This Touching Bruce Springsteen Lyric From 2009 Is All About Being in Love When You’re Over the Hill

Rock and roll has produced many love songs written from the perspective of one person trying to win the heart of another. And there are plenty of sorrowful songs that detail the aftermath of a fractured love affair.

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But what about songs attesting to a loving relationship with many years behind it and many miles under its belt? Maybe not as many, right? If you’re looking for a great one in that style, start with Bruce Springsteen’s “Kingdom Of Days”.

Magic “Kingdom”

Few artists have maintained a connection with their fan base as powerful as the one Bruce Springsteen has cultivated with his. Part of that is because Springsteen innately understands that the issues with which he’s dealing at different points in his life will resonate with his audience if he addresses them honestly and evocatively in his songs.

In 2009, Springsteen released the album Working On A Dream. If you had to categorize it in any way, it’s an album about getting older. The songs detail the various wonders and heartbreaks that go along with that process.

Springsteen made sure that the love song he included on the album stayed true to that idea. There’s little doubt that he had his own marriage to Patti Scialfa in mind when he wrote the song. But “Kingdom Of Days” nonetheless felt like a nod to all the couples out there who’ve spent many years building to the bliss the song depicts.

Interestingly enough, many Springsteen fans consider Working On A Dream to be one of his weakest records, a misguided view in our opinion. Maybe some who’d followed along with The Boss’ career didn’t want to be confronted with the passing years. In any case, “Kingdom Of Days” clearly deserves a place in the pantheon of autumnal odes to love.

Examining the Lyrics of “Kingdom Of Days”

The main idea behind “Kingdom Of Days” is that love is one of the few entities that can hold sway over time. It’s there right from the opening lines: “With you I don’t hear the minutes ticking by,” Springsteen sings. “I don’t feel the hours as they fly.”

The line “I don’t see the summer as it wanes” is telling. While the narrator could be referring to a specific summer, context tells us he’s likely hinting that his youthful years have already passed him. Images of fall pop up with regularity: “My jacket ‘round your shoulders, the falling leaves/The wet grass on our backs as the autumn breeze drifts through the trees.”

It’s telling that the grass is on their backs, hinting at the passion that still exists in this relationship. The middle eight strengthens this idea. After he tells her he loves her, she’s quick to respond: “You whisper, ‘Then prove it, the prove it, the prove it to me, baby blue’.”

The final verse sums up Springsteen’s grand theme. “And I count my blessings that you’re mine for always,” he belts. “We laugh beneath the covers and count the wrinkles and the grays.” “Sing away,” he concludes. “This is our kingdom of days.”

“Kingdom Of Days” contains music with a subtle throwback vibe that strengthens the idea that these aren’t exactly spring chickens telling the tale. But what does age matter when, as the song insists, a full heart stays eternally young?

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