Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Ireland, July 2013

[T Fearon]

Getting away from the point which is the farce of Bruce and Bono aligning themselves with workers and the famine stricken.

[muppet]

Getting away from the point which is the farce of Bruce and Bono aligning themselves with workers and the famine stricken.

But you were the one who made the point of the comparison with bankers.

Just the sort of lyrics you'd expect from a multi millionaire recording artist,who has everything in common with the working man,and nothing in common with the metaphorically obese banker.

[T Fearon]

The obvious comparison with bankers is the enormous wealth they and bankers enjoy, and like bankers,doing very little that really matters in return for it.

[highorlow]

Now get yourself a song to sing and sing it 'til you're done
Yeah, sing it hard and sing it well
Send the robber baron's straight to hell
The greedy thieves that came around
And ate the flesh of everything they've found
Whose crimes have gone unpunished now
Walk the streets as free men now

[ross matt]

What a truly stupid ill informed comparison. Stick to Big Tom and Sean Quinn Tony.

[T Fearon]

So you think Bono,Bruce or any Banker lies awake at night worried about the working man?

The stupid and Ill informed are the gobshites who think that singers actually believe the lyrics they write.Only last week Bono told Gay Byrne that U2 pursue tax efficiencies "just like any other business". Top marks for honesty,now he just needs to dispense with preaching bullshit and the hypocrisy.

[belleaqua]

So you think Bono,Bruce or any Banker lies awake at night worried about the working man?

The stupid and Ill informed are the gobshites who think that singers actually believe the lyrics they write.Only last week Bono told Gay Byrne that U2 pursue tax efficiencies "just like any other business". Top marks for honesty,now he just needs to dispense with preaching bullshit and the hypocrisy.

Some of your posting and information is idiotic.

Springsteen and U2 are 100% completely dependent on talent and the choices of individuals for their success. They have no coercive means of making money. It is pure and clear in that respect. They are not the MTV or social media generation. They are not forced on anybody. You have difficulty accepting that and to make a stupid statement like 'Take deposits that people leave...of their own accord?' when referring to taxpayers in this country is ludicrous.

Secondly, yes people believe what these guys write or at least their general themes and influences.

Springsteen didn't release Born In the USA until he was 35 years of age thus becoming commercially successful. His life and wealth did not drastically change until this point. Before that he had written his hardest hitting songs that came from his upbringing in New Jersey and what shaped him, relationship with his father, etc. That said you probably never heard of Darkness on the Edge of Town or Nebraska

Are you suggesting that a man is shaped more in his second 30-35 years or first 35 years? I know which one I feel probably has more of an impact.

The fact that someone is rich and free from monetary pain does not exclude them from writing or singing about this when their whole body of work from 17 years of age is consistent with the same message they put out now.

[T Fearon]

Have all Springsteens albums,but he is an entertainer at the end of the day and crudely commercial,touring to promote albums,cashing in on nostalgia,exorbitant ticket pricing,or in short,out to make money,like bankers.That is not idiotic,that is fact.Also I believe he is pretty ruthless with staff on tour,firing at a him,hardly the Mark of a socialist with a conscience.

Still if you choose to believe the bullshit,good luck to you.

[gallsman]

Have all Springsteens albums,but he is an entertainer at the end of the day and crudely commercial,touring to promote albums,cashing in on nostalgia,exorbitant ticket pricing,or in short,out to make money,like bankers.That is not idiotic,that is fact.Also I believe he is pretty ruthless with staff on tour,firing at a him,hardly the Mark of a socialist with a conscience.

Still if you choose to believe the bullshit,good luck to you.

How's that exactly? You presumably get paid for whatever the f**k it is you do when you're not behind your laptop writing to all the papers. Are you like a banker?

People don't have to buy his albums, listen to his songs or pay for tickets to see him live. It's a choice.

[J70]

Have all Springsteens albums,but he is an entertainer at the end of the day and crudely commercial,touring to promote albums,cashing in on nostalgia,exorbitant ticket pricing,or in short,out to make money,like bankers.That is not idiotic,that is fact.Also I believe he is pretty ruthless with staff on tour,firing at a him,hardly the Mark of a socialist with a conscience.

