In honor of the new Bruce Springsteen album “Wrecking Ball” being released this week, I’m re-posting my Bruce Springsteen list.
There aren’t many bands in the world where you can make a legitimate argument for making a Top 50 and still be throwing at least 50 more great songs OFF THE LIST…but then again, Bruce Springsteen is no “ordinary” artist.
Maybe for the Rolling Stones, U2 and a few others you could make this kind of list, but Bruce Springsteen is certainly about as prolific a songwriter as there’s ever been in our lifetime. And then factor in the wide variety of versions of all of his songs, and well, like I said it’s HARD to think of 50 GREAT songs by any artist.
So, with sincere respect to Drew Forrester and all the Springsteen fans everywhere who might read this, here’s one Bruce fan’s look at my personal favorites over the years. Honestly, the whole Top 20 here at some point was “my favorite Bruce song” of any particular era or year.
But this is how it stands on the eve of Bruce Springsteen and The E Street going on tour without Clarence Clemons for the first time…and some liner notes.
Oh, and yeah, at WNST and in Baltimore, “We Take Care of Our Own.”
51. Glory Days — Obvious baseball reference here
50. The Promised Land — Mister I ain’t a boy, no I’m a man
49. Ain’t Got You — I’m a massive fan of the TOL album, which kicks off with this one
48. No Surrender — We learned more from a three minute record than we ever learned in school
47. My Hometown — Great haunting melody
46. Spare Parts — Particularly poignant, having been a teenage parent myself
45. Girls In Their Summer Clothes — The Boss’ ode to beautiful women in the September of his years
44. Waiting On a Sunny Day — A hopelessly happy song and Bruce hams it up in concert
43. Out In The Street — I walk the way I wanna walk
42. Working On a Dream — This one is still a little “young” for me, but I do love this song and what it stands for
41. Because The Night — Patti Smith rocks!
40. Pink Cadillac — Waving to the girls, feeling outta sight
39. Ramrod — Great guitar riff that Lofgren calls a dinosaur
38. Badlands — Poor man wanna be rich, rich man wanna be king, And a king ain’t satisfied till he rules everything (see Angelos, Peter G.)
37. Cadillac Ranch — Another rocker…
36. Prove It All Night — What it’s like to live and die
35. Point Blank — Haunting ballad, great groove
34. Be True — He played this the first night I ever saw him at the Spectrum in Philly, a B-side I love
33. If I Should Fall Behind — Beautifully performed live song in the encore about love & friendship
32. The Rising — Bruce’s fall epic yields an infectious title track
31. Fire — Pointers Sisters did a nice job…You say you don’t like it, but girl I know you’re a liar
30. Downbound Train — Now I work down at the carwash where all it ever does is rain
29. Rosalita — I know your daddy, he don’t dig me ’cause I play in a rock ‘n roll band
28. Dancing In The Dark — My lifetime crush on Courtney Cox continues, she still “starts a fire”
27. One Step Up — Last night I dreamed I held you in my arms, the music was never-ending
26. Hungry Heart — Got a wife and kids in Baltimore, Jack
25. Darlington County — A great Southern epic, We got two hundred dollars we want to rock all night!
24. Spirit In The Night — Bruce rolls on the stage for this one, Me and Crazy Janey was makin’ love in the dirt singin’ our birthday songs
23. Tenth Avenue Freezeout — Bruce standing on the piano and the big man joins the band
22. Lonesome Day — Great live song from The Rising, a little revenge and this too shall pass
21. Tunnel of Love — Then the lights go out and it’s just the three of us, you me and all that stuff we’re so scared of
20. The River — And for my nineteenth birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat
19. Mary’s Place — Your loving grace surrounds me everybody’s here (really nice thought!)
18. Meeting Across The River — Hey Eddie, can you catch us a ride?
17. My Love Will Not Let You Down — Rollicking fun song written in 1980’s and dusted off
16. Night — Unappreciated rocker, And you’re just a prisoner of your dreams
15. You’re Missing — Always makes me swallow hard and think…
14. Tougher Than The Rest — Maybe your other boyfriends couldn’t pass the test
13. Born To Run — The epic, tramps like us…
12. Two Hearts — Always great when Bruce and Steven pull this one out
11. All That Heaven Will Allow — I always wanted to meet this girl
10 Brilliant Disguise — God have mercy on the man who doubts what he’s sure of…
9. Land of Hope & Dreams — Tomorrow there’ll be sunshine and all this darkness past
8. My City of Ruins — Love the gospel feel of this one
7. Valentine’s Day — That ain’t what scares me baby, what scares me is losing you
6. Jungleland — The ballad of the barefoot girl…
5. Janey Don’t You Lose Heart — You got your book baby with all your fears…
4. 4th of July Asbury Park — You know you ought to quit this scene too
3. Thunder Road — It’s a town full of losers and I’m pulling out of here to win
2. Bobby Jean — We told each other that we were the wildest, the wildest things we’d ever seen
1. She’s The One — With her long hair falling and her eyes that shine like a midnight sun
All feedback appreciated…
