Molly O’Keefe on Romance, Springsteen - and a Giveaway

Crazy Thing Called Love - Molly O'Keefe

Back at RT in 2012, Molly O'Keefe and I got to talking at the bar (like you do) (no, really, that's what you do at RT) and she told me she had to leave the convention early because her husband had scored tickets to see Bruce Springsteen live, and, well, yeah, she had to leave early. Because… Bruce.

As y'all know, I live in Jersey, and I spent every summer here as a kid. Springsteen is… well, he's Jersey. To quote Jon Stewart, another person from Jersey, when Springsteen was part of the Kennedy Center Honors program: 

“I am not a music critic. Nor historian, nor archivist. I cannot tell you where Bruce Springsteen falls in the pantheon of the American songbook. I can not illuminate the context of his work or his roots in the folk and oral history traditions of our great nation.

But I am from New Jersey, and so I can tell you what I believe, and what I believe is this:

I believe that Bob Dylan and James Brown had a baby. Yes! And they abandoned this child, as you can imagine at the time…interracial, same sex relationships being what they were…they abandoned this baby by the side of the road between the exit interchanges 8A and 9 on the Jersey Turnpike.

That child was Bruce Springsteen.”

So when O'Keefe emailed me some weeks back and said she'd been thinking about the intersection of romance and Springsteen, two things she loves, and had an idea for an essay, and would I perhaps be interested in reading it, I said, “Well, duh.”

What follows is O'Keefe's essay – and stay tuned for a giveaway at the end. 

Main Street and Thunder Road: The Intersection of The Romance Genre and Bruce Springsteen

Molly O'Keefe

I was introduced to the music of Bruce Springsteen when I was six, the year my brother got The River double tape set for Christmas. Listening from my room (a glorified hallway outside my brother’s door), I didn’t understand the adult and deeply conflicted nature of the song: Is a dream a lie that don’t come true or is it something worse? but still, recognition thrummed inside me.

I liked this.

Years later when I got my hands on Outlaw, Elizabeth Lowell’s fantastic Silhouette Desire, the same recognition thrummed.

I really liked this.

Thinking about it, despite the different mediums, I like romance novels and Springsteen in nearly exactly the same way, for the same reasons. It’s an easy argument that they share a multitude of themes:

Bruce by Peter Ames Carlin

Sex:    

At night I wake up with the sheets soaking wet
And a freight train running through the
Middle of my head
Only you can cool my desire

(I’m On Fire)

Faith:

You use your muscle and your mind and you pray your best
That your best is good enough, the Lord will do the rest

(Rocky Ground)

Community:

Familiar faces around me
Laughter fills the air
Your loving grace surrounds me
Everybody's here

(Mary’s Place)

Loneliness and Alienation:

You been hurt and you're all cried out you say 
You walk down the street pushin' people outta your way 
You packed your bags and all alone you wanna ride, 
You don't want nothin', don't need no one by your side

(The Ties That Bind)

Redemption:

I'm ridin' hard carryin' a cache of roses
A fresh map that I made
Now I'm gonna get birth naked and bury my old soul
And dance on it's grave

(Long Time Comin’)

Love, hard-won, naked, raw, vulnerable, violent and honest:

And it's not that nursery mouth that I came back for 
It's not the way you're stretched out on the floor 
'Cause I've broken all your windows and I've rammed through all your doors 
And who am I to ask you to lick my sores? 
And you should know that's true

I came for you
For you

(For You)

The characters in romance novels pop up in Springsteen songs – the blue collar, hard-working dreamer. Men with debts no honest man can pay and women with their killer graces and secret places. And his songs, no matter how gritty and dark, are almost always hopeful.

Perhaps because of all the shared themes, characters and the love, sex and hope filter Springsteen uses to tell his stories, I shouldn’t be amazed when Springsteen and the romance genre draw the same criticism.

I think the real intersection between Springsteen and romance is the perception that both are simple or perhaps too earnest, repetitive in theme and bombastic in delivery. The fact that both are tremendously popular make them easy targets.

In a recent article in the New Yorker, David Remnick (quoting rock critic Tom Carson) asserts that Springsteen didn’t think music was a tool of rebellion against conventional society but the means with which it is redeemed.

To me this means Springsteen is holding a constant and diligent mirror up to remind us of the best of ourselves.

