Bruce Springsteen - Classic or Dud ?

I can't get worked up and annoyed about Bruce in the way I can about some other rockers. He has an ear for a great line (the opening of "Hungry Heart" for instance) and I can forgive him a lot for that. He doesn't resonate with me and like the Replacements I think that's a cultural thing.

I also - and this is totally subjective - never get the impression Bruce ever thinks he's particularly cool. Which is not something I can say of most other 'real rock'n'roller' types, mainstream or otherwise.

File under yet to be discovered. I was listening to an apologetic defence of his work from Sean Rowley on the radio the other day, and it got me wondering again. People of my generation's first real exposure to him was the 'Born in the USA' air-punching era and that obviously wasn't likely to engender much interest. Yes, I know it was all ironic.

What I have heard of his 70's stuff sounds like I might grow to love it. That midwest blue-collar world his songs inhabit seems harder to relate to than any other, but even in 1988, I had the feeling Paddy McAloon was missing the point with the song 'Cars & Girls'.

At the moment, I'm afraid the song of his I like best is a 90s one - 'If I Should Fall Behind', which I only know from the Grant McLellan cover version.

Badly Drawn Boy is a Springsteen obsessive, which I thought was quite cute.

N.

And yes, Tom, he's got a very good ear for a line.

I heard the version of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" when I was young and that is pretty spiff, I freely agree. Circa 1984, liking El Bruce was unsurprising for me as that was a pretty damn good radio year -- Chuck Eddy specifically called it as such in _Stairway to Hell_, and he was goddamn right. Thus liking all that stuff he made was a matter of course alongside all those singles from _Purple Rain_ and _Like A Virgin_ and etc.

Time went on and I proceeded to not care. I never cared enough to buy an album anyway, and the 'classic early singles' only made sense in my classic rock phase, which lasted about nine months in senior year.

Then I ended up in LA and encountered the first of Robert Hilburn's 345,234,843 printed sermons on How Bruce Springsteen Heals the Sick, Raises the Dead and Means More to Human Existence Than the Combined Efforts of Louis Pasteur, Billie Holiday and Charles Schulz. I encountered other blowhards. The music touched me with the impact of a dying flea. A roommate was obsessed with him to the point of near mania. I cried.

The end.

Frankly, the Walkabouts any day of the goddamn week, month, year, decade, century, etc. If the relative fame levels were reversed, I would cling to this assumption with even more deep, abiding passion because then I would have The People on my side. Even alone, though, it's comfy. And Frankie Goes to Hollywood's version of "Born to Run" is my fave.

i actually liked born_in_the_u.s.a when it came out at age 7, but later, i found it to be an obstacle in getting to love bruce, and i'm sure there are a ton of artists out there whose work at that time has kept people away from them.

as sterling said, it's funny what driving a car can do, especially when it's another dark and lonely night out on an empty anonymous new jersey highway and "born to run" comes on the highway. but i've been there, so i'll move on.

you can get by on the first five or so albums on the music and production alone -- unless of course you hate phil spector and are, therefore, destined to spend eternity in hell -- and the later stuff will stick if you find something in the lyrics that rings far too true. sure, he mines the same territory in a lot of his songs, but so do belle & sebastian and so did the smiths; except the kids in bruce's songs could kick the ass of their counterparts in the aforementioned.

ned, i think you have the same problem as tom: it's a cultural thing. ;)

It's not a cultural thing; I mean for god's sake Motorcycle Emptiness might as well be Bruce Springsteen on a literacy trip in terms of subject, and I know Tom likes the song, and I believe Ned does too. Whether that particular statement was tongue in cheek or not, it's a tired excuse and reasoning, one usually used by the saddest of Bruce Springsteen fans, the ones who "identify" with his sentiments, seemingly losing track of the fact that BRUCE'S CHARACTERS NEVER ACTUALLY MAKE IT OUT. Some positive role models to rock out to.

The thing is, I think it's the voice and the earnestness, which was already said. The stylistic values of it....the basic cultural and escape sentiments, lyrically, of Motorcycle Emptiness and Born to Run might be very similar in tone, but the style and vocalisings are entirely, 100% different. Bruce has a very sarcastic bent, a very dark bent, lyrically, but his style of music softens the blow and sometimes people just don't like it.

And those people are wrong, incidentally :P

Nebraska is half good but doesn't deserve the plaudits it gets as the Springsteen album it's cool to like.

The rest is pretty much DUD.

Nevermind that Born in the USA was my first record not meant to be played on the Fisher Price record player (with the STEEL NEEDLE)

Nevermind Tracks Nevermind the fact that Born to Run is one of the best driving albums ever when your top is down and it's summer and the road between Ventura and home stretches out and empty at night with no cops...

