This August marks the 40th anniversary of Bruce Springsteen’s record “Born to Run,” which propelled the gregarious New Jersey native to celebrity status and is still considered one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll records ever produced. Throughout his career, Springsteen has recorded “concept albums” in which all musical or lyrical ideas and songs contribute to a single overall theme or unified story. The theme of “Born to Run” is about the simultaneous excitement of freedom and fear in young adulthood, along with the human developmental importance of belonging and community. For example, the last song on the album — “Jungleland” — is a 10-minute meditation on the real-life and tragic consequences when a person has no sense of community, belonging or place. “Born to Run” launched Springsteen on a 40-year music career that consistently reflects on the meaning of community.
A Brief History of The Boss
Springsteen is arguably one of America’s greatest singer-songwriters. He is tied for third place with Elvis Presley as having the most Billboard No. 1 hits, and just a small sampling of Springsteen achievements includes an Academy Award, 20 Grammy Awards and two Golden Globes, along with more than 120 million albums sold. In 1999, Springsteen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in January 2009, he performed at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C, at the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States. In 2014, a scholarly peer-reviewed journal specifically focused on Springsteen was launched, titled the Biannual Online-Journal of Springsteen Studies.
A core theme that runs through many of Springsteen’s 18 studio albums (1972-2014) is the message of community. This is one reason professors of philosophy have argued that Springsteen’s songs are real-life meditations on philosophical topics and questions, thus making him a modern-day philosopher who uses music as a reflective state. Specific Springsteen stories and songs outline the societal and individual consequences of loss of community. For example, and similar to St. Augustine’s treatise on evil, Springsteen’s 1982 folk album “Nebraska” is a philosophical and penetrating meditation on the connection of crime and evil when people live with no sense of community or belonging (the titular first song is a historical overview of the life of mass murderer Charlie Starkweather). Other Springsteen songs give voice to the healing outcomes of community and belonging, such as during the rebuilding efforts after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 (“My City of Ruin”), and more recently, how deep community ties can ameliorate the consequences of the Great Recession of 2007-2012 (“Land of Hope and Dreams”).
Springsteen’s advocacy for community, in both song and philanthropic giving, seems to originate from his painful, lonely and poverty-driven childhood years. As a child, Springsteen had few friends, spent much time alone, was often bullied and was emotionally and physical abused by the nuns at St. Rose of Lima Catholic School in Freehold Borough, New Jersey. His father suffered from bipolar disorder, depression and alcoholism, and was often unemployed and emotionally abusive toward his son. His mother, however, was a strong, hard-working woman who, as a secretary, was the breadwinner of the family. As a youth, Springsteen was a deeply reflective person who spent a great amount of time alone thinking about life, and who used music as a meditation related to questions of existence and social welfare.
Gordon “Tex” and Marion Vinyard
In the mid-1960s, well before the E-Street Band, Springsteen and a group of friends from Freehold Borough performed in a band called The Castiles. At this same time, Gordon “Tex” and Marion Vinyard opened their home and hearts to this and other groups of local “misfits” and began youth mentoring. That is, Tex and Marion created a sense a community and belonging for a group of youth who many people thought were irrelevant and problematic. Tex began acting as the Castiles’ volunteer manager — essentially a youth rock ‘n’ roll scout leader — booking gigs for the band in the community. Tex and Marion, who had no children of their own, transformed their modest home into an informal music school — a safe haven for young musicians to hang out and practice their craft in a community of creative discovery and nurturing support. The downstairs of the Vineyards’ home became a rock band rehearsal studio, with amps and drums set up in the living room and Marion busy in the kitchen, preparing food for the musicians.
Freehold Borough’s Vinyard Park
On May 18, 2002, in a quiet ceremony with only a small-town newspaper in attendance to capture the event (05/23/02 Tri-Town News), Vinyard Park was dedicated in the Freehold Borough to Marion and her late husband, Tex. The park was built on the site of the Vinyards’ old house at 39 Center Street. Springsteen personally attended the ceremony, recalling how “Tex was…someone who opened his house completely, opened his heart completely, opened his wallet to us…and allowed us to come in and and turn it up as load as we wanted.”
In Dr. Will LaPage’s 2007 book “Parks for Life,” he outlines that community parks can be created for many reasons. Parks can be catalysts for social justice, economic engines, classrooms, abodes for physical and mental health, historical reminders and places for inspiration, solitude and hope.
Vinyard Park is a small neighborhood park with a dozen benches lining its grassy environs, a wonderful stand of trees providing shade for solitude and quite reflection, and a small playground. It is clearly a reflective park that serves as a historical reminder that two everyday people — Tex and Marion Vinyard — can make a huge difference in their community by creating a sense of safety, love and belonging for a group of “misfits.”
Vinyard Park is a powerful testament to the impact of community and belonging, even to the present day. It was in this space, both physical and spiritual, that, 40 years ago this August, inspired a young Springsteen to become the creative genius behind “Born to Run” and one of the greatest American singer-songwriters of our time.
Rodney. B. Dieser, Ph.D., is a Professor at the University of Northern Iowa School of Health, Physical Education and Leisure Services.
References
Auxier, R., & Anderson, D. (2008). Bruce Springsteen and philosophy: Darkness on the edge of truth. Chicago, IL: Open Court
Carlin, P. A. (2012). Bruce. New York: Touchstone Books
Dieser, R. (2014) Springsteen as developmental therapists: An autoethnography. Biannual On-line Journal of Bruce Springsteen Studies, 1(1), 96-120
Dolan, M. (2012). Bruce Springsteen and the promise of rock n roll. New York: W.W. Norton
Statham, C. (2013). Springsteen: Saint in the city: 1949-1974. London: Soundcheck books