Dear tramps,
Today I will write about a Bruce Springsteen speech. I just find fascinating the capacity that he has to encourage you, to let you feel something really special and to gather us all together under one clear, powerful and magic message.
The speech I am talking about is no other than the one he made in Hyde Park in 2009 in the middle of the song Working on a Dream. I don’t know if you have heard it before but as soon as I did it, I fell completely in love with it. The strength it transmitted me was something out of this world.
This is the script of the speech:
“Good evening London! We are so glad to be here in beautiful Hyde Park on this wonderful summer night! The E Street Band has come thousands of miles to rock the house. But we didn’t just make all that way tonight just to rock the house; we came here tonight because we wanna build a house. Right here in this beautiful land, we are gonna build us a house tonight. We are gonna take the fear that’s out there and we are gonna build a house of love. We are gonna take the doubt and we are gonna build us a house of faith tonight. We are gonna take the despair and we are gonna build us a house of hope. We are gonna take all the blues that it’s out there tonight and we are gonna build us a house of joy and happiness. Because that’s our job. And we are gonna take the cool enough and we are gonna build the house of sexual healing. That’s right, oh yes we will! And we got all the tools we need right here on this stage and this land tonight. And when we build the house we are gonna use the bad wood and the good wood; and we are gonna take the bad news that’s out there tonight and we are gonna use the good news that’s in here tonight. That’s right. But now, to build a house; a house of music, a house of spirit and house of noise, well the mighty E Street Band is here tonight and we are gonna bring down the power of music on you. But London, London, we need you to bring the noise!!! And now sing it like you mean it!”
What makes me love the speech is that here Bruce is talking about one of my favourite things: the feelings you experience on a Bruce show. When people ask me why I love him that much and go to see him even abroad, I try to summarize them this speech. That is why I admire him. Because every night, no matter the country you are on, if you are there in that arena, you will be able to create something big, sometimes bigger than life itself even. And more important, you will be able to start from the beginning. To forget everything that has happened: the bad things, the fearful things and the troubled things. All of this will be left aside and you will be given the chance to build something new. And the best part is that you won’t make that work alone, on your own. If you come to be there, you will be graced with the company and help of some other people who may be enduring a similar moment and are also seeking for redemption.
So, this speech specially moves me because I see the adult self of Bruce, talking us about life from a mature perspective. I see him telling us “beware kids, the world out there is a difficult place to live in but remember that you are not alone, that I am by your side and that I will try to help you”. And that gives me peace. There is always bad news out there and with Bruce we learn to embrace the good news that we have with us.
Thanks to that speech I believe more than ever before that everything is the way we want it to be and nothing the way we are taught it is. So, the only thing we will have to do is to fill our souls of courage to dream aloud, really loud and of course bring some noise, so the music can take us and carry us home. “Oh yes we will”.
Blogging In The Street 