Reflection on Bruce Springsteen’s Inauguration Performance
As Bruce performed his song, “Land of Hopes and Dreams,” I couldn’t help but reflect on the song’s meaning in relation to where we are as a country. The first lines of the song read,
Grab your ticket and your suitcase
Thunder’s rolling down the tracks
You don’t know where you’re goin’ now
But you know you won’t be back
Songs are full of analogies, and meanings can be construed in so many different ways. However, in the context of our divided political landscape, where there has been so much partisan division over the last 4 years, we are at a crossroads of uncertainty. Indeed, as Bruce sings, it can seem as if we, “don’t know where we’re going.” There’s issues concerning labor wages, healthcare, the environment, systemic racism, rising inequality, etc.
Yet the next line provides relief from this uncertainty and calls us to do our best work and if we are weary, take rest:
Darlin’ if you’re weary
Lay your head upon my chest
We’ll take what we can carry
And we’ll leave the rest
While I’m no fool to believe that Democrats and Republicans will live in total harmony, I believe that all humans crave a sense of belonging and we are capable of coexisting, compromising, and in most cases, setting our political differences aside for the greater good of the people. In a democracy, no one gets everything they want, but we should be able to come to some kind of compromise and remember we are Americans first before we are Democrats or Republicans. Democracy is a long, arduous, often messy process, but it requires all of us to put our best foot forward, and then let the chips fall where they may. In other words, “Taking what we can carry” and “leaving the rest,” as Bruce sings.
From here, the song transitions to a sense of optimism, perhaps even idealism stating,
Big wheels rolling through fields
Where sunlight streams
Meet me in a land of hope and dreams
As these words are sung, I recall a recent holiday travel experience, where we drove from Colorado to my in-laws in Tennessee. Through this journey, we saw the heartland of America in the south and the midwest, going through states such as Tennessee, Kentucky, and Kansas. Indeed, these are the farm lands where “big wheels rolling through fields” help to keep our nation fed and nourished. Kansas is also a place where I witnessed wind turbines being harnessed to produce new sources of energy. Whether it’s the farmer attending to their crop, or new sources of wind energy, it’s everyday people who keep this country going, and I’m reminded that no matter our political differences, at the end of the day, we still need each other for society to function. We still need to meet each other, “in a land of hope and dreams,” and trust that most people are doing their best in their current situation.
The next several lines of the song state:
I will provide for you
And I’ll stand by your side
You’ll need a good companion
For this part of the ride
In this country, we provide for each other every day, yet the great irony, is we hardly have time to stop, recognize, and thank each other for the services provided. Bob Dylan once sang, “you’ve gotta serve somebody.” We Americans do this every day. Whether it’s a barista serving coffee, a medical team nursing us back to better health, a teacher teaching their students a lesson, a mechanic making sure our car is properly functioning, the grocery store employees keeping us well fed, the therapist intently listening to our issues, we all serve or as Bruce sings, “provide” and “stand by your side.” We need to continue to remember we are Americans and that we’ve “stood by each other side” through many challenging times throughout history, and we need to stand by each other again. It won’t be easy, but as Lincoln once said, “United we stand” and “Divided we fall.”
The last lines of the song calls to the better angels of our nature and speaks to empathy for all humanity. Not just the saints, but the sinners too. The song calls us to stay humble, and recognize our great imperfections and tremendous flaws as human beings.
This train carries saints and sinners
This train carries losers and winners
This train carries whores and gamblers
This train carries lost souls
I said, this train dreams will not be thwarted
This train faith will be rewarded
This train hear the steel wheels singin’
This train bells of freedom ringin’
This train carries saints and sinners
This train carries losers and winners
This train carries whores and gamblers
This train carries lost souls
I said, this train carries broken-hearted
This train thieves and sweet souls departed
This train carries fools and kings
This train, all aboard
I said, this train dreams will not be thwarted
This train faith will be rewarded
This train hear the steel wheels singin’
This train bells of freedom ringin’
Through this last verse, we are reminded that if we are lost, through faith and courage, we can be found again. Through our pain and suffering, we can be made whole by forgiving ourselves and each other for our imperfections. Even those perhaps outcasts of society, namely the whores and gamblers, are part of God’s kingdom and serve a purpose. It calls us, as Americans, to have a heart, get on board the same train, and do what we can to help our society keep moving forward.