Time Away From Old Friends...

Image by Michael Gaida from Pixabay

The song “Born To Run” is probably one of, if not THE, most popular Bruce Springsteen songs ever. Written in 1974 and released in 1975, the song became famous as much for its lyrics as its “wall of sound”. Ostensibly, it’s a love song that, at its core, is about a young man’s desire to get out of Freehold, New Jersey, but, really, it’s about our desire for freedom, our passions and going after whatever we believe in.

It’s one of the most played songs by The Boss and it’s highly unlikely that anyone reading this hasn’t at least heard of the song. In fact, particularly in the days before digital media, when live radio was in its prime, you couldn’t listen to a rock station on the radio without hearing the song at least a couple of times a day. The situation isn’t all that different today, on whatever forums one might listen to rock music.

The funny thing is that, for me, I heard the song so often that I began to tune it out. Yes, I could intellectualize that it was a great song and that it was well written, etc., but it seemed to become THE Bruce song that was played. And it was played, over and over and over again. To the point where I just didn’t want to hear it anymore. Like I said, I tuned it out. And there is so much else in his catalogue, that I could skip it and go to other songs, like Thunder Road, or Badlands or No Surrender or I’m Goin’ Down, or Nothing Man, or well, you get what I mean.

Recently, though, as I sat down to write something, I put on a Springsteen Playlist on YouTube, to play in the background - some musical wallpaper to serve as a subliminal backdrop or inspiration, as I worked. And what was the first song that came on? No surprises: Born To Run.

And after so many years, I listened to the song. Really listened. The song structure, the instrumentation, the guitars (apparently, some 11 tracks worth), the sax (God, that amazing sax!) and the vocals, both of the man himself and the backing vocals. It all sounded as fresh today as when it was written almost a half century ago.

And then, the lyrics. Those damn lyrics - played so many times, and sung so often, that they blurred into my head as if they meant nothing, as if they were just some incidental words in some random elevator in some random town that I didn’t need to be in. But, of course, they never meant nothing. They were my soundtrack, and, for all that time, I’d just chosen to ignore it, because the next ‘new and shiny thing’ kept pulling me in its direction, while this old friend hung back, patiently, calmly and waited for me to return when I was good and ready. Whenever I was good and ready.

And now, as I returned, it was welcoming. It felt like a fresh experience. I’d had some distance, some time away, and I was reminded of how much I loved and missed this old friend. A friend who’d been around during my formative years, who’d stuck around when things got good, and when they’d got tough. When I needed a bit of a push, and when I needed some reminding of who I was and where I came from. A friend who gave me space when I wanted it and when I needed it (or at least thought I did). A friend who stepped back and waited for me to do my thing, and then come back when I was good and ready. And now, I was good and ready.

I suppose this might seem a bit much to write about a mere song. It might be. But I don’t know, maybe this isn’t about a song at all. Maybe it’s about this idea of what we choose to love and follow and what we don’t. About how we look upon the time-tested and loyal, the very foundations of what we’re about, versus the new and bright and shiny. Maybe it’s about what draws us versus what we know to be good for us. 

Again, I don’t know. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. At the end of the day, it is what it is, and we just take what we want from it. That’s just for each one of us to decide.  

The highway's jammed with broken heroes
On a last chance power drive
Everybody's out on the run tonight
But there's no place left to hide
Together, Wendy, we can live with the sadness
I'll love you with all the madness in my soul
Oh, someday, girl, I don't know when
We're gonna get to that place
Where we really wanna go and we'll walk in the sun
But 'til then, tramps like us
Baby, we were born to run

- Born To Run, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band