In case you don’t know me, I am a big fan of Bruce Springsteen. Since his first record was released almost 50 years ago, this is not a shocking statement. There are millions of others who belong to the same club. In fact, I can almost credit The Boss for breaking the ice the first time I met my wife. In the summer of 1979 I met Jeanmarie the first day of a summer job where she was also employed. As fate would have it, I was assigned to the department in which Jeanmarie worked.  Other than the supervisor I was the only man among 4 or 5 women. While that may sound like an ideal situation for a 21-year-old, single college kid, to be honest I was a bit shy and nerdy. Striking up a conversation with anyone was a bit difficult for me, never mind with females.  However, I overheard Jeanmarie tell a story about her dog “Rosalita”, which gave me an opening. “Is she named after the Springsteen song?” I asked. Of course, the answer was yes, and the rest, as they say, is history.

I have many friends whose love of Bruce Springsteen is dangerously close to obsessed idolatry. My old college roommate, Scott, comes very close to falling into that category (I don’t think he would disagree).  Recently Scott, another old roommate, (Steve), and I were having a group text discussion about music. Steve, who is not a big fan of Bruce’s earlier stuff, was inspired to send us his list of the top 25 Springsteen songs of the past 25 years. The challenge was on.  Scott followed quickly with his list.  I decided to take my time and re-listen to all ten of Springsteen’s albums of original music he released since 1995 (yeah, I know that’s 26 years ago, not 25). It seemed like good fodder for a blog post. So here it is.

The albums, in chronological order by release date, are:

·       The Ghost of Tom Joad – 1995
·       The Rising – 2002
·       Devils and Dust – 2005
·       We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions – 2006
·       Magic – 2007
·       Working on a Dream – 2009
·       Wrecking Ball – 2012
·       High Hopes – 2014
·       Western Stars – 2019
·       Letter to You – 2020

Overall, The Rising, Magic, Wrecking Ball and Letter to You are mostly quintessential Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band material (although Wrecking Ball is not technically an E-Street Band record), with The Rising being the best album of the ten by far in my humble opinion. Devils and Dust and The Ghost of Tom Joad are more singer/songwriter than Rock and Roll and while both are critically acclaimed, most of the songs on these records just don’t do it for me. There are a few really good songs, however, and 2 made it onto my top 25, but as whole I’m not a fan of those records. Like I said, just not my style.

The Seeger Sessions was just a fun, different record which I really enjoyed. And seeing the Seeger Sessions Band play live during the summer of 2006 was a real treat. 2 songs from this album made it onto the top 25.

Western Stars was a unique album. While Bruce always had a country, (and even a bit country & western), lilt to his voice, which really comes out on his more acoustic records, it was very prevalent on this record. It was recorded live and worked into an unusual “home movie” type of production. A bizarre end to the movie was Bruce and the band/orchestra doing a version of Glen Campbell’s “Rhinestone Cowboy”, (which is not on the album). I guess I understand why he did that. The song Hello Sunshine (which did make it on my list) sounds (musically) like a wink to Glen Campbell. However, it sounds more like “Gentle on My Mind” which is a much better song than Rhinestone Cowboy which is just schlock. I understand the Glen Campbell reference, but man, Bruce, “Rhinestone Cowboy???? Really?????

The remaining two of the ten albums, High Hopes and Working on a Dream, are just not good records. Only one song from each album made it to my top 25. And the one song from High Hopes, “American Skin: 41 Shots”, wasn’t even written for that album. It was written fourteen years prior to the release of High Hopes. It seemed that Bruce just stuck it on this album as an afterthought.

The number of songs from each album that made the top 25 are:

The Rising – 6
Letter to You – 4
Wrecking Ball – 3
Western Stars – 3
Magic – 3
Seeger Sessions – 2
Ghost of Tom Joad, Devils & Dust, Working on a Dream and High Hopes all with 1 each.

Here the list in my preferential order (Album in parenthesis):

1)    The Rising (The Rising)
This is one of my favorite Springsteen songs, period! The Rising is as close to Bruce gets to producing a “concept album.” It was released after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and many of the songs pay homage to the suffering and subsequent healing of that terrible day. This song, especially, was written with 9/11 in mind. Just a great, great song!

