How Not To Act Old

A funny thing happened when I went to Youtube this morning in search of an early Bruce Springsteen video, to post here in celebration of Bruce’s 60th birthday. I expected to find some rocking footage that would bring back the…..well, yes, the glory days of the Bruce I first saw in Milwaukee in 1975, the Bruce who was so sexy, so electrifying, that I left the guy I loved for somebody in my writing class just because he looked like Bruce.

Yes, that’s a testament to both the power of Bruce, and the shallowness of me.

Thirty-four short years later, Bruce is still hot, in my opinion, and so am I. In fact, if I were to take another writing class right now, and someone who resembled Bruce sat down next to me, I might find myself scanning for the nearest dark corner.

Plus I love it that Bruce said one of his heroes is Philip Roth because he keeps stretching and trying new things, plus I’ve heard from people who actually know him that Bruce is a genuine great guy.

But. Yes, there’s a but. As ageless and vital as Bruce seems to me, and as eternally turned on as he makes me feel, searching for the video was a fat fucking downer. All the new stuff was overproduced, commercialized, cheesy. It made Bruce seem like a modern-day Steve & Eydie.

And the old stuff, well, that just seemed so old. What’s here looks like it was shot through a hole poked in the bottom of a shoebox, or with the same camera they used to film Birth of a Nation. And Bruce’s voice, even his body, seems so undeveloped it only points up how steroidal he’s become.

So I dunno, instead of feeling celebratory, I’m left feeling as down as Bruce himself might be feeling today. Relive the beginnings of your love for Bruce at your own peril.