Hva er mer naturlig enn at ukas dikt er en av Bruce Springsteens sanger? Jeg har vært en total hengiven fan siden Born to Run kom ut i 1975 og med gårsdagens minnekonsert har jeg sett ham tre ganger i sommer (og angrer litt på at vi solgte billettene til ekstrakonserten i Bergen i morgen). Vi er mange titusener nå som forsøker å være de originale som likte og eide Bruce først. For omtrent femten år siden var jeg så heldig å spise middag med Nick Hornby i Aschehoug villaen. Naturlig nok kom vi inn på musikk og eierskapsfølelsen overfor Bruce Springsteen. Vi hadde én ting felles: «Thunder Road» var den låta vi hadde hørt flest ganger i våre liv, og vi opplevde begge at den egentlig var skrevet for oss. Det er den følelsen bare store diktere og sangere kan skape. Nick Hornby har skrevet et gnistrende godt essay om dette i 31 sanger og her er teksten og fra en av de første innspillengene på Born to Run – turneen:
Thunder road
The screen door slams, Mary’s dress waves
Like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays
Roy Orbison singing for the lonely
Hey that’s me and I want you only
Don’t turn me home again
I just can’t face myself alone again
Don’t run back inside, darling you know just what I’m here for
So you’re scared and you’re thinking that maybe we ain’t that young anymore
Show a little faith, there’s magic in the night
You ain’t a beauty, but hey you’re alright
Oh and that’s alright with me
You can hide ‘neath your covers and study your pain
Make crosses from your lovers, throw roses in the rain
Waste your summer praying in vain for a saviour to rise from these streets
Well now I’m no hero, that’s understood
All the redemption I can offer, girl, is beneath this dirty hood
With a chance to make it good somehow
Hey what else can we do now
Except roll down the window and let the wind blow back your hair
Well the night’s bustin’ open, these two lanes will take us anywhere
We got one last chance to make it real
To trade in these wings on some wheels
Climb in back, heaven’s waiting down on the tracks
Oh oh come take my hand
Riding out tonight to case the promised land
Oh oh oh oh Thunder Road, oh Thunder Road, oh Thunder Road
Lying out there like a killer in the sun
Hey I know it’s late, we can make it if we run
Oh oh oh oh Thunder Road, sit tight, take hold, Thunder Road
Well I got this guitar and I learned how to make it talk
And my car’s out back if you’re ready to take that long walk
From your front porch to my front seat
The door’s open but the ride it ain’t free
And I know you’re lonely for words that I ain’t spoken
Tonight we’ll be free, all the promises will be broken
There were ghosts in the eyes of all the boys you sent away
They haunt this dusty beach road in the skeleton frames of burned-out Chevrolets
They scream your name at night in the street
Your graduation gown lies in rags at their feet
And in the lonely cool before dawn
You hear their engines roaring on
But when you get to the porch they’re gone on the wind, so Mary climb in
It’s a town full of losers, I’m pulling out of here to win
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KngiJUNdsu0[/youtube]
