“[Harry Chapin] was trying to get me to do something, you know, and he said one thing that I always remembered. He said, “Gee, you know, I play one night for me and one night for the other guy.” Later on, when I was trying to put my music to some pragmatic use, I remembered what he said. Not being bent to extremism, I wasn’t as generous as he was… but he’s probably laughing right now anyway.” — Bruce Springsteen on stage, December 7, 1987
Chapin wasn’t kidding, but he might have been underplaying: by the mid-1970s, more than half of his concerts were benefits for the causes he supported–primarily the fight against world hunger, a cause to which he dedicated his life.
Harry came sooner than Bruce to social activism, founding World Hunger Year (now known as WhyHunger) in the summer of 1975 while Bruce was at the peak of his Born to Run hype, but then again Harry also had seven more years of life experience than Bruce.
When Bruce and Harry met in the studio in 1978, Harry tried to press Bruce into service, and he continued to do so whenever they talked. (As Bruce liked to point out, it was usually Harry doing the talking.)
Harry never lived to see the result of his influence on Bruce; he died tragically in a car crash in the summer of 1981. Only weeks later, Bruce would hold his first benefit concert for the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation.
At a 1987 tribute concert, Bruce revealed the influence that Chapin had on him, a seed that continued to grow long after Chapin’s death. For the occasion, Bruce performed one of Harry’s last hits, “Remember When the Music,” from Harry’s last studio album, Sequel.
Chapin wrote the song in memory of his friend, U.S. Representative Allard K. Lowenstein, who was murdered in early 1980. (“Remember When the Music” is often cited as a tribute to John Lennon, who also was assassinated in 1980, but the song pre-dates that event.)
Technically, Bruce actually covered the “Reprise” version–the acoustic, album-closing track contains an additional verse not included in the full band version of “Remember When the Music” that appears earlier in the album.
In the middle of his performance (which was actually officially released in 1990 on a Harry Chapin Tribute compilation), Bruce reflected on the meaning of Harry’s song, noting that there was a time when music was more universal in its power to speak to us. By 1987, Bruce mused, music had splintered and diversified, and perhaps there were downsides as well as upsides to that. (If only Bruce knew what the decades ahead would bring…)
Over the years and decades that followed, Bruce would involve and at times immerse himself in causes he believed in, and his social activism became a core component of his public identity.
While Bruce never again performed “Remember When the Music,” to this day he continues to tip his hat to Chapin through his ongoing support for WhyHunger, the non-profit Chapin started.
Remember When the Music
First performed: December 7, 1987 (New York City, NY)
Last performed: December 7, 1987 (New York City, NY)
