Rise up.
The spotlight is on Bruce Springsteen’s “The Rising,” recast as a song of resiliency in the Trump era with a new video debuted at the virtual Democratic National Convention on Monday, Aug. 17.
But another Springsteen song is getting even more air time during the convention. “My City of Ruins,” also on Springsteen’s 2002 “The Rising” album, has been used as interstitial music during all three nights of the convention so far.
That’s the “My City of Ruins” chorus of “C’mon rise up!” that’s heard multiple times during each broadcast. The new video of “The Rising,” which included an appearance by Springsteen and wife Patti Scialfa, is ironically called “Rise Up” as well.
But who did Springsteen originally implore to “rise up?”
Asbury Park.
The Boss debuted “My City of Ruins,” a gospel-powered elegy, in December of 2000 at Convention Hall in Asbury Park at a time when the city’s waterfront and downtown was blighted after decades of economic downturn.
He spoke about the song’s origin at a 2016 concert at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.
“I originally wrote this song for my adopted hometown, Asbury Park, who suffered so long and is finally having a nice little renaissance down there — it’s good!” Springsteen said, mid song, from the stage. “People on the beach! People on the boardwalk! People in the street! That’s right, so if you’ve ever been knocked down and you’ve got to build yourself up again, this song is for you.”
A year after the song’s debut in Asbury Park, it became a source of inspiration for a new cause. Springsteen performed it following 9-11 terrorist attacks during the “America: A Tribute to Heroes” telethon in December of 2001.
“My City of Ruins” was included on the 9-11 -themed “The Rising” album.
At the 2016 MetLife show, Springsteen dedicated the performance of “My City of Ruins” to the victims of the earthquake in central Italy that month.
“It’s been reincarnated several times,” said Eileen Chapman, an Asbury Park city councilperson and the head of the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University. “It’s written for Asbury Park when the city was experiencing such down-on-your-luck hard times. It had deteriorated to a critical point where the future seemed hopeless and we had all but given up on the city. This is anthem to speaks to working hard together, with honesty, with integrity, and truly believing that there’s a way to make a better city, a better nation, a better world.”
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Chapman is the former general manager of the city’s Stone Pony.
“It shows that together, we can all effect change,” Chapman said. “Just as Asbury Park arose from the empty streets and boarded up houses to again become the jewel of the Jersey Shore, as Asbury Park could arise from those ashes, anyone can.
“If we could do it, anyone could do it.”
Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at @chrisfhjordan; cjordan@app.com.