....those 'Bruce' moments in particular.
Safe to say we all listen to plenty of Bruce during our days and nights. But do you get those kinda special moments? What I mean is....those moments where everything seems to snap into place and the right song is on at the right time and you're in the exact right spot to get what I'll call 'the feeling'....for me it's when I can feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up....a sort of tingly feeling. Sometimes is group setting, but for me more often than not I'm flying solo.
I'm not a very good wordsmith, so hopefully I'm making a little bit of sense. But as an example I can recall recent 'moments'....one sitting in my yard...a beer handy, the sun going down...nice and peaceful...and my random music mix kicked out a live version of 'Incident'. All ya can do is crank it up a bit...close your eyes and feel it...feel that song and despite having heard it dozens of times...the guitar solo happens and all is perfect for a few minutes....a 'moment' if you will.
Then there's the other setting that works...in the car. A summer day on the way home from work, windows open and music filling the air....and The Medley came on....and at some point Bruce calls out for 'The Professor' to take the spotlight and Mr. Bittan does what he does and 'the feeling' is there...hair standing up...and just soaking in the joy of a Rock and Roll moment in time.
Anyone else got those 'Moments'?
I had a moment the first time I heard, of all things, I'll Stand By You Always. As a father of two girls who love Harry Potter, I just sat there with a lump in my throat wondering, yet again, how this stranger thousands of kilometres away in another hemisphere has brought a little piece of my inner world to life in a song.
I love what has been written so far...
I was playing E Street Shuffle from Main Point '75. That guitar solo. Wow.
This morning. I dropped off my son at nursery. He didn’t cry very much so I wasn’t my usual emotional wreck. It was chilly but sunny. I had taken the morning off and this was my first day of classes of my Master‘s in Journalism (middle age crisis decision). I was walking back home and decided to put on Bruce’s new song and give it another go. Still not a fan.
But after that, Spotify started playing the studio version of Thunder Road. And THAT was a moment. Sun on my face, a newfound sense of purpose, Thunder Road blasting and each instrument coming through clearly, each playing its own melody and everything falling into place just right.
My 'moment' doesn't involve a recording, never mind a shuffle.
In June of 2000 my wife & I saw one of the MSG shows that closed out the Reunion Tour. It was the 4th and last show on that tour for me, and she'd been there for 3 of them. We were in NYC celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary (we'd honeymooned there). The gods of ticket luck rarely look down on me, but this time we were in the 6th row on the floor.
I need to mention here that a year or so prior to meeting my wife when I was 37 years-old, I'd given up on finding 'the one,' the woman I would spend my life with. She had a similar realization herself, at around the same time. We're both a little odd, and the odds of finding the interlocking piece in the jigsaw puzzle of life were not good. But life provided. Anyhoo...the band broke into Two Hearts, the 4th time I'd heard it on the tour. But this time, when he got to "sometimes it might seem like it was planned for you to roam empty hearted through this land," well that line just split me in two. Man, that was a moment.
I once had shuffle throw out Incident On 57th Street followed by Romeo Had Juliette by Lou Reed. That blew my mind... it was like it was the same story, first Bruce's romantic street opera version followed by Lou's gritty realistic version. I've actually since used that pairing in a playlist it worked that well. That was collectively a 'moment'.
Yes I do. When you are on shuffle, it's like the music gods are doing their work.
The one I remember most clearly was on a train ride through the Rocky Mountains on our 'trip of a lifetime' when Kingdom Of Days came on - it was so perfect for that moment, I took one ear bud out and put it in Mr J's ear so we could listen together - soppy romantic that I am!
Another one, which wasn't Bruce. I was on my way back from London the day after Obama was elected when Change Gonna Come came on - that was spooky!
See this is why i like using shuffle on my Ipod ....because there is nothing like the element of surprise when a great song comes on unexpectedly !!! I guess thats why we all loved the radio growing up !!!!