City Newspaper Archives - 12/2007
Bruce Springsteen "Magic"
Sony
Published by Ryan Whirty on Dec 05, 2007
On his newest CD, the Boss delivers songs about physical and emotional illusions, mirages, and sleights of hand. Life, love, death, society - for Springsteen, none are quite what they seem. Several songs echo with frustration and anger over the Iraq War and George W. Bush; on the title song, Springsteen describes a magician whose tricks hide a horrible secret ("And the freedom that you sought's/Driftin' like a ghost amongst the trees/This is what will be, this is what will be"). Behind Springsteen, the legendary E Street Band powers an album that is much more urgent, angry, and harder-edged than "The Rising" and other recent Springsteen efforts. As a result, "Magic" captures the same politicized rebellion and despair of "Born in the USA," another album that presents a reality far different than what is seen on the surface.
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