Nevermind he has out Dylan-ed Dylan

Nevermind that he can outrage The Man as he pushes the dark side of life. (41 Shots)

Nevermind the line "The record company Rosie, JUST GAVE ME A BIG ADVANCE!"

Nevermind the Live box set, reminding us just how powerful he was

Nevermind Time and Newsweek

Nevermind Thunder-Fucking-Road

Nevermind The cover of Jersey Girl

Nevermind Tracks

Nevermind the MTV Unplugged set where he scrapped the entire notion of an acoustic show and just plugged in and tore down the house

Nevermind everyone on this list who called him a dud.

well, Bruce isn't *that* bad! ;)

La Bruce just collectively calls to my mind a stunted bastard vision of music that presumes he was the sole carrier of the 'spirit of rock and roll truth' that the Beatles and Stones 'started' in the sixties. A CLAIM I HAVE ENCOUNTERED MORE THAN ONCE, though thankfully not here, and happily never from the man's own lips either, at least to my knowledge. Without that rhetoric I would just shrug and ignore him for somebody more interesting, but with it, frankly, he becomes a very very useful target to kick against. Perhaps only a straw man, but one I wouldn't mind seeing go up in flames.

The boy has fallen off of late, but... I'm reminded of the Bangs article where he describes how he dismissed this Maoist band as sounding like Bruce, and the band replied "oh, good, the working class like that stuff" or something of the sort, and I'm reading this thinking -- no. no. no. The correct answer is "oh, good. Bruce fucking rocks!"

What I appreciate about Bruce is how he can capture the majesty of a major chord. How so many of his songs have the same progression, but you don't realize it 'till you try to play 'em yourself. How he can take gospel music and write it to a girl instead. And yes, more of them damn anthems.

I mean.. I know that anthems aren't an alien concept to the UK -- after all, The Who were full of them. But maybe British anthems are a different type a "get off of my cloud" or "sod off" type, more cynical and pissy than dreamy and wide-eyed. Maybe this is, after all, because America is The Big Country, The Great Bitch, et cet. Maybe to get America you have to get just how there's always somewhere you might go, maybe.

Along these lines, "Not Fade Away" which is a novel by Jim Dodge is a great rock road story, sort of like the lighter side of Richard Hell's "Go Now" or the more earnest(?) side of Bruce McCullough's "Doors Fan" sketch (on his album, Shame-Based Man). Yes. Get that spirit of the open highway.

I will say, though, that I do lack a car and have never had one. That might serve as a better explanation. ;-)

I wish I wasn't misinterpreting.

Inspirational in some ways. I have often felt that England needed a Springsteen, albeit not just a a copycat 'rocker'; I mean, someone who would write about all the lost and found small-town lives. But to be fair, I suppose there is already a UK tradition here: the probably Jarvis Cocker is a case in point.

1. they don't understand that he's actually not as "pro-america" as they might think he is

2. they don't have as close a connection to "old school" code (which includes "old school" rock)

3. they are mostly college kids on their way up to some office job or whatever that is removed (if not far removed) from the "underworld" (the "blue collar" or "real" world) to get the lyrical sentiments

4. well, and...sometimes people just don't like something 'cause they just don't like it

I, however, do not apply to any of those 4. For I actually do "get" some of the appeal of Bruce (albeit, it took my until my mid or late twenties to get there). Sure, his overly sentimental (downright broadway or maudlin) look at the working class can be a bit (or a bunch) too much. And sure, his music can be too simple and/or too derivitive. But, that's a part of the whole. Familiarity in both music and lyrics, is a large part of the appeal of his stuff (and those like him, ala Mellencamp, etc). He just had the concept to put nearly a whole career on the working class/blue collar life like no other has (not in such a wide reaching broad sense, at least - other than Mellencamp, but Bruce did it a bit better and first).

Classics:

Having said all that, 'Nebraska' and 'Ghost of Tom Joad' are the only two full albums that I would declare anywhere near a "classic" state of existence (with 'Nebraska' being the one clear-cut vote). Many of the rest of his 70's and 80's albums have some good solid worthy singles on them, but. I can't go so far as to get 'The River' (for example) anywhere near a "classic" nod. That one, in particular, I find to be overrated (though still having the wonderful track "Stolen Car" and the title track deserving of 'Nebraska'-like attention).