I believe this is exactly what romance does, why it’s popular and why it’s so important.

To say romance is escapist (something I’ve often said) sells the power of the romance novel far too short. That it’s mommy porn is patronizing and offensive. A small-minded, elitist effort to explain something that is emotional, sexual and wholly feminine.

Romance, like Springsteen is a mirror showing us the best of ourselves.

Romance burrows deep into the familiar, the mundane, the day-to-day to find new, transformative and heart-breaking ways to remind us of what should be important in our lives: forgiveness, laughter, pleasure, honor, love and family.

Springsteen takes that private reading experience and fills an arena, making the argument that those things are just as important in the wider world.

Both Springsteen and romance validate the sacrifices and choices we’ve made to be wives, mothers, husbands, fathers, feminists, friends, caregivers, soldiers, crusaders, readers and believers.

Listening and reading we can all be reassured that we’re human, we’re flawed but we’re beautiful.

This next part is ridiculous, trust me I understand: but I feel like I know Springsteen and he knows me. His songs speak to my heart and his stories are about people I grew up with and walk beside.

And wouldn’t you know, I feel the exact same way about Laura Kinsale, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, JR Ward, Cecilia Grant, Sherry Thomas, Jill Shalvis – my list goes on.

This last year my husband and I went to a bunch of Springsteen shows. For my husband there is simply no better live band and while I agree, I also find myself experiencing the very same spectrum of emotions that I experience reading a great romance novel. I’m joyful, turned on, moved to tears, utterly satisfied and when the lights come up, just like turning the last page on a great romance, a little better than when I started.


I finished reading O'Keefe's essay when she sent it to me, sitting with my chin on my hand, and thought, “Well, yeah.” 

Molly wants to give away a copy of Springsteen's biography, which, awesome, but she also has a book coming out at the end of the month, too. So she's offering up 10 copies, digital or print (winner's choice) for ya'll. One winner will receive both the Springsteen biography and a copy of Crazy Thing Called Love, and nine additional winners will receive a copy of Crazy Thing Called Love, in either print or digital.

All you have to do is tell us something you love as much as romance – or as much as Molly loves romance and Springsteen music. I'll choose 10 winners randomly at noon eastern time, Friday 11 January, 2013

Standard disclaimers apply: open to international residents. Must be 18 years of age or older and possibly wearing a bandanna. Do not taunt happy fun ball. Close cover before striking. Do not iron while wearing.

I think we learn a lot when we understand what is important to us – and important to others. Thanks for sharing this, Molly. Good luck, y'all! 

Comments are Closed

  1. Sonya Clark says:

    Music, and Bruce is right up there at the top with U2 and Van Morrison. Fantastic essay, Molly, thank you.

  2. Jimthered says:

    My big passion would be gaming—not the current videogames, but board games, card games, and roleplaying games.  These offer a tremendous amount of variety (to geekily quote STAR TREK: infinite diversity in infinite conversations), whether you’re trying to conquer a future planet (RISK 2210 A.D.), colonize an island (THE SETTLERS OF CATAN), battle an ancient evil (THE CALL OF CTHULHU), earn the most money in the hotel industry (ACQUIRE) or earn the most money by growing beans (BOHNANZA).  You can find games that take 5 minutes or 5 hours; games that require cooperation, competition, or combat; games that bring forth intense strategy or that are fine while drinking beer and eating pretzels.  Gaming offers something for just about everyone and everything.

  3. Teri Anne Stanley says:

    Gosh, Molly, that essay makes me a little teary-uppy…thinking about my early days of hearing the Boss (those Glory Days)…That one boy…
    But what do I love as much as (more than?) romance? Right now? Nothing?
    Maybe Country music. Listening to Country,  while floating down the river in our boat, hearing my kids torment each other, and drinking a Diet Coke.  There. 

  4. Liz Talley says:

    Well, this will sound weird, but I love to fish. Being a good Southern girl with blue collar roots, I grew up fishing with my daddy. One of my biggest simple pleasures in life is to grab a pole, a bucket of crickets and plop down on my pier. There’s something about the primitiveness of sitting and watching my cork just as someone else did thousands of years ago (don’t worry – I’m a catch and release girl). There’s something of the same nature when reading a romance. Romance, the endless push and pull of falling in love, is as old as time. As old as that lake I take in which I take such comfort and peace.

