Life Soundtrack: Born to Run

I know, I know -- this is so commonplace, a must-have on every greatest hits playlist, a cliche for the townie, karaoke crowd with Kerouac dreams, but Born to Run has been on my life soundtrack since... well, since well before puberty. I was a young Springsteen fan of eight when my mom gifted me with his Born in the U.S.A. album and after I conquered that pop masterpiece, I swallowed up Tunnel of Love (which in my opinion is a completely overlooked masterwork). Somewhere along the line, I read about the Born to Run album and soon after discovered the anthem that is the title track.

Throughout my college years and into my early 20's, I regarded Born to Run much like other appreciators. It was a call to arms, a barbaric yelp -- the sound of an American-made muscle car roaring to life with pedal firmly against the metal with open road ahead and "outta Dodge" the only clear destination. Behind were the skeletons, ghosts and demons -- the could-have-been's, should-have-been's and might-have-been's -- the unkept promises, unconfessed sins and unforgiven souls. That myth of the unknown future was such a powerful thing and it was so much more attractive than the ongoing struggle of the now. It was so much of what I loved about America -- the idea of reinvention and renewal --- of discovery and revelation. And of course, there's love. There's so much celebration of love -- love as savior.

When Henry was born, Scout was unable to hold him since he came into the world via c-section. Instead, I was sent down ahead of her to the recovery room with new boy in tow. Like most parents, I was speechless -- partially due to fatigue and wholly due to an overwhelming awe-inspiring love. And like most babies, Henry greeted the world with a healthy cry. To comfort him, I held him close to me and as we bounced our first of many dances, the words of Springsteen's battle cry spilled out of me - but with an understanding so wholly new to me -- a depth and gravity of emotion I had never grasped or communicated before --- "Henry, let me in... I want to be your friend, I want to guard your dreams and visions... together, Henry, we can live with the sadness, I love you with all the madness in my soul... Someday, boy, I don't know when - we're gonna get to that place where we'll walk in the sun... 'til then, tramps like us... baby, we were born to ruuuuuuuuunnnnn."

And many sleepless nights later, Scout, Henry and I are still running.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfzov0Cq90o