Roll of the Dice: Waitin’ on a Sunny Day

“Pure pop songwriting is a lot of fun. It’s fun to play with the words in a simple fashion…. There’s not much else to say about those, they speak for themselves.” –Bruce Springsteen, April 4, 2005

Much of Bruce’s catalog invites analysis and interpretation. His albums are full of songs layered with enough meaning, nuance, and subtext to inspired college classes and obsessive blogs (like this one).

And then there are the pure pop songs, where searching for meaning  is pointless–the song itself is its reason for existing.

There may be no better example of this than “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day,” which has carved out a semi-permanent place in Bruce’s setlist ever since its debut on The Rising in 2002, fiercely dividing fans in the process.

It’s been a centerpiece of every E Street Band tour in the post-reunion era, presumably for four reasons. The first: Bruce just plain likes it. Regardless of how you feel about the song itself, it’s awfully hard to resist the pure joy on Bruce’s face when he sings it.

Bruce explained the personal appeal of the song (along with its musical muse) during the taping of his VH1 Storytellers show in 2005:

It might be hard to connect the dots between its Smokey Robinson inspiration and fiddle-forward album arrangement, but it’s easier if you hear the song’s pre-The Rising arrangement.

Many fans know that Bruce wrote and recorded an early version of “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day” just prior to the Reunion Tour, and that the band soundchecked it at least once in the early days of the tour. Few have actually heard it, however.

Here it is, recorded in Bremen, Germany on June 17, 1999. It’s windy, and the sound is distant, but the song and lyrics are easily recognizable. Unlike the guitar and violin-centric arrangement of the released version, this early version of “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day” is carried primarily by piano and saxophone–and it’s absolutely majestic.

I can’t help but wonder if more fans would have embraced the song in its original incarnation.

We’ll never know, I suppose, because by the time Bruce released “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day” on The Rising, producer Brenden O’Brien had worked his magic on the track, playing bells and glockenspiel over a plodding guitar line, Soozie’s prominent violin, and Roy and Danny playing just about every keyboard imaginable on a single track.

It’s hard to listen to the album version of “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day” and not feel that something’s just… missing.

That something is probably you. Also, me. And every other fan out there in E Street Nation. “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day” only realizes its potential when it’s performed live in concert. It’s a communal song, written for the purpose of having us sing it back to Bruce. (That’s the second reason I think Bruce loves the song so much.)

This is the song’s magic trick, and it’s also probably why it divides so many fans. “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day” is kinda manipulative, a vehicle primarily for Bruce’s own enjoyment, and if you can’t get on board with that, you at least have an opportunity for a bathroom break mid-show.

But if you’re one of those fans who roll their eyes whenever Bruce plays those first acoustic strains, at least give the song one careful listen, because if you don’t, you’ll miss the fact that “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day” is actually a seriously twisted song about a narcissist. Seriously, it goes over almost everyone’s head, and I think that’s Bruce’s secret third reason for loving the song.

I’ll show you what I mean.

It’s raining but there ain’t a cloud in the sky
Musta been a tear from your eye
Everything will be okay

Okay, let’s stop right here for a moment and admire that first half-verse. In mere seconds, Bruce establishes the conceit of the song, a stream of metaphors not just for the joy and elation that love brings, but also of the emotional co-dependency that often comes along with it.

Notice Bruce’s careful phrasing: the narrator observes the metaphorical rain, or in other words: sadness. But he’s not the sad one–Bruce goes out of his way to express momentary bewilderment before he notices that the tears belong to his love.

Bruce continues the weather theme, and again he’s puzzled:

Yeah, funny, thought I felt a sweet summer breeze
Musta been you sighing so deep
Don’t worry we’re gonna find a way

Bruce is in a fine mood, but it seems his partner is having a bad day, and he’s determined to fix that:

I’m waitin’, waitin’ on a sunny day
Gonna chase the clouds away
Yeah waitin’ on a sunny day

He has to fix it, because now that he’s noticed his girl’s dejection, it’s impossible for him to not be brought down by it as well.

Without you I’m working with the rain falling down
I’m half a party in a one dog town
I need you to chase the blues away

And it’s right about here that we realize that our narrator is actually a bit of a selfish bastard. His motivation for cheering his girl is so that he doesn’t have to mope around, too.

But let’s not dwell on that yet, because here comes my favorite part, and you actually should listen to it while you read it:

Without you I’m a drummer girl that can’t keep a beat
An ice cream truck on a deserted street
I hope that you’re coming to stay

Okay, come on: how clever is that Max Weinberg? Every time–and I mean every time–Bruce sings that “drummer” line, Max intentionally misses the next beat. He does it on the album, and he does it on stage. It’s a bit, and it’s funny every time, even if (as I suspect) many fans never notice.

But the meaning of the lines is clear: when his girl is feeling down, Bruce loses his mojo. Also his personal audience. It’s a bummer, dude.

Bruce ends the song on a reassuring and romantic note, sort of:

Hard times, baby, well they come to us all
Sure as the ticking of the clock on the wall
Sure as the turning of the night into day
Your smile, girl, brings the morning light to my eyes
Lifts away the blues when I rise
I hope that you’re coming to stay

That sounds sweet, doesn’t it? It’s almost enough to make us forget that she’s the one who deserves cheering up, not him.

I consider “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day” to be one of Bruce’s most misunderstood songs. But remember what I wrote at the top of the essay: if you’re searching for meaning in “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day,” you’re missing the point of the song entirely.

In my estimation, “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day” is a brilliant example of Bruce’s songwriting craft, because he gives away the game and yet still manages to win it. He outright told us in the video at the top that the song exists for no purpose other than to be sung. And then he wraps a perfect pop melody around classic romantic tropes and manages to get us to sing along and play the part of a selfish jerk without us ever realizing it, which 100% proves his point.

Which leaves us with reason #4 for why Bruce loves this song, which also happens to be my main reason for loving it, too: little kids.

When you’re a septuagenarian rock star, you’ve got to be spending a lot of your time thinking about your legacy. I’m sure that Bruce can’t help but notice that his audience has been aging right along with him.

Sure there’s a steady influx of new fans as well, but not nearly in as great numbers as there used to be. So it has to be a moment of great joy and fulfillment for Bruce when he sings “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day” in concert, holds the microphone up to a nine, eight, seven, six, five, or even four-year-old child–and that child sings his song back to him.

Call me sentimental, but those moments are my favorite highlights in every show that features “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day” in the setlist, and I am genuinely disappointed when a show goes by without it.

If you’re one of the many fans who cringe at these moments, at least take heart in this: you just witnessed Bruce extend his musical lifespan.

There may come a day when the name and music of Bruce Springsteen are all but forgotten, but thanks to “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day,” you and I probably won’t live to see it.

Bonus: Here’s the acoustic performance that followed Bruce’s VH1 Storytellers spiel that opened this essay. It’s a one-off arrangement, but it’s absolutely lovely.

Waitin’ on a Sunny Day
Recorded: Early 2002
Released: The Rising (2002)
First performed: July 25,2002 (Asbury Park, NJ)
Last performed: November 16, 2019 (Asbury Park, NJ)

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