Still if you choose to believe the bullshit,good luck to you.

If you want to discuss nostalgia and exorbitant pricing, then talk about someone like the Stones. How much of their set comes from the last ten years? Or the last 30 years?! Not thecase with Springsteen.

As to your larger point, by your logic, no one on this board should be appalled or feel anger and sympathy when we see victims of third world oppression or famine on the tv. The parallels are similar.

In my own case, I thankfully live a fairly comfortable life, at least for now, in New York City. Does that mean I've lost all feeling and understanding for those who might be suffering very hard times in rural Donegal where I grew up?

How the hell do you know anything about what Springsteen might be seeing among his relatives and friends in NJ?

Give it up!

[belleaqua]

Have all Springsteens albums,but he is an entertainer at the end of the day and crudely commercial,touring to promote albums,cashing in on nostalgia,exorbitant ticket pricing,or in short,out to make money,like bankers.That is not idiotic,that is fact.Also I believe he is pretty ruthless with staff on tour,firing at a him,hardly the Mark of a socialist with a conscience.

Still if you choose to believe the bullshit,good luck to you.

Ha ha starting to feel sorry for you at this stage - where does one start with this?!

1)You have all his albums? I believe you. Now try taking them out of the case and listening to them.

2) Crudely Commercial? How so? One of the poorest artists out there in terms of memorabilia, PR and getting to grips with the times, stage, lighting, etc. Again you don't seem to know what you are talking about.

3) Touring to promote albums? Shock horror. 63 year old artist produces another new relevant album and actually promotes it?? As opposed to knocking a tour out of 30 year old hits?? Average 3 and a half hour setlists?? Shame on him!

4) Cashing in Nostalgia? Refer to point above. How so? 3 new albums in 5 years?? Setlist changes every night. Plenty of youth in audiences. Again a ridiculous ill informed comment.

5) Exorbitant Ticket Prices? Springsteen is typically paid a fee per show. He pays a 17 piece band. 17! Not 4. Promoters set final ticket pricing in many cases after fee agreed and paid. On top of that 3 and a half hour show and ultimate performance given in terms of effort and quality.

6) Out to make money like bankers? Ah yes they are the only profession out doing that. Only job he has ever held is in a band. Damn him for making a success of it.

7) Also I believe he is pretty ruthless with staff on tour,firing at a him,hardly the Mark of a socialist with a conscience?? Oh really tell us more? Has he sacked people in the past? I would believe it no problem. Was he wrong-what details have you?? Is this multiple people? Given he has one of the most enduring and long serving staff with little change I am interested to hear more on this? Is he a socialist by the same definition of yours??

Give it up is right.

[T Fearon]

Are you obsessive? He is a commercial recording artist with a multi millionaire fortune.If that's not a giveaway regarding his motivation,I don't know what is.

He is canny enough to write lyrics he knows damn well that the gullible will swallow,as he watches his huge fortune grow and grow.Like Bono,he is essentially a businessman,and in terms of wealth accumulation,a very successful one.

When these guys use their vast wealth practically to help the poor and hungry,then I will believe that they believe sincerely what they write and preach.

[Declan]

When these guys use their vast wealth practically to help the poor and hungry,then I will believe that they believe sincerely what they write and preach.

He's never do anything like that now would he?

Bruce Springsteen: Bringing Charity Back Home

January 28, 2004

by Bruce Edward Walker
A spate of newly published biographies of Bruce Springsteen offer a fresh look at the artist's remarkable career, including his role as pop social critic. Two Hearts (Routledge, 2003) by rock scribe Dave Marsh, brings together two previous biographies with a new coda that sums up his subject's career since Springsteen's mid-1980s commercial peak. Bruce Springsteen's America: The People Listening, a Poet Singing (Random House, 2003) by Harvard professor Robert Coles, relates the rocker's relevance to his audience in the first-person narratives of people from all walks of life.