Anyways, I forgot to mention to huge (to the point of shadowing) element as to one of the why's (or why not's) of enjoy/appreciating Bruce. Which is: DRIVING. Cars and driving is such a central and/or reoccuring figure/subject in his work that...I can't believe I forgot to touch upon that (only after reading some of the others posts, darn it). But yea, I do LOVE to drive. Which also helps to explain the appeal of Springsteen (to me, at least).

*By the way, I do own that McCulloch album 'Shame Based Man' and...love it (some really funny stuff and one of the very rare comedy albums worthy of many plays - if not it's own discussion here on "I Love Music"...anyone?). Every single one of my girlfriends (one present, others past) hated it. "And if (after torching the stolen car) you can still hear the Doors playing...then you have become...a DOORS...FAN!" I'm not a Doors fan, however.

I hadn't listened to this record in a couple of years, but god, it still sounded great. Actually, I kept getting shivers down my spine when it was playing and it had me close to tears a few times (mostly on "Thunder Road" and "Backstreets.") Listening to this today finally settled an ILM debate for me: Music can never affect me quite as much now as it did when I was a teenager. No record I've heard in the last few years, including Loveless, has had as much affect on me as Born to Run did this morning, and I know it's not just because Born to Run is such a great album. This is a record that got to me when I was young and emotionally vulnerable in a way that I'm not anymore, at the age of 32. I still feel music very deeply and appreciate and enjoy a wider range of music than ever, but music doesn’t completely overpower me the way it did when I was 15. Oh well.

Springsteen is still a big classic, by the way, despite all the incredibly corny lines on Born to Run.

"candy's room" is the grebtest song ever written about being in love w. a prostitute when you sound a bit like david bowie

Is this a new genre? Cos that'd be fucking incredible.

I still love Bruce Springsteen. Put on Rosalita and you will see me go insane.

I think maybe he was playing it last year, too?

Here is what Bruce wrote:

“Every once in a while, every once in a great while an artist comes along whose voice seems to speak to history itself. Woody Guthrie, Jimmy Rogers, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Miles Davis, Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, John Coltrane, Patti Smith, James Brown, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, John Lydon, Hank Williams, Sinatra. Geniuses all, they were both timeless and the embodiment of their moment in time. Many, unsurprisingly, led difficult lives not easily bound by the shackles of convention. They were natural rebels unable to stifle or heed the impulses that led them to their glory and personal hardships. Great art is by nature lawless. We do not get to choose our obsessions. We do not get to dictate our blessings or our transgressions. It’s a little joke the gods play on us. Shane’s voice was so deeply real, profane and honest, his writing so flashing, alive and historically rich its genesis appeared as a mystery to all including, I believe, its creator. The dangerous joy, the glee and courage, the humor in the face of fate, the wild ramble of a life driven towards the artistic heavens and the daily balm of self obliteration. Shane was all naked bottomless humanity. Threatening to force us to ask ourselves if we were living deeply, authentically. He was raw, hilarious, no apologies and profound. His soul was filled with the transgressive and ecstatic properties of the saints. I don’t know who’ll be listening to my music in 100 years but I know they’ll be listening to Shane’s. Though I did not know Shane very well, I spent a lovely afternoon in his presence shortly before he passed. He was not well but he and his wife Victoria proved warm and gracious hosts. As I left, I thanked him for his beautiful work, his music, his songs, his life. I stood in his warmth, kissed him and told him I loved him.”

- Bruce Springsteen

pleasantly surprised to see him throw John Lydon into the mix (and Patti tbh)

this is about the most basic bruce post ever but

'dancing in the dark' sure is awesome and makes me weep.

otfm <3

Good choice on Bruce's part to support "Democracy Now!":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXjFtvGe7TE

It's a song I used to take for granted, because it was ubiquitous as a kid, and the snob in me long bristled at the idea that Bruce's commercial, mainstream hit could also be one of his best, but it's as trojan horse subversive as a lot of the other stuff on that album. Sounds simple, sometimes even sounds sunny, but there's a lot going on in the song. "I ain't nothing but tired. Man, I'm just tired and bored with myself." What a sentiment to stick into the single you wrote, belatedly, under duress. In a lot of ways it's another ecstatic Bruce anthem, another one of his escape songs, except this time he wants to escape from *himself*.

I love the gentle sax that ends the song (there's not a lot of sax on the "Born in the USA" album), a different kind of solo from Clarence. Reminds me a bit of Sonny Rollins on the Stones' "Waiting On A Friend."

wife has lyric from this song tattooed on her arm

Re: Streets of MN, I think Bruce is slated to appear at the MN No Kings rally this weekend, too.

