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Bruce Springsteen has posted his eulogy for Clarence Clemons. Here's a bit:


"Clarence could be fragile but he also emanated power and safety, and in some funny way we became each other's protectors; I think perhaps I protected "C" from a world where it still wasn't so easy to be big and black. Racism was ever present and over the years together, we saw it. Clarence's celebrity and size did not make him immune. I think perhaps "C" protected me from a world where it wasn't always so easy to be an insecure, weird and skinny white boy either. But, standing together we were badass, on any given night, on our turf, some of the baddest asses on the planet. We were united, we were strong, we were righteous, we were unmovable, we were funny, we were corny as hell and as serious as death itself. And we were coming to your town to shake you and to wake you up. Together, we told an older, richer story about the possibilities of friendship that transcended those I'd written in my songs and in my music. Clarence carried it in his heart. It was a story where the Scooter and the Big Man not only busted the city in half, but we kicked ass and remade the city, shaping it into the kind of place where our friendship would not be such an anomaly. And that... that's what I'm gonna miss. The chance to renew that vow and double down on that story on a nightly basis, because that is something, that is the thing that we did together... the two of us. Clarence was big, and he made me feel, and think, and love, and dream big. How big was the Big Man? Too fucking big to die. And that's just the facts. You can put it on his grave stone, you can tattoo it over your heart. Accept it... it's the New World."


May the E Street Band Live Forever.
May Clarence Clemons Live Forever.
Please.


From Bruce Springteen's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, the whole band, with wonderful sax solo on "The Promised Land".

The dogs on main street howl,
'cause they understand,
If I could take one moment into my hands
Mister, I ain't a boy, no, I'm a man,
And I believe in a promised land.

Yes I believe in a promised land.....

comments

Bruce's eulogy (I read the full version yesterday) is truly moving -- complex, honest, loving, sad and celebratory. And that version of "The Promised Land" is fabulous. Does a Jersey boy proud. Yes, may Clarence and the band live on and on and on...

I love how joyful they are in this performance - just full of happiness over where they are and what they are doing. This band always gives me hope no matter how bad the day has been.

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