Bruce Springsteen was born on September 23, 1949 into a working-class family in New Jersey, where he was born and raised. His father, Doug Springsteen, struggled to hold down a steady job, and his mother, Adele, worked as a secretary. Springsteen attended a Catholic school and received a religious education. Bruce and his father had a difficult relationship which greatly influenced his writing. Bruce had said that if his relationship with his father had been better, then "I would have written happy songs – and I tried in the early '90s and it didn't work... Anyway, I I put on my work clothes and went to work. » (Bruce Springsteen Biography 1) Bruce Springsteen's songs pay homage to the working class, are influenced by current events, and are full of symbolism. "The Rising" is a firefighter's story written in response to the attacks of September 11, 2001. and contains spiritual references that show Springsteen's religious upbringing. The album was released in 2002 and was clearly influenced by the country's mood after the terrorist attacks. “The Rising” tells the story of a firefighter in one of the buildings trying to rescue people. “On my back there's a sixty-pound stone on my shoulder, a half-mile line” (Springsteen) is a clear reference to a firefighter's equipment and hoses. A normal firefighter doing his job trying to save other normal people who were at their workplace and were brutally attacked through no fault of their own. The song builds to a crescendo as many voices join in, symbolic of the souls lost with the firefighters. Reference is made to Mary in the garden, which refers to Mary Magdalene when Jesus rose from the tomb. The lyrics are haunting but the way the song is sung always leaves... middle of paper ......forgettable. Research shows that “there’s this unifying force that comes from music and we don’t get it from other things.” » (Landau) Bruce Springsteen is a great storyteller and has captured some of the experiences of the American working class. Even when the lyrics are dark or the subject matter is depressing, he also manages to give hope. For as long as I can remember, my mother played Springsteen's music. When I hear one of his songs now, it reminds me of driving down the road with the windows down listening to a song with my mother. As Creem Magazine's Dave Marsh prophetically wrote in 1975, "Springsteen's music is often strange because it has an almost traditional sense of beauty, a sense of the wonder one can feel when, e.g. , you fall in love for the first time or finally discover that the magic hidden in music is also in you. (Bruce Springsteen biography 2)