| Event type: | National and Regional Zoom Events |
| Date: | Thursday 8th October 2026 |
| Time: | 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm |
| Venue: | Zoom |
| Organiser: |
The Third Age Trust
|
| Cost: | Free |
| Booking: | Note that booking is required. |
Explore how Bruce Springsteen turned personal alienation into a musical mission to expose the gap between the American dream and reality.
About the series
A series of talks by Professor Christopher Dowrick, illustrating how the creative arts, including literature, poetry, classical music and contemporary folk/rock, can enhance our wellbeing.
Darkness on the Edge of Town: Bruce Springsteen and the American dream
Springsteen experiences a fundamental sense of alienation in his early 30s, generated by his difficult relationship with his father and a growing sense of alienation from his cultural base.
In this talk I show how his music first reflects this alienation (for example Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town) and then moves beyond it, as he realises his mission to expose the distance between the American dream and American reality.
About the speaker
Christopher Dowrick is a member of Orrell Park and District u3a. He is Emeritus Professor at the University of Liverpool, with a career focussing on mental health. He has a long standing interest in how the humanities and science can combine to enhance our wellbeing.
Photo: Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-1988-0719-38 / Uhlemann, Thomas / CC-BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped