Bruce Springsteen - "The Wrestler"

Disclaimer: I love Bruce Springsteen. His songs and albums have determined several paths in my life. Therefore, if you are looking for objective criticism of his work, this may not be the place.

So, it's a crappy weather night and I'm spending the night at home, watching the Knicks suck and nursing the beginnings of a cold. On the walk home, I managed to fully submerge both of my feet in the type of Manhattan cocktail that involves plenty of liquid and ice, but not a drop of booze. My jeans currently hang from my deadbolt, my shoes reside in the shower and the best thing I had to look forward to was an old HBO special featuring some young comedians named Jon Stewart and Drew Carrey.

Not much of a night.

That changed rather fortunately when I checked my Hotmail and found a little pre-Hanukkah miracle. Bruce Springsteen released his song The Wrestler on iTunes. He wrote the song for the movie of the same name. Here’s what Mickey Rourke had to say about it:

"I wrote Bruce a letter, because we've known each other over twenty years, and he knows what I used to be, or whatever. Where I went. What I'd been reduced to. I told him how I felt lucky now and didn't have to end up being this guy, being Randy (character from The Wrestler). A while later, I got a call in the middle of the night: he said he'd written a little song, for nothing. It's fucking beautiful, right? I was honoured he took the time, because he's a busy cat. I mean, I'm so goddamn proud of this magical movie and to have Bruce's input… ain't nobody in Hollywood with all their millions can just ring the man and he'll do a song, y'know?"
— Mickey Rourke

Well here’s what I have to say about it. Sometimes artists write songs for movies that attempt to tell the story. Sometimes, a movie just grabs onto a song with a similar enough theme. In “The Wrestler,” Springsteen speaks to the very soul of Rourke’s character. It’s as simple a song as you can find; a basic structure with rather forthright imagery. Yet, there’s an earnestness to the narrator. His life hasn’t quite worked out how he’d envisioned and soon, he will no longer even be welcome in the place he’s called his home. He’s broken down, but knows fully that he’d offered his best and had the scars to prove it. He’d offered up his body and his life, but retained his pride.

The song begins with haunting strings and light piano, before Springsteen counts in and brings his acoustic guitar and voice to the fore. In recent albums, we’re heard Springsteen experiment with his singing style. On “The Wrestler,” there’s no falsetto or western twang, just simply acoustic Bruce, like you’d expect on Tom Joad, Nebraska or any of his recent Obama performances of “The Promised Land.”

He never ceases to amaze and this time he even made it look easy. One more month until Working on a Dream.