An interesting story behind the Part Man part Monkey played in Hershey...
http://ydr.inyork.com/ydr/mike/ci_10330189Dover parents hang with The Boss
MIKE ARGENTO
Article Last Updated: 08/29/2008 06:26:42 AM EDT
Cyndi Sneath and her husband Paul weren't huge Bruce Springsteen fans. Sure, they like The Boss, and they've heard his music. As Cyndi said, "Who hasn't heard his music?"
Cyndi had heard his music on the radio, and that was about it.
That was until the night of Aug. 19.
That night, Springsteen and the E-Street Band were playing at Hersheypark Stadium, and Cyndi and Paul were going to the show with some friends. Her friend, Lauri Lebo, a former Daily Record reporter, got the tickets, the least expensive available, and Cyndi figured they'd be back in the cheap seats.
Which was fine with her. It would be a nice evening out with friends, listening to some good music and hanging out.
It turned into something different, very different.
It came about because Cyndi and her husband were among the parents who sued the Dover Area School Board for its ill-fated and just plain stupid attempt to force creationism into the science curriculum. Their courageous stance in that case -- as with all of the plaintiffs in that landmark case -- didn't win them a lot of friends in Dover. They didn't expect any rewards for having the guts to stand up for our rights.
That night in Hershey was the pay-off.
Vic Walczak, the American Civil Liberties Union's legal director and one of the lawyers in the Dover case, is a big Springsteen fan, and on a whim, he e-mailed Springsteen's people to see whether he could get some backstage passes. He knew Springsteen had followed the Dover
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case and was a supporter of the ACLU's mission of protecting civil rights -- and figured it was worth a try.
It was.
A couple of days before the concert, Cyndi got a call from Lauri. They were getting passes that would allow them to watch the show from the pit.
Cyndi wasn't sure what that meant. She didn't know what "the pit" was. She'd been to a Metallica concert and recalled seeing a pit there, and it wasn't the kind of place you'd want to spend any time in if you valued the use of your limbs. Cyndi recalled telling Lauri, "Do we really want to be in the pit?"
It was a different pit.
The passes also gave them access to backstage and the chance to meet The Boss himself. It was kind of surreal. Cyndi said she'd never met anyone of Springsteen's stature.
"He's kind of bigger than life," she said.
The evening of the show, they picked up their passes and went backstage. They hung out at a trailer, having drinks and snacks, and after a while they went to a different backstage area where a lot of people were milling about. They met drummer Max Weinberg's 91-year-old mother, a retired school teacher. Cyndi was almost as excited to meet Weinberg, whom she knows from watching "Late Night With Conan O'Brien." (Weinberg is musical director of the show's band.)
They were hanging out in front of The Boss's dressing room with Pittsburgh rocker Joe Grushecky, an old friend of Springsteen, and members of the E-Street Band. Weinberg was hanging there, as was guitarist Steve Van Zandt and some others.
Springsteen emerged from his dressing room, greeted Grushecky and his family and then gave Weinberg's mom a hug. And then, there he was, face-to-face with the Sneaths and the rest of the Dover gang. Walczak introduced everybody and Lauri gave Bruce a copy of her book about the Dover case, "The Devil in Dover," telling Springsteen that the book contains a reference to his song, "Part Man/Part Monkey." Springsteen thanked her for including him in her book.
The song played a big role in the trial, sort of. Every day, as he drove to the courthouse, Walczak listened to it as preparation for that day's legal wrangling. It became a kind of anthem for him during the trial.
Cyndi asked Springsteen to play the song. The Boss said it's been a long time since he played it, that he and the band probably haven't performed the song since the "Tunnel Of Love" tour some 20 years ago.
Walczak knew that was not quite correct, telling Springsteen that he had performed the song in 2005, introducing it by saying, "Dover, Pa. - they're not sure about evolution . . . Here in New Jersey, we're countin' on it."
Springsteen said he wasn't sure whether the band remembered how to play the song.
Then he smiled and asked if he did decide to play it, who should he dedicate it to.
Someone blurted out, "To the Dover parents." Steve Harvey, one of the lawyers in the case, added, "And good science education."
Springsteen said, "I don't know."
After a pause, he said, "I'm feeling pressure here. I'm feeling a lot of pressure."
He repeated, "The Dover parents and good science education."
And then, he and the band took the stage and Cyndi and the rest of the Dover crowd went to the pit, which was an area in front of the stage reserved for VIPs and guests of the band and such.
They wondered whether Springsteen would play "Part Man/Part Monkey."
Cyndi was sure he would. The others weren't so sure.
About two-thirds of the way through the three-hour show, Springsteen said the band had received a request.
"We really don't know this song," he said.
And he started playing the chords of "Part Man/Part Monkey," turning to give the band instructions.
The band picked up on it and Springsteen said, "This one goes out to the Dover parents."
He paused as the band continued with the ska beat of the tune.
"And good science education."
The band then played the tune.
"We were all just screaming," Cyndi said. "We were going nuts. It was just too cool."
She can say now that she's a Springsteen fan.
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