Song of the Week - Paradise by Bruce Springsteen

I have 8,017 songs in iTunes. This is one of them.

A haunting song about a suicide bomber.

The video is a bit shaky but the audio is good. This song appears on Bruce's album The Rising. The original was done with guitar. I think I like the piano version better.

The key to the song is in the first verse.



Where the river runs to black
I take the schoolbooks from your pack
Plastics, wire and your kiss
The breath of eternity on your lips

In the crowded marketplace
I drift from face to face
I hold my breath and close my eyes
I hold my breath and close my eyes
And I wait for paradise
And I wait for paradise

The Virginia hills have gone to brown
Another day, another sun goin' down
I visit you in another dream
I visit you in another dream

I reach and feel your hair
Your smell lingers in the air
I brush your cheeks with my fingertips
I taste the void upon your lips
And I wait for paradise
And I wait for paradise

I search for you on the other side
Where the river runs clean and white
Up to my heart the waters rise
Up to my heart the waters rise

I sink neath the water cool and clear
Driftin' down, I disappear
I see you on the other side
I search for the peace in your eyes
But they're as empty as paradise
They're As empty as paradise

I break above the waves
I feel the sun upon my face