Back in 2004, Rolling Stone put out their list of the 500 greatest songs of all time (that’s the cover of the issue up there).  The issue out on the stands now updates that list, which you can see over here.

Springsteen deserves more than four songs on the list, and I’d rank “Thunder Road” above “Born To Run,” and thank God Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back In Town” dropped off the list, and “Highway 61 Revisited” ought to be higher than 373 (how on earth was that left off of the Dylan collection?!) , and it’s ridiculous when Warren Zevon, The Grateful Dead, Graham Parker and Southside Johnny (among so many others) aren’t represented at all while ABBA, Chic and Justin Timberlake are, and lists like these are really just gimmicks to sell magazines anyway, which is fine.

I’m gonna try and put all 500 into a unique playlist on my iPod. I’m guessing I have about 400 of them there already, and it’ll make a good collection for shuffle-listening at the gym. This ought to keep me busy over the holiday weekend; it beats cleaning out the garage.

There aren’t a whole lot of Mother’s Day songs out there. When it’s someone’s birthday, you can always fall back on The Beatles or Bruce Springsteen, but Mother’s Day is a tough one. Some Googling for lists of Mother’s Day songs demonstrates how slim the pickings are: Some lists include Pink Floyd’s “Mother,” which expresses sentiments you probably won’t find on any Hallmark card.

Best I got for you is Springsteen’s “The Wish,” a six-verse short story about a boy and his mother … and a guitar.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Dirty old street all slushed up in the rain and snow
Little boy and his ma shivering outside a rundown music store window
That night on top of a Christmas tree shines one beautiful star
And lying underneath a brand-new Japanese guitar

I remember in the morning, ma, hearing your alarm clock ring
I’d lie in bed and listen to you gettin’ ready for work
The sound of your makeup case on the sink
And the ladies at the office, all lipstick, perfume and rustlin’ skirts
And how proud and happy you always looked walking home from work

If pa’s eyes were windows into a world so deadly and true
You couldn’t stop me from looking but you kept me from crawlin’ through
And if it’s a funny old world, mama, where a little boy’s wishes come true
Well I got a few in my pocket and a special one just for you

It ain’t no phone call on Sunday, flowers or a mother’s day card
It ain’t no house on a hill with a garden and a nice little yard
I got my hot rod down on Bond Street, I’m older but you’ll know me in a glance
We’ll find us a little rock ‘n roll bar and baby we’ll go out and dance

Well it was me in my Beatle boots, you in pink curlers and matador pants
Pullin’ me up on the couch to do the twist for my uncles and aunts
Well I found a girl of my own now, ma, I popped the question on your birthday
She stood waiting on the front porch while you were telling me to get out there
And say what it was that I had to say

Last night we all sat around laughing at the things that guitar brought us
And I layed awake thinking ’bout the other things it’s brought us
Well tonight I’m takin’s requests here in the kitchen
This one’s for you, ma, let me come right out and say it
It’s overdue, but baby, if you’re looking for a sad song, well I ain’t gonna play it

“The times are tough now
Just getting tougher
This old world is rough
It’s just getting rougher”

These days, it’s all too easy to hear the opening verse to Bruce Springsteen’s “Cover Me” and pull a muscle in your neck from nodding your head in vigorous agreement.

Times are tough, which means that agencies and contractors and consultants and such are working harder than ever to land new clients. Which means that all that time and effort spent to land a new client that winds up going elsewhere can be a big disappointment.

Or not.

I first heard from — well, for the sake of this post, I’ll call them Company X — back in April. A friend of mine knew about my online experience and thought they should talk to me: Company X has a modest Web site and they desperately need a redesign and some SEO 101 work done.

It took about two months before the initial conference call was set up. I spoke at length with the President and CEO of the company. We emailed back and forth. A designer-programmer team I know and respect got involved and provided estimates. By July I had assembled a detailed proposal and sent it over.

A month after sending over the proposal, I still hadn’t heard anything back from them. No acknowledgment of receipt. No “thanks, we’ll keep you posted.” Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Squat.

I continued to follow up without being too pushy, and in August received this message from the President and CEO: “We haven’t moved forward with anyone yet on this … still trying to determine the right price/value. Thanks for checking in.” Fair enough. That’s part of being in business: You propose, then you wait. And wait. And wait some more. And eventually, if you’re lucky, you get the gig and everything needs to be done yesterday.

But back to the timeline: In early September I receive this message from a manager in the company: “We have been doing some research and would like to speak to you.  Please call me when you have a chance.” Sounds promising. We speak. They want me to come to their New York office in September to deliver a capabilities presentation.

Nearly two months pass before I get a response from Company X regarding timing and specifics of the presentation. We set a date for early November. I circle back with my designer-programmer team, spend some significant time assembling the Powerpoint presentation and incorporating the inevitable and appropriate revisions to my original proposal called for by the passage of more than six months since we first spoke.

