Betsy's Page
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Did Rock 'n Roll end the Cold War?
Apparently, I was missing a key factor in the history of the Berlin Wall coming down. I hadn't realize that it was all due to Bruce Springsteen. Forget Gorbachev or Reagan. It was the Boss.Even though his songs are full of emotion and politics, East Germany had welcomed him as a “hero of the working class.” The Communists may have unwittingly created an evening that did more to change East Germany than Woodstock did to the United States.Yup, without Springsteen's words, I'm sure those East Germans wouldn't have been half as discontented as they were 20 years ago.
Annoyed at the billing “Concert for Nicaragua” that Communist East German leaders stamped on his July 19 performance, Springsteen stopped halfway through the three-hour show for a short speech — in heavily accented German:
“I want to tell you I’m not here for or against any government,” Springsteen said, as he pointedly introduced his rendition of the Bob Dylan ballad “Chimes of Freedom.”
“I came to play rock ’n’ roll for you East Berliners in the hope that one day all the barriers will be torn down.”
The words fed the discontent building in East Germany and added to a restless mood in the country severed from the West after World War Two — and especially in the city split by the Wall, built during the darkest hours of the Cold War in 1961.Labels: History, Popular culture
