"well i got some beer and the highway's free"..."

bruce!!!!...who better to lift you out of the winter doldrums...especially after days of navigating snow piles mile high...and slush corners river deep...so where did it start for you?...was it way back?..."greetings from asbury park"...born in the usa"...or more of a legacy passed down from your parents...for me it was 1981...the ultimate cultural exchange between close friends was about to unfold...me and jeannine...nyu days...i would share my love of ballet...and slight obsession with a certain male ballet star...hmm...what is the name...oh, yeah...baryshnikov...and then exactly on my 21st birthday...lincoln center...american ballet theater...misha (68 today!)...paired with cynthia gregory...we were left breathless with his first jete...and then that summer...the old brendan byrne arena...it was jeannine's turn...bruce!!!...half way through the concert..."sherry darling"...jeannine turned to our section screaming, and pointed at me..."her name is sherri"...and everyone turned around singing to me, beer flying...and when it was over...it was off to the record store...there have been several bruce concerts since then...and without fail...no "sherry darling"...oh, he would sing it on occasion...just in other cities...on other tours...so when "the river" tour was announced...i dutifully logged on to ticketmaster...waited...walked away from the laptop...and by some miracle two tickets popped up...so there we were last night...waiting...when a group sat down behind us...a bit older...a lot louder...obnoxious loud...reminded me of a classic woody allen line...what i would give for a sock of manure...but ok, i thought...who cares?...bruce, right?...and then it happened...they started discussing "sherry darling"...the "throwaway" song of the album...one guy defended it...loved it...couldn't wait...wanted to shake his hand...but the other one wouldn't shut up...and then his wife chimed in..."oh, he's going to sing the river?"...you know...you can't make this shit up!...thankfully, the roar of the band and crowd drowned them within minutes...and third song...well, you know...and i almost turned to sing (with a twist)..."he keeps talkin' he'll be walking that last block"...but, what the hell...hey, hey, hey...not this, sherri darling...