“Who we are, what we’ll do, and what we won’t.” It’s a callback to the Born In the U.S.A. “Your flag flying over the courthouse means certain things are set in stone,” Springsteen’s dad character sings. Better still, it’s situated in a country that stands for something. He’s like the sad old man clocking the cuties on the booming Beach Boys homage “Girls In Their Summer Clothes.” On his way to down “Magic Street” (a little on-the-nose, but let it slide), the narrator tells himself, “Things been a little tight, but I know they’re going to turn my way.”Īnd then there’s the father on “Long Walk Home,” who tells his son what a “beautiful place” their town is. Under the boardwalk bounce of “Livin’ In the Future,” Bruce plays a guy who’s convinced himself that any number of bad things-including the 2004 election-haven’t happened yet.
As per usual, Bruce is riding in a car, but instead of racing toward redemption, he’s “spinning around a dead dial,” feeling more lost with each mile. Springsteen captures the grimness of the day with “Radio Nowhere,” Magic’s searing leadoff track. should operate secret prisons and torture suspected terrorists were widening the gap between “Red” and “Blue” sections of the country. Bush was part-way through his second term and the troop surge in Iraq was reaching its peak. When Magic arrived in September 2007, George W. “A little revenge and this too shall pass,” Springsteen sings on opener “Lonesome Day.” Later in that song, he warns, “Better ask questions before you shoot,” anticipating some of the issues that would rip the country apart by the time he got around to making another record. It’s about getting up, dusting off, honoring the fallen, and finding a way forward.
While it’s nuanced and multidimensional, The Rising is very much the optimistic album it needed to be. Bruce Springsteen, "Magic" Courtesy PhotoĪfter the solo acoustic Devils & Dust (2005) and the covers album We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, Magic was the E Street follow-up to The Rising, Springsteen’s reaction to 9/11.
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