by John Buckwalter

‘wo weeks have passed since the
ii morable Bruce Springsteen
sensation exploded against the
walls of Darby Gym, and Grinnell
lives on The gymnasium seems to
have taken the onslaught quite
Well, (Gate—Crashers bashed in no
doors, predicted ticketrscalpers
were virtually nonsexistent, and it
is not known whether those
desperate Springsteen fanatics
f: 111 New York ever arrived for
the' show. The hysteria simply
never hit. Grinnell was as uns
disturbed and tranquil as it always
i

Typically. as in concerts
anywhere. Springsteen walked up
to the microphone iorty minutes
at . He didn't suddenly appear in

lash of light. as most stars do.
but instead casually strolled in and
announced his presence. This
entrance set the mood for the
whole evening. Springsteen was
not a guarded idol in the religion of
rock; he was just another pars
ticipant, just another New Jersey

The Grinnell Scarlet and Black. October 3, 1975—13. 5

Springsteen reviewed

Street-kid out for some kicks. At
times he leaped into surprised
crowd; the assemblance seemed
coniuscd and embarrassed at this
unorthodox behavior. This type of
periormance was unusual to them.
At other times, Springsteen, in a
musical stupor. halfrcollapsed on
the stage and fell over the platform
into the (root row. It was a
peculiar, yet entertaining specV
tacle, to say the least.
Springsteen’s musical repertoire
was an amalgamation of the many
iacets of Bruce Springsteen. Best
were the simple harmonic nums
hers where Springsteen was ac:
companied by a lone piano. Among
this type was “Thunder Road,”
whlch was the most impressive
number in his set, It was haunr
tlngly elegant: Springsteen
Stunned the audience as hts Voice
rang out, weaving a web of despair

around the building,

The rockers which stood out
were “Kitty’s Back" and the final
number, which was originally done
by Gary and the Bonds.
Springsteen seemed to take delight
in performing these songs. Here
the unpolishcd rawness of the old
Bruce Springsteen gleamcd
through in glory.

The remainder of the livelier
numbers were less impressive,
“Born to Run" was a disap-
polnlment; Springsteen pushed it
through with tlic use oi sheer
volume The lyrics were in:
decipherable and the melody was
feeble. “She’s the One” demon-
strated Springsteen’s ability to
producc absolute pandemonium
through the simple use of an
electric guitar,

Springsteen's E Street Band was
a typical, mediocre back-up group:
they performed no spectacular

The best ofAcademe

by Paul Stcinbrecliei-

in which the Reader is begged to
i- "kc the acquaintance oi divers

as. impcricctly Expounded.

I take as my text today the fifty
lirst verse irom the twenlysixth
chapter oi the book oi Numbers:
“ e sons of Israel numbered in all
SA hundred and one thousand
seven hundred and thirty men .,

I ask, how many of us, as we
walk through these shady groves of
Academe, allow ourselves to relax
and contemplate such stirring
passages? Brethren, do we not
consider ourselves too busy for
fruitful consideration of such
texts? Another personal iavorite,
over which lhave passed many a
'l'iissful hour in refuge from the
ri ors of an Academlck Life, is
i «the book of Genesis: "But my
brother Esauis an hairy man, but I
am a smooth man." Ah, the
ublime stuli whence sermons

e!

'come before you today as a
senior; and, as do all seniors, I
hear the grains of sand inexorably
falling in that celestial hourglass
which measures out our allotted
time on this all too mortal coilr
Instead of a collective retreat into
something as dreary as existential
despair. I would propose that the
iine art oi languishing be
cultivated. Such an enterprise

Youvaong Klm

Everything was so quiet. I ‘was in
my bed and had a little headache.
Ididn’t want to break the quietness
so I held my breath. After a while
somehow I felt as if I was divided
into three parts One part was
suiiering irom a headache, and the
other two were busy arguing about

something

consists in part of reading moody
poetry (Dante Gabriel Rossetti is
recommended) and sigliing rather
conspicuouslywne must have an
audience to languish properly.
Another method is to announce to
onc's roommate tif extantt some
morning, “Oh. i say, souiiiy, i
don’t think I shall be able to walk
this week." and then proceed to
stay abed until the effect is lost.
in cost» these suggestions
Should not fully communicate the

@ {Comparm

@ Wart/71.1

ragings of a tormented soul (ho,
hum, tainling in public should be
tried One must be sure, of course,
to have a comfortable Sofa nearby
on which to collapse. Various lines
oi expiration, such as those from
the final scene of La 'l‘raviata.
should be memorized to fill that
awkward space irom standing to
iull languish.

Solace may also be found, as I
pointed out in my introductory
remarks, in various Snippets irom
Scripture, and inspirational Vice

torian hymns teitliei- listening to
some or composing). Two of my
favorltes are the wistful “Leave
Me Lay Where Jesus Flang lite”
and the hauntingly beautiful
“There Ain'l No Flies on the Lamb
of God." ,

Suitable surroundings are
helpiul ior achieving the true
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
languish. A small lap-dog tcither
stuffed or realmstuffed is safer for
those on campust in which to
confide and a dying potted palm to
cough on are basics.

Finally an csscutial correlate art
is knowing when not to languish li
anything should come up which
would better be accomplished in a
more contemporary irame of mind
[going down to the Pub, a Strauber
exam, taking a shower, etc ), one
should simply cast aside one's
cashmere shawl and oartrumpet
and cry loudly, “Behold! i am
reborn ‘ ” and continue as if nothing
at all had happened.

