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Christianity Today, August, 2007 |

Bruce and the Almighty

Springsteen's religious imagery getting sharper.

Mark Moring | posted 8/06/2007 09:14AM

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The first time I saw Bruce Springsteen in concert, as a 15-year-old back in 1974, I might've called it "a religious experience." In the 16 times I've seen him since, I've often thought he resembles an evangelist on stage—whether he's extolling the virtues of rock or urging the crowd to donate to a local food bank. This guy grew up in a Catholic home and seems to understand the concepts of sin, the Cross, confession, and redemption. These themes have all shown up in his music over the years.

Springsteen's last three studio albums—The Rising (2002), Devils & Dust (2005), and We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006)—are especially rife with spiritual imagery. And, by default, so is this summer's release, Live in Dublin, which includes many cuts from the Seeger CD.

The Seeger Sessions, all songs previously recorded by folk legend Pete Seeger, includes "How Can I Keep from Singing?", "O Mary Don't You Weep," "Jacob's Ladder," and "Eyes on the Prize," an old Holiness hymn that declares, "I got my hand on the gospel plow / Won't take nothing for my journey now / Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on."

Devils & Dust, meanwhile, is chock full of songs about hope, love, and redemption, as well as tales of sin, brokenness, and confession. The album's spiritual highlight is "Jesus Was an Only Son," which poignantly captures the bond between Mother and Child:

As he walked up Calvary Hill / His mother walking beside him / In the path where his blood spilled / Jesus was an only son / In the hills of Nazareth / As he lay reading the Psalms of David / At his mother's feet …

Well, Jesus kissed his mother's hands / Whispered, "Mother, still your tears" / For remember the soul of the universe / Willed a world and it appeared.

Springsteen told The New York Times that although he's "not a churchgoer," his music is "filled with Catholic imagery … a powerful world of potent imagery that became alive and vital and vibrant. … As I got older, I got less defensive about it. I thought, I've inherited this particular landscape, and I can build it into something of my own."

Mark Moring, CT online editor of music and film.

Related Elsewhere:

Live in Dublin is available from Amazon.com and other retailers.

Bruce Springsteen's official site links to videos and lyrics.

Christian Music Today has featured past Springsteen albums in its Glimpses of God section.

Other Christianity Today articles on music include:

Think About God | Pioneer Brian Doerksen on what's wrong with worship music. (July 16, 2007)

Sinéad O'Connor's Theology and 'Theology' | Why you shouldn't be surprised that her new album is mostly passages from the Old Testament. (July 9, 2007)

A Questioning Faith | Derek Webb calls us to conversation, not conversion. (June 11, 2007)

Surfing for Spirituality | Switchfoot's Oh! Gravity keeps door open for questions. (March 27, 2007)

Lennon's 'Last Temptation' | The symbol of the sixties is desecrated, and a generation falls headlong into its midlife crisis. (January 3, 2007)

John Lennon's Born-Again Phase | "Can He love me?" the former Beatle asked Oral Roberts. "I want out of hell." An excerpt from The Gospel According to the Beatles by Steve Turner. (January 3, 2007)

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August 2007, Vol. 51, No. 8

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T,J,	Posted: August 06, 2007 2:49 PM


This is why I stopped BUYING the magazine Christianity today...it's focus is more on the world and less on CHRIST.....same with Focus on the Family's PLUGGED IN....when it kept arriving in my mailbox assaulting my senses with the latest dregs of pop culture, I already knew our family was not into any of this garbage, so we'll do our own discernment ministry, just fine, thank you!!

Greg Zenitsky

Posted: August 06, 2007 12:58 PM

Mark, I have always enjoyed Bruce Springsteens music. He is a thoughtful composer and accomplished musician but I guess I'm just not impressed when un-redeemed men take stabs at so called "spiritual" lyrics. What does it mean if a man or woman composes a song with a title like "Jesus Was an Only Son", if that person doesn't even believe that Jesus was THE son? Likewise, how am I supposed to think about phrases like, "For remember the soul of the universe..."? Such a new age title I think a Buddhist might find interesting but as for me, I would prefer that secular artists stick with secular subjects. I can always deal with their lyrics in light of their unbelief, but whenever they stray into Christian thought or philosophy, it often skirts the heretical or blasphemous.

Help me to be humble

Posted: August 07, 2007 5:05 PM

I also want to be a loner here and say that friendship with God makes one a friend of God in the end. "For God so loved the world...". I find it harder and harder (the more I get to know God and how humble he wants us to be) to find fault with people outside of the Christian-Box. If Bruce Springsteen is a kind hearted man then he has an advantage over me even though I have been walking with God for a long time. My natural stubbornness and sin has kept me from being as kind as Jesus wants me to be. I just am thankful that many people who do not even know Jesus can be kinder than me. God bless them. They have the Spirit's grace written into their hearts, even when they do not have the intellectual or theological doctrine that suits our churchy senses...If Bruce Springsteen has love then that covers a multitude of sins...Just as it is written in the scriptures.