Springsteen Challenge Day 4: Song that Cheers You Up

There are obvious contenders for this – I mentioned earlier how I used to listen to Thunder Road on the days where I came out on the losing end.  But, that was more a “I want something to remind me I can do this.”  It wasn’t a cheering up, so much as a reassurance.  I may be splitting hairs here to not duplicate prior posts, but I can only write from my thoughts, and I promise, I’m not trying to cheat on the Bruce Challenge.

Bruce has plenty of pop songs – Waitin’ on a Sunny Day, Better Days, Surprise Surprise – they all have a pop tempo and a sense of fun.  Waitin’ on a Sunny Day has larger meaning in the “Rising” album. It’s a bit of innocence and a time capsule of the time before the towers came down.  But there’s the sense of missing in it.  Plus, with Bruce doing the kiddy sing along every night, I’m over “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day.”

Better Days is a good thought, because it is on his first “Happy” album.  Some fans don’t like Lucky Town.  Bruce even referenced it in his Rock and Roll hall of fame speech.  He was talking about his late father, and said, “without him, none of this would’ve been possible,” meaning the teenage angst and rage he had for his father was what fueled his albums for some time.  He said, “They would’ve all been happy albums.  I tried that in the early 90s.  The public didn’t like it.” But, to me, Better Days is a song that is a part of an album that Bruce made as his family was beginning.  It took me a long time to realize that “Living Proof” was about the birth of his eldest son.  It seems so obvious now, but I wasn’t listening for it.  I don’t have kids yet, and none on the way.  I can’t appreciate “Lucky Town” on that level yet.  I’m sure when my family grows, it will gain another layer or two of meaning for me.  But not yet.

Surprise Surprise – well, I just sort of like that song.  It seems like a throwaway on a less than stellar album (“Working on a Dream.”)  I threw it in to be the third in the examples of pop songs that are usually cheery and uptempo.

But, my favorite “cheer me up” song is “I’ll Work For Your Love” from the “Magic” album.  This song gets me, because, while my own faith is complicated and falls somewhere in the Christian tradition, my wife is a devout Catholic – we were married in a Catholic church, and go to mass every Sunday unless she’s sick or I’m hungover.  So, very nearly every Sunday!  The Christian imagery (though she insists is total bunk) hits me because this album was released a few months before we started dating.  I made this song her ringtone, and it has been that way ever since.  Now, when I hear:

“The pages of revelation lie open in your empty eyes of blue. I watch you slip that comb through your hair, and this I promise you…”

I know it’s her calling. That’s a good feeling.  (She has blue eyes.)  The next lyric, by the way, is “I’ll work for your love, dear.”  I like that message – of always working to keep our love refreshing, and new, and warm.  I always want to be working to make sure she never feels anything less than loved with all my heart. Love is like a shark – it always needs to keep moving, because when it becomes stagnant, it can gather moss, and the seeds of doubt can creep in. If we’re always working to reassure the other that we love them, then we’ll always feel each other’s love.

I like this song so much, and it floods my mind with images of my wife so quickly, that I suggested it as a “first dance” song. She agreed! I was quite excited, and then one day, she told me “I… wish we had a different first dance song.”  I dug in my heels.  It’s already been agreed upon.  She begged me to reconsider.  I thought about it, and I realized that I wouldn’t be heeding the advice of the song if I was insistent.  After all, what really mattered to me was that, on the day of my wedding, across from me on the altar was her.  They could’ve played the Proclaimers’ “500 Miles (I’m Gonna Be)” and I’d have been happy.  Just, not “The Angel.”  I really don’t like that song.  Sorry, Bruce.

“I’ll Work For Your Love” means much more to me than it does to my wife.  That’s perfectly fine with me.  She’s not exactly over the moon about Springsteen.  She’s been to four shows with me, but just likes the songs she knows. Suffice to say, she wasn’t jumping for joy, high fiving people when Bruce dusted off “Cynthia” at MetLife stadium a few weeks ago. All I care about is she understands what makes the song so special to me, and that I’ll always be working to remind her of the bottomless well of love I’ll always have for her; that what others may want for free, I’ll work for…

As an addendum, “I’ll Work For Your Love” was present on our wedding day.  It is inscribed on the inside of my wedding band, along with our wedding date. So, even if it wasn’t played, it made it’s way to the altar, and was blessed by the priest. Recently, a buddy of mine asked me what I’d do if I ran in to Bruce just out and about.  I told him that I’d probably ask to shake his hand, ask for a picture, and tell him how much his music has meant to me.  And I’d want to tell him about the inscription on my wedding band. I’d show it to him, too, if he asked me.

Tomorrow’s post: Your Favorite Bruce Photo.