With a bit of lnventlve thinking
and an occasional willing
suspension of sanity the senior
year can be rendered almost
liveable: that is, until the Future is
considered Then, dear friends, let
my opening text steer you to a safe
harbori‘The sons of Israel
numbered .."

musical feats, and would have
fallen flat without Springsteen’s
vitality. However, an exception to
the band in general was Clarence
Clemons on saxophones. He
dominated the scene musically,
and was perhaps even a better
instrumentalist than Springsteen
himself At times, when the band
started to lag, Clemons would step
upto the mike and blare out a iiery
solo, i-iis sax playing was just as
enchanting as Springsteen's voiced
lyrics Clarence held the band

together musically.

0n the whole. Bruce Springsteen
gave Grinnel] a lightness oi heart
and an evening of enjoyable
escape. Springsteen had a
professional musical Sound that is
rarely experienced at this college.
The show elicited positive con-i:
menis irom the majority oi
students; one senior Commented
that Springsteen gave the best
concert he had seen in his four
years at Grinnell.

perhaps the good taste should be
savoredeit may be a while before
a comparable talent comes to
Grinnell again

Power to no one

i>crhaps the readers will protest ,

that l am in El rut, There are
numerous issues in and around
humanism that deserve the time oi
this pen and typewriter; but l have
harped on the stereotypes of
males and lemales, and now I
concern myseli with the typical
Grinnell female.

My infatuation on the subject is
inspired by my dayrtorday contact
with the liberatcd Community of
Grinnell. A casual Conversation
with a friend revealed to me the
woman of Grinnell College.

She does not:

our] her hair.

direct too much time, energy, or
thought to the other Sex

enjoy babysitting ior protessoi-s,
only tolerates the situation tor the
monetary beneiits

ﬂirt with males, only Com'
mullicales about classes careers,
or last week's concert. 7

wear nice clothes especially if
they are iashionable. ‘

appreciate love poetry except for
its artistic merits,

hold hands with any males while
on campus

in summary. a Grinnell woman
should never be able to bé'a
homecoming queen on a Big Ten
campus.

There are some ”A Grinnell
woman does” criterla. She should
be intelligent. career oriented,
‘togelher.’ and liberated. If a
friend retorts. ”Mary is more of a
ieminist than you are,” the
unliberaied we. must retreat to
her room to study Our Bodies,
Ourselves or the Fr‘llltllt‘ I‘Ille‘ll.

Home Sweet Grinnell?

“You complain too much."
”No, I don't,"
“Last year you said you were
dying ior want of good humor in
Grinnell."

get lots of sunshine, along with
enough flies.”

“You complained about the
people here, too. You said most

fired ”

“Yes, I did, but I changed my
mind ailer i saw the orange toilet
seat sitting in the middle of Mac
Field."

“You said no flowers in the
campus, and the cornfield: are
about the only things you can see so
the Whole atmosphere is dull."

“Yes. I remember l was saying
those things, but after I observed
the sunshine behind Herrick
Chapel and found lots of yellow
dandelions in spring, I changed my
idea "

“Didn’t you complain about
room situations?”

“Oh. I did But I decided to think
in this way: things have both a
positive and a negative point, so
it‘s well balanced. For example, I
have two Windows in my room sol

people are sitting in their rooms
and digging books so there is a lack
oi community concept,"

“I said that but I know I can’t
complain about what they choose
to do You see I can’t complain
about whether they Choose thick 8t
chewy or thin b crispy when they
go to the Pizza Hut, I can't cums
plain about whether they take a to
minute break to go see a friend in
the Health Center and getone more
wrong answer on tomorrow‘s test.
They help a sick iriend in the
Health Center even before they
become a doctor, or they study all
day and become a doctor and then
help sick people,"

“You don't complain about
anything now, huh"'l

“Complaining never led me to a
better situation, so I decided to

The only sense in which it
Gl'lnnell woman can be lcmalc is in
the ‘eal'th mother' sense: seli
possessed. breadsbaking, ace
cepting, tipeltrmll'lnlcd. nature-
loving, independent, pure, and
kind. God forbid that one of us
would desire marriage, a wood
paneled stationwagon, or a
traditional preschool class to
leach From the women ofthis suns

@411ch

duppled campus Sltouiu spring
lawyers. research biochemists,
legislative aides. peace Corps
Volunteers. authors, and stage
managers.

From one side. we receive lower
pay ior equal iiork. verbal assults
on the street. TV commercials ior
the housewi’ie. and limltéd‘ttccesx .
to loans. credit. and apartments.
Now our sympathic friends scoff at
bras, deliver ”well-meant” sexist
jokes, and criticise unliberated
attitudes.

l L'I'illgc at all the demands that
are now made on women If
Grinnell dictums are applied to
feminism, the women's movement
will not liberate anyone. lt will only
establish new confines to which We
must conform.

”This Revolution has got to go
tor broke: powcr to no one, and to
everyone: to each the power over
his or her own life. and no
others "ALilith's lllanitesto molt.
\t'oiiio s Majority t'iiioii. Seattle.
Washington.

give up complaining and give them
some excuses.
looks line although solnethlng is
unclear back in my mind. Oh, I'm

Now everything

+++

That night I had a dream, I was
so Cheerful on nly blke when I
passed by a sculpture in the central
campus.
figure of a smiling mother lloidmg
a baby in her two hands, and it
went so well with sunset behind
Herrick Chapel and
Science building. And i saw some
people get together in a small
campus park where there used to
be football flelds. There was a
flower garden in the park, too. My
mind was filled up with something
warm,
“Home. Sweet Home,”

The sculpture was a

red brick

and I was humming

 

