I just want to hear some rhythm. Bruce Springsteen

I’m just looking for some inspiration,
I’m looking for something to rock my soul.
Patti Scialfa

I love music. One of the things I enjoyed about being a district superintendent in a large geographic area was the time afforded me to listen – to Minnesota Public Radio and to music. Music helps me rejoice in the sheer goodness of being alive. It does two other things that seem contradictory: it lifts me beyond the pain, hurt, and drudgery of life and it helps me see more deeply into the beauty and brutality, the heroism and tragedy of life. Both are necessary.

Today has been a day full of music. It began with two worship services at my church and I am fortunate to have gifted musicians who play regularly for us. Today we were graced with guest musicians as well, some for the local campus of the University of Minnesota. This afternoon I attended the cello recital given by a member of my church. Her musicianship was superb as was that of her piano accompanists. Tonight found me at a benefit concert for a homeless shelter in Superior, Wisconsin. The performers were a pianist, a violinist, and a soprano. Again, an incredible listening experience.

I enjoy classical music and my appreciation for it has deepened over the years. However, when I pick up a CD to listen, it is usually pop, rock or jazz. I grew up on top forty radio and bemoan that music has become so fragmented for today’s youth. Whatever its shortcomings, and there were many, such radio provided something of a shared experience which cut across dividing lines.

The single best concert I’ve ever attended was a rock concert in October 1978 at the St. Paul Civic Center. It was Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. The show was full of energy and joy. Springsteen’s enthusiasm was infectious and the band was tight. Springsteen was then, and remains, one of my favorite artists.

Recently he released a new CD with the E Street Band, Magic. It is a very good CD filled with wonderful rock riffs and catchy pop tunes. It may not be in quite the same category as the classics like Born to Run or The Rising, but it is a great listen nonetheless. Some of the songs help me celebrate and get away for a bit. Springsteen, in an insightful interview in Rolling Stone, says that the opening track, Radio Nowhere, is both about an apocalyptic scene and about trying to connect. As I listen to it, I thought more about trying to pick up a radio signal driving through the dark of night. Its driving rhythm lifts me beyond what I may be struggling with and moves me to dance. Girls in Their Summer Clothes (o.k. the title is not exactly progressive) is a gentle pop tune celebrating innocence, another chance to drift away for a short time. Some of the songs bring me face-to-face with the harsh realities of our day. “Who’ll be the last to die for a mistake” – Last to Die. You can’t get more contemporary and harsh than that.

A lesser known release coming about a month earlier has also held my attention lately. It is Patti Scialfa’s Play It As It Lays. Patti Scialfa is a part of both Bruce Springsteen’s band and family – they are wife and husband. Scialfa’s CD is also filled with great music – music that carries me away and rocks my soul – Looking for Elvis, Rainy Day Man, and music that opens me up to the world more completely – its beauty and its tragedy. “Every perfect picture/Hides a mess or 2/Sometimes it’s me/Sometimes it’s you.” “The years go by/You add them up/Some days are holy/Some days are rough.” These lines from the CDs title song ring true to life, and in the end she encourages us to “play it as it lays,” that is to meet reality as it is and try and make it a little better.

Life is like that, some days are holy and some days are rough. Life is filled with love and joy and beauty, and it is marred by war and hatred and injustice and the insensitivity of the powerful to the powerless. I need to hear this, and also occasionally take a break from the harsher realities to reengage them more adequately later on.

Some days are holy, some days are rough. I’m just looking for some inspiration. I’m looking for something to rock my soul. I just want to feel some rhythm. Great messages, especially when you can dance to them.

With Faith and With Feathers,

David