I just watched the Bruce Springsteen movie on the plane last night. “Deliver Me from Nowhere” has received praise for the acting–and singing, but also criticism for being slow and dark. But it’s also beautiful and sad, and inspiring. My impression is that it’s the Boss’s way of saying “If you need help for your mental health, get it!”

 

It conveys Springsteen’s deep struggle with mental health, and his eventual agreeing to therapy, growing through the struggle, and even with that ongoing struggle, able to give us the music that we all adore. In my humble opinion, it’s a soaring tribute to making art out of pain, using struggles to create stories of our shared humanity.

 

Those of us from Minnesota have a renewed love affair with the Boss, due to his song release about Minnesota, his outspoken criticism of the current tyranny in the U.S., and coming to Minnesota for a solidarity show at First Avenue. (He’s coming back to the Target Center, this month, too).

Governor Tim Walz (whom we also love, if we’re paying attention), said this: “As we welcome The Boss to Minnesota and thousands get ready to witness a living legend in action, I’m proud to proclaim today Bruce Springsteen Day in Minnesota!”