Perhaps We Need To Be Like Springsteen and Take It Further

I watched the Bruce Springsteen performance piece, Springsteen on Broadway, on Netflix and I had a grin on my face the whole time it was playing. Because the words were so well chosen. The spoken words were poetry. I was in the presence of a masterful storyteller painting pictures with words in a way I rarely hear. It’s no surprise if you know his songs’ lyrics, many of which are absolute gems of wordsmanship.

You can hide ‘neath your covers and study your pain
Make crosses from your lovers, throw roses in the rain
Waste your summer praying in vain
For a savior to rise from these streets
Well now I’m no hero, that’s understood
All the redemption I can offer, girl
Is beneath this dirty hood
With a chance to make it good somehow
Hey, what else can we do now?

Thunder Road

The show isn’t a concert though he does play a dozen or so songs. It’s really a one-man show. Mostly, he tells the stories of growing up and becoming a musician. The trials and tribulations–many tribulations.

What I found inspiring is that he didn’t have it all handed to him. He was talented and he still had to go to work and show up. Get out of his comfortable and familiar Jersey Shore town and get to New York and California. To put himself out there to do more, to be seen, and to get further along with his career.

What are we doing? How often do we sit still, waiting for “something to happen”, and it never does. But we insist on staying put.

Maybe it needs us to get up and take it further. Show our photography in galleries on the coasts. Get seen by some viewers outside of our normal circles.

Take the show further as he does when he crosses the country in a car despite not knowing how to drive.

Anyway, it comes highly recommended. A true delight to watch and listen to his songs and stories. I’d recommend it with the captions on so you don’t miss a word or lyric. Every single word is well-chosen and spoken, a masterful performance of word and song. A testament to the need to refine our work, our show, and present it as strong and tightly as possible.