DOCSLIB.ORG

2012-09-02-Sermon-Mu

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
2012-09-02-Sermon-Mu San Lorenzo Community Church United Church of Christ Sermon: “Music that Moves Us” Preached extemporaneously by Rev. Annette J. Cook A reading from the Letter to the Colossians 3:15-17 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed or song, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God our Maker and Sustainer. Sermon presented September 2, 2012 Page 1 San Lorenzo Community Church United Church of Christ Sermon: “Music that Moves Us” Preached extemporaneously by Rev. Annette J. Cook Cheryl and I were talking about our month of Broadway musicals the other day. Evidently, back in June and July, I had a conversation with her about the plans to sing Broadway show tunes and I told her that I wanted to pick four musicals that were all about family. I don’t remember that conversation. In fact, I don’t think it happened. So she said, no, really, you said you wanted four musicals about family: The Sound of Music is a show about a family of circumstance The Fiddler on the Roof is about a family in transition Annie is about a family of choice And Godspell is about the family of God. You see, she said, they are all about family! That’s excellent, isn’t it? In fact, that’s a little bit of genius. Thing is, I never said it. Granted, it would have been cool if I had planned it that way . but I just don’t think I did. Or, maybe, unconsciously I chose these musicals because of the family theme. When I was a kid, my family went camping as our summer vacation – which meant long car rides. Technology and specifically entertainment technology was not what it is now. So these were long car rides without an iPod, without Nintendo, without games on the cell phone. We would all climb in the station wagon. Mom and dad in the front. My sister Natalie had the spot behind Dad, while I sat behind Mom on the passenger side of the car, and Wayne jumped into the way back – I don’t know if there is a name for that part of the car. We always called it the “way back.” Each of us got to pack a few toys and a book to keep us occupied because, of course, my siblings and I fought. There were invisible lines in the car marking places where you couldn’t cross or even touch for fear of reprisal. I’m sure you get the picture. So it is no surprise that my parents – both of whom were teachers – had more than one trick up their sleeves to engage us in something other than nitpicking and arguing. We played all of the usual car games – I Spy and counting blue cars. But more than that we had my Dad who knew and loved Mitch Miller and groups like Up with People and, of course, Broadway musicals. On many a long drive, my family would be singing our hearts out with Oklahoma, South Pacific, The Sound of Music, West Side Story, Mary Poppins and more. My dad had the whole album memorized and, since he played them over and over, well, we knew the songs too. You know, once the My Favorite Things is in your bones, well, it just doesn’t leave. “When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I’m feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things and then I don’t feel so bad.” These weren’t just fun songs to sing – though surely they were that. These were lessons to be learned, ideas and concepts about life, morals and values for living an Sermon presented September 2, 2012 Page 2 San Lorenzo Community Church United Church of Christ Sermon: “Music that Moves Us” Preached extemporaneously by Rev. Annette J. Cook honest life. They teach us about romance, surely, but also being in right relationship, doing the right thing, and having hope and making positive change. So given the origins of why I love musicals so much, I suppose it’s no wonder that we would have a month of family-values musicals. 25 years ago Sarfraz Manzoor’s life changed forever. He was 16 years old, a bored and frustrated working-class Asian kid living in a small town in England. His family was a typical traditional Pakistanis – his dad was a first generation immigrant who worked in a car factory and his mum stayed at home making dresses and looking after four children. Sarfraz was always a bit different from the others. He had a head full of crazy dreams. He wanted to get out of the small town, to do a job that was actually interesting and he wanted the chance to marry someone who wasn’t already his blood relative. Those dreams didn’t seem to have much chance to come true. Yet here in September, Sarfraz is performing a one-man comedy show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival about how Bruce Springsteen saved his life. Now the curious thing is that Sarfraz is not a stand- up comedian. He has never done this before in his life. And, granted, his friends and family had a sharply divided reaction – those who feared he had gone mad and those who were no longer in doubt. You see, Sarfraz is a non-drinking, Springsteen-loving British Pakistani Muslim who recently turned 40, became a father of a mixed race and mixed faith baby