Monday, June 20, 2011

"And in the quick of the night they reach for their moment/And try to make an honest stand..."

The Song: "Jungleland," Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. Words & music by Bruce Springsteen. Track 8 of Born to Run, 1975.
When/how acquired: Gift LP, 1980.
Listen. Watch.

There was rock and roll before Clarence Clemons, and there will be rock and roll after him. But this song was the dividing line. It changed everything. Even now I listen to it in awe. It is poetry in words and music, and Clarence's solo disembowels us and breaks our hearts and makes us believe in whatever it was we hoped for when we were sixteen years old.

The rest of us have to live without him. Rest in peace, Big Man.

1 comment:

Anna said...

When I heard the news, you were the person I wanted to call (if I didn't have four screaming children around me at the time!). My husband thinks Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel are the same person so I couldn't even begin to talk to him about the significance of CC. Thanks for posting the video!