Reminds me a bit of Sonny Rollins on the Stones' "Waiting On A Friend."

yes!

not a lot of sax on the "Born in the USA" album

i love that one of the places clarence's sax enters a song on born in the usa is under the word "jean" the last time bruce sings "goodbye bobby jean," as if to affirm that his best friend in the band is still there for him at the exact moment bruce is saying goodbye to his other best friend in the band.

and then i get all kinds of weepy when i remember it would be a very long time before you'd heard clarence's sax on a bruce album again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-X5Ot5ijqI

^Kathleen Hanna cover of DITD

i think there's a clear progression in "dancing in the dark". time advances. each scenario is exorcised. working a night shift factory job. wanting to be a star. nursing a broken heart. worrying about your little world falling apart. idk i'll have to think it through a little more.

i think "dancing in the dark" - the tagline in the chorus - is basically about as perfectly succinct a description of the human condition as you'll find anywhere.

the elation in the song for me comes from "this gun's for hire." summoning every romantic western movie protagonist.

i'm honestly shocked to read this was such a huge hit, i didn't realize that until now, only "born in the u.s.a." was in my awareness as a youngster because i was raised in a very conservative place and bruce was not considered cool when i was a teenager getting into music. i'm mainly surprised because you can absolutely hear the depression in the song.

you can't start a fire
worrying about your little world falling apart

haha i left the couplet in that post without realizing it, had to type it out for some reason.

the way he sings 'sitting round crying over a broken heart' is so beautiful, so full of tenderness, he makes it sound like he's resting on rose petals.

I also love the sax solo on Dancing in the Dark. I always like it when he uses Clarence's sax not for a big showstopping moment but for more subtle emotional shading, and on Born in the USA you kind of expect that shading to come from a synth, so there's this unexpected warmth and humanity to the sax whenever it comes in that I find really moving.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DWT-yX5gPqv/

Also, this tour appears to be staying true to its message/mission, if these songs reportedly rehearsed (and not rehearsed) are any indication (I'll hide them in case anyone wants to be surprised):

Thursday rehearsal setlist

My City of Ruins
Human Touch
Because the Night
Wrecking Ball
The Rising
Badlands
Land of Hope and Dreams
Born to Run
Bobby Jean
Dancing in the Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Chimes of Freedom
Streets of Minneapolis

Friday rehearsal setlist

War
Born in the USA
Death to my Hometown
No Surrender
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Streets of Minneapolis
The Promised Land
Youngstown
Murder Incorporated
American Skin (41 Shots)
Land of Hope and Dreams
Long Walk Home
Across the Border

Saturday rehearsal setlist

Roulette
My City of Ruins
War
Born in the USA
Death to my Hometown
War
No Surrender
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Streets of Minneapolis
The Promised Land
Out in the Street
Youngstown
Murder Incorporated
American Skin (41 Shots)
Land of Hope and Dreams
Long Walk Home
Rocky Ground
Chimes of Freedom

It wasn't rehearsed but I assume we will also get Tom Joad, since Morello will be on hand. I bet Chicago gets Eddie Vedder back for "My Hometown," I've seen him do that once or twice.

Lol not hidden I guess!

Springsteen is letting the ACLU use Born in the USA for their ad to protect birthright citizenship

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNe4E-uynfg

ACLU ad

america finally gets the sassy, well-paid, audience-approved, artist we've all been wishing for.

it's 2026 - defending springsteen is the equivalent of "was dianne feinstein a good member of congress?"

Diane wasn’t a beauty but she was alright.

Springsteen is letting the ACLU use Born in the USA for their ad to protect birthright citizenship

i have no doubt springsteen supports this usage, but he isn't actually in a position to let anyone use or not use his classic songs anymore, is he? he sold both his masters and his publishing to sony several years ago.

Supposedly he still retains creative control over his songs. Beyond that, I think it's not just that they are using it but that he gave his explicit blessing, which gives it more weight.

wife has lyric from this song tattooed on her arm

― brimstead, Tuesday, March 24, 2026 11:02 PM (five days ago) bookmarkflaglink

what’s the lyric?

Supposedly he still retains creative control over his songs.

just saw rolling stone's story on the ad, which suggests sony had the final say but the aclu basically had to go through jon landau to get to sony. the aclu's exec director says: "If Sony were to get a little queasy about using an iconic song like 'Born in the U.S.A.' as the centerpiece of an ad campaign about a politically charged issue, I figured Jon and Bruce would come to our aid. And once Laudau showed enthusiasm, Brian Monaco [Sony/ATV Music Publishing executive] became our champion and jumped on the phone with me immediately."

that sounds like sony has control but is trying to be be respectful of bruce's wishes, which i think is about as much as an artist can hope for in that situation. i'm not sure a company is going to spend half a billion dollars for a catalog whose usage it doesn't have final say over.

