Look busy

By Jane Norris

Published: April 24, 2008

He’s been glorified by Grammy voters and loved by listeners. Now Bruce Springsteen is scintillating to scholars.
On Wednesday afternoon, just hours before Springsteen’s concert with the E Street Band at John Paul Jones Arena, his role in American liberal politics will be in the spotlight in the Harrison Auditorium of the University of Virginia’s Special Collections Library.
“The Fall and Rise of American Liberalism: Media, Race, Religion and Bruce Springsteen’’ starts noon Wednesday and features UVa media studies professor Bruce A. Williams among its panelists.
Williams is co-author of “And the Walls Came Tumbling Down: The Eroding Boundaries Between News and Entertainment and What They Mean for Mediated Politics in the 21st Century.’’ He will be joined on the panel by Eric Alterman, media columnist for the Nation and professor of English and journalism at Brooklyn College; Angela Dillard, associate professor of Afro-American and African studies at the University of Michigan; and Todd Gitlin, professor of journalism and sociology at Columbia University.
On Wednesday night, the focus will be on the music. Springsteen and the band will be performing new music from “Magic,’’ a CD released Oct. 7, 2007.
Of course, there will be hits from throughout Springsteen’s career. Fans can rattle them off quickly — “Hungry Heart,’’ “Glory Days,’’ “I’m on Fire,’’ “Born to Run,’’ “Darkness on the Edge of Town,’’ “Born in the U.S.A.,’’ “Dancing in the Dark,’’ “My Hometown’’ and “Atlantic City.’’
Many of his songs have a common-man sensibility that helped earn a loyal fan base. The protagonists of his songs work hard for a living, get their hands dirty, serve their country. They look for love and sometimes even find it, if only for a while. But time after time, lyric after lyric, life isn’t easy for these men, and they find more broken promises than happy endings. Quite a few of Springsteen’s singles have stirred controversy over the years.
It’s no surprise that some of them — such as “American Skin (41 Shots),’’ about the shooting of Amadou Diallo by police for instance, or “Streets of Philadelphia,’’ about a gay man fighting AIDS — ignited debates with their headline-fresh intensity.
The furor over others, however, can be surprising. “Born in the U.S.A.’’ took a dark look at the poor treatment many Vietnam War veterans received, but many people who didn’t listen carefully to the lyrics thought it was an apple-pie paean to flag and country.
In “We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions,’’ from 2006, Springsteen dove into Pete Seeger’s protest music. The rocker picked up a Grammy for best traditional folk album.
And Springsteen is clear about who he wants to see in the Oval Office next year. He threw his support behind Barack Obama not long ago.
Ties run deep between Springsteen and his E Street Band. Members include keyboardist Roy Bittan, saxophonist Clarence Clemons, guitarists Nils Lofgren and Steven Van Zandt, vocalist Patti Scialfa, bassist Garry Tallent and drummer Max Weinberg.
Together, they’re mourning the loss of longtime keyboard player and friend Danny Federici, who died April 17 of melanoma. There’s a link on Springsteen’s site, http://www.brucespringsteen.net, to the Danny Federici Melanoma Fund, which is where the band and Federici’s family encourage memorial donations instead of flowers.
During his 1974 performance at Mem Gym, Springsteen won over new fans with his stage presence. On Wednesday, fans at the Jack can remember what drew them the first time — and how the years in between have shaped him as an artist.
And, these days, as a rock activism statesman who’s got the scholars’ ears along with the fans’.