| raysachs |
12-16-2018 12:14 AM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by rokdog49
(Post 5919781)
Well stated Rmz76.
It also depends on how deeply you want to go. As an example, "Born To Run" would mean nothing to somebody living in Des Moines, Iowa unless they connect the dots to the desire of youth trying to break free of convention and repression.
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But obviously if DID appeal to a whole lot of people living in Des Moines and Omaha, and Billings and Boise. That’s the thing about great popular art - it’s reach extends far beyond its subject matter. The music from West Side Story was very popular with lots and lots of people who’d never been in New York gangs too! I grew up in Arizona and Bruce was huge out there from his first album - not just after he hit big with Born to Run.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ludere
(Post 5919833)
It's interesting that you mention his lack of imparting his political views into this work; I personally noted that during his later tours, between songs he seemed to feel the need to impress his political views on the audience. That disappointed me greatly each time it happened, as it kinda felt like being held hostage, but I tended to overlook it because, well ... it's Bruce.
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He’s been pretty political almost as long as he’s been big. I saw him the night after Reagan got elected in 1980 - it was a well known show in Tempe (Phoenix area) that they filmed and released years later. He came out and talked about the election before he played a note of music. In ‘84 Reagan tried to use “Born in the USA” in his campaign until Bruce made him stop - Reagan seemed to think the song was a celebration of being born in the USA - he must not have actually listened to it. In addition to many concerts over the years (starting in the mid-70s), I saw him play at campaign rallies for Obama in ‘08 and for Hillary the night before the ‘16 election.
My point is he’s always been political - not just in later tours. Sometimes more overtly, sometimes just by doing stuff like using his concerts to support food drives or Vets organizations. I never minded, probably because I was in sync with his politics, but I can fully understand being put off by it if you disagreed with him. I can’t stand Ted Nugent, for example. But I kind of admire the honesty of anyone who’s willing to alientate half their audience to make a point that matters to them. And a lot of folks do seem willing to overlook it with Bruce - Chris Christie may be his biggest fan on earth (in any sense of the word) and their politics couldn’t be further apart...
I haven’t seen the Broadway performance yet, but I look forward to pulling up a seat and watching it on Netflix sometime in the next few days. And I’ll probably watch it a few more times after that too...
-Ray |
