The Rising, Sean E.

Whenever someone tells me they do not like a Bruce Springsteen album, I tell them that Bruce has never made a bad album, just albums you do not appreciate yet. While this reasoning is a complete cop-out for nearly every other musician ever, I believe in my Jersey boy core that this is true for Bruce. 

With this said, I also think there are Bruce albums that fit very specific moments (Tunnel of Love is for relationship troubles; Wrecking Ball is for economic struggles), while others transcend all situations (Greeting from Asbury Park; The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle; Born to Run; Darkness on the Edge of Town; Born in the USA). The Rising is an album for a moment. Until relistening to it this past week, I always thought that moment was the immediate post-9/11 time period or those drunken nights when you contemplate the immediate post-9/11 time period. While some songs on the album can cut across this ("The Rising" is a comeback song; "My City of Ruins" always makes me think of Asbury Park's economic revival in the late '90s through the early 2000s), others cannot. I have always thought that "Waitin' on a Sunny Day" and "Countin' on a Miracle" are almost unbearably cheesy. However, I think The Rising is the album we need for the hellscape that is 2020. As in the aftermath of 9/11, most of us are angry, afraid, exhausted, and wanting retribution for having gone through all of this. The Rising lends a voice to all of these feelings, but more importantly, it gives us hope. 

"Waitin' on a Sunny Day" is still a cheesy song in 2020, but it is the cheese we need right now, so I am turning it up. Keep on keeping on folks, our sunny day is almost here.