You can always rely on Bruce. The year is 1984 and Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA tour is getting bigger and better, as the crowds come out in their thousands to hear tales of loss and triumph, the stuff of real American lives struggling to get by, the stories which have always been told on Springsteen's patch.
It was not the only show on the road that year that talked about an American way of life. After four years of cynical, community- destroying Reaganomics, the Ronald Reagan roadshow was on the re-election trail, the Gipper smiling and waving and handshaking his way around the US in pursuit of four more years in the White House. He even made Ballyporeen in Co Tipperary a state of the union for a few hours to help his campaign.
Politicians will do anything to get a few auld votes so, two days after comparing himself to John F. Kennedy during a speech in Connecticut, Reagan decided to enlist Bruce Springsteen's help. Only problem was the president didn't bother to ask the singer before he opened his mouth.
Opportunistic politicians are fabulous at muddying the waters. So, when Reagan talked glowingly at a campaign stop in New Jersey about Springsteen's "message of hope", many would have looked again at Born in the USA and thought "well, yeah, pride in America, the American flag, the American dream and all of that, it makes sense". A few days later, during a run of shows in Pittsburgh, a city that bore the brunt of Reagan's economic policies, Springsteen replied. He talked simply about how America had become "two different Americas", how promises had been broken and how decency, respect and dignity had been written out of the American dream. He didn't endorse or criticise any candidates, but there was no mistaking where he stood on the Re-Elect the President campaign.
It was probably the start of Springsteen's political education. An artist who was always aware of how politics impacted on communities, Springsteen made a conscious decision to do something other than just be aware. He met community representatives and homeless groups in each city on the Born in the USA tour. He made sizeable donations at each stop to help these groups run food banks and other services, a practice that has quietly become the Springsteen touring norm.
For Springsteen the rock star, it was a way to give something back to those communities which welcomed him with open arms and contributed to his huge success. For Springsteen the political activist, it was a way to get involved and express views without endorsing parties or campaigns.
As the years have gone by, Springsteen's political nous has grown and the mammoth tour for The Rising saw him fine-tuning his anti-war views. It should be no surprise then that, 20 years after the late Ronald Reagan attempted to hijack Springsteen, the singer has decided to make a very public protest against George W. Bush.
While Springsteen has never been shy about commenting from stages about the blackballing of The Dixie Chicks or recommending books by anti-Bush figures such as Al Franken or Michael Moore, his publication of a speech by ex-vice president Al Gore attacking Bush on his website is a new development.
Springsteen called it "one of the most important speeches I've heard in a long time" - one that raised issues that "need to be considered by every American concerned with the direction our country is headed in".
Gore doesn't pull any punches. His forensic examination of Bush's foreign policies leads him to label the present incumbent "the most dishonest president since Richard Nixon".
As political activists go, Springsteen may not be out there in the trenches writing songs about giving Bush the shove. But as political activists go, especially ones with the ears of millions of fans worldwide, Springsteen is using his appeal and popularity to get his message across with great skill and subtlety. Sometimes you don't have to shout and roar to express yourself.