and firmly believes that Bruce’s songs contain the secret to life, love and happiness. As a teenager, Sarfraz was expected to get a solid but dull job and eventually have an arranged marriage to someone who was solid and perhaps also a little dull. Everything changed the day he walked into college and ran into a fellow Asian boy called Amolak. Amolak told Sarfraz the secret to a better life, one of fulfilment and true love was in the music of Bruce Springsteen. What can you do but laugh? Bruce Springsteen? How on earth could rock music made by an American bloke in a plaid shirt have anything to do with Sarfraz growing up in small-town England? Amolak handed him a cassette tape and Sarfraz promised he would give it a listen. That evening he went home, turned the lights out and put the cassette on. And suddenly it all made sense. Born to Run, Thunder Road and The River blasted into his ears. These weren’t the pop songs he had heard before, they were songs that were about lives very much like his own. They featured characters stuck in dead-end towns but who wished for more, guys dreaming of escape and love and a life more exciting than the one they led. Guys like Sarfraz. And so he was hooked. He got hold of all Springsteen albums and started studying the lyrics and discovered that his friend had been right – the answer to life’s questions really do lie in the words of the Boss. In fact, Sarfraz is so bold as to say there isn’t a problem in the world that cannot be solved by consulting the lyrics of Springsteen. Sermon presented September 2, 2012 Page 3 San Lorenzo Community Church United Church of Christ Sermon: “Music that Moves Us” Preached extemporaneously by Rev. Annette J. Cook For example, when he was a teenager he resented his dad for not letting him have the freedom his white friends did. Then he heard Independence Day which is basically a conversation between Bruce and his dad. “They ain’t gonna do to me what I watched them do to you,” sings Springsteen and Sarfraz thought of his dad who had to endure racism in the 60s and ended up working in a car factory even though he was capable of so much more. That song made him realize what his Dad had gone through. Later in life when Sarfraz was wrestling with whether to accept an arranged marriage or follow his heart, another Bruce song helped. In the song “Prove It All Night,” Bruce sings: “If dreams came true, well, wouldn’t that be nice. But this ain’t no dream we’re living through tonight, if you want it, you take it and you pay the price.” In other words, life is not a fairy tale – if Sarfraz wanted to follow his heart he needed the courage of his desires. He used Springsteen as a map and a guide to another life. He got out of the small town, was the first in his family to go to university, worked as a journalist in London and is now married to a wonderful woman – who is neither Asian nor Muslim, with whom he has a gorgeous baby girl. Throughout all that time Springsteen was a constant companion. Sarfraz writes, “I have seen him more than 100 times in concert and have even been lucky enough to meet him.” It was Springsteen’s music which inspired Sarfraz to leave the small town, his words to clung to when he was trying to find the courage to defy his family as they urged him to have an arranged marriage, and his music playing in the delivery room when his lovely daughter was born.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Greetings 1 Greetings from Freehold: How Bruce Springsteen's
    Greetings 1 Greetings from Freehold: How Bruce Springsteen’s Hometown Shaped His Life and Work David Wilson Chairman, Communication Council Monmouth University Glory Days: A Bruce Springsteen Symposium Presented Sept. 26, 2009 Greetings 2 ABSTRACT Bruce Springsteen came back to Freehold, New Jersey, the town where he was raised, to attend the Monmouth County Fair in July 1982. He played with Sonny Kenn and the Wild Ideas, a band whose leader was already a Jersey Shore-area legend. About a year later, he recorded the song "County Fair" with the E Street Band. As this anecdote shows, Freehold never really left Bruce even after he made a name for himself in Asbury Park and went on to worldwide stardom. His experiences there were reflected not only in "County Fair" but also in "My Hometown," the unreleased "In Freehold" and several other songs. He visited a number of times in the decades after his family left for California. Freehold’s relative isolation enabled Bruce to develop his own musical style, derived largely from what he heard on the radio and on records. More generally, the town’s location, history, demographics and economy shaped his life and work. “County Fair,” the first of three sections of this paper, will recount the July 1982 episode and its aftermath. “Growin’ Up,” the second, will review Bruce’s years in Freehold and examine the ways in which the town influenced him. “Goin’ Home,” the third, will highlight instances when he returned in person, in spirit and in song. Greetings 3 COUNTY FAIR Bruce Springsteen couldn’t be sitting there.
