The Rising, by Bruce Springsteen (2002)

In the months following September 11^th the music industry remained largely silent, seemingly unable to rise to the challenge of addressing this deep scar on the American consciousness. There was however the Tribute to Heroes concert, a predictably self-serving and saccharine event at which Paul McCartney, Neil Young and Wyclef Jean got to wave a flag, play songs of “peace and love”, and boost their own flagging careers a la Live Aid. This judgement may seems a little harsh, but charity rock concerts have always filled me with an unnameable dread at the thought of spoilt rockers mumbling vague platitudes about “pulling together” and “making a difference”.

The victims and the families of September 11th did not need the rock aristocracy to make the world aware that something unspeakably awful had occurred on that day. The point of these gatherings is to apply balm to open wounds, engaging in singalongs to make people feel better for a couple of hours, when it merely trivialised the event. Is a weedy Neil Young cover of Imagine really a fitting tribute? Will it make anyone feel better? Should it? Should the horror of the event be covered over and made to fit into a vague it’ll-all-be-alright-in-the-end philosophy?

If the number of songwriters in the world capable of eloquently addressing moments of tragedy and historical significance cannot be counted on one hand, they can certainly be counted on two. In the absence of any contribution of real value (certainly not Paul McCartney’s vapid Freedom or Neil Young’s Let’s Roll), it was Bruce Springsteen who picked up the gauntlet and crafted The Rising, reuniting with the E-Street Band in the studio for the first time since 1985. This is not an album solely concerned with 9/11, but the events of that day and the emotional aftermath, clearly inform the subject matter of several of these songs.

Instead of trying to sum up the mood of an entire country by looking at the broad picture of good and evil, he turns instead to documenting the emotional impacts on ordinary lives. Springsteen’s best work has always sprung from this kind of thing: the struggle of the everyman to escape his roots, forge new paths, and the battle with adversity. Often his bombastic rock sound has rendered his music somewhat overblown and histrionic, as in Born to Run (never my favourite Springsteen song), but here, other than a couple of lapses where he just can’t help himself, the musical backing and instrumentation is wholly appropriate and effective. He’s also the kind of artist that will never stray too far from his trademark sound but it’s a welcome noise to hear.