Springsteen & I

--: SPRINGSTEEN & I :----

Now, the E Street Band has come thousands of miles tonight.

And we're here for one reason.

Because you're here.

And where we want to go, we can't get there by ourselves.

Where we want to go, we can't get there by ourselves.

We need you.

So I got one question that I want to ask you.

Can you feel the spirit?

If you can feel the spirit, I want you to answer me with a "Yeah, yeah!"

Can you feel the spirit?

Yeah! Yeah!

Can you feel the spirit now?

Yeah, yeah, yeah!

My three words for Bruce Springsteen are hope, heart and perspective.

Intense, passionate and earnest.

Bruce is power.

Bruce is belief.

Bruce is togetherness.

My first experience with Bruce Springsteen was in here

in this venue, 1987, The Tunnel Of Love Express Tour.

And my journey started on that night.

I was nine years old and I was hanging in the fences up here

and having a blast and, you know,

there must have been 100 people behind me who couldn't see the show.

But I was a kid at the time, so they probably thought,

"Hey, let the boy enjoy himself."

But I remember I recorded the entire show,

three and a half hours, on an old Walkman,

and on the old cassette tapes, and I still have them at home.

I keep them in a box and...

Once every now and then, I stumble on to this box

and I look at it and I smile, you know, because I actually remember.

I remember the night. It was a beautiful summer night.

What these tapes represent is basically why I keep them

and they represent a great day in a nine-year-old boy's life

and that's priceless.

My favorite singer is Bruce Springsteen

because I think

he puts like when he has a concert,

he puts a lot of effort into his singing.

Like he takes a deep breath before every song

and like when the camera goes close up,

you can just see his veins popping out

because he's working so hard and after one song

he's as sweaty as a normal singer would be

after he's done like 10 songs.

These are some of the pictures that I've...

I won, or I bought or framed them.

But this particular one, it's a little moldy.

I used to hold this picture up to my son

and say, "Daddy, Daddy."

So I think maybe I played some head games with my son

for the first few years of his life thinking that this was his daddy.

A song about growing up.

Hi. I'm Theresa Martin

and this is what I've collected over the years.

I have an abundance of love for Bruce.

So, Theresa, when did you actually become a Bruce Springsteen fan?

I became a Bruce Springsteen fan in 1982.

Really? And do you recall how many live shows you actually attended?

I'm not sure. I'm in double digits clearly.

But I'd say 30 plus.

30 plus, that's quite an adventure you had.

I also understand that you've won a few Bruce Springsteen contests.

Is that correct? That is correct. I've won two.

One being... The first contest I won was...

Help me. The Today Show.

That's one. And you know what? I'm good.

Because you know what? It was The Today Show.

It was in 2002 when The Risifirst came out

and I gave birth to my first son.

And he was a month old.

And I actually was home

and The Today Show had questions.

I answered them and I won and we went to New York City.

So I'd kind of like to introduce my son Dominic.

And this is my son now.

He's 10 years old and...

Well, Dominic, you had a little bit of a special moment, didn't you?

What's the question?

You had a bit of a special Bruce Springsteen moment, didn't you?

Yes, I did. And can you explain that to us?

I've got it.

This is the picture I got after the concert.

We were waiting on the curb

and a friend was going to get the vehicle.

And the police came and stopped all the cars from where they were going.

And a black SUV came.

And in the back seat with his window down was Bruce Springsteen.

Everyone ran up to the car.

She was told to back off by the policeman standing next to her.

And I shook his hand while getting this close-up picture.

Dominic, where was that concert at?

Fenway Park in Boston.

Awesome. Awesome.

So now you're the next generation Bruce Springsteen fan.

Yes, I am. Excellent.

What's your favorite Bruce song?

Death To My Hometown.

Why?

I like it.

Which is good. However...

Because of the words.

Taught to me by this person right here.

And when Mommy tells you to listen to the words,

or understand the words, what do you say?

Okay.

And do you hear the words? Yes.

Do you really hear the words? Yes.

Okay, I just want to make sure.

Thank you, goodbye.

Thank you, Dominic. Yeah!

So we got to the park at four o'clock

with our signs with us, our home-made signs.

I had my "I'll be your Courtney Cox" sign.

I had my Aviator sunglasses on. It was pouring with rain.

I had my Courtney Cox T-shirt on.

Then James said to me, "Rachel, come on. Get on my shoulders."

And I was like, "Oh, no, I don't want to."

I felt bad for the people behind us. They wouldn't be able to see.

He's like, "Come on. You never know when we're going to see Bruce again."

Literally, a couple of seconds into the song,

Bruce spotted me and started laughing

and he was pointing at me and I was waving at him.

Next thing I know, I get put on the big screen with my sign.

The next thing I know, the girl in front of me just turned around to me

and screamed, "He wants you on the stage! "He wants you on the stage!"

The next thing I know, I'm just being pushed through a sea of black bodies.

I had my sunglasses on. I couldn't see anything.

The next thing I know I'm dancing with Bruce Springsteen on stage.

Before I knew it, it was all over. That was it.

We took a bow and he gave me a big hug

and the only thing I could say to him was, "Bruce, I love you."

I can't get through a day without listening to Bruce.

His storytelling is perfect.

It's helped me through serious highs and...

Since then he was two things for me, a friend and a teacher.

I think most of all he taught me how to be a man and a decent man

through his songs and through his life.

Because I lost my virginity tThunder Road.

Whenever I'm feeling lonely, or depressed,

I can always listen to oe of his songs or albums

and it always helps me feel bett.

A song by Bruce can stop me dead in my tracks,

even a song I've heard over and over again for 28 years.

But Bruce is timeless.

He's helped me live in my own time and become who I am.

I've been a fan of Springsteen's all my life.

He was just standing in that spotlight and he was so powerful

and the whole crowd was just mesmerised by what he could do

and the stories that he could tell and I just remember thinking,

"What is this? Who can do this? What kind of power is that"

Hi. My name is Kitty. I'm a truck driver.

And Bruce Springsteen is my favorite artist to listen to on the road.

Recently I drove through Arizona

and I listened to his album Nebraska

and the song Atlantic City came on.

And it just felt really good, listening to that loud,

while driving through the desert.

In fact, I think every important moment of my life

has a theme song that's Bruce Springsteen.

So all of these CDs in my car,

absolutely every single one is Bruce Springsteen.

Wait, actually one is his wife Patti, my favorite album from Patti.

But that's all we listen to in this car,

so my three sons, they have no choice.

I only listen to Bruce

and they are schooled in the music of Bruce Springsteen

when they drive around with Mommy

and I have to take them all over God's creation.

They know they don't have a choice. It's no Disney bop nonsense music.

It's Bruce Springsteen.

And I love it, because it gives me such joy.

I'm so proud of them when they can sing songs that are 30 years old

from when I was little.