Bruce Springsteen's Philadelphia

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 4

Bruce Springsteen

Who recognizes this American city?

PHILADELPHIA

This city, this setting is of great importance to the song we are analyzing today. 

"Streets of Philadelphia"

Question the students whether they know this song? Whether they know what it is about

If not, move on to the next slide: context of composition (the movie "Philadelphia")

If yes, build on their reply. Move from context of interpretation to context of composition. Important to know more about the composition to analyse the words. 

Philadelphia (1993)

song was written for this movie, for this event, which is now a historical event; the AIDS epidemic

Context of composition

• Written in 1993
• Written for an American legal drama film
• One of the first mainstream Hollywood films to acknowledge HIV/AIDS, homosexuality, and homophobia.

The disease AIDS first appeared in the early 1980s, and rapidly became an epidemic among homosexual men. Intravenous drug users who shared needles, blood transfusion patients, and women with infected sexual partners were also at risk of contracting AIDS.

Context of interpretation

What do you know about AIDS? 

Have people changed their view/opinion/behavior towards infected people since the 80s?

Would this film/song be written in 2021?

Used to be a diseases for homosexuals, now known as an African disease. 

Verse 1

I was bruised and battered, I couldn't tell what I felt

I was unrecognizable to myself

I saw my reflection in a window, I didn't know my own face

Oh brother are you gonna leave me wastin' away

On the Streets of Philadelphia

Analyze together

"Oh brother..."

Despite an entire generation of young men being killed by AIDS, the government and medical community were slow to react to the crisis because it mostly killed gay men.

Here Springsteen is asking how society could turn its back on those who need help the most, made especially potent because he is in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. (Philadelphia has long been nicknamed "The City of Brotherly Love" from the literal meaning of the city's name in Greek) 

Verse 2

I walked the avenue, 'til my legs felt like stone

I heard the voices of friends vanished and gone

At night I could hear the blood in my veins

It was just as black and whispering as the rain

On the Streets of Philadelphia

Assignment: Analyze these lines on your own. Write something about each line. (5 minutes)

Share answers with class and have a look at Genius

Bridge

Ain't no angel gonna greet me

It's just you and I, my friend

My clothes don't fit me no more

I walked a thousand miles

Just to slip this skin

Verse 3

The night has fallen, I'm lyin' awake

I can feel myself fading away

So receive me brother with your faithless kiss

Or will we leave each other alone like this

On the Streets of Philadelphia

"Brother" = could refer to a lover, friend/family, society

- the protagonist is asking whether society will help its brothers or let them die in the streets. A powerful message to end on; a call to arms.