Walk Like a Man is yet another Springsteen track I’ve added retrospectively after it somehow slipped through the cracks all these years. So I’m trying to make amends now, and I hope I do it some justice. I was so enamoured with it back then in my mid-teens, and having been reunited with it only very recently, I can declare that none of that adoration has waned.
This moving coming of age song from the Boss, as aforementioned, made quite an impression on me and now, with nearly four decades of living under my belt, it’s hard not to be nostalgic when listening to it. As a middle-aged man I can relate directly to many of the lyrics here. Moreover, I find that my leanings towards Bruce’s slower and lesser-known tracks resonate more with me now than they ever have.
Walk Like a Man was released on Bruce’s more introspective and country-tinged 1987 album, Tunnel of Love. It was a strong departure from the hugely successful commercial sound of its predecessor, Born in the U.S.A. Actually, many of the themes that course through Tunnel of Love can also be found on his 1982 acoustic detour, Nebraska.
That record was also not so much about the charts as it was about Bruce channelling some deep and aching memories that, quite frankly, he needed to process and get off his chest. Then, in the wake of his recent marriage to Julianne Phillips, which was very much crumbling at the time he was writing Tunnel of Love, many of the songs on the album became reflections on the difficulties of mature love.
This song, like the album itself, is one of deep introspection for Bruce, and it’s a pleasure to be able to go along for the ride. Now, if only we could turn back time – as one astute listener put it in the comments on this song. I hope Walk Like a Man resonates strongly with you as well. Thanks, as always, for reading.
[Verse 1]
I remember how rough your hand felt on mine
On my wedding day
And the tears cried on my shoulder
I couldn’t turn away
Well, so much has happened to me
That I don’t understand
All I can think of is being five years old, following behind you at the beach
Tracing your footprints in the sand
Trying to walk like a man
[Verse 2]
By Our Lady of the Roses
We lived in the shadow of the elms
I remember Ma draggin’ me and my sister up the street to the church
Whenever she heard those wedding bells
Well, would they ever look so happy again
The handsome groom and his bride
As they stepped into that long black limousine
For their mystery ride
Well, tonight you step away from me
And alone at the altar I stand
And as I watch my bride coming down the aisle
I pray for the strength to walk like a man
[Verse 3]
Well, now the years have gone and I’ve grown
From that seed you’ve sown
But I didn’t think there’d be so many steps
I’d have to learn on my own
Well, I was young and I didn’t know what to do
When I saw your best steps stolen away from you
Now I’ll do what I can
I’ll walk like a man
[Outro]
And I’ll keep on walkin’
References:
1. Tunnel of Love (album) – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
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