Songs of "Magic": Part 3
It's been said that rock and roll is basically happy music about sad things.
If that's true, "We're Livin' In the Future" is the happiest song about the saddest things on Springsteen's new album "Magic."
Musically, the song is related to "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out" or "Out Of Work," a song Bruce wrote for Gary U.S. Bonds. It's bright and breezy, a real toe-tapper. And the lyrics are odd, at first seeming to be about a couple who are avoiding the problems of a relationship by living in the future, where, "none of this has happened yet."
But on stage, Springsteen has been telling the audience that this song is about an America that condones torture, illegal wiretapping and other things that betray its own promises to itself, and how denial is a failed attempt to ignore it all.
It is all there in the song:
"Woke up Election Day," he sings, "skies gunpowder and shades of gray'' and "My ship Liberty sailed away on a bloody red horizon.''
But it is the staccato rhythm of lines like "Your boot heels clickin'/Like the the barrel of a pistol spinnin' round" or the alliteration in this: "My faith's been torn asunder/tell me is that rollin thunder/Or just the sinking sound/of somethin' righteous goin' under?''
And the question seems too much to even ask, as the chorus comes in:
"Don't worry Darlin/now baby don't you fret/We're livin in the future/
and none of this has happened yet."
Just forget it all, the music seems to say with its organ riff, sax solo, and propulsive drumming.
But there are the lyrics putting the lie to the chorus.
It's a paradox of the song and that may be what makes it so good.
But you can't live on paradox, even the toe-tapping kind. This song is followed by "Your Own Worst Enemy'' a midtempo song about the foe in the mirror, about how we turn into what we hate if we're not careful: "Your flag it flew so high,'' Springsteen sings at the end, "It drifted into the sky.'' And as that flag drifts, so, too, it seems, does the nation. And if you listen carefully, after the voice of the singer fades and the music fades, you can hear a bell tolling.
If that's true, "We're Livin' In the Future" is the happiest song about the saddest things on Springsteen's new album "Magic."
Musically, the song is related to "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out" or "Out Of Work," a song Bruce wrote for Gary U.S. Bonds. It's bright and breezy, a real toe-tapper. And the lyrics are odd, at first seeming to be about a couple who are avoiding the problems of a relationship by living in the future, where, "none of this has happened yet."
But on stage, Springsteen has been telling the audience that this song is about an America that condones torture, illegal wiretapping and other things that betray its own promises to itself, and how denial is a failed attempt to ignore it all.
It is all there in the song:
"Woke up Election Day," he sings, "skies gunpowder and shades of gray'' and "My ship Liberty sailed away on a bloody red horizon.''
But it is the staccato rhythm of lines like "Your boot heels clickin'/Like the the barrel of a pistol spinnin' round" or the alliteration in this: "My faith's been torn asunder/tell me is that rollin thunder/Or just the sinking sound/of somethin' righteous goin' under?''
And the question seems too much to even ask, as the chorus comes in:
"Don't worry Darlin/now baby don't you fret/We're livin in the future/
and none of this has happened yet."
Just forget it all, the music seems to say with its organ riff, sax solo, and propulsive drumming.
But there are the lyrics putting the lie to the chorus.
It's a paradox of the song and that may be what makes it so good.
But you can't live on paradox, even the toe-tapping kind. This song is followed by "Your Own Worst Enemy'' a midtempo song about the foe in the mirror, about how we turn into what we hate if we're not careful: "Your flag it flew so high,'' Springsteen sings at the end, "It drifted into the sky.'' And as that flag drifts, so, too, it seems, does the nation. And if you listen carefully, after the voice of the singer fades and the music fades, you can hear a bell tolling.
posted by Michael Riley at 10:08 AM
7 Comments:
Yeah and i'm waiting for Bruce to sing about those "hate crime" laws.You know the ones where you are punished for thinking the wrong thing?
I heard two people were busted outside the Springsteen concert for pushing Geritol pills.
Sales of Viagara pills were up, too..Way up! Talk about your "magic".
Bruce is a good singer songwriter, but enough already. Boooring!
Yeah, down to earth Bruce..He just backed out of a $850k , that's right almost $1 million for a horse for his daughter..it wasn't right one ..so, he may still be spending that or more yet on another horse. How about donating even more to local charities. Your kid doesn't need a million dollar horsey; sure you can find one 250k and donate rest were going to spend.
I know a lot of blue collar workers that can afford an 800,000 dollar horse. (yeah right)
When rockers are young, rock and roll is about the angst of love, relationships and self-image. When rockers are older, it's about angst with the world, politics and the system.
(There are exceptions to this rule, but think about it).
--*Rob
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