2)    Land of Hopes and Dreams (Wrecking Ball)
This song has become a concert encore standard. With its gospel feel and the addition of the riff from Curtis Mayfield’s song “People Get Ready” you can’t help but get chills when listening to this classic, especially live.

3)    You’re Missing (The Rising)
This is without a doubt the saddest song that Bruce has ever written. It was written in the aftermath of 9/11. Bruce captures the anguish of having missing loved ones and not knowing if they survived. Since we lost Jeanmarie’s brother on 9/11, and his remains were never recovered, this song hits home in a big way.
     “Children are asking if it's alright
     Will you be in our arms tonight?
     Morning is morning, the evening falls I got
     Too much room in my bed, too many phone calls
     How's everything, everything?
     Everything, everything
     But you're missing, you're missing”

4)    Long Time Comin’ (Devils and Dust)
As I said above, I’m not a big fan of the album Devils and Dust, but this is one song that is really good. Bruce often writes about the relationship between father and son, and this is a good one.
              “If I had one wish for you in this god forsaken world, kid
               It'd be that your mistakes will be your own
               That your sins will be your own”

5)    Lonesome Day (The Rising)
A song of hope. “It's alright, it's alright, it's alright, yeah”

6)    Mary’s Place (The Rising)
When I first heard this song my first thought was that this upbeat and fun song talking about going to party at “Mary’s Place” was a bit out of touch, or at least out of place, on an album that dealt with the tragedy of 9/11. But after listening to it more carefully it became apparent that the lyrics really do work. Again, this is a song about recovery and healing. Bruce nails it with lyrics such as, “Tell me, how do you live broken-hearted?” and then the hopeful ending….
     “And waiting for that shout from the crowd
     Waiting for that shout from the crowd
     Waiting for that shout from the crowd
     Waiting for that shout from the crowd
     Waiting for that shout from the crowd
     Waiting for that shout from the crowd
     Turn it up, turn it up, turn it up, turn it up
     Turn it up, turn it up, turn it up

     Meet me at Mary's place, we're going to have a party
     Meet me at Mary's place, we're going to have a party
     Tell me how do we get this thing started?
     Meet me at Mary's place”

7)    The Ghost of Tom Joad (The Ghost of Tom Joad)
The live version with Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine is so awesome!! Here is a link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-c6GphpAeY
This song is such a throwback and tribute to the protest songs of Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie, and the lyrics are still very relevant to today.
     “Now Tom said, "Mom, wherever there's a cop beating a guy
     Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries
     Where there's a fight against the blood and hatred in the air
     Look for me, Mom, I'll be there
     Wherever somebody's fighting for a place to stand
     Or a decent job or a helping hand
     Wherever somebody's struggling to be free
     Look in their eyes, Ma, and you'll see me"

     Well the highway is alive tonight
     But nobody's kidding nobody about where it goes
     I'm sitting down here in the campfire light
     With the ghost of old Tom Joad”

8)    I’ll See You In My Dreams – (Letter to You)
I loved this song when I first heard it. It’s about dealing with the death of a friend. In addition to the beautiful melody and music, the message is really hopeful. On September 11, 2021 Bruce performed this live (solo acoustic) at the 20th anniversary of the reading of the names of those killed on 9/11/01 and this cemented it for me as just an amazing heart felt tribute to those who have left us. Thanks, Bruce.

     “I'll see you in my dreams
     When all the summers have come to an end
     I'll see you in my dreams
     We'll meet and live and love again
     I'll see you in my dreams
     Yeah, up around the river bend
     For death is not the end
     And I'll see you in my dreams”

9)    Jacob’s Ladder (Seeger Sessions)
This is the best song off of this very unique Springsteen album. As I said above, seeing the Seeger Sessions band perform was just a ton of fun. Bruce has tried a number of different/unique things during his career, and some were not very good. For example, The Devils and Dust solo “living room” like concerts were just bizarre. But this one hit the mark. Just fun!

