424 - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - The Rising - Greg Fitzsimmons
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EPISODE SUMMARY:
History is made moment by moment, and whether it's a blessing or tragedy, no one can ever really know where or when the next world-altering event might take place. What matters is how we face those moments and where we let them take us. For legendary roots rocker Bruce Springsteen, the answer to the catastrophic terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 came in the form of a stranger telling him three simple words: "We need you." Thus his phenomenal 2002 album The Rising was born, a piece of art that fully captured the nuanced galaxy emotions a nation in mourning was experiencing. But as comedian and Springsteen superfan Greg Fitzsimmons will tell you, this is emblematic of all of The Boss's work. Greg sees Bruce as an avatar for the soul of America, full of hope, anger, guilt, love and sadness. And like his musical hero, Greg tries to distill all that complexity of modern life into his stand up, which has led to him producing three successful podcasts, contributing to The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Man Show, and Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, and writing the book Dear Mrs. Fitzsimmons: Tales Redemption from an Irish Mailbox.
SHOW NOTES:
00:00 – Intro
10:15 – Being in a place you want to break out of
16:45 – Watching the world turn upside down
22:30 – The perfect music for a tragedy
29:15 – Always fight back
33:45 – Gotta make ‘em laugh again
43:00 – Part of the club
52:15 – A son who won’t fight back
1:07:45 – Facts!
1:11:00 – Bruce’s best and worst
1:14:30 – Outro