I’m willing to acknowledge that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is a huge fan of Bruce Springsteen. And I definitely count that in the governor’s favor. But as I read about him dancing like a maniac to Badlands there is a fundamental disconnect. What does Christie know about “Workin’ in the field till you get your back burned, workin’ ‘neath the wheels till you get your facts learned”? In Badlands, the Boss is talking about a New Jersey that doesn’t give people a fair shake:
Badlands, you gotta live it every day
Let the broken hearts stand as the price you’ve gotta pay
We’ll keep pushin’ till it’s understood
And these badlands start treating us good
There’s a reason that Springsteen refuses to talk to the governor. Christie isn’t helping. What does Christie think Bruce is talking about on the rest of Darkness on the Edge of Town? When he says, “Well you’re born with nothing, and better off that way. Soon as you’ve got something, they send someone to try and take it away,” does Christie relate to that? Has he ever chased something in the night? “When we found the things we loved, they were crushed and dying in the dirt. We tried to pick up the pieces, and get away without getting hurt.”
How does Christie feel about lyrics like this?
I met her on the strip three years ago
In a Camaro with this dude from L.A.
I blew that Camaro off my back and drove that little girl away
But now there’s wrinkles around my baby’s eyes
And she cries herself to sleep at night
When I come home the house is dark
She sighs “Baby did you make it all right”
She sits on the porch of her daddy’s house
But all her pretty dreams are torn
She stares off alone into the night
With the eyes of one who hates for just being born
For all the shut down strangers and hot rod angels
Rumbling through this promised land
Tonight my baby and me we’re gonna ride to the sea
And wash these sins off our hands
Who does he think Bruce is speaking for when we sings this? “Some guys they just give up living and start dying little by little, piece by piece. Some guys come home from work and wash up
and go racin’ in the street.”
When Bruce sings about his father working at the factory at a union job, what does Christie think about it?
Through the mansions of fear, through the mansions of pain
I see my daddy walking through them factory gates in the rain
Factory takes his hearing, factory gives him life
The working, the working, just the working lifeEnd of the day, factory whistle cries
Men walk through these gates with death in their eyes
And you just better believe, boy, somebody’s gonna get hurt tonight
It’s the working, the working, just the working life
Cause it’s the working, the working, just the working life
What does Christie think when Bruce sings about losing his wife and all his money and living under a bridge on the edge of town?
I guess what I’m saying is that the Boss speaks for working people. Sure, he’s written many catchy songs. He’s a great songwriter and he can make a pop hit without breaking a sweat. But it’s his lyrics that really speak to people, and if his lyrics speak to Chris Christie, it sure isn’t reflected in his politics.
My guess is that Springsteen looks at Christie and then he looks at his Dad and all those factory workers with death in their eyes, and then he wants nothing to do with Christie.
Despite heroic efforts by Christie, Springsteen, who is still a New Jersey resident, will not talk to him. They’ve met twice—once on an airplane in 1999, and then at the 2010 ceremony inducting Danny DeVito into the New Jersey Hall of Fame, where they exchanged only formal pleasantries. (Christie does say that Springsteen was very kind to his children.) At concerts, even concerts in club-size venues—the Stone Pony, in Asbury Park, most recently—Springsteen won’t acknowledge the governor. When Christie leaves a Springsteen concert in a large arena, his state troopers move him to his motorcade through loading docks. He walks within feet of the stage, and of the dressing rooms. He’s never been invited to say hello. On occasion, he’ll make a public plea to Springsteen, as he did earlier this spring, when Christie asked him to play at a new casino in Atlantic City. “He says he’s for the revitalization of the Jersey Shore, so this seems obvious,” Christie told me. I asked him if he’s received a response to his request. “No, we got nothing back from them,” he said unhappily, “not even a ‘Fuck you.’”
My question is honest. It’s clear why Springsteen won’t talk to Christie. Why does Chris Christie want to have anything to do with Springsteen?
