I suppose a warning might be appropriate here: If you enjoy picturing Bruce Springsteen as a lifelong idealist, you might not want to listen to his (very) early composition, “Change It.”<\/p>\n
Written and performed during his Steel Mill era, “Change It” (which I’ve also seen referred to as “Changing Children” on Brucebase<\/a> and Springsteenlyrics<\/a> based on what I believe is a mis-hearing of the lyrics–in fairness, we don’t have any published “official” lyrics from these early songs to work from) is a blisteringly cynical song.<\/p>\n Composed at the height of student activism, Bruce seems to have completely (if temporarily) washed his hands of the whole notion of protest, resistance, and social movements in general.<\/p>\n Let’s take a listen.<\/p>\n