BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
The Isolation Blues;
reflections during covid-19
41 shots, and we'll take that ride 'Cross the bloody river to the other side 41 shots, cut through the night You're kneeling over his body in the vestibule Praying for his life 41 shots, I got my boots caked with this mud We're baptized in these waters (baptized in these waters) And in each other's blood (and in each other's blood) It ain't no secret (it ain't no secret) No secret my friend You can get killed just for living in You can get killed just for living in You can get killed just for living in your American skin “American Skin” (2000)
(Springsteen writes about AMERICAN SKIN (41 SHOTS) in the new edition of his book Songs,) “Though the song was critical, it was not ‘anti-police’ as some thought.” As he also points out, the first verse is from the point of view of a police officer, “kneeling over his body in the vestibule, praying for his life.” Rather than being an indictment of police, if the song points a finger at anyone, Springsteen suggests that it points at all U.S. citizens, the singer included. “The idea was here,” he writes: “Here is what systemic racial injustice, fear, and paranoia do to our children, our loved ones, ourselves. Here is the price in blood. I was just setting out to basically continue writing about things that I’d written about for a long period of time, which is, who we are? What’s it mean to be an American? What’s going on in this country we live in? It was asking some questions that were hanging very heavy in the air… And it was an extension of just a lot of my other work.” He added, however, “I think it dealt very directly with race, and that’s a subject that pushes a lot of buttons in America.”
During The Rising Tour Springsteen opened his 12 Nov 2002 show at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, OH, with AMERICAN SKIN (41 SHOTS). He preceded the song with the an introduction addressing racial tensions in the city: “Before we start the show tonight, I’d just like to say — I don’t know if you’ve read about it in the newspapers at all out here but we’ve been contacted by several organizations here in the city who are trying to combat the segregation and the economic apartheid and the racism that exists not just here in Cincinnati but everywhere in our country. As a young man, I saw it up close in my own hometown, and while there’ve been many improvements since then, the core fact of racism continues to this day at all levels of our society. Well, I wrote a song a couple years ago about what happens when we stop communicating with one another, and how that non-communication becomes systematic, when injustice becomes ingrained in institution — the consequences, the violence, the human cost, and life cut short, that comes with it. So I wanna open our show here tonight with a song, not just for Cincinnati but for the country we’d like to see our children brought up in. And we’re gonna send it out tonight to the people, and the organizations here in the city that are working for a just Cincinnati and a just America. Thank you.”
content from springsteenlyrics.com
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The events of the past few weeks have been relentless. Right now it’s a full time job just trying to keep up with the daily headlines and the speed of the news stream. It’s a strenuous combination of information overload, emotional intensity and the “not-knowing” where the hell we are heading next. I think we are currently experiencing a “moment of history” in the making. Sometimes it’s hard to know when you’re in the middle of one of those, but I think this is one of those.
Bruce Springsteen wrote a song two decades ago (American Skin) about the peril of being Black in America. The song was inspired by an incident that took place on February 4, 1999 when four white New York City plainclothes police officers shot dead Amadou Diallo, a 22 year old black West African immigrant. When Diallo attempted to pull out his wallet the officers opened fire with 41 shots, 19 of which hit the target. The officers were later tried for murder, but were found innocent by the jury. When Springsteen began to perform the song on tour it was met with controversy and resistance but the boss did not back down. If you check out the YouTube video of his November 12, 2002 concert in Cincinnati, it includes his introduction to the song as he opens the show. You can hear the crowd’s reaction, along with the boos, as Springsteen (with as much raw courage as I’ve seldom witnessed) holds the stage and then launches into a soul-shredding performance. When Clarence Clemons adds his saxophone solo at the tail end of the song standing alongside Bruce they are laying out the blues in the best of the tradition. (and the boos continued…)
Bruce continues to stay in the headlines and isn’t finished yet. On his recent radio show “Bruce Springsteen – From His Home to Yours” on E Street Radio (SiriusXM) he says, “We have a choice between chaos or community; a spiritual, moral and democratic awakening or becoming a nation fallen to history as critical issues were refused or not addressed. Is our American system flexible enough to make, without violence, the humane, fundamental changes necessary for a just society? The American story, our story, is in our hands and may God bless us all.”
We are living a moment in history. It’s hard to have perspective right now, but in time we will. For now, just make your best effort to do your part in whatever way that might be. We are all in this together.
Still in the woods,
Dave
June 11, 2020