    Yeah, who knew there was romance in fishing?

    Very nice essay, Molly girl 🙂

  5. Valeri says:

    I love music. In my family we all love music and dancing. Yes, I am one of those that listens to music and dances while I am cleaning. My mom does the same thing. Then both my brother and I sing while we drive…..

  6. MarieC says:

    Playing computer games and shopping…but not at the same time.

  7. I love Crowded House and Neil Finn. Whenever World Where You Live plays on the radio, I tell my kids that Neil Finn wrote that song for me. He just doesn’t know it.

     

  8. Jane A says:

    An excellent summation of why Springsteen is The Boss.  His voice, words and music grab you by the heart.  And I’ve never thought of it this way, but yes, a good romance novel will do the same thing.  After thinking about it for a little bit, I have to say that I get the same “grab by the heart” feeling when I’m on a trailride on a good horse in country away from noise, cars and people.  Bliss.

  9. Zulma says:

    Wonderful essay. Molly articulates exactly how I feel about romance and Springsteen! I love (in this order) romance, Springsteen, Dylan, and sauvignon blanc.

  10. Anna Patterson says:

    I like to garden. I guess that sounds quaint, but I love to work in the soil and produce roses.

  11. katherinelynn_04 says:

    I’m going to say art. All sorts of art. I love to make things, and knitting is my favorite form of expression (just trust me on this one; it’s not a hobby, it’s an art).

  12. Lana Adele says:

    Travel with my husband as far away from the real world as possible.
    We actually went to Chicago to see Springsteen in Sept…my husband came out a huge fan (he wasn’t before) and now sings the praises of the Boss to everyone. (If Springsteen ever does a proper tour of Canada we’ll be in line!)

  13. JoanneF says:

    Hmmmm………….what do I love like you love Bruce?  Tough one!  Being born and raised in the Garden State, I understand your devotion.  I go all the way back to listening to “Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ” on vinyl LP’s in high school.  I had a boyfriend who was so obsessed (especially with “Spirit in the Night”) that he went down to Freehold in search of Greasy Lake and claimed to have found it.  My brother recently took my North Carolinian sister-in-law to a Bruce concert.  She never got it until then.  Now she’s another devoted convert and a born-again JerseyGirl.

    I also love my romance novels.  They cover every surface in my bedroom.  Hmmmm………drawing a blank.  Only thing I can think of is the worldwideweb, where I can browse around and learn new things – many of which I wish I could unlearn, argue with strangers, and visit awesome fun places like the Bitchery.

  14. camiracle says:

    I love my husband more than my books.  Our 17-year old cat died recently and I confessed to him how devastated I was at losing her—and he said that he’d been feeling exactly the same way but couldn’t say it.  We have our differences and we’ve been together forever, but he’s still The One.

  15. Amy Raby says:

    Horses. There’s something fundamental about the relationship we have with this species, that it reaches back through untold generations. It’s complex and unpredictable. Nine times out of ten I have a quiet ride, and the tenth might be a rodeo. A romance novel alpha male might be twice a heroine’s size, but a horse is larger still—not as intelligent, granted, & lacking opposable thumbs—and it must be managed by wits and skill and force of personality, by finesse rather than brute strength.

  16. Bleulucy says:

    I love running – or, well, jogging, the path I know with a song in my ear and a story in my head. Or a scene from a story, where the hero is just around the next corner and is totally bewildered by just seeing me, just being near, just for a moment.

  17. VandyJ says:

    What do I love as much as romance?  Spending an afternoon watching action movies with the three guys in my life—my boys and husband.

  18. Kate4queen says:

    I saw Bruce Springsteen play in 1984 in Newcastle on the ‘Born in the USA’ tour. And honest to God, I got close to the stage and he definitely waved at me and gave me a little wink. My boyfriend at the time, who wasn’t a Bruce fan but came to the 3 hour concert just for me, took the wave and wink very well. He’s also my husband of 26 years, so for me, Bruce and my hubby are linked romantically in my mind forever. 🙂

  19. HA! I would put beer in my top five perhaps Pinot Noir!

  20. I wished very suddenly that I was there too.

  21. My son is just entering into fun games – we play Blokus for hours. I love Blokus

  22. you have a pier? I would like to fish with you on that pier!! Thanks Liz!

