When the Boss mixes politics and Rock n’ Roll

By Clarence Yu
Contributor

OCTOBER 27, 1975: Bruce Springsteen, 25, appears simultaneously on the covers of Time and Newsweek and is heralded as “The future of Rock and Roll.” Around this time, a young man named Barack “Barry” Obama, 14, is attending High School in Hawaii’s Punahou School, destined to be the future President of the United States.

October to November, 2008: Bruce Springsteen, 59, now known as “The Boss” worldwide, critically acclaimed and one of the biggest rock stars on the planet, speaks and plays at several rallies for Senator Barack Obama, 47, who is now the President-elect of the United States.

I used to believe in what Keith Richards used to say about rock n’ roll and politics not being a good mix, that rock n’ roll should not be used as a tool to further anyone’s political agenda. After all, rock n’ roll has always been about good times.

However, as an ardent Springsteen fan for many years now, I believe that the Boss is an exceptional exception to this rule, or at least Richard’s rules.

So when comments over the Internet started to insinuate that Springsteen was “cashing in” on Obama’s celebrity, I got furious.

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