I was just about to press the 'publish' button when the postman rang... and I'm sorry you'll have to wait till tomorrow to see my new tea towels...
Today I'm busy:

I'd just turned fifteen when I was given a badly recorded tape (oh don't you miss tapes???) of 'The River'. It was 1985. I wasn't massively into music, until then my collection consisted of a 'Culture Club' LP (can't remember the title now, something about war perhaps?) which my dad couldn't stand (of course) and 'The unforgettable fire' by U2 (I'm not embarrassed by this one, it's still fantastic). Oh and I had a spell of teenage 'intellectualism' during which I bought Tchaikovsky's concert no 1 for piano and orchestra (and read Crime and Punishment in public places... yup, sorry).
So where does Bruce fit into all this? No where. Exactly.

The boss was a bolt out of the blue. It was love at first note. I had to cycle the other side of town to this tiny shop that sold imported records to track down his earlier works... my walls were covered with his posters... (my sister once taped one on the inside lid of the toilette and laughed for months... on her own..). But he spoke to me. I don't now why a Jersey boy into cars and down-and-outs would sound so familiar to a good Catholic Italian girl like me... but it did. I didn't even know where New Jersey was!
I translated every single song (badly) of every single album. I knew all the words and I loved the stories in his songs; I loved his voice, to this day when I hear 'Drive all night' I have shivers down my spine. I listened to nothing else for about ten years. Seriously. Bruce was there when I was sad and when I was happy, in love and broken hearted. It's been the soundtrack of my life for the past 25 years.
I love the fact that he's happily married with three kids. I love the fact that he hasn't been involved into horrible scandals and that he keeps making beautiful, heart stopping, life affirming music.
Every teenager (and adult) should have a 'Bruce Springsteen to turn to.

I hope you had one. But not him. He's mine.
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