Labour & Pop Culture: The Rising

This week’s installment of Labour & Pop Culture is “The Rising” by Bruce Springsteen. The Rising is a song about the firefighters who died during 9/11 in the twin towers.

I have really mixed feelings about the song: it’s evocative and valorizes obvious brave workers. Yet everything around 9/11 has become very jingoistic and unreflective.

In the end, I think The Rising offers a reasonably mature perspective on the tragedy of the day. It focuses on the pain and the sacrifices of regular workers and their families and avoiding the ugly “angry American” views that get so much air time around the anniversary.

In his autobiography, Springsteen writes about he inspiration for the song:

Of the many tragic images of that day, the picture I couldn’t let go of was of the emergency workers going up the stairs ad other rushed down to safety. The sense of duty, the courage, ascending into… what? The religious image of ascension, the crossing of the line between this world, the world of blood, work, family, your children, the breath in your lungs, the ground beneath your feet, all that is life and… the next flooded my imagination.

I picked a Grammy performance of the song. There isn’t (as far as I can tell) an official video of the song and this performance (muddy audio and pitchy vocals) really seems to capture the un-self-conscious nature of Springsteen performances: he sings and it is honest. Sting's version is also worth a listen.

Can't see nothin' in front of me
Can't see nothin' coming up behind
I make my way through this darkness
I can't feel nothing but this chain that binds me

Lost track of how far I've gone
How far I've gone, how high I've climbed
On my back's a sixty pound stone
On my shoulder a half mile line

Come on up for the rising
Com on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight

Left the house this morning
Bells ringing filled the air
Wearin' the cross of my calling
On wheels of fire I come rollin' down here

Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight

Li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li

Spirits above and behind me
Faces gone, black eyes burnin' bright
May their precious blood forever bind me
Lord as I stand before your fiery light

Li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li

I see you Mary in the garden
In the garden of a thousand sighs
There's holy pictures of our children
Dancin' in a sky filled with light

May I feel your arms around me
May I feel your blood mix with mine
A dream of life comes to me
Like a catfish dancin' on the end of the line

Sky of blackness and sorrow (a dream of life)
Sky of love, sky of tears (a dream of life)
Sky of glory and sadness (a dream of life)
Sky of mercy, sky of fear (a dream of life)
Sky of memory and shadow (a dream of life)
Your burnin' wind fills my arms tonight
Sky of longing and emptiness (a dream of life)
Sky of fullness, sky of blessed life (a dream of life)

Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight

Li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li

-- Bob Barnetson