Will The Real Working Class Hero Please Stand Up
– Bruce Springsteen, “Badlands”
Though I grew up just miles from the New York–New Jersey border, Bruce Springsteen was little more than background music in my youth. Maybe if I had an older sibling or parents with a more expansive taste in music, they would have clued me into the ghosts we were walking amongst as our family spent weekends in Asbury Park visiting my grandparents in nearby Bradley Beach. Instead, I was blissfully ignorant as we played skee ball along the boardwalk and rode the rides at Palace Amusements, the Ferris wheel rising through its roof.
"Beyond the Palace, Hemi-powered drones
- Springsteen, “Born to Run”
Springsteen evolved from “rock stardom to cultural icon” with Born In The USA, an album released as I prepared to enter my senior year in high school. While this served as my introduction to “The Boss” beyond the ever-present “Born To Run,” I was already learning about the types of stories he was singing about. Mötley Crüe was more likely to be on my turntable than “Johnny 99,” but I had a girlfriend who lived across the Ramapo River from the Ford plant in Mahwah, its abandoned shell casting a shadow over a neighborhood hurting from its closure as corporations sought cheaper, non-union labor in the South.
“Well they closed down the auto plant in Mahwah late that month
Ralph went out lookin' for a job but he couldn't find none
He came home too drunk from mixin' Tanqueray and wine
He got a gun, shot a night clerk, now they call him Johnny 99”
– Bruce Springsteen, “Johnny 99”
My appreciation for Springsteen has grown, especially for his storytelling ability, both in song and from the stage. For the uninitiated, I recommend Live / 1975 - 85, documenting his performances from the start of his career through the Born In The USA tour. These songs give voice to the working class from an artist who was born from those same roots and used his talent to access the ultimate American Dream.
I hope to one day make amends for not having seen Springsteen in his native environment. Watching him perform in New Jersey remains an item yet to be checked off my bucket list.
Growing up in New York during the 1980s, Donald Trump also loomed large in my cultural consciousness. Unlike Springsteen, he wasn’t admired as his brash, flashy, and self-promoting image was antithetical to the underdog spirit New Yorkers typically root for. He was the son of a wealthy slumlord, stiffed contractors, and bankrupted businesses; not traits that would earn respect among those who lived and worked in his hometown.
“Yo, Mr. Trump, can I ask you a question
You got some spare change for me sucker?
Now I'm down and out and there ain't no doubt
– Ugly Kid Joe, “Panhandlin’ Prince”
While gaining notoriety as a developer in Atlantic City, a city whose legalization of gambling had increased its tourist business at the expense of other Jersey Shore locations like Asbury Park, Trump began to hone his ability to harness the fears of the working class for political gain. In 1989, he took out full-page ads in major newspapers calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty following the arrest of five Black and Latino teens for the rape of a white woman in Central Park. Luckily for them, Trump was unsuccessful in this effort as the Central Park Five were all eventually exonerated when DNA evidence proved the crime was committed by someone else. Trump is still calling for their death.
“Donald Trump and Donald Tramp living in the men's shelter
Wonder Bread bag shoes and singing "Helter Skelter"
He asks for a dollar you know what it's for
Man, bottle after bottle he'll always need more”
– Beastie Boys, “Johnny Ryall”
Springsteen has never shied away from expressing his political opinions and, during a recent concert in England, he made the following statement:
While Trump’s base views him as an Alpha Male, it is apparent to the rest of us that his low self-esteem causes him to be easily triggered. The result is an uncontrollable urge to retaliate, often in a juvenile manner. His response to Springsteen provides a perfect example:
Ironically, days earlier Trump had used a speech in Saudi Arabia to criticize American intervention in the Middle East by “so-called nation-builders, neo-cons, or liberal non-profits,” earning a rebuke from his former Vice-President. It should also be noted that, while claiming not to like Springsteen’s music, Trump has used “Born In The USA” at his rallies, probably not paying attention to the lyrics beyond the chorus were a condemnation of blind patriotism. The fact that “The Boss” has sold more than 140 million albums worldwide and won Grammy Awards, Golden Globes, an Academy Award, and a Special Tony Award was probably also lost on Trump.
Where Springsteen channels working-class pain into stories of hope, Trump manipulates that pain for power. One elevates the American spirit; the other exploits it. In that contrast lies the story of two very different Americans—and two very different Americas.
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Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for public education, particularly for students with special education needs, and serves as the Education Chair for the Northridge East Neighborhood Council. As a Green Party candidate in LAUSD’s District 2 School Board race, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action. Dr. Diane Ravitch has called him “a valiant fighter for public schools in Los Angeles.” For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.