::"The Boss"::

[I know it's been quite a bit of time since I've updated this website, but I know you all understand because I'm incredibly important! Stay tuned for regular updates.]

Bruce Springsteen is "The Boss". He always has been and always will be. But how does a person who writes songs sympathizing with the lives of lower-middle class men and women become "The Boss"? Surely, this is a misnomer.

Springsteen, to most people, is a realist, one who questions common (the media's?) values and opts to portray life in its most vulnerable and unpleasant ways. In particular, his brilliant 1982 album Nebraska shows Springsteen as an even-more-regular-than-you type of person.

But how does this happen? Obviously, Bruce is not like any of us. Sure he may have grown up in middle-earth type places like New Jersey (ah, home) and seen the blue-collar lifestyle, but isn't Springsteen a celebrity? Isn't he one of those rich, pleasant-on-TV/Stage type of people? Especially at the time of Nebraska Bruce Springsteen he was a recognizable celebrity, selling out stadiums and shows on all his tours.

But yet the music prevails. The thing is that Springsteen tends to illustrate his stories with a narrator that may not necessarily be himself. This worn-down man has seen a lot, knows more than he'll let on, and has that raspy voice to prove it. Listening to Nebraska is not like listening to a rock star attemping to reestablish his credibility, but is like listening to the emotion, thought, and stories of an underrepresented lower-mid class. Ironically, his stories transcend class boundaries and achieve (especially on Nebraska) something like the Human Experience. His dealings with violence, lust, love, and emotion, as stripped down as they are, achieve things anyone can relate to. The sound is necessarily barren and raw to give us that realness we need.

Even though Springsteen is a celebrity with money, fame, and most things that middle America cannot relate with, we find ourselves giving him the name he deserves. He is "The Boss". We will work a week so that we can spend our hard earned cash on seeing a Springsteen show. He knows human emotion like the best artists of our time. And, more than that, he knows he's not better than the murderers, gamblers, or antisocial characters in his songs because, at heart, we all are equal.