“I Smelled Blood”

Springsteen sold his songs to Sony Music for $500 million.

Not bad for 50 years of work, and it’s funny but a lot of his fans are mad that he “sold out.”

I laughed when I read those comments.

I also thought about the Bruce on Broadway Show where he told the story of begging his Mom to rent a guitar after he saw Elvis on the Ed Sullivan Show.

His family was poor and his Mom had to scrimp and save to rent the guitar for her 10 year old son.

He gathered all the people from the neighborhood and assembled them in his backyard and as he says in the show, there was only one problem:

“He couldn’t play the f****ng thing! It was hard!!”

Be he twirled it, and pretended to play it and he posed with it and his little friends cheered. Bruce wrapped up the story by saying how disappointed he was when the rental was up, and they had to return the guitar.

“For a brief moment, I felt it. When they cheered me holding that guitar, I got excited. I smelled blood.”

Then he worked his ass off.

Totally dedicated himself to his craft, even at the expense of actually living a life. He was sort of broke even after his 4th record, Darkness on the Edge of Town. He was a rock star by then, but the money wasn’t there.

Record company executives pocketed a lot of money off of young stars.

Bruce told a story about staying locked up, alone, with zero contact with any other living thing as he put The River together.

Sacrificed plenty. 

Gave his all at every single show.

Wrote even better music.

Made a lot of money and now, at 72 years old, is working to set up his charities and set it aside for generations of Springsteens.

His work will live on.

I didn’t have even a moment of unease about it.

It’s his work. He created it out of thin air. He has also spent time giving to every food bank at every show, along with a laundry list of good deeds.

He has never forgotten his meager start in life, and has remained a strong liberal who has often stated:

“Nobody wins unless everybody wins.”

Bruce will most definitely give back. He always has.

God Bless him.

He earned it.