    [Show full text]
  • Rockin' with Reagan, Or the Mainstreaming of Postmodernity Author(S): Lawrence Grossberg Source: Cultural Critique, No
    Rockin' with Reagan, or the Mainstreaming of Postmodernity Author(s): Lawrence Grossberg Source: Cultural Critique, No. 10, Popular Narrative, Popular Images (Autumn, 1988), pp. 123- 149 Published by: University of Minnesota Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1354110 Accessed: 25/01/2009 17:46 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=umnpress. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with the scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. University of Minnesota Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Cultural Critique.
    [Show full text]
  • Time Bruce's Chords
    4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) C F C F C Guitar 1: ------|--8-8<5------|---------------|-------------|---------------| -5----|--------8<6--|-5-/-8—6-------|-------------|---------------| ------|-------------|---------7-----|-5-----------|---------------| ------|-------------|---------------|---7-5-5-----|---------------| ------|-------------|---------------|---------7-5vvvv-------------| ------|-------------|---------------|-------------|-------------8-| Guitar 2: All ---5--|-8-----------|-18<15---------|-------------|-15-12-12-10-8-| ------|-------------|-------13-12---|-------------|-15-13-13-10-8-| ------|-------------|-------------13<15-----------|---------------| ------|-------------|---------------|-------------|---------------| ------|-------------|---------------|-------------|---------------| ------|-------------|---------------|-------------|---------------| F C F C Guitar 1: |--------|----------------|---------|-------| |--------|----------------|---------|-------| |--------|----------------|---------|-------| |--------|----------------|---------|-------| |--------|----------------|---------|-------| |-5vvv\3-|--------------3-|-3/5-8-10/8------| Time Guitar 2: |--------|----------------|---------|-------| |--------|----------------|---------|-------| |-7\5----|-17\15<13-15-17-|---------|-------| |-----7--|----------------|---------|-------| |--------|----------------|---------|-------| |--------|----------------|---------|-------| Sandy C F C Sandy the fireworks are hailin' over Little Eden tonight Am Gsus G Forcin' a light
    [Show full text]
  • Easy Guitar Songbook
    EASY GUITAR SONGBOOK Produced by Alfred Music Publishing Co., Inc. P.O. Box 10003 Van Nuys, CA 91410-0003 alfred.com Printed in USA. No part of this book shall be reproduced, arranged, adapted, recorded, publicly performed, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without written permission from the publisher. In order to comply with copyright laws, please apply for such written permission and/or license by contacting the publisher at alfred.com/permissions. ISBN-10: 0-7390-9399-1 ISBN-13: 978-0-7390-9399-3 Photos: Danny Clinch CONTENTS Title Release Page 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) . The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle . .8 Atlantic City . Nebraska . .12 Badlands . Darkness on the Edge of Town . .3 Better Days . Lucky Town . .16 Blinded by the Light . Greetings from Asbury Park, N .J . .19 Born in the U .S .A . Born in the U .S .A . .24 Born to Run . Born to Run . .26 Brilliant Disguise . Tunnel of Love . .32 Dancing in the Dark . Born in the U .S .A . .35 Glory Days . Born in the U .S .A . .64 Human Touch . Human Touch . .38 Hungry Heart . The River . .44 Lucky Town . Lucky Town . .46 My City of Ruins . The Rising . .50 My Hometown . Born in the U .S .A . .53 Pink Cadillac . B-side of “Dancing in the Dark” single . .56 Prove It All Night . Darkness on the Edge of Town . .60 The Rising . The Rising . .75 The River . The River . .78 Secret Garden . Greatest Hits . .67 Streets of Philadelphia . Philadelphia soundtrack . .70 Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out .
