There are points during nearly all concerts where the emotions and internal language of the music can take over to express something that’s out of the grasp of mere words.

When The Rising first came out, the meaning of the songs of pure loss — Empty Sky and You’re Missing in particular — could only come out of the context of the events of 9/11. Though you might be able to take the story of You’re Missing and apply it to say, a broken marriage or any sudden death, I’dRead More

Dropping “Waitin’ On A Sunny Day” from consideration, “Mary’s Place” is the worst song Bruce has done since … oh, take your pick

The great songwriting tradition of blending opposites gets quite a workout on “The Fuse.” We have the vignette of the (possibly doomed) lovers in the last verse, which seems to leaven the darkness of the earlier verses, where death takes on a heavy presence.

With that varied styles employed throughout The Rising, it was kind of refreshing to hear “Further On (Up The Road)” come blasting out of my speakers. Very little in the way of violins, mandolins, or anything else that might get in the way of the insistent bombast. But there was a problem: I didn’t really like the way it sounded.

In the Springsteen catalog, it’s not often that I prefer the studio over the live version of a song, but in the case of “Let’s Be Friends,” it’s the truth.

The musical palette employed during “Worlds Apart” — the tablas and the vocals delivered by Asif Ali Khan and Haji Nazir Afridi — was almost shocking. This is a Bruce Springsteen song?!

“Empty Sky” again takes up the themes of loss, anger, and retribution from both the personal and broader perspectives.

On The Rising, Bruce came at the topic of loss from many angles. Here we have a person who’s lost a loved one and is forced to deal with the consequence of a life totally transformed.

Various reports state that this song was written long before the 9/11 incident and was brought forward (and perhaps updated) for its release.