By the time your reading this I’ll either be on my way to or rocking out to Bruce Springsteen in concert.
I’m from Jersey, our love of the Boss is engrained in us. Springsteen’s music is a history lesson. A peak back into the not too distant past.
Springsteen is a little older than my parents are, and listening to him sing about his experience growing up is a like looking back at the time when my parent’s grew up.
His songs told amazing stories, like Lost in the Flood, a story of a Vietnam veteran returning home.
Or like the work of men like his father, blue collar workers who worked their hands to the bone.
Listening to this song agin it’s painfully still relevant in today’s society.
When Wrecking Ball came out in 2012 it blew me away on the first listen. It’s a scathing critique of the status of our country and the way the elite have rewritten the rules to benefit them while the middle class withers into poverty. It was an incredibly angry album, and perfectly captured the despair that the working and middle class have been dealing with over the past decade.
Springsteen is so great at capturing the spirit of the country which The Onion lampooned perfectly.
Obama To Wait For Next Bruce Springsteen Album For Word On Economy http://t.co/lmdtx72a #Grammys
— The Onion (@TheOnion) February 13, 2012
Picking songs to include in this song have been very difficult. I wanted to include so many, including many of my favorites, but I restrained and kept the list short.
Two years ago on my Tumblr I listed out my top 10 Springsteen albums. I think the albums remain in the same order, except Wrecking Ball probably jumps to number with behind Nebraska, pushing The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle and Magic to nine and ten, respectively.
I couldn’t do this post without Thunder Road. It’s my favorite Springsteen song. It’s probably most people’s favorite Springsteen song. But just listen to it. How can you not love it?
Springsteen’s songs and stories aren’t solely his, nor are they solely New Jersey experiences. They are American stories. We’re lucky to have a story teller like him.
Photo courtesy of BruceSpringsteen.net