I’ve seen Bruce Springsteen at least once on each tour he’s done since Born in the USA, with one exception brought about by an offspring’s most inconvenient surgery. (Oh, Science. Sure, you save the lives of my children but, you know: rock and roll.) Each and every one of those shows had more magical moments than I can count: watching him laughing as he forgot the words to “Born to Run,” during a gorgeous acoustic version in 1988. Hearing him perform a duet with Roy of “Fourth of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” for the first time on tour in 1992, minutes after telling Top Management he probably wouldn’t be playing this favorite of hers. (She’s still convinced he played it Just For Her.) Witnessing a surprising fall off a ramp in 2002, leading to him playing the rest of the show with blood dripping down his forearm. And so many, many more.
But none of them are more special to me than a different moment at that same show. It was the closest I’d ever been to the stage—we were about ten feet back, I’d guess. And at one point during the second song, “Lonesome Day,” I looked up at Clarence, the Big Man himself, who was watching Bruce, and just looked so happy. And I was just staring at his face, wondering what it felt like to be up there, doing what he was doing…and he looked down at me. He held my eyes for just a few seconds, but as he did, he kept smiling but it changed ever so slightly, and I swear he was saying, “Yeah…it just doesn’t get any better than this.”
In a vast world of rock-n-roll where the phrase "one of a kind" is tossed around way too easily, Clarence was indeed one of a kind. And I am guessing Bruce knew that.
Great observation about "the look" you got that night, and I am 100% certain that is EXACTLY what he was trying to convey.
It's a similar look to the one that he and Bruce, I think, are giving each other on the iconic Born to Run album cover.
BRUCE (chuckling, leaning on Big Man) Damn, man. You ever think we'd be going where we're about to go?
CLARENCE (pause, straight-face) Nope. Never.
Posted by: DT | Monday, June 20, 2011 at 01:02 PM
I'm embarrassed to say that I just found out that Clarence had passed. I'm sorry for your loss, Scott. Of course, it's all of our loss, but today my heart is sad for you. Love.
Posted by: David | Friday, July 01, 2011 at 07:09 AM
When I heard of the news that the Big Man passed away, I was devastated along with many of his fans. It was quite a shock. We will never see him play "Jungleland" again, but his music will live forever. There can only be one Clarence Clemons. God we will miss him. Farewell, Big Man.
Posted by: Lawrence Halter | Wednesday, August 10, 2011 at 08:49 AM