A propos of nothing

The other day, I heard 'Dancing In The Dark' on the radio for the first time in years and suddenly the world seemed really simple and everything could be sorted out if I just shook my fist in the air and was Defiant.

I don't like Bruce Springsteen, except for about three minutes whenever I hear one of his songs.

Oddly, one of the few instances when I haven't considered Tony Blair to be a monstrous bell end also involves Bruce Springsteen. Before he was elected in 1997, I remember reading an interview with him in NME. Rather than ask him really important stuff, like, "If you wanted to invade another country and didn't have any really good reason to justify it, or the remotest idea what do do after the initial victory, would you do it anyway?", the asked him to list his Top 10 songs of the year. Most of it was PR man crap - I seem to recall 'Wannabe' by the Spice Girls was in there. But the song he nominated as this favourite for the year seemed like a genuine pick - Springsteen's 'Ghost of Tom Joad' (1).

I suspect The Boss is less than pleased with the association these days. I mean, it's great to have friends in high places and all, but not when they're corrupt megalomaniac wankers with a penchant for warmongering and writing really bad sex scenes into their memoirs.

1 - "Bruce Springsteen-The Ghost Of Tom Joad," uploaded to Youtube by BruceSpringsteen, 19th of March, 2007. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DEtA5fhk4k)