By now you've all seen the Bruce Springsteen, Jimmy Fallon serenade to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie ... in fact, what the heck, you know you want to watch it again, so here you go:
The video is hilarious. And a big part of what makes it so funny is knowing just how much Christie loves "The Boss." Cripes, with 129 Springsteen concerts under his belt, Christie's devotion could be described as stalker-like. But it's the public declarations of love that really makes it so funny.
Like the time they were on the same flight in 1999:
Mr. Christie tried to play it cool, but made a furtive cellphone call to a friend and whispered excitedly, “He’s sitting right behind me!”
Mr. Christie introduced himself and said he was a big fan. Mr. Springsteen was polite.
“I was hoping he’d say, ‘Let me slide over and I’ll sit with you,’ ” Mr. Christie said of the 1999 encounter. “But it didn’t happen.”
Or in 2012, when asked if Mitt Romney
could relate to a Springsteen concert:
He looks at me like I’m from France. “No one is beyond the reach of Bruce!” he screams over the noise of the crowd, and then screams it again, to make sure I understand: “No one is beyond the reach of Bruce!”
Or Christie's dream of their future together:
Christie believes fiercely that Springsteen would understand him if he only made the effort. “My view on it is that I’m not a priority of his right now,” he said. “At some point maybe I will be. If Bruce and I sat down and talked, he would reluctantly come to the conclusion that we disagree on a lot less than he thinks.”
And when Springsteen finally decided to
acknowledge him at a benefit for Hurricane Sandy victims, Christie swooned:
They embraced at a benefit for Hurricane Sandy victims at Radio City Music Hall ...
“I told the president today actually that the hug was great and that when we got home there was a lot of weeping because of the hug,” Mr. Christie recalled after the trip. “And the president said, ‘Why?’ I said, ‘Well, to be honest, I was the one weeping; everyone else was fine."
During that
2012 interview, after Christie told how he had asked Springsteen to play at an Atlantic City casino opening earlier that year:
I asked him if he’s received a response to his request. “No, we got nothing back from them,” he said unhappily, “not even a ‘Fuck you.’
It took a couple of years, Governor, but it looks like you finally got that response.
For more discussion on this, see SanteFeMarie's diary.