Raise Your Hand!
Thank You For Our Lifetime
Sunday, May 31, 2026 Entry #234
My last three posts have contained my extensive review of Bruce Springsteen’s recent concert in Washington D.C. (See Entry #231, Entry #232, and Entry #233). That show was initially planned to be the concluding stop on Springsteen’s anti-Trump “Land of Hope and Dreams: No Kings” tour. However, post-season hockey and basketball scheduling forced Springsteen to move his concert in Philadelphia to a date just after the D.C. stop, making it the final show of the two-month tour. It would be natural to wonder if it was anti-climactic for Springsteen and the E Street Band to “scale down” to arena size after the huge outdoor stadium show at Washington’s Nationals Park. Moreover, the D.C. show had the extra symbolic power of being a politically-charged concert taking place in the heart of the nation’s capital.
However, by all reports, the concert on May 30 at Philadelphia’s Xfinity Mobile Arena was a barnburner. It also became the scene of a touching gesture from the fans in the GA pit to the Boss.
On this tour, Springsteen’s concluding remarks have grown sentimental in nature. He recounts the first venue that he played in each city, noting that he was only in his 20’s during those early 1970’s gigs. Then, he says, “What I want to say is, thanks for a lifetime.”
Here is how it went down in New York City (from a video on YouTube), where the “lifetime” goes back longer than in most of the other cities (for more about Springsteen’s early appearance at the Cafe Wha? and other Greenwich Village venues, see Entry #54).
I imagine part of what Springsteen means by this expression of gratitude is that it’s his fans who have literally provided him with his livelihood (and a very lucrative one at that) for all these years by purchasing his albums and buying tickets to his concerts. But, I suspect it is also something deeper. The relationship Springsteen has had with his audiences stretches back more than sixty years, some twenty-five years longer than his marriage to Patti! Moreover, Springsteen gives his all, making sure his recorded music is perfect and his songs convey meaning; baring his soul through his onstage stories; and exerting himself physically tour after tour. Springsteen has said his fans are, if not his personal friends, his good and trusty “traveling companions.” So, I believe that thanking his devotees in this way is truly about how grateful he is for the stream of experiences and memories he has accumulated playing for his audiences over the decades. The “lifetime” Springsteen is referring to is this journey he is on with his fans which has been such a huge part of his life for such a long time.
It is very emotional to hear Springsteen give thanks like this in his hushed, humble, and sincere tone. So much so to a Springsteen fan named Suzanne Lovett of Providence, Rhode Island that she crafted a response. Suzanne made up a sign that read, “Thank you for OUR lifetime!” and brought stacks of them with her to the GA pit in Philly. She instructed everyone to wait until just after Springsteen finished singing “American Land,” and then to hold up the signs all at once. That timing was perfect because the next song would be “Born To Run,” when the house lights get turned on full blast. When the moment arrived, the fans were ready, holding up enough signs (Lovett later said that she wishes she had brought more) that Springsteen could not miss the message.
As reported in the website, “Letters To You,” Springsteen noticed. “He flashed a shy smile and nodded to Little Steven Van Zandt next to him on stage, who smiled back.” I am so glad Bruce saw those signs, as they spoke for far more people than just those who held them. Personally, I am incredibly grateful that Bruce Springsteen has made my lifetime immeasurably better.
So, that wrapped up this incredible tour. At every stop, Springsteen spoke directly and unequivocally about the existential danger he feels Donald Trump poses to the inclusive, big-hearted version of America that he loves. He boldly stepped up in front of the ‘wrecking ball’ we are facing with a body of work truly built, as Springsteen has noted, for hard times. And Springsteen demonstrated, by making sure that joy and the creative spirit were also present at these concerts, that even when addressing this serious historical moment, we must make room for good times and edifying culture. It helps renew our souls to “go out and and get into some good trouble,” as Springsteen has been beseeching his fans to do night after night.
In a recent interview, Springsteen described what he was up to on this tour as “critical patriotism,” pointing out gaps between his country’s lofty ideals and its more complicated reality. Springsteen said that a true patriot, “loves your country so much that you are willing to look at it clearly, recognize its faults, encourage it to be a better place, and believe that you carry in your heart the country that is waiting.” Thank you Bruce Springsteen for this incredibly patriotic tour, and for calling on the “righteous power of rock and roll in dangerous times!”
