Roll of the Dice: This Is Your Sword

I was in the pit leaning on the stage the first time Bruce played “This Is Your Sword” in public, but all I remember about that performance is how unprepared Little Steven was for that selection.

It was clearly an audible, and poor Stevie looked like the student who forgot to do the assignment as the teacher announces a pop quiz. In the video below, you can see Steve spend the first verse in a panic, consulting Garry while Bruce has a microphone brought up front for the two of them to sing at together.

“C’mon Steve, I need some help!” Bruce called, and for the rest of the song Steve either faked his way through his backing vocals or clung to the teleprompter for dear life.

I’ve never been able to decide whether Bruce was aware of how flatfooted he caught Steve that night, but he had a devilish gleam in his eye that makes me suspect he very much knew and was deliberately messing with his old friend. (The irony is that Steve provided backing vocals on the album track, so we know this isn’t the first time he’s ever been called on for this song.)

It was funny, but it was also endearing–one of those moments when you’re almost painfully aware that the music is being made right in front of you. And it’s probably the only reason I remember that debut at all.

Apart from its Celtic music and medieval lyrics, I don’t find “This Is Your Sword” particularly memorable. It’s not a bad song, mind you–I’d certainly never skip it when I listen to High Hopes–it’s just ground Bruce has covered before. Let’s take a listen.

I’ve read several reviews and accounts that suggest that “This Is Your Sword” is sung by a father to his children, but I don’t subscribe to that interpretation. The song is more universal than that, something Bruce makes clear in the very first line:

Now brothers and sisters, listen to me
These are the few things that I leave to thee
The sword of our fathers with lessons hard taught
The shield strong and sturdy from battles well fought

Well this is your sword, this is your shield
This is the power of love revealed
Carry them with you wherever you go
And give all the love that you have in your soul

Bruce addresses his message to “brothers and sisters,” suggesting that he’s imparting a lesson to his fellow folk rather than to his own children.

His sword and shield are metaphors, both for the same thing: the human heart. Tempered like steel through experience and heartbreak, our hearts grow stronger with use. They take us further when we lead with them, and they protect us when we are beset.

And we are beset these days more than ever before.

The times they are dark, darkness covers the earth
This world’s filled with the beauty of God’s work
Hold tight to your promise, stay righteous, stay strong
For the days of miracles will come along

“This Is Your Sword” reminds us that even in the darkest of times, there’s enough beauty and love in the world to sustain us and lead us to the light. In the bridge, Bruce acknowledges this is easier said than done (in a passage that especially resonates coming from someone locked in lifelong battle with depression).

In the days of despair you can grow hard
Till you close your mind and empty your heart
If you find yourself staring in the abyss
Hold tight to your loved ones and remember this

This shield will protect your sacred heart
The sword will defend from what comes in the dark
Should you grow weary on the battlefield
Well do not despair, our love is real

There’s something about that last line that lingers in our memory, even if the song itself doesn’t.

Our love is real.

Perhaps it’s in part due to the awkward meter and rhyme, but it’s more than that. It’s a reminder that even when the world is at its cruelest, we’re never alone. If we love, we are loved, and that wellspring can provide all the reserve strength and stamina we need to endure.

It’s a beautiful message and a lovely trifle of a song, but stripped of its Arthurian gimmick “This Is Your Sword” is essentially a “Two Hearts” retread–and unlike that earlier classic, the deliberately stilted “This Is Your Sword” is a lot harder to neatly fit into the flow of an E Street Band concert.

That may be why Bruce only tried it twice more; while the latter two went more smoothly than that first outing in Cape Town, all three performances of “This Is Your Sword” felt out of place in the moment.

But context is king, and if we’re lucky enough to get at least one more Sessions Band tour out of Bruce, I’d be interested in seeing what they can do with “This Is Your Sword.” With their expansive instrumental range and comfort with this type of arrangement (Sessions Band violinist Sam Bardfeld even plays on the studio track), I suspect it’d be right at home in their sets.

This Is Your Sword
Recorded: 2013
Released: High Hopes (2014)
First performed: January 29, 2014 (Cape Town, South Africa)
Last performed: May 13, 2014 (Albany, NY)

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