The Rising - Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band
Can't see
nothing in front of me
Can't see
nothing comin' up behind
Makin' way through this
darkness
Can't feel nothing but
this chain that binds me
Lost track of how far I've gone
How far I've gone and how far I've climbed
On my back's a
sixty pound stone
On the shoulder half mile outta line
Come on up for
the rising
Come on up,
lay your hands in mine
Come on up for
the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight
Left the house this mornin'
Bells were ringin' through the air
I was wearin' the cross of
my calling
Home was a fire,
I come rollin' down hill
Come on up for
the rising
Come on up,
lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight
LaLaLaLaLaLaLaLa...
The
spirits of love stand behind me
Faces gone, black eyes burnin' bright
May the
precious blood find me
Lord as I stand before you,
I realize-
LaLaLaLaLaLaLaLa...
I seen Mary at the garden
In the
garden of a thousand sighs
She's holdin'
pictures of our
children
Dancin' in the sky, filled with
light
May I feel your arms around me
May I feel your blood mix with mine
The dream of life comes to me
Like a catfish dancin' on the end of my line
Sky of
blackness and
sorrow
Sky of
love, sky of
tears
Sky of
glory and
sadness
Sky of
mercy, sky of
fear
Sky of
memory and
shadow
Your burden fills my arms tonight
Sky of
lonely and
emptiness
Sky of
fullness,
sky of blessed life
Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight
LaLaLaLaLaLaLaLa...
What can I possibly say that could ever hope to compare to
Laura Elizabeth's thoughts regarding
The Rising? I'm no essayist, if that's even a word, and you all know it. But here are a few words anyway.
I first heard the song The Rising purely by chance on a VH1 news item about Bruce Springsteen's reunion with The E Street Band to work on the album. Needless to say, my father and I were overjoyed with the idea that the music that had been one of the strong points of The Boss's work for so long would be back at full strength once again. I managed to hear a piece of the album's title track during the special, but not enough to get a full feel of the song.
Until my father decided to create a compilation CD on our computer of songs that he felt appropriate as the 1st anniversery of September 11th, 2001 approached. Looking through the piles of songs he had downloaded, I felt something was missing. I immediately picked up a copy of The Rising's title track and snuck it into the folder my father had created to store the music he was considering to place on the CD.
Then, by chance, I popped the song into Winamp and hit play...and immediately felt something strike a chord. 9/11 and the aftermath that swept across the country hadn't particularly had a deep effect on me, but this...oh this piece of vocal art shot right through me. It soared above all the other songs that I'd heard that were inspired by the terrorist attacks, overcoming a lot of divisions and borders to send a message ringing out that I feel anyone, regardless of who they are and what they think, can relate to and empathize with: as difficult as it seems right now, as hard as it might seem to move on, we can if we work together for and with each other.
Enough of my ranting. If you ever have the opportunity, listen to the album, or at the very least, this song. I can pretty much guarantee you'll walk away from it afterwards with your soul just a little lighter than before.