Bruce Springsteen: Reason to believe Meaning

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Reason to believe Lyrics

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Seen a man standin' over a dead dog lyin' by the highway in a ditch
He's lookin' down kinda puzzled pokin' that dog with a stick
Got his car door flung open he's standin' out on highway 31
Like if he stood there long enough that dog'd get...

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   anonymous

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   Jun 17th, 6:03pm report

   
   

   A ''reason to believe'' is a great old BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN song about still having THE Faith and belief in God. When trying to stay alive, during and in Nietzche's misunderstood slogan of the times that caught up with us in this world that's been telling you that God is finally dead [in symbolic form of this dead dog by the side of the road]. In which you still don't believe He left you feeling dead by what this world wants you to believe. So you instead poke at Him[the dead dog] symbollicaly to still find a reason to believe He's not dead, while you are still alive at the end of the day to still believe.

   
   
   
   

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   anonymous

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   Apr 24th, 4:04pm report

   
   

   I've heard "Reason To Believe" referred to as a ray of hope on an otherwise bleak, dark album of work. The trouble is "Reason" is not, in my opinion, an optimistic song. He introduced it live as a song about "blind faith", the poking a dog with a stick hoping it will regain life, waiting for a lost love that will never come back type. That faith isn't optimistic, it's self-delusional and dangerous. The narrator is more amazed that this faith exists than accepting of its existence. The unspoken subtext that haunts this song is that there ISN'T really a reason to believe, only blind shadows of faith that people cling to out of desperation. The old man dies and the baby is baptized and the river of (delusional) hope continues. Rather than a ray of hope, it is a deeply pessimistic, yet empathetic take on what it takes to live through despair and disappointment. It's both terrifying and beautiful, and frequently misunderstood.