'Jack Of All Trades' - Bruce Springsteen

Ever more thoughtful and articulate as he ages, Springsteen recently said that 'I have spent my life judging the distance between American reality and the American dream'. Not even the most forensic musicologist could have put it better and there have been many distilled examples of how he accomplishes this in songs that act as screenplays for much bigger issues and themes than the characters in them.This song from the new album 'Wrecking Ball' communicates the pain and ambiguity of an honest, hard working man fighting to make a living in the face of the recession. He has sight of his version of the American dream but daily exposure to American reality is testing his dignity and ability to live by his values.

Like all good art, it is simple yet multi-layered, a deceptively complex song in which every syllable counts. Its component parts coalesce around a traditional song structure but those parts are daringly confident and ambitious. It is a waltz, it is a ballad, it has a brass band, a guitar solo by Tom Morello, it is a lament, it is highly political, shocking even - and lyrically it draws together the sentiments and insecurities of a nation. Not many could attempt to pull this off but he does so by stepping into an everyman persona - the Jack of all trades.

There is plenty of evidence here of Springsteen's notorious perfectionism and attention to detail. The way he exhales on the line 'When the blue sky breaks...'; the noise distortion as the character's anger momentarily gets the better of him; the major chords of the brass orchestration as he is restored to sanity and remembers his responsibilities towards (presumably) his wife; the drum as a heartbeat, stoically keeping him on his righteous path.

There is an instinctive spirituality to the song and which Springsteen anoraks will recognise from earlier songs such as 'Factory' and 'Honest Man' in which characters struggle to maintain their integrity. In this case his hero is God-fearing, the imagery in biblical technicolour. The message is that the faceless men who have stripped him of his livelihood cannot touch his faith - 'that it'll be alright' - and it will see him through these dark times, until that blue sky breaks. It's an important song in an impressive canon of work, one which may well resound across America in an election year.

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I saw three Springsteen shows this summer and I'm not alone in thinking they are among the best of his career. He's used the tragedy of losing the gigantic presence of Clarence Clemons to re-invent the E Street Band, not just by expanding its membership but in re-energising himself and his audience with the full throttle stadium-friendly songs of 'Wrecking Ball'. A Springsteen show has always had a quasi-religious element to it, he's weaved a gospel fervour into his performances for many years. This time, it's an overt leap to connect on a soul level with his audience, and it takes a cold cold heart not to go along for the ride.

The three shows - San Sebastian, Sunderland and Hyde Park were studded with so many highlights  - from the grace and enthusiasm of the Spanish audience, the roar of Sunderland at the idea of shooting the bankers on sight to a lonesome Thunder Road in London, reprising his first live song on British soil in 1975. Despite the 13-strong band, these shows lost none of their spontaneity - his energy levels remain as high as ever but his instinctive knack of pacing saw a stretched-out 'Backstreets' merge into a gut-churning The River in Spain. 'Point Blank' in Sunderland came across like a confession in front of 50,000 people.

Strapping in for the greatest hits encore is to witness an audience like no other. It's an experience impervious to rain, cynicism, to any negativity (even curfews) and as near to living in the moment as I can get, the equivalent of charging from an energy source that transmits only positivity and the feeling that it's more than just OK to be glad I'm alive.

Whatever the superlatives  - cinematic, wide-screen, transformational  - there are live shows and there are Springsteen shows. He turned 63 today - anyone who saw him this summer will just go WOW at that.