Springsteen's great appeal is based on his common touch, which fans perceive as authentic. Through a remarkable string of albums that includes Darkness on the Edge of Town, The River, Nebraska ,and Born in the U.S.A., Springsteen turned an increasingly compassionate eye on society's downtrodden and regular folk such as Vietnam veterans and blue-collar men and women. "The Boss," as he is known to fans, also manages to balance his albums with songs that celebrate life's simple joys.

But while Springsteen's artistic sympathies are well known, relatively few are aware of his significant charitable works. His acts of compassion are managed, for the most part, without fanfare, and are steered directly to those in need. And he's been helping people for a long time. As Marsh describes in Two Hearts, Springsteen used his newfound fame and fortune during the 1984 Born in the U.S.A. tour to donate generously to food banks and pantries in the cities where he performed.

He has also performed in big charity concerts such as No Nukes, and at benefits for Amnesty International and for victims of 9/11. But lots of singers perform in these kinds of concerts. Sometimes such fundraising rubs a sheen of respectability on otherwise sullied reputations. Hip-hop impresario P. Diddy (Sean Combs) recently competed in the New York Marathon to help raise $2 million for his charity benefiting the children of New York City. That's good public relations for a rap star seeking to find artistic legitimacy with a wider audience. But the fact remains that Combs and his music and film industry cohorts glamorize promiscuous and violent lifestyles without accepting responsibility for the inevitable outcomes of disease, unwanted pregnancies and death.

Much of the direct help that Springsteen offers the needy is consistent with the criteria laid out by Acton Institute senior fellow Marvin Olasky. In "Effective Compassion: Seven Principles from a Century Ago," Olasky wrote: "Before developing a foundation project or contributing to a private charity, we should ask: 'Does it work through families, neighbors, and religious or community organizations, or does it supersede them?'"

Springsteen limited his giving in the early 1980s to communities on his itinerary that had reputable mechanisms for distributing food and necessities to individuals needing temporary assistance. Some of his charitable works have helped individuals and groups in his home state of New Jersey, the state that served as inspiration for many of his better-known songs. He financed the building of the Newark Community Food Bank in the 1980s, and donated a reported $50,000 to replace the roof when it collapsed. He donated another $80,000 to help out union workers laid off from the 3M factories in Freehold. In the late 1990s, he gave more than $350,000 to provide home improvements for the needy in Monmouth County. The Newark Star-Ledger reported that $9,500 of that sum went to repair the home of a retiree confined to a wheelchair.

Recognition of the inherent dignity of all human persons is a theme of many of Springsteen's songs. That sympathy colors his private charitable acts. Rather than succumb totally to the impulse to donate his talents and fortune to high-profile causes run by abstract bureaucracies, Springsteen told Kurt Loder in the 1980s: "I want to try and just work more directly with people; try to find some way [to] tie into the communities we come into." Aside from a body of pop music rivaled only by the Beatles and Bob Dylan, this may be his most worthwhile legacy.

[belleaqua]

Are you obsessive? He is a commercial recording artist with a multi millionaire fortune.If that's not a giveaway regarding his motivation,I don't know what is.

He is canny enough to write lyrics he knows damn well that the gullible will swallow,as he watches his huge fortune grow and grow.Like Bono,he is essentially a businessman,and in terms of wealth accumulation,a very successful one.

When these guys use their vast wealth practically to help the poor and hungry,then I will believe that they believe sincerely what they write and preach.

No. I am just taking umbrage with the absolute drivel you are spouting and calling you on it.

The fact that your argument has now resorted to deflecting questions about being obsessive and implying people who appear to me to be much more informed than you as 'gullible' shows it up.

As the post above shows suggests there is and has always been an effort from Springsteen with the 'poor and the hungry' as you have suggested their should. However your next line will probably be to dismiss this as damn all and claim he should give it all away before being seen as genuine.

[the Deel Rover]

Lads who gives a fcuk what Tony F thinks about Bruce just head to the shows and enjoy it's money well spent.