    [Show full text]
  • "The Culture of the 1970S Reflected Through Bruce Springsteen's Music"
    "The Culture of the 1970s Reflected Through Bruce Springsteen's Music" Senior Honors Thesis Presented To The Honors College Written By Melody S. Jackson Spring, 1983 Advised By Dr. Anthony Edmonds .;,- () -- "The Culture of the 1970s Reflected Through Bruce Springsteen's Music" I have seen the future of rock and roll and it is Bruce Springsteen. Jon Landau the advent of Bruce Springsteen, who made rock and roll a matter of life and death again, seemed nothing short of a miracle to me . Bruce Springsteen is the last of rock's great innocents. Dave Marsh Whether these respected critics see Springsteen as the future of great rock or the end of it, they do regard him with respect for his ability to convey the basic feeling of rock. And they are not alone in this opinion. From the start of his career, Springsteen has received a great deal of critical acclaim. This acclaim, in part because of his performing ability, seems quite fitting since his shows usually last for two and a half hours and often continue for four or even five hours. Relentlessly, he gives of himself to the thousands of fans -- his cult following -- who have come to see their own Rock Messiah. Upon analysis of the lyrics of Springsteen's songs, lyrics which he has written, one sees that he has a unique talent f()r reflecting the situation of the lower-middle class which he grew up in. In fact, in all of the albums he has released up to this time, he has written about the culture of the lower-middle class.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Learningenglish.Voanews.Com | Voice of America | November 02, 2013
    Hello again, and welcome to As It Is. I’m June Simms in Washington. Our show today is all about Bruce “The Boss” Springsteen. A new book about the musician sheds new light on his life, and the issues that helped shape his music. Christopher Cruise joins me today for that report. Bruce Springsteen - “We Take Care of Our Own” “Bruce” Tells How Springsteen’s Past Shaped His Music Bruce Springsteen has been making music for more than 50 years. Many books have been written about his life since he rose to fame in 1975. But, a new book about the singer has new details about his past and how it shaped his life and music. Unlike other biographies, the new book “Bruce” was written with his cooperation. Peter Ames Carlin wrote the book. Bruce Springsteen - “She’s The One” “He and his family really opened up. I mean, besides Bruce, he opened the door to his mom and his sisters and his cousins and aunts and stuff.” That openness gives readers a whole new look at the issues that drove Bruce Springsteen. And it gives them an idea of how those struggles touched his life and shaped his music. 1 learningenglish.voanews.com | Voice of America | November 02, 2013 For example, Peter Ames Carlin notes stories about the emotional problems that troubled Bruce Springsteen’s father, Douglas. He says there is a reason for all the conflict and anger in songs like Bruce Springsteen’s “Adam Raised a Cain.” “A lot of that goes back to how chaotic his family was, as a result of his father.
    [Show full text]
  • 1) Jungleland
    60) Murder Incorporated So the comfort that you keep's a gold-plated, snub-nosed .32 Not quite sure why this doesn’t get more plays. It is a real belter, pumps you up, would be a great show opener. Would have been right at home on Darkness. Has you rocking from go to woe. Bruce leaves nobody behind on this and you’re taken on a six minute power ride, and there is no time for stopping. This was initially recorded back in 1982 with the Born In The USA sessions, but did not see an official release until the release of greatest hits in 1995. From the get go it sounds like classic Springsteen. The thud of Max’s drums, followed with the intro of the guitars. The organs feature prominently too. And for the next six minutes, you feel compelled to tap your foot to the beat and fill with anger, because let’s face it, this song doesn’t exactly put a smile on your face. That’s not to say songs need to have a happy vibe about them to enjoy them. The sax solo feels like it’s just been shoved in for the sake of it. But somehow Bruce managed to make it work. Nils’ wows us with a blistering solo before the bridge and we are treated to one final verse and raspy Bruce belts out a “I could tell you were just frustrated livin with Murder Incoporated.” Bruce struts his stuff and nearly sets his guitar on fire, Stevie throws a punch back (much like the Saint duel at Hammersmith), but Bruce shows why he’s Boss.
