Bruce Springsteen and a Boston busker: How ‘The Boss’ made a fan’s dream come true
If you’re lucky enough to have seen your musical hero out in the wild, then you will know the sincere thrill it can offer you. To see David Gilmour grabbing a coffee, Jimmy Page eating a salad or Joni Mitchell catching a suntan is to witness something truly special. The same happened when a Bruce Springsteen fan found himself busking with his hero.
Springsteen, whose career and music have always triumphed over the lesser-represented aspects of society through his much-revered brand of lyrical storytelling, appears in many circles as a working-class hero. A down-to-earth guy who is happy to be with his people, Springsteen will always fight for what he believes to be the right thing.
Named ‘The Boss’ because of his willingness to equally share the paycheque of his band, as well as dish them out, Springsteen’s name has long been associated with the salt of the earth. He has met hundreds of his fans but there are very few with whom he has shared the stage. Well, the sidewalk.
Let’s picture the scene. David Gonzalez, a seasoned Boston busker, was performing at his usual spot on the historical streets of the city, and spotted ‘The Boss’, Bruce Springsteen, out of the corner of his eye. It would be a treat for any musician to see someone as well-regarded in the industry as Springsteen, but David, it turns out, was a big fan of the singer and seized his opportunity.
Springsteen was back in town in 2011 to help move his son into school. Having been off the road for a couple of years, it’s fair to say he wasn’t looking to be a rock star upon this particular weekend and would be excused for going about his private business. However, this is ‘The Boss’, so he spoke with Gonzalez after making eye contact with the busker.
Springsteen stopped to chat with the busker and, as it turns out, the budding musician had a specific Springsteen story to share. Gonzale had, at the age of fifteen, decided to go and see Bruce at a concert with his best friend. They had a couple of small issues. Firstly, the thirty-two-hour trip they would have to make from their native Argentina to see him and a little matter of paying for it all.
Refusing to be stopped by such trivial matters Gonzalez, and his friend sold all their worldly possessions to fund their trip and embarked on their epic journey. Sadly, with some miscommunication and mismanagement, the pair ended up missing the show. However, Bruce was clearly touched by the story and decided to share a few precious moments with the street performer.
He picked up Gonzlaez’s guitar, with permission of course, and performed an original composition of Gonzalez’s song—but ‘The Boss’ wasn’t done there. He paid Gonzalez $20 for the experience, and the busker gave Springsteen a signed CD to go home with, likely leaving the street singer a very happy man.
Yet again, Springsteen wasn’t quite done yet. He returned just 30 minutes later to give Gonzalez a sizeable packet of money to repay him for his loyalty over the years and “the trip he never made.” This is just another story from a library of tales that all put Bruce Springsteen as the central hero, a champion of the working class and an all-around top bloke.
