Listening To Jungleland by Bruce Springsteen from his live concert at the Hammersmith Odeon in London 1975

I can't get over this live album. I know you all know that I am a huge Bruce fan. I've seen him live about 5 times. He's informed most of my adult life in a lot of ways. Or, at least, I have felt that way. One of my first blogs was about escapism, a theme that has run through all of his songs to the present. He has such an impassioned way of approaching what it is he does. My buddy Dan and I were talking about it last night. The inability to approach anything else. How difficult it is to perform a regular job. I explained that if I couldn't be in front of people doing something, anything, I would go crazy. He said that if he wasn't able to write and perform his music then he would go crazy. We talked about our Fathers, the things they sacrificed to allow us the luxury of what we are pursuing. We talked about how they are proud of us in their secret hearts. That somewhere deep inside they wish that they could do what it is we are doing. Although the door may have closed on their secret wishes they can still live vicariously through us. And maybe, because of that, we are indebted to them to try our hardest to succeed. And our children? What will happen to them? There have been a couple articles here and there, some books published, focusing on the end of civilization. American civilization. The claims are that we have an egocentric uninspired workforce. A misguided youth. Child-adults unwilling to commit to a job let alone a career. We have untethered materialism. A cultural identity that is becoming more and more separated from the fabric of what America was based on. There is greater interpersonal distance with the advent of communication technology. There is an entire young generation of wealthy kids with no aspirations being referred to as "Yipsters." They say that the kid Seth from the O.C. epitomizes this movement. Singer-songwriters don't write about anything anymore. Cynicism about the governement has been so accepted that general apathy has reached an all time high.
So where does that leave us?
Why do I continually have post-apocolyptic nightmares?
What will my children do?
Do I want children?
Sigh. It's a beautiful day in Vermont. The sun is shining and everything is alright for now.
This is a pic of Lake Champlain in Vermont. In the background are the mountains of New York.
'Go West, Young Man!' Not quite yet....