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Collingwood co-wrote “Hackensack” in 2003 with Schlesinger, a former Montclair resident who died of coronavirus complications earlier this month.
“I will wait for you / As long as I need to / And if you ever get back to Hackensack / I'll be here for you….”
Handling what would have been Schlesinger’s bass and backing vocals during the virtual reunion from the band members’ respective homes was Sharon Van Etten.
"This for Adam, his parents, his children and New Jersey," Collingwood said during a heartfelt moment among many in the one-hour New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund benefit, which was streamed and televised across a host of platforms.
It was a night for cover songs.
- Bruce Springsteen, with wife Patti Scialfa, performed Tom Waits’s “Jersey Girl” (along with The Boss’ own “Land of Hope and Dreams”) at his 100-year-old barn-turned-studio in Colts Neck;
- Tony Bennett, still swingin’ at 93, chose Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile”;
- Charlie Puth took a crack at Springsteen’s “Growin’ Up.”
Jon Bon Jovi offered his coronavirus pandemic anthem, “Do What You Can,” and closed the show with “Livin' On a Prayer.”
Other highlights included an ode to Asbury Park, with vintage photos, from Danny DeVito.
Interviews with responders, nurses and those on the front lines illustrated both fear and courage. Many images were downright terrifying – most of them from packed hospital rooms and hallways.
Others offered hope and caution at once. These included an interview with Dr. James Pruden, the 70-year-old St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center emergency preparedness director who survived an intense bout with COVID-19 -- but, as he explained, lost 100 pounds in the process.
Then there was the virtual Fountains of Wayne reunion, their first performance in seven years.
Introducing them was Montclair’s Stephen Colbert, who’d worked with Schlesinger on a Christmas special that won a Grammy.
"Brian [Young], Jody [Porter] and I are honored to be part of the Jersey 4 Jersey benefit, and grateful that Sharon was able to perform with us,” Collingwood said. “Adam would have been proud that Fountains were helping to raise money for fellow New Jerseyans."
Hackensack
"I used to know you when we were young / You were in all my dreams
We sat together in period one / Fridays at 8:15
Now I see face in the strangest places / Movies and magazines
I saw you talkin' to Christopher Walken / On my TV screen
But I will wait for you / As long as I need to
And if you ever get back to Hackensack / I'll be here for you
I used to work in a record store / Now I work for my dad
Scraping the paint off of hard wood floors / The hours are pretty bad
Sometimes I wonder where you are / Probably in L.A.
That seems to be where everybody else ends up these days
But I will wait for you / As long as I need to
And if you ever get back to Hackensack / I'll be here for you."
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