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The Rising
Looking for the light
in the darkness of September 11th,
Springsteen takes to the rock & roll pulpit on
"The Rising"
The Rising is largely Springsteen's response
to the tragedy of September 11th.
The title song, and first single, sums up the feel
of many of the album's fourteen other tracks.
It ostensibly unfolds from the point of view
of a New York firefighter
entering one of the burning towers.
Yet, as on many songs on The Rising,
Springsteen takes an unexpected turn,
lyrically and musically,
moving from a dark opening verse --
"Can't see nothin' in front of me
Can't see nothin' coming up behind"
-- into a hand-clapping, sanctified chorus,
as the literal image of a man
rising up a smoke-filled stairwell
merges into a religious image of ascension.
Like the album as a whole,
the song uses the events of September 11th
as a metaphorical springboard.
Images of rising --
rising smoke, rising spirits, rising waters,
even (yes) rising of a sexual sort --
recur in several songs,
serving as a formidable counterpoint
to that other image,
etched into our collective consciousness,
replayed endlessly on every network,
of falling, of collapse.
Springsteen acknowledges the album's gospel element,
and as further evidence points to "Into the Fire,"
which happens to be the first song he wrote
after September 11th --
he began working on it a few days after the attack.
It covers ground similar to the title track,
and also features a chorus that doubles as a prayer:
"May your strength give us strength--
May your hope give us hope. . . ."
The Rising
