‘Magic’ takes on war with subtle style
The shadow of the Iraq war and George W. Bush loom over Bruce Springsteen’s new “Magic” album. But listeners will have to pay close attention to catch all the lyrics that address those topics.
Springsteen’s latest, which hits stores today, is not a full-on protest album. Instead, it’s the work of an artist speaking with subtle prose and imagery rather than through blunt diatribes.
“Magic” is the latest foray into social and political commentary for Springsteen, whose subject matter has evolved since the ‘70s from rebellious teens to blue-collar struggles to Vietnam veterans to Sept. 11.
In the process, Springsteen, 58, has become a source of national consciousness for many members of the boomer generation, his core audience.
“He has been the voice of the working man and Everyman,” says Gabi Knight, music editor for amazon.com. “Given the climate (of war) we’re living in, it doesn’t seem unusual that he would be a spokesman for issues that are hitting … the general American.”
“Magic” reunites the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer on record with his E Street Band for the first time since 2002. Six of the 12 tracks on the album touch upon soldiers facing battle, Bush’s re-election and America’s image abroad.
Only one of Springsteen’s latest songs, “Last to Die” – which asks, “Who’ll be the last to die for a mistake?” – is an in-your-face anti-war song.
Others use short passages or single images to convey that Springsteen feels all is not right in the U.S.A.
It’s not the first time that Springsteen has taken on the Iraq war and Bush. The title track of his 2005 solo album, “Devils & Dust,” told a quiet tale of doubt and fear through the eyes of a soldier fighting in the desert.
In 2006, Springsteen recorded a folk album, “We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions,” inspired by iconic rabble-rouser Pete Seeger.
“Magic” mixes some familiar Springsteen sounds with contemporary lyrics.
“Livin’ in the Future” is a frisky shout-out to 1975’s “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” but it also lambastes the Bush administration.
The haunting modern folk of “Devil’s Arcade” includes images of dust-covered soldiers and the line, “Heroes are needed so heroes get made/Somebody made a bet, somebody paid.”
The most macabre commentary comes in the album’s title cut. Springsteen seems to be singing about both a carnival magician as well as a time when some Americans fear their rights are being lost:
“I’ll cut you in half while you’re smiling ear to ear/And the freedom that you sought’s driftin’ like a ghost amongst the trees.”