Models of Charity and Spirit

In August 2004 Bruce Springsteen published his first-ever editorial, titled “Chords of Change,” in the New York Times. “A nation’s artists and musicians have a particular place in its social and political life,” he wrote. “Over the years I’ve tried to think long and hard about what it means to be an American…. I’ve tried to write songs that speak to our pride and criticize our failures.” ¹ In the editorial and on both The Rising and Devils and Dust, his first two albums after 9/11, Springsteen reflected upon the events of that day and their aftermath, and, along with a great number of other poets and songwriters in the United States and abroad, strove to wring meaning from the ashes. In so doing, Springsteen embraced the responsibility that Wendell Berry ascribed to all poets: to address and give historical depth to the moral and political issues of the day, “remind[ing] poet and reader alike of things they have read and heard” by recalling “past voices into presence” (1990: 88–89). Since 9/11, Springsteen has invoked through song an American history steeped in religious principles in an attempt to celebrate those who lost and risked their lives, help the nation grieve, and imbue the event with the moral imperative to ensure that the fallen did not die in vain. Drawing on the nation’s (and his own) predominantly Christian heritage, he has comforted and called his listeners to action with familiar biblical imagery and historical references, stripped these references of their dogmatic elements, and summoned his audiences to embrace a humanistic spiritualism. In the process, he has countered politicians and other popular musicians who have framed the ongoing “war on terror” in vengeful, jingoistic terms.