Bruce Springsteen doesn't shy from political commentary

[Kolesar]

Monday, November 05, 2007
John Soeder
Plain Dealer Pop Music Critic

"Is there anybody alive out there?" Bruce Springsteen sang over and over during his opening number, "Radio Nowhere," a bracing song about trying to communicate above the white noise of these troubled times.

Lucky for us, when it comes to communicating with a roomful of 20,000 people, nobody does it better than Springsteen.

...

Springsteen & Co. went on shortly after 8:30 p.m., behind schedule because sound check ran late. This was their first show here since 2004, when Cleveland was a stop on the Vote for Change Tour.

Springsteen, 58, didn't shy away from political commentary on this occasion, either.

"This is about living in times when the truth gets twisted into lies and lies get twisted into the truth," he said by way of introducing the spooky ballad from which his latest album takes its title.

There was no mistaking the subtext of several other new tunes - hard-hitting protest songs in the guise of catchy pop music.

Sure, "Livin' in the Future" sounded upbeat, although its feel-good vibe was offset by ominous pronouncements. "Tell me is that rollin' thunder / Or just the sinkin' sound of somethin' righteous goin' under?" Springsteen wondered.

The pointed "Last to Die" weighed the human cost of the Bush administration's war on terror. "Who'll be the last to die for a mistake?" Springsteen demanded, against a backdrop of angry guitars and drummer Max Weinberg's driving backbeat.

http://www.cleveland.com/music/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1194255560284170.xml&coll=2

"Who'll be the last to die for a mistake?"

I recall that Bruce was standing with John Kerry last time he was in Cleveland on a cold Monday in November 2004. Bruce was much more nuanced and polite when he was campaigning with his line about "building the nation that we hold in our hearts". He should have been more direct.

[Kukesa]

1. Gotta love the guy. n/t