Album: The Rising (2002)

Charted: 52

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• Can't see nothin' in front of me
  Can't see nothin' coming up behind
  Make my way through this darkness
  I can't feel nothing but this chain that binds me
  Lost track of how far I've gone
  How far I've gone, how high I've climbed
  On my back's a sixty pound stone
  On my shoulder a half mile of line
  
  Come on up for the rising
  Come on up, lay your hands in mine
  Come on up for the rising
  Come on up for the rising tonight
  
  Left the house this morning
  Bells ringing filled the air
  I was wearin' the cross of my calling
  On wheels of fire I come rollin' down here
  
  Come on up for the rising
  Come on up, lay your hands in mine
  Come on up for the rising
  Come on up for the rising tonight
  
  Li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li
  
  There's spirits above and behind me
  Faces gone black, eyes burnin' bright
  May their precious blood bind me
  Lord, as I stand before your fiery light
  
  Li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li
  
  I see you Mary in the garden
  In the garden of a thousand sighs
  There's holy pictures of our children
  Dancin' in a sky filled with light
  May I feel your arms around me
  May I feel your blood mix with mine
  A dream of life comes to me
  Like a catfish dancin' on the end of my line
  
  Sky of blackness and sorrow (a dream of life)
  Sky of love, sky of tears (a dream of life)
  Sky of glory and sadness (a dream of life)
  Sky of mercy, sky of fear (a dream of life)
  Sky of memory and shadow (a dream of life)
  Your burnin' wind fills my arms tonight
  Sky of longing and emptiness (a dream of life)
  Sky of fullness, sky of blessed life
  
  Come on up for the rising
  Come on up, lay your hands in mine
  Come on up for the rising
  Come on up for the rising tonight
  
  Li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li Writer/s: Bruce Springsteen
  Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 19

• Nat King Kong from OregonThis song just explodes in the second verse, and every line is so powerful. "Left the house this morning" - firefighter says goodbye to his wife and kids like any other day. "Bells were ringing, filled the air." -- all hell breaks loose. "I'm wearin' the cross of my calling" -- the cross of my calling, that is brilliant. And the absolute killer: "On wheels of fire I come rollin' down here" -- the guys who race into the storm to save lives. So freaking powerful. And from here the song gets truly spiritual. And live? Indescribable.
• Travis from Rochester, NyI was at that concert in Atlanta GA, up front in the pit. When he said "I'd like to thank absolutely f*#@ing nobody!" you knew it was going to be a great night! My wife is still upset Norah Jones beat him out!
• Emil from Avesta, SwedenThis song is about NY firefighters and their struggling during 9/11
• Ekristheh from Halath, United StatesGenerally, Mary is to Bruce Springsteen as Maria is to Adam Duritz. The narrator's lover, his muse, the girl he cares about, especially since he mentions "our children".
• Adam from Lehman, PaMy first thought about "mary in the garden" wasn't the virgin mary, but the mary he always talked about in his past songs (i.e. thunder road). It tells about how he may be leaving her yet going to heaven with her in mind.
• Tim from Raleigh, NcI think Mary may be his grieving wife, who is in the "garden of a thousand sighs." He longs to mix his blood with hers (physical existence). He sees only holy representations of his children(pictures), not the children themselves.
• Jim from Long Beach, CaI can remember 9/11. I was in the air at the time on my way to Flordia we got grounded in Texas. It was so surreal, and it is still to hard to talk about. This song always brings a tear to me, I love this whole disc. God Bless Bruce and America..
• Johnny from London, United KingdomMentioning Mary in the garden immediately makes you think of the resurrection of Jesus. This links with the name of the song and the kind of spiritual dream of lifey stuff at the end. May or may not be what Bruce intended but inescapable.
• Christina from North Bay, OnI cry almost everytime I hear this song.
• S.d. from Denver, CoThe last full verse, the one that begins "I see Mary in the garden" is the first line in more than 20 years that literally made this grown man cry. The imagery it evokes of a mother who lost her children in the attacks is both heartrending and beautiful, a call for all of us to focus on the beauty and love we find in life instead of our hatred of those who want to destroy us. I don't care for the album as a whole, but this song is, to me, Bruce's most affecting ever.
• Jennifer from Bronx, NyThe title refers to the "rising" of the 9/11 firemen up to heaven. "Come on up for the rising - come on up, lay your hands in mine"
  The fireman walked UP the steps in the WTC & kept going "There's spirits above and behind me,"
  until they reached Mary in the garden.
  Great song! Should have won the Grammy!
  
• 13scarecrows from Sallisaw, OkFirst half of the song is about the firefighters on 9/11/01. Then it goes spiritual, then its about all the poeple lost on that day. Beautiful song.
• Andrew from New York, NyTyler is right. This is an awesome song that honors firefighters among all of the others. I am a firefighter who's rescue company responded and this song means so much to me along with many other Bruce Springsteen songs.
• Larry from Winchester, CaMore Relating To 911 at anroll.org.
  Larry Haertling
• Jonathan from Philadelphia, PaIs this our Sunday bloody Sunday?
• Pat from Las Vegas, Nv"Into the Fire" on the same album is about the same subject, incidentally. Also a great song.
• Rick from Humboldt, Iagreat song. goood album
• Kevin from Warrington, PaThe night after Springsteen lost to Norah Jones for the Song Of The Year Grammy, he took the stage for his next concert. He walked up to the microphone and jokingly said, "I'd like to thank absolutely f*#@ing nobody!"
• Tyler from Hamilton, CanadaThis song deals with the tragedy faced by a FDNY ladder company
  "On my back's a sixty pound stone "- refers to the oxygen tank
  
  "On my shoulder a half mile of line"- refers to the fire hose
  
  "Wearin' the cross of my calling " The firemans cross
  
  "On wheels of fire I come rollin' down here " a fire truck
  

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