Photo courtesy of Dana Gorab

It was a cool damp night, April 17. The year was 2014 and the western world was enjoying one of its last foreseeable halcyon periods. The air smelled of fresh spring rain as the Nashville streets of Lower Broadway buzzed with pedestrians. The sounds of classic rock sing-alongs escaped from the sides of the historic brick buildings and honkytonks echoing up the hill as we marched toward our destination: Bridgestone Arena, to see the one and only Bruce Springsteen.

The lights dim as the E Street Band takes the stage. But, there is an unusual character amongst them: Rage Against The Machine’s resident riffer, Tom Morello. A name certain to evoke strong emotions, such as the tried and true, “he should keep politics out of it” or “he just makes noises on the guitar!” However, even his detractors have to admit that Morello has been one of the most innovative guitarists since Eddie Van Halen or Randy Rhoads. As he wandered on stage that night, I couldn’t help but think, ‘this ought to be interesting.’

Indeed, interesting it was. Now I must confess once upon a time in my youth, as my folks ran through classics like “Born to Run” or “Thunder Road”, I didn’t immediately understand it.

“But he didn’t sing higher or play heavier like Sabbath or Zeppelin," I’d offered.

It wasn’t until Nashville, the city where songwriting is an official sport, where I finally ‘got it’. The words, the stories, the images; left to the imagination, it’s as if there’s a movie unfolding in front of you narrated by the song.

That warm spring night, the legends ripped through classics like “Badlands”, “Hungry Heart” and “I’m on Fire”… But there was one unexpected moment, nearly 18 songs in, that swept the entire arena off their feet: “The Ghost of Tom Joad”.

I wasn’t surprised to see Morello singing as he’d covered “The Ghost of Tom Joad” with The Nightwatchman before Springsteen heard it and invited him to record a new version together. The reason it was unexpected was because this was not a particularly well-known Springsteen track. It was never played during political rallies, football games or dances. Instead, “The Ghost of Tom Joad” was released at the height of the grunge era, and somehow with its laid-back feel and unpolished honesty, wouldn’t have sounded out of place on Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged in New York.

As they started the song with the lights nearly blacked out, I could tell it was going to be a particularly powerful version. As their voices traded back and forth, the tension in the room was palpable. Finally, as Morello leaned away from the mic, with his guitar flying through the air, a screaming solo soars through the arena like a siren. Morello forcefully rips the chord out of his guitar, quickly smashing it against his hand in rhythm with the E Street Band, manipulating the pitch with his trusty Whammy pedal. At this point, and for the frst time in my life, tears began to roll down my face. I was taken aback by what was happening. I had literally never heard sounds like this in my life. I had even seen Morello play this very same room before with Prophets of Rage.

That night was different though. Morello didn’t play any other solos during the nearly three hour set. He didn’t take center stage. This was his one chance. His one moment. It was all or nothing. And as he tore through his blue Arm the Homeless guitar, strings flailing with facial expressions of pure agony, I knew I had just witnessed history. As I wiped those tears away, I felt the bittersweet sting that music really can change your life.