The presentation seems to go well enough, though I’m given the last slot of the day, they keep me waiting nearly 45 minutes before we can begin, there’s a room full of people (plus several more on the phone) they never told me would be there (despite my asking how many people would be there, since I wanted to bring the appropriate number of hard copies with me) and one person seems to be falling asleep during the time we spend together.

The meeting ends with an agreement that they would follow up immediately with additional information about a new component of the work they want done. After one week, it doesn’t arrive. It doesn’t arrive after two weeks, either. Three weeks after the meeting, they respond to yet another follow-up email with this curt and impersonal response:

“Thank you for your follow up email.  We have decided to go with another company.  We will keep you in mind if it does not work out.”

Thanks, but no thanks.

Yes, it’s always nice to bring on a new client, but the signals were there all along: Clearly Company X does not respect my time. They’re unable to respond to emails without relentless prodding to do so. When they do, there’s zero recognition of effort spent or value added. For example:

At one point, they wanted to know why Competitor Y was receiving so many inbound links when Company X and others in their industry received only a fraction of the number of links (as measured by HubSpot’s Website Grader). I researched the issue and provided a detailed answer. Never a word of thanks from Company X.

Working on a Web redesign project with Company X is clearly going to be a nightmare. I don’t know who got the gig, but I genuinely pity them. Whatever the number was at which they priced the job, they should have doubled it.

New clients are always welcome. New clients who are rude and/or disrespectful and/or arrogant and/or have a sense of entitlement are not.

Okay, there. I got it out of my system. But there really is a larger point to this rant:

Takeaway for marketers: The Golden Rule has a place in business. If you’re going through an agency or a consultant selection process, take it to heart.

Today is Bruce Springsteen’s birthday. He’s 60. That’s remarkable for a whole bunch of reasons, not the least of which is the fact his most recent tour has lasted about two years — during which he’s been performing high-energy concerts that push close to three hours … without intermission.

(It’s been said there are two types of people: Bruce Springsteen fans and those who’ve never seen him live.)

Work ethic is just one of many reasons why the Springsteen canon has become the soundtrack of a generation and why he continues to create five-star albums while so many of his contemporaries have drifted off into the nooks and crannies of retirement and classic rock radio.

The energy, passion and dedication he brings to his work is unmatched in the entertainment world. We’d all love to bring the same kind of energy, passion and dedication to our own work, whatever it might be.

Which brings me to one of the generally underrated components of Springsteen’s music: his lyrics. When he’s on his game, which is more often than not, Springsteen’s words create vivid and layered images that only the best short stories and films can match.

For example, “The River” is much more than a song about the singer and his circumstance, it’s about anyone who’s ever had a dream. “Is a dream a lie if it don’t come true / Or is it something worse?” is one of those all-time great rock lyrics that cuts right to the core of some of life’s most fundamental issues.

But this is a blog about “marketing and more,” not existentialism. So with that in mind, here are a few lessons and observations about work and career that can be gleaned from The Boss’ catalog:

“Thunder Road” (from Born To Run) –“It’s a town full of losers / And I’m pulling out of here to win.” Unless you really enjoy working for a company like Dunder Mifflin, how can this lyric not resonate in the workplace? When it starts to resonate more often than not, it’s time to start job hunting.

“Reason To Believe” (from Nebraska) — “Struck me kinda funny seemed kind of funny sir to me / How at the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe.” We all have lousy days on the job now and again and we all have days that make us wonder why we bother doing whatever it is we do. But at some point, even if we don’t always recognize it when it happens, we tap into that reason that makes us get up the next morning and keep going.

“Leap of Faith” (from Lucky Town) — “It takes a leap of faith to get things going / It takes a leap of faith you gotta show some guts / It takes a leap of faith to get things going / In your heart you must trust.” A perfect chorus for anyone facing a difficult decision: Do you take that new client? Do you ask for that promotion? Do you try for that new job? Do you start that new company?

“Working On A Dream” (from Working On A Dream) — “I’m working on a dream / Though sometimes it feels so far away / I’m working on a dream / And how it will be mine someday.” This one doesn’t really need any explanation, does it?

“Land Of Hope and Dreams” (from Live In New York City) — The song from which this blog gets its title. “Dreams will not be thwarted / Faith will be rewarded.” Isn’t that a great mantra for every entrepreneur? You start with a dream, then weld to it the faith in yourself and in the team you assemble that you have what it takes to accomplish that dream.

There are dozens of other examples that can be found in the hundreds of songs Springsteen’s written, but I think you get the idea. We draw inspiration and recharge our work brains from all kinds of sources. You could do a lot worse than to have the Springsteen catalog as one of them.

Happy birthday, Boss. Thanks for the soundtrack.

“Hell’s brewin’ dark sun’s on the rise
This storm’ll blow through by and by
House is on fire, Viper’s in the grass
A little revenge and this too shall pass
This too shall pass, I’m gonna pray
Right now all I got’s this lonesome day”
—Bruce Springsteen