An Open Letter to Bruce Springsteen

I have to admit that in the beginning I was. I thought that you walked around theproclaiming.
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Written by Niccola Somers

Dear Mr. Springsteen,

I have to admit that in the beginning I was Blinded By The Light. I thought that you walked around the Backstreets proclaiming I'm A Rocker and we were all suddenly supposed to have a Crush On You. Thanks to my mom I was aware that you were Born In The U.S.A. and you enjoyed Dancing In The Dark, but I always wondered what kind of man you were when you were Out In The Street. I wondered if you were a Cautious Man or if you were Tougher Then The Rest.

With a Roll of The Dice I decided to take a class about you. Surprise, Surprise I found out that Growin' Up I had been Lost In The Flood -- when it came to your music I knew Nothing Man. All The Way Home after class All I'm Thinkin' About was the Badlands we are living in. You showed me that This American Land was full of Souls Of The Departed like The Ghost Of Tom Joad. I suddenly realized that the Tenth Avenue Freeze Out and the Incident On 57th Street were events that occurred in My City Of Ruins. But it seems that you saw Something In The Night in the Darkness On The Edge of Town -- it seems you saw The Promised Land; and because you were Born to Run and you believe in No Surrender, you decided to set aside the Glory Days and started Working on a Dream to eliminate this Death To My Hometown.

Instead of Waitin' On A Sunny Day or Countin' On A Miracle, you embraced The Ties That Bind us as human beings and brought us together as a community to say The Long Goodbye to This Depression in the Jungleland. You held a Meeting Across The River where you reminded us that if We Take Care Of Our Own, we can make it to the Land of Hopes And Dreams. Your energy reminded us that We Are Alive and that with our American Skin there is no doubt that We Shall Overcome this Rocky Ground.

Although we are Worlds Apart, you have always suggested that we stick together on this Long Walk Home so If I Should Fall Behind you can serve as a Highway Patrolman and remind me to keep my Eyes On The Prize. Your music gives us Reason to Believe that The Rising of America will take us to Mary's Place where we will all see Better Days and happily dance The E Street Shuffle.

If I have learned anything from this class it would be that in the Real World you are a Real Man, a Soul Driver, and a Local Hero, if you will. Thank you for your inspiration.

Let's Be Friends,

Niccola

Niccola Somers is a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is currently a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she is majoring in African Languages and Literature.

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