When President Barack Obama gave his farewell speech to the nation on January 10, 2017, he stepped off the stage for a recording of Bruce Springsteen’s “Land of Hope and Dreams”, hugging his family while Springsteen sang offering unwavering support to his friends. broken and the power to travel together towards a common future.
So it was a close and warm circle that Springsteen himself performed “Land of Hope and Dreams” to open the special “Celebrating America” on Wednesday night that marked President Biden’s inauguration. Standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Springsteen was alone, wearing a navy blue coat and jeans, and holding a very old guitar.
His singing was bold and a little tense, a reflection of the determined optimism of the music in the face of challenges. “Leave your sorrows behind / Let this day be the last,” he purred. “Tomorrow there will be sun / And all this past darkness.”
The next artist – Jon Bon Jovi, another son from New Jersey – also emphasized the arrival of light, with a cover of “Here Comes the Sun” by the Beatles. But in the context of the pandemic and the recent political turmoil that plagued the country, his joyful joy seemed fragile and unexpected, especially after Springsteen’s recognition that the cold season was now coming to an end.