(also i'm glad the ad exists, and i don't disagree that springsteen's blessing gives it a little more weight, but i wonder how much weight exactly. it's not exactly a secret which side of most major political issues springsteen stands on. and if you're a springsteen fan but you hate immigrants, i very much doubt that song in that ad is going to move you even a tiny bit.)

That's true, but I can imagine a situation where Sony or whoever uses one of his songs the "wrong" way or in the wrong ad or movie or whatever, and Bruce comes out and decries it, or distances himself. The average person doesn't know who literally owns what, just that these songs still (figuratively) belong to him.

Related, it's remarkable how often I come across people that disagree with Bruce politically. Hell, I saw him play in New York once, and when he played the then new "41 Shots" some people booed or made a dramatic point of sitting down.

yup. sigh. "41 shots" may well have been ground zero for the political split in bruce's audience, which has only hardened in the years since. if you had told me 30 years that springsteen would one day be a controversial figure among his own fans in the state of new jersey, i would've laughed at you. but here we are :(

everyone still loves "glory days" though!

Chris Christie, who could never get an audience with Bruce despite being a superfan and governor of New Jersey, must be envying Walz’s photo ops with him today.

(also i'm glad the ad exists, and i don't disagree that springsteen's blessing gives it a little more weight, but i wonder how much weight exactly. it's not exactly a secret which side of most major political issues springsteen stands on. and if you're a springsteen fan but you hate immigrants, i very much doubt that song in that ad is going to move you even a tiny bit.)

I don't think it makes converts, and I don't have any illusions that changes will be seismic, but it makes sense when you picture what it's like if the most outspoken and visible people simply stayed silent - it normalizes all the shit even further and makes it that much harder to push back. It's more about providing enough context where someone who isn't warped can understand that everything happening now is wrong - otherwise it's that much easier to shrug it off as okay and something that should be proceeding as if it's business as usual.

Chris Christie, who could never get an audience with Bruce despite being a superfan and governor of New Jersey, must be envying Walz’s photo ops with him today.

Obama made Bruce take a call from Christie to thank him for his response to Hurricane Sandy. A well-meaning but misguided gesture given the corrupt shit Christie would pull soon after. If life were a TV sitcom, Christie would've been inspired to take a different path while in office, but life ain't no sitcom.

That's a relevant use of the song, tho I prefer 2 Live Crew's (also Bruce-sanctioned).

Tomorrow, tune in for the first two songs from the opening night of the Springsteen & E Street Land of Hopes & Dreams American Tour, live from Minneapolis, MN. The livestream will be free on YouTube, as well as for subscribers in the nugs app. Watch live at youtube.com/@brucespringsteen

I don't think it makes converts, and I don't have any illusions that changes will be seismic, but it makes sense when you picture what it's like if the most outspoken and visible people simply stayed silent...

thank you birdistheword for that response. that's v v true and v v worth remembering.

Yeah I feel like Bruce is stepping up and doing what I would hope he would do, within the realms that he can have any influence.

wife has lyric from this song tattooed on her arm
― brimstead, Tuesday, March 24, 2026 11:02 PM (five days ago) bookmarkflaglink

what’s the lyric?

― My homies buttthole surfers' record sounds like a f (Western® with Bacon Flavor), Sunday, March 29, 2026 8:08 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

"You can't start a fire worrying about your little world falling apart"

Better than an "I ain't nothing but tired" tattoo

Mine says “There’s a joke here somewhere—and it’s on me!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EN2kOjTx_Q

I'm trying to think of the last time he played born in the USA in America.

The electric version, at least.

and i'm trying to think of the last time i've seen him play an entire song without touching an instrument

20-piece band!

Has BITUSA (the electric arrangement) ever been done with an organ (or something that sounds like a church organ) rather than the usual synth? I feel like it's almost straining to sound like a church organ sometimes, esp. in the Minneapolis stream - maybe they should just try it like that and inject some gospel fervor into the song. I could see a young Garth Hudson going to town with that in the closing solo.

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/bruce-springsteen/2026/target-center-minneapolis-mn-2b4b60fa.html

"Because The Night (Patti Smith Group cover)"

yeah but

I think they do that because he technically performs her version, with her finished/rewritten lyrics; I don't think the Bruce version ever made it past the demo stage, at least not at the time. Good summation here: https://americansongwriter.com/because-the-night-bruce-springsteen-patti-smith-behind-the-song/

Thanks!

i think in general they tend to give primacy to whoever released a song first, which is why "war" is a "the temptations cover" as opposed to an "edwin starr cover."