As I first read over the lyrics to this song, I was reminded of my nephew. Devils & Dust came out not too many months after he’d been killed in a motorcycle accident. There’s a verse in this song that speaks to such a loss. That is, of a parent losing a child.
Now there’s a loss that can never be replaced,
A destination that can never be reached,
A light you’ll never find in another’s face,
A sea whose distance cannot be breached
While Bruce had written of Mary specifically losing her son, the universality of such a terrible event is obvious. No parent wants to outlive their children. In my sister’s case, she was never the same. Years of hardships, stress, mental illness, and drug abuse had already taken their toll on her. This loss was too much to bear.
My sister was a big Bruce fan — she took me to my first E Street show. I don’t remember ever speaking with her about this particular song. Maybe when we got here we both changed the subject.
Up next: Leah
- Why the Rolling Stones’ Harrowing ‘Gimme Shelter’ is Still Revealing New Depths - November 18, 2024
- How Talking Heads’ ‘Fear of Music’ Opened Up a World of Art and Sound - August 5, 2024
- How Deep Cuts Propelled Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born in the U.S.A.’ - June 4, 2024
