Bruce Springsteen Is Known For His Genuine And Relatable

Over the course of American history, several significant events have impacted poetry. Moreover, poetry serves to be the origin of many historical songs. Furthermore, this poetry origin has developed diction and repetition within songs. “The Battle Cry of Freedom,” a historic song, employs repetition and diction to emphasize its patriotic theme. However, as time continues, the merit of the piece, written by George Frederick Root in 1862, has been degraded and no longer holds the same significance in people's hearts. In order to better understand the change in meaning that the poem undergoes, one must consider the meaning of the poem, the framework of when it was written and the context of what it means today.

When songwriters begin to pen the lyrics of a song, I believe their ultimate goal is to transcend time in hopes of reaching listeners for generations to come. J.R. Cash, professionally known as Johnny Cash, wrote a song that did just that. “Ragged Old Flag” is a patriotic song that speaks to every generation. Written in 1974, “Ragged Old Flag” was meant to tell the story of our country. Johnny Cash recorded “Ragged Old Flag” live at the House of Cash. Cash wanted the song to be recorded live because it was raw, untouched, and unapologetically real. The basis of this analysis is to show how patriotism spans generations, but also why a song such as, “Ragged Old Flag” is an important part of patriotism in the United States of America.

Life, liberty, freedom, equality, opportunity, and so many other words have been used to describe the United States of America. Every American child grows up with the words “the land of the free” pounded into their heads, and every morning schools declare America as a place of “liberty and justice for all.” Such inflated rhetoric presents America with large shoes to fill. Thus, America’s shortcomings should not be surprising. Langston Hughes and Upton Sinclair were two 20th Century writers, who saw past this idealistic talk and saw the jungle that the United States really was. Langston Hughes wrote in his poem “Let America be America Again”, “Let America be America again. –Let it be the dream it used to be. –Let it be the pioneer on the plain –Seeking a home where himself is free. –(America was never America to me) (1).” He highlights not only the experience of African Americans during the 1930s, but identifies with other oppressed groups including immigrants writing, “I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—And finding only the same old stupid plan –Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.” Likewise, Upton Sinclair conveyed his repulsion to immigrant oppression during the Industrial Revolution in his book The Jungle, emphasizing the gullibility behind trusting the grandiloquence of the American dream.

At only 22, he was crowned the voice of a generation. His audiences became mesmerized with his expressive lyrics and soulful harmonica. He changed the way the world looks at songwriting and protest, and inspired countless future musicians from the moment he stepped up on the stage in his railroad hat, denim jacket, and harmonica brace. However, it is clear that there is so much more behind Bob Dylan than just a rough voice and a collection of poetic songs. As one man said about Dylan’s early days in Greenwich Village, “There’s a quality of determination and of will that some people have that when they’re doing something, they’re really doing it and you

Despite having been less radical in its political nature than the music of the 1930s, the song “Hurricane” raised political issues that resonate into modern times, and the case of Rubin Carter became notorious because of Dylan’s efforts. This song explicitly and powerfully identifies itself with the injustice black males have faced at the hands of the American legal system, a legacy that dates back to the time of slavery. The legal battle of Rubin Carter is convoluted and complex, and, in many ways, serves as an example of this injustice from the 1960s. Dylan had somewhat of a troubling childhood.

Throughout this course I have learned that Bruce’s songs have a deeper meaning than the tempo, instruments and lyrics of the song present. This is proven again with the songs Nebraska, Born in the USA, Ghost of Tom Joad, and Streets of Philadelphia. These songs can almost be looked at spiritually and emotionally for those who feel they don’t fit in with society. As Chet Flippo says about Bruce’s songs in his interview “a fundamentalist acceptance of life and its troubles, along with the faith that true belief will bring a better way.”

Some people are born to become legends, Bruce Springsteen is one of them. From the second he was born and through his younger years everyone knew he was destined for something bigger than a regular nine to five life, they just didn’t realize the magnitude of what was to come. Born into a all around food middle-class family, no on in that house hold even Bruce, didn’t realize that within fifty years he would reach living legend status. Also have a title of one of the best musicians to every live. After working hard at what he loves, Bruce has become known as a musical hero and inspiration to his fans and fellow musicians. With his deep lyrics, amazing stage presence, incredible guitar skills, and his passion, he is an untouchable force in

