Wrecking Ball, the whopping 17th collaboration between Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, is scheduled for release on March 6, 2012. Not surprisingly, the sluggish economy will be at the forefront of this highly anticipated concept album. The Boss and his crew take shots at Wall Street and the 1%, but the overall message is an affirmation summed up by the title of the album’s first single, “We Take Care of our Own.”
Any die-hard Springsteen fan will tell you that this
Jersey boy has a knack for making us feel better about current predicaments.
For the last 40 years, he’s reassured his fellow Americans of the better times
to come—even as the world crashes down around us. Here are The Boss's finest
moments of reflection and hope in the face of adversity.
Incident on 57th Street, The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle (1973) | Spanish Johnny is having a bad day, even though he is “dressed like dynamite.” He drives an old Buick, can’t find a woman and gets threatened by pimps over money he may or may not have stolen. Then, he meets Puerto Rican Jane, falls madly in love and promises to take her to the other side of town, “where paradise ain’t so crowded.” The following morning, Johnny leaves Jane in bed after a friend offers to make him some “easy money,” though he promises to meet her that evening. Whether he returns or not remains to be seen, but the “soul flame” shared between them hints that his days are about to become a whole lot better--as limited as they may be.
10th Avenue Freezeout, Born to Run (1975) | Springsteen himself once said of this track from Born to Run: "I still have no idea what [the title] means, but it’s important." He was probably referring to the Hell’s Kitchen truck route known for gang fights and depressed income when the album was released in 1973. An upbeat piano tempo drives hard-bitten lyrics such as, “I'm stranded in the jungle/Taking all the heat they was giving/The night is dark but the sidewalk's bright/And lined with the light of the living.” The song became a hit single, and the album is considered by many to be his finest.
The Promised Land, Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978) | In 1975, Springsteen fought a legal battle with his former manager, Mike Appel, and stayed out of the studios. The experience left him feeling anxiously yearning for a time when things were better, and this emotional milestone reportedly led him to write “The Promised Land,” one of his most enduring singles from Darkness on the Edge of Town. The song’s narrator, a young man who works in his father’s garage and spends his nights aimlessly driving, was a manifestation of the troubled singer—especially during the chorus, when he proclaims, “I believe in a promised land!”
Cadillac Ranch, The River (1978) | In The Gospel According to Bruce Springsteen, J.B. Symynkywicz characterizes the themes of “Cadillac Ranch” as transitory existence and the inevitability of death. That may be, but good luck not nodding your head to the infectious tune, punctuated by phenomenal sax work by the late, great Clarence Clemons. This cavalier attitude toward the afterlife probably had to do with Springsteen’s personal life—he was in the middle of what would be a failed marriage, and many tracks on The River mention as much. With songs like this, one wonders if Springsteen writes them as a means of self-consolation before he delivers them to the airwaves.
Cautious Man, Tunnel of Love (1987) | Bill Horton, the title subject of this elegiac ballad, doesn’t take a lot of chances. “He walked looking over his shoulder, and remained faithful to his code.” In the early days of May, he meets a beautiful young woman, and eventually marries her and builds her a house, “down by the riverside.” The idyllic arrangement stirs Billy’s restless spirit one night, and he almost leaves his pretty wife for the highway that lies ahead. In the end, his conscience gets the better of him and he simply strokes her hair in the moonlight. Tunnel of Love is filled with songs of heartache, but this one stands apart as the story of a man who realizes he doesn’t need to wander in order to be content any longer. Bruce wasn’t lovelorn for very long—he began a relationship with E Street singer Patty Scialfa not long after the album was released.
Further On (Up the Road), The Rising (2002) | A few days after the 9/11 attacks, Springsteen was walking down the street when a fan reportedly approached him and said, “We need you now.” Inspired by this heartwarming statement, The Boss went on to release The Rising, arguably the finest album to address the tragedy in its wake. The record’s tone ranged from hope (“The Rising”) to absolute despair (“Nothing Man”), but he effectively consolidated the spectrum of reactive emotion in the album’s ninth track, “Further On (Up the Road).” Though the miles are marked in “blood and gold” and “the way is dark and the night is cold,” he offers a consolatory reunion at the title location, on “a sunny morning” many years from now.
Long Walk Home, Magic (2007) | At the tail end of the second Bush Administration, Springsteen released Magic (his best album in years) as a means of reflecting on the world at large since the vilified commander-in-chief took office. This song, the album’s first single, looked at small town America through the eyes of a returning vet who is unable to recognize the place that bred him. Though he initially resigns himself to despondence, he gets some encouraging words from his old man. “Son, we’re lucky in this town,” he says. “It’s a beautiful place to be born.” Presumably, said vet feels a lot better afterward—much like everyone who listened to Magic.
Spirit in the Night, Hammersmith Odeon Live '75 (2005) | This fiery composition first appeared on Springsteen's debut LP, Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ (1973), but superiority of the live version is evident from the opening riffs. Bruce breathlessly details a group of urban denizens who flee the city for nighttime revelry at Greasy Lake. Some of them dance, others drink and two of them fall in love. The perfect end to an imperfect day.
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