************************************************************* The contents of this digest are not necessarily approved by the list admin.