  23. Music really wasn’t a big deal in my family – Mom loved the 50-60’s groups. But Bruce exploded into our lives. My brother and I try to go see a show together once a year.

  24. There are a lot of horse lovers around here – that’s beautiful!!

  25. SumGeek says:

    My family.  Not as in “aw, my family is so sweet and loving and fabulous” (although they can be), more as in “all that crazy sauce, jaw dropping, hilarious antics” love.  To bits.

  26. this is the first year my garden produced anything and I agree with you – it’s addictive and calming. My kids do it with me – it’s win/win

  27. Rebe says:

    Definitely my dog. I should probably say the husband, but even he’s aware that the hierarchy in this house is dog, kindle, …. and around # 43 Husband.

  28. Lostshadows says:

    Another Jersey girl here. *waves*

    I’d have to say my notebooks and pens (or chocolate).

  29. SB Sarah says:

    I’m totally ineligible but since I formatted this entry I’ve been thinking, and I think it’s cooking – specifically I love cooking something that makes everyone in the house happy, warm, nourished and aware that they’re loved. Especially if there’s leftovers.

  30. Katie says:

    Music, probably. I currently have bronchitis and not being able to sing—in the car, in the shower, under my breath while I’m trying to write—makes me realize how much a part of life music. As much as reading and writing.

  31. Sarah J says:

    History, definitely.

  32. Liz Talley says:

    Come on down. BTW, wine is good on the pier, too. Heck, you’re all invited – I’ll bring the worms and crickets 🙂

  33. Amhale40 says:

    Something I love and require as much as romance novels and Springsteen is art – paintings, photographs, drawings, sculpture etc.  it is a hunger that I do not fill as often as romance and Springsteen and when I take the time to visit a gallery my soul cries out to me – saying this is what I need! as I stand enraptured in front of a piece of beauty as I feel my stresses slip away.  This has been a good reminder that it is time for me carve some quiet time and recharge my batteries after the hectic holiday season. 

  34. Eeyoressej says:

    Um, chocolate. Duh. But I wouldn’t be willing to give up romance novels for it. Fave right now is the Chuao Firecracker. Four words: chocolate, chili, pop rocks. Oh… Yeah…

  35. Nancy says:

    Dancing – not the choreographed, need-training-for kind.

  36. I love my dogs and the beach—even better mixed together 🙂

  37. Renee L says:

    Wonderful essay! I’ve seen Bruce and the E Street Band in concert twice over the years and it was a fabulous experience both times!

    As for what I love as much as romance, whether reading it, attempting to write it or experiencing it live? I love music! Whether I’m listening to it, singing, playing or creating it, it feeds my spirit in ways indescribable and I’m ever so grateful for how it makes me feel.

     

  38. Diane/Anonym2857 says:

    Quilting. It’s a primal thrill for me, not to mention mental health therapy. Something about being creative, not to mention taking all those little pieces, some of them really fugly, and turning them into something beautiful and useful, makes me very happy.  Just reading about it or looking at pictures makes me smile.  I originally stopped because I didn’t have the arm strength to cut the fabric after a cancer surgery a couple of years ago.  Then for reasons that are really just excuses at this point and make no sense, I haven’t quilted since then. That’s about to change!  :oP

  39. Emily K. says:

    Something I love as much as romance: it’s a toss up between a cup of tea or a glass of wine.

  40. MissB2U says:

    Libraries.  I love everything about them.  I love the way the library in my home town smells.  It was the first one I ever went to and everytime I walk through the door my mom is right there with me.  I love the room where tutors are teaching people to read.  I love visiting the shelves and the books I remember from childhood.  I love the library where I now live.  I love the librarians who somehow always look like they just got away with something.  (They did!  They have the greatest job EVER and hardly anyone gets that!)  I love all the computers folks can use and the art exhibits.  I love being able to get almost anything I want there.  I love the new cafe – my two favorite things in one place – coffee and books!  I love visiting all the libraries in our county and seeing how they are so different.  I love how one of them has what must be the bestest collection of romance novels ever, and that it’s small and old and surrounded by oak trees and has a beautiful bronze sculpture out front of two children reading.  Libraries.  I love libraries.

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