I was driving in the car today, and like so many other days since my father passed, I was listening to one of his favorite artists, Bruce Springsteen. I have a station on Pandora for his music, and I just skip all of the other artists when I am in this type of a mood.
My dad loved music, and he loved all kinds of music, but good old fashioned rock had his heart.
I can remember when I was growing up (way back in the 80’s), my parents went with friends to a Bruce Springsteen concert. I recall begging them to let me go, but I’m sure you can guess how far that got me. It was not that I wanted to go because my parents were going, I wanted to go because I loved Bruce Springsteen.
When all of the other kids my age were hanging posters of River Phoenix and C. Thomas Howell on their walls, I was hanging posters from Bruce’s Born In the USA album. I would give anything to have that poster, or even an adult version of that poster. You know, something that I could actually hang on my wall and not look like some kind of young groupie! Hold on a minute, I’ll be right back…
In This Post
I FOUND IT!
See, this is why I absolutely love Amazon! As soon as I’m done writing this post, I am going back there to see if they have anything a little more “classy” that I could actually get away with hanging somewhere in my house. If I find something, you will be the first to know!
As I got older, I began to appreciate so many other great songs by Bruce Springsteen and the E. Street Band, that I was officially a “True Fan”. Not just some little middle school crush, but I am a true Bruce Springsteen fan.
I could sing the lyrics to almost every single one of his top hits, and then some. And that my friends is how he is helping me to grieve the loss of the most wonderful man I have ever known.
If I could meet Bruce Springsteen just one time, I would tell him how much I appreciate his music, and how much I appreciate the amount of joy my father got out of listening to him sing for the past 40 years.
A few of my dad’s favorites, which of course became my favorites as well are:
- Jungleland
- Thunder Road
- Fire
- Rosalita
- Backstreets
I am finding excuses to go places by myself so that I can be alone in my car just listening to Bruce with my Dad. I feel his presence when I am listening to music because it was one of the greatest pleasures in his life. It makes me really appreciate the great sound I have in my car because I turn the music up and sing right along without a care about what other drivers might think!
I will forever miss my dad, but I will also forever be grateful for the wonderful music that Bruce Springsteen provided to his fans, specifically, my father.