    [Show full text]
  • The B-Street Band Song List - Springsteen Songs
    THE B-STREET BAND SONG LIST - SPRINGSTEEN SONGS THE RIVER THUNDER ROAD FOR YOU GROWING UP SHE'S THE ONE BORN TO RUN BRILLIANT DISGUISE DARLINGTON COUNTY HIGH HOPES BLINDED BY THE LIGHT SAINT IN THE CITY INDEPENDENCE DAY MEETING ACROSS RIVER POINT BLANK PROVE IT ALL NIGHT OUT IN THE STREET BADLANDS FIRE/I'M ON FIRE PROMISELAND CANDY'S ROOM BOBBY JEAN BORN IN THE USA COVER ME WORKING/HIGHWAY DOWNBOUND TRAIN GOIN' DOWN GLORY DAYS DANCING IN THE DARK ADAM RAISED THE CAIN SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT SANDY BACKSTREETS ROSALITA ALL OR NOTHING MAN'S JOB ROLL OF THE DICE BETTER DAYS LUCKY TOWN IF I SHOULD FALL BEHIND ATLANTIC CITY HUMAN TOUCH TUNNEL OF LOVE TIES THAT BIND HUNGRY HEART MY HOME TOWN STREETS OF PHILA RACING IN THE STREET 10TH AVENUE SHERRY DARLING JERSEY GIRL HEAVEN WILL ALLOW VIVA LAS VEGAS JUNGLELAND SANTA CLAUS BECAUSE THE NIGHT SOMETHING IN THE NIGHT NO SURRENDER TRAPPED YOU CAN LOOK DARKNESS ON THE EDGE MURDER INCORPORATED RAMROD NIGHT TWO HEARTS LOVE WON’T LET YOU DOWN THE RISING LONESOME DAY WAITIN ON A SUNNY DAY MARY’S PLACE LAND OF HOPE AND DREAMS PARADISE BY THE SEA MERRY XMAS BABY PAY ME MY MONEY DOWN E-STREET SHUFFLE RADIO NOWHERE LONG WALK HOME LIVIV IN THE FUTURE CADDILLAC RANCH WORK FOR YOUR LOVE GIRLS IN THEIR SUMMER PINK CADDILLAC SMALL THINGS MAMA QUARTER TO THREE AMERICAN LAND WRECKING BALL TAKE CARE OF OUR OWN FRANKIE FELL IN LOVE MEET ME IN THE CITY .
    [Show full text]
  • Springsteen, Tradition, and the Purpose of the Artist
    Springsteen, Tradition, and the Purpose of the Artist William I. Wolff Rowan University Abstract In 2012, Bruce Springsteen delivered the keynote address at the South By Southwest Music Conference and Festival. His task was daunting: reconnect authenticity to a traditional approach to creating art. By bringing together ideas on authenticity, creativity, and culture, Springsteen’s talk joins a lineage of essays that defend poetry, creativity, and culture, including famous works by William Wordsworth and T.S. Eliot. In this article, I connect Springsteen’s ideas to the “folk process,” which leads to considering Wordsworth’s ideas on the voice of the common citizen and Eliot’s ideas on historical tradition. In the end, I consider Springsteen’s legacy as cultural ambassador for the arts. “[Springsteen] wears his influences on his sleeve.” —Peter Knobler1 In March 1973, in the first major article about Bruce Springsteen, Peter Knobler of Crawdaddy! immediately locates Springsteen’s influences as Bob Dylan and Van Morrison. Much of Springsteen’s 1974 interview with Paul Williams is about his musical influences, ranging from Dylan to The Yardbirds. In a 1975 edition of Rolling Stone, Dave Marsh describes Springsteen as “the William I. Wolff has licensed this article under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license, 2014. The author would like to thank the anonymous reviewers and journal editors for their considerable time and for pushing him to make his article more thorough and nuanced. Please address correspondence to [email protected]. 1 Peter Knobler, “Who Is Bruce Springsteen and Why Are We Saying All These Wonderful Things About Him?,” Crawdaddy!, March 1973, found in: Racing in the Street: The Bruce Springsteen Reader, ed.
