There are certain bands that feel like the soundtrack of your life. Everyone has them; the bands they grew up on. When you hear their songs it brings you back to those lazy days of your adolescence – hours on end spent listening to music in your friends’ rooms. Every note, every lyric burned into your brain for eternity, evoking those memories that you built your friendships on. For me these bands are woven into the fabric of who I am, what makes me feel like me.
For some reason, every time I hear early Springsteen, I am transported back to my friend Ali’s room. She must have been the first one to turn us all on to Bruce. All these years later I still never tire of those songs. They feel like home. Like friendship. Like my High School girls who were, and always will be, there for me no matter what. Fast forward to college, the sound of Springsteen will forever sound like a night at Neal’s house. Air guitar abounding, there was not a note we did not know.
And in the center of all those songs was The Big Man’s big sound – that sax that could cut right through you. When Clarence blew, we all sat back and felt it to our core. His sound was so distinct it felt like a vocal.
A loss shook through the land of rock ‘n roll this weekend when Clarence Clemons died. So here’s to Clarence, “the Minister of Soul, the Secretary of the Brotherhood, probably the next King of England” the biggest Big Man of them all! Of all his famous solos, Jungleland stands out as the ultimate example of his soulful power.
Sit back, close your eyes, and mourn the passing of one of the most beloved men in rock ‘n roll. RIP Clarence. Heaven is going to be rockin’ this week for sure!
i could cry but i don't have time 
From the coastline to the city all the little pretties raised their hands… Very nice tribute to the Big Man.
Very nice. I grew up listening to Springsteen because my mother was a huge fan. Then I became a huge fan. The one song of his and the E Street Band that gets in me is “Thunder Road”. Every time I hear that song I get chills as I am shot back to the past with a smile on my face, feeling the warm summer sun while I enjoy a Sunkist orange soda.
Thanks for sharing your memories.
Darlene