He admits to not being the most engaged student during his high school and college days, but it’s clear he was at least paying attention sometimes.
We know this thanks to an auctioned 1968 notebook of early songwriting, which contains (among other works) a lovely poem/song called “Upon This Day,” transcribed on April 30, 1968 by its author, eighteen-year-old Bruce Springsteen.
“Upon This Day” is subtitled “Eurydice” and to fully appreciate what Bruce has written here, we must first re-familiarize ourselves with the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.
Orpheus was the best poet and musician in the world; Eurydice was his beautiful bride–briefly, at least. Their romance was short, as Eurydice perished shortly after their wedding, thanks to a deadly snake bite.
Consumed by grief, Orpheus travelled to the underworld determined to win his wife back, which he does by moving Hades with his beautiful music. Hades imposed only one condition: Orpheus had to lead his wife back to the surface world without once looking back to make sure she was still there. In the end, Orpheus couldn’t maintain his faith, looked back for reassurance, and lost Eurydice forever.
That last paragraph is largely irrelevant to Bruce’s story, however. It’s enough to know that Orpheus and Eurydice represent doomed romance.
In “Upon This Day (Eurydice),” Bruce writes in the voice of Orpheus–or at least, in the voice of a florid poet. It’s his wedding day, and he is overwhelmed by his bride’s beauty and their love’s power and passion.
The golden winged butterfly flutters by her hair
One-thousand lullabies sing through her eyes
Without speaking I listen
Down from the whitest cloud that may have once held heaven
She comes wandering on the hand of love
I’ve lost my eyes but I see her around me
Up from the bottomless pit that may have once held a lion
She comes roaring but so gently
I’ve lost all sound but I hear her
I’ve caught her stealing from the treasure so long been sacred
She buys her forgiveness with sunlight from her hair.
I’ll take her forever and ever
And like the green summer leaves the morning’s rain left crying
I’ll catch the teardrops left flowing from her eyes
I’m wondering about her
And she comes running into my chamber maybe frightened
She begs me to warm her and we melt into love.
I’ve touched her with silence around us
I’ve found us and we gaze upon the earth as we would a flower
Had Bruce not subtitled his poem, we might have dismissed the entire work as overwrought. But because he tips us off to the identity of the narrator, we understand both the melodrama and the impending tragedy without Bruce ever having to address it directly.
It’s pretty darn clever writing for an 18-year-old who claims to have been a poor student.
Upon This Day (Eurydice)
Never recorded
Never released
Never performed (although possible in solo performances in 1968)
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