    [Show full text]
  • House Organ Writing Contest
    VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER HOUHOUwww.mc.vanderbilt.edu/houseorgan SSEE OORRGGAAFeNNbruary 2010 Pets 2010 Gilda the Great Dane, pet therapy star watching the wheels Same as the HOU SE ORGAN www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/houseorgan February 2010 old Boss COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY JOE HOWELL BY WAYNE WOOD come here to praise Bruce Pets of the Springsteen, but first: there are Medical Center 2010 I several things about his song - Every year we ask for your favorite pic - writing that annoy me: specifically I tures of your dogs, cats, and other dislike his overreliance on a few assorted beasts. We get several hundred. familiar phrases and concepts, And then we select some of the best to among them: feature. Go to the House Organ Web site • “Little girl,” usually not meant to at http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/houseor - mean “female child,” but instead gan/ to vote for your favorites in the Dog, “girlfriend or person I would like to Cat, and Group or Duo categories, and also see a lot more photos of pets that we be my girlfriend.” When you start Dingle. Erin Dietrich, Human Resources. paying attention to this, it takes on didn’t have room for in the print edition. the quality of a weird verbal tic. This phrase is used more than 100 Gilda the Great times in his songs. Great Dane, that is. Gilda is a pet therapy dog who comes to the • “Night.” Think of just some of his Pediatric Rehabilitation area at song titles: “Spirit in the Night,” Vanderbilt Health One Hundred “Prove it All Night,” “Because the Oaks, and doesn’t mind when Night,” “Drive All Night,” “Open children rub her, lie against her or All Night,” “Rosalita (Come Out even paint her toenails.
    [Show full text]
  • Robert Greenleaf, Bruce Springsteen, and Servant-Leadership
    THE PROMISED LAND Robert Greenleaf, Bruce Springsteen, and Servant-Leadership -JOE ALBERT AND LARRY C. SPEARS Bruce Springsteen and Robert K. Greenleaf. Two very different men, born into different ages, different environments, different careers. Yet, despite all of their differences, these two men share much in common. Beyond certain superficial similarities-during the 1950s and '60s they lived a short distance from one another in New Jersey-we contend that Springsteen and Green­ leaf share a commitment to what has come to be called "servant-leadership," and to a set of characteristics that exemplify servant-leaders. We live in an age of deepening cynicism-a time where a lack of integ­ rity and mistrust abound. Yet, we see in the writings of Robert Greenleaf, and in the music and lyrics of Bruce Springsteen, a powerful antidote to cynicism and despair. While much has been written about Springsteen as a musical artist, and as a pop icon, we believe that this is the first look at Bruce Springsteen as a contemporary servant-leader. Through an examination of the lyrics and life of Bruce Springsteen in relation to key elements of servant-leadership, and especially ten character­ istics associated with servant-leaders, it is our belief that Springsteen is an essential contemporary servant-leader and prophet. DEEP STRUCTURES OF PERSONALITY Our fundamental understanding of character has much to do with the essential traits exhibited by a person. In recent years, there has been a grow­ ing interest in the nature of character and character education, based upon a belief that positive character traits can be both taught and learned.
    [Show full text]
  • Springsteen Exhibition Overview
    CONTACTS: Ashley Berke Lauren Saul Director of Public Relations Public Relations Manager 215.409.6693 215.409.6895 [email protected] [email protected] FROM ASBURY PARK TO THE PROMISED LAND: THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN EXHIBITION OVERVIEW “Rock and roll, it changed my life. It was like the Voice of America, the real America coming into your home. It was the liberating thing, the out.” For almost four decades, Bruce Springsteen has thrilled fans by giving voice to the restlessness, hopes, and dreams of ordinary Americans. Millions of listeners have found their experience of the American dream reflected in his songs about the lonely, the lost, the unemployed, immigrants and military veterans. Springsteen’s words and music challenge a listener’s ideas, exploring in the truest sense the right to free expression. In From Asbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen , visitors will travel with Springsteen from the boardwalks of small-town New Jersey to packed stadiums around the world. Throughout the exhibition, listening and viewing stations feature interviews with Springsteen, previously unreleased songs from some of his early musical groups, and footage of some of the most famous performances of his career. Personal artifacts, including family photographs and notebooks filled with song lyrics, help paint a complete portrait of the famous singer/songwriter. Introduction A highlight of From Asbury Park to the Promised Land , Bruce Springsteen’s 1960 Chevrolet Corvette will be on display in the National Constitution Center’s lobby. Springsteen purchased the Corvette in 1975 after the success of the album Born to Run .
    [Show full text]