During this period, Pete Seeger began writing books. His greatest publications include The Bells of Rhymney and Other Songs and Stories and American Favorite Ballads, Tunes and Folksongs as Sung by Pete Seeger. In the book “Carry it on! A History in Song and Picture of America’s Working Men and Women, Seeger and Reiser tell a story with songs describing every little aspect to the struggle of workers, specifically what they did in order to make things right. “Farm workers have been treated like livestock, herded into overcrowded dormitories or housed in shacks. In the prosperous 1960’s, the average farm worker made less than $2000 a year” . This example is followed by a song called “Deportee” which is written from the perspective of a farmer. Another book “The Incompleat Folksinger”, explores the many aspects of folklore music and what impacts it has had on Pete. He describes his songs to “tell of

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, when cold war tensions were at an all time high in the United States, Bob Dylan wrote a song that would become known as A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall, which depicted the world after a nuclear cataclysm. He song provided imagery such as “a newborn baby with wild wolves around it” and “a young woman whose body was burning” (Dylan). Compared to Sinatra, Dylan’s music was extremely politically motivated and used to push a message, it was also composed by Dylan himself. This difference is most likely due to Sinatra’s origin in the Big Band era of Swing Music, where a singer would exist as part of a large ensemble if one existed at all, and the band director would be primarily in charge of songs that the orchestra performed. Whereas Dylan was a child of the Folk Music revival, which valued music less for setting a mood but rather as a means for creative expression for a given artist. Even if a difference in era is the root in Dylan’s music being far more politically motivated, it did lead to him being able to have a large amount of influence of the political views of his listeners. Dylan was also notoriously racially tolerant, with the singer Victoria Spivey saying that to him “Everybody was people, not color” (Sounes, Chapter 3). One of Bob Dylan’s biggest hits was Blowin’ In The Wind,

In “God Bless the USA,” Greenwood mentions that he “won’t forget the men who died [in the army], and who gave [freedom] to me.” In Greenwood’s perspective, fighting for the USA is idealistic and in line with the American values. However, in “Born in the USA,” Springsteen notes that the military is “sent off in a foreign land to go kill the yellow man.” In this statement, Springsteen is highly unfavorable to having American soldiers go and kill in the name of what is right. He believes that Americans are violent.

Dylan's success arises from the most humble roots. His stylistic and poetic muse was Woody Guthrie, from whom he would learn to compose truly meaningful lyrics that resonated with audiences. By adopting Woody‘s working-man mantle, Bob Dylan reinvented himself to become the heir of the American Folk Troubadour. Using Guthrie’s musical and principled example, Dylan learnt to take the current events going on around him and capture the rising sentiment of the common man, and then

Oftentimes musicians draw from their own lives, past and present, to find inspiration for their music. Sometimes they will pick out past experiences or people to write about, and it makes the music more personal and interesting. In the case of Bruce Springsteen, he grew up relatively poor in Asbury Park, New Jersey, and frequently talks about the people he grew up with. Because of Bruce Springsteen’s civilian background, he was inspired to write Darkness on the Edge of Town, a concept album about the struggles of the working class.

With every aspect of our lives we are making a point, arguing a belief, or refuting some other aspect of our existence. Aesthetic pieces, most avidly poems and songs, argue a message both in the lyrics and in the meaning posed between the lines. “American Pie,” in a multitude of ways, argues that American lives and memories are closely intertwined with the music of the time period. Not only does “American Pie” argue a message it also pulls many generations together. Today, thirty years after the initial release, “American Pie” still has an effect in our music and continues to be popular with all age groups. Don McLean accomplishes this task through using the context of the time period, placement of words, the words

During the concert, “The Boss” had the crowd sing the chorus. It was one of the most incredible things I have ever been a part of. Thousands of Americans cheered and cried, “I'm waitin', Waitin’ on a sunny day, Gonna chase the clouds away, Waitin’ on a sunny day” (“Waitin’ on a sunny day-Bruce Springsteen”). It was as though America itself was grieving through Springsteen’s song while being optimistic of the future. Icons are connections that allow us to perceive form and ignite imagination (Lansang, 2015).

We develop our personalities through everything surrounding us. Culture, education, community, family, and religion influence our individuality to a great deal. Things get more complicated for children of immigrants, who struggle defining their identities. These children are exposed to a mixture of two different worlds: they follow their parents’ traditions at home while outside the home they live the culture of which they were born. In the memoir Greetings From Bury Park, Sarfraz Manzoor shows that belief in music can be comparable to that of religion. His obsession with music, Bruce Springsteen’s songs in particular, forms his way of thinking throughout his entire life.