In a piece called "Perspective," I wrote about a dramatic change in life perspective brought on, unfortunately, by emergency surgery and then the revelation of colon cancer and the battle I now face in the many months to come to eradicate this disease from my body.
As a lifetime lover and fan of so many different kinds of music, I found it quite comforting and most certainly emotional to compile a playlist to evoke my feelings, my core beliefs and, most of all, my hope for a better tomorrow in so many ways. The list kept growing and growing and may well continue to grow. I would never claim this as a definitive list for any other person — music is such a personal thing — and even many of my longtime favorites with bittersweet and melancholy recordings didn’t fit what I was aiming for.
These are songs of defiance, songs of survival, songs of celebration, and songs about my life and who I am. Many of the sources are various live recordings you can find all over the Internet, if you know where to look. Live performances have always impacted me to a greater extent than studio recordings. However, all the original studio recordings are powerful as well. It won’t be a surprise to anyone that my list is Springsteen-heavy. Over the years, so many of his songs — up to the latest ones — have lifted me up more than any others, along with some U2 recordings as well. I’ve found, in the recent weeks, my emotions well up easily, and that was the case writing lyrics and other notes for each of these songs special to me.
As they say, your mileage may vary. I plan to go many more miles and down many more roads I’ve yet to travel. May your journey be a long, rich and happy one as well.
“Badlands” - Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band 6/27/09 Glastonbury BBC Broadcasts
“It ain’t no sin to be glad you’re alive.”
“Up Around The Bend” [Live In Amsterdam, Holland, 9/10/71] - Creedence Clearwater Revival Cosmo’s Factory (40th Anniversary Edition)
“Come on the rising wind…”
“I Won’t Back Down” [Live] - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – America: A Tribute To Heroes
And I won’t.
“No Surrender” - Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band 4/16/09 Los Angeles
“No retreat, no surrender.”
“Beautiful Day” – U2 Vertigo 2005 – Live From Chicago
Every day can be one, no matter where you are.
“Out In The Street” - Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band – 6/27/09 Glastonbury BBC Broadcasts
A celebration of community.
“Hard Core Troubadour” – Steve Earle I Feel Alright
Damn right I am.
“Good Is Gone” (Little Steven w/ Southside Johnny) Bruce Springsteen Holiday Show12/17/00 Asbury Park, New Jersey
“Something on the radio sayin’ C’mon, C’mon…”
“Recurring Dream” Crowded House Afterglow
“See my windows wiping clean…”
“Inside Of Me” - Little Steven And The Disciples of Soul Men Without Women
“Everybody tells me, open up your eyes, it can never be like it used to be. I say to them, open up your heart, you see just what you want to see.”
“Brand New Book” - Graham Parker Best of Graham Parker 1988 – 1991
“The words came out not twist and shout, because that’s not what a grown man writes about…”
“Nothing’s Impossible” – Depeche Mode – Coachella, Indio, CA 2006
For my amazing wife, Barbara. My rock of eternity.
“Working On A Dream” - Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band 4/16/09 Los Angeles
“We’re going to build a house… We’re going to take fear and build a house of love; we’re going to take sadness and build a house of joy; we’re going to take doubt and build a house of faith; we’re going to take despair and build a house of hope.”
“One” - U2 U2 Go Home (Slane)
“One life…With each other…Sisters, Brothers/One life/But we’re not the same/We get to carry each other, carry each other…”
“See The World” - Gomez How We Operate
“And when all’s been said and done, it’s the things that are given, not won, are the things that you want.”
“If I Had A Boat” - Lyle Lovett Here He Is
A lullaby for grown-ups.
“Dry River” - Dave Alvin Live From Austin, Texas
A song of rebirth and new hope. And, like my friend Dave, I also was born not too far from a river paved with cement and played in orange groves of the valley as a child before they bulldozed those trees.
“Your Life Is Now” - John Mellencamp Words & Music: Greatest Hits
“Would you teach your children to tell the truth?
Would you take the high road if you could choose?”
“Long As I Can See The Light” - Creedence Clearwater Revival Cosmo’s Factory (40th Anniversary Edition)
Rock as gospel for believing.
“To Be With You” 3:51 The Mavericks Trampoline
For my wife, with all my love.
“Waitin’ On A Sunny Day” - Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band 6/27/09 Glastonbury BBC Broadcasts
A song I’d sing to my baby boy to rock him to sleep. He’d later learn to sing it himself as a favorite, making daddy smile so much.
“Here Comes The Sun” – The Beatles Abbey Road
Hope distilled in one of the loveliest, heart-soaring Beatles songs ever.
An anthem of resolve.
“The Promised Land” – Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band 6/27/09 Glastonbury BBC Broadcasts
Because I do believe in one…
“Where The Streets Have No Name” U2 Vertigo 2005 – Live From Chicago
Epic and uplifting…always.
“Out Of The Darkness” – Little Steven & The Disciples of Soul - Greatest Hits
“I thought the only justice in this world…came from an angry heart.” With revelation comes a new beginning and journey.
“Love Reign O’er Me” – The Who, Quadrophenia
The greatest, thundering rock ‘n’ roll waltz of all time.
“Home” – Depeche Mode (Martin Gore lead vocal) – Depeche Mode – Germany, 2009
A song of thanks for a place to be. For Barb.
“Redemption Song” – Johnny Cash Featuring Joe Strummer Unearthed III: Redemption Songs
“None but ourselves can free our minds…”
“Rockin’ in the Free World” Bruce Springsteen with Neil Young, John Fogerty and REM October 5, 2004 - St. Paul, Minnesota
Rallying against the storm and pressing on, and I was there for this once-in-a-lifetime concert experience.
“Radio Nowhere” – Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band – 4/5/08 San Jose, California
“I want a thousand guitars…and pounding drums.”
“Almost Saturday Night / Rockin’ All Over the World” The Georgia Satellites Rubáiyát Elektra’s 40th Anniversary
The anticipation of joy, with a great global coda.
“Thundercrack” – Bruce Springsteen Holiday show 12/8/03 AP Peace, Love and Understanding
Obscure, pure fan of Bruce, until my wonder boy Declan heard this song in its many live recordings and fell in love with it just like papa did more than 30 years ago. You’re the power battery for my will power, my son.
“Peaceful World” – John Mellencamp Farm Aid 2002, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
“It’s what you do and not what you say…”
“Undefeated (Everybody Goes Home)” - Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul Greatest Hits
The way it should be.
“I’m Gonna Be Around” – Del-Lords Based On A True Story
Underappreciated genuine New Yawk garage-roots rockers channel and swipe from The Who for their own anthem about defiantly standing your ground.
“Peace on Earth/Walk On” - U2 in London for America: A Tribute to Heroes
Performed not long after 9/11, this resonates with sadness and sorrow, yet also hope and the resolve to move forward and, yes, walk on.
“Land of Hope and Dreams (w/People Get Ready)” Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band 4/16/09 Los Angeles
“Bright Side of the Road” – Raul Malo Nashville Acoustic Sessions
A glorious voice sings a Van Morrison invitation.
“My Back Pages” - The Byrds Cruising Altitude from Byrds Box Set
“I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now…”
“It’s Been A Long Time” (with Southside & Little Steven) – Bruce Springsteen Holiday Show 12/8/03 AP Peace, Love and Understanding
A toast to survival and friends — past, present and future.
“End of the Line” – Traveling Wilburys Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1
“Even when you’re old and gray, you’ve got something to say…” Because we all should get to go the distance to that end of the line.
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