10) Wrecking Ball (Wrecking Ball)
This song is about the 2010 demolition of Giants Stadium. While it seems like an odd inspiration for a song, it works and works well. On the opening night of his 2009 5 night stand at Giants Stadium (September 30th), Springsteen took the stage and told the crowd: "Join us tonight to shut the old lady down! We've had a lot of great nights here, let's make this another one. This is something I wrote for tonight." He then opened the show with Wrecking Ball. His last show, on October 9th, 2009, was the last concert performed at the old Giant’s Stadium. (The Jets final home game of the 2009/2010 season vs. the Bengals was the last event).  I just thought this song was really clever and I think it’s as quintessential Springsteen as you get.
     “I was raised outta steel
     Here in the swamps of Jersey
     Some misty years ago
     Through the mud and the beer
     The blood and the cheers
     I've seen champions come and go
     So if you've got the guts mister
     Yeah, if you got the balls
     If you think it's your time
     Then step to the line
     And bring on your wrecking ball”

11) American Skin: 41 Shots (High Hopes)
This haunting song tears at the gut. Unfortunately, it was tagged as “anti-police” with the NY PBA calling for a boycott of his shows (that wasn’t going to happen). I don’t feel it’s anti-police at all. It is just song about a tragic mistake. The melody is beautiful and haunting, and the lyrics are powerful. The song was inspired by the police shooting of Amadou Diallo who was wrongly suspected of being a rape suspect and when he went to get his wallet out of his pants the officers thought he was reaching for a gun. They shot the unarmed man 41 times. It was tragic, to state the obvious.  It was one of the early high-profile cases of what seemed to be an epidemic of police shootings of unarmed black men and women.

To fully appreciate this amazing song you need listen to a live performance. Here is a link to his June 12th, 2000 Madison Square Garden performance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQMqWAiWPMs

12) Waiting on a Sunny Day (The Rising)
Another song of hope and resilience after 9/11. Mike Piazza’s homerun on 9/21/01 and Derek Jeter’s “Mr. November” homerun provided us with hometown pride. The album, The Rising, was the musical equivalent. I think it helped give us hope, not just for NY but for America, and possibly the world. From the uplifting and poppy acoustic guitar riff in the beginning of the song to its uplifting lyrics, Waiting on a Sunny Day was the song from The Rising that captured this sense of hope for me.

13) Radio Nowhere (Magic)
Not a lot of “there” there with the lyrics, but this song is just fun to listen to. I love the guitar riff. Interestingly, while I did really like this song when I first heard it, it became more of a favorite when I heard a Maplewood local band, 3rd Gear, play it at our music festival Maplewoodstock in 2008.  The guitar riff really caught my ear and it seemed like so much fun to play.

14) Tucson Train (Western Stars)
Just a song about a guy who’s waiting for his lady to arrive on the Tucson Train after they had a falling out. Of course, the guy is a blue-collar crane operator. Would you expect a Springsteen character to be anything else? Once again, just a fun song with a great melody.
     “We fought hard over nothing
     We fought 'til nothing remained
      I've carried that nothing for a long time
     Now I carry my operator's license
     And spend my days just running this crane
     My baby's coming in on the Tucson train”

15) Shackled and Drawn (Wrecking Ball)
I read that Springsteen was in a very angry mood when he wrote the songs for Wrecking Ball. Most of the songs were written in 2011 and he seemed to be railing against economic injustice for most of the album. While this is not technically an E Street Band record most of the band did contribute to its content. Shackled and Drawn is a hard hitting protest song about what seems to be a prisoner on a chain gang. It’s written in the style of an old African American spiritual with the addition of a driving percussion line that is reminiscent of the old Irish protest songs, all off topped with Soozi Tyrell’s fiddle. This is another example of the live version being better than the studio.

16) Sleepy Joe’s Café (Western Stars)
When I recently mentioned to Scott that this song made it on to my top 25 he looked at me with a wry smile and said it was a controversial choice. When I asked why he said, “A lot of people hate that song.”. I just don’t see why!  Bruce does say that the album, Western Stars, was influenced by "Southern California pop music" of the 1970s, including artists such as Glen Campbell and Burt Bacharach. I’m old AM radio/top 40 geek from the 70’s maybe that’s why this song resonates with me.  It’s just FUN!!!!

17) If I Were a Priest (Letter to You)
Technically this song is not from the past 25 years. It was one of Springsteen’s earliest songs. Story has it that he actually played it for Columbia Records’ A&R man, John Hammond, in that famous first meeting back in 1972. Hammond hated “Mary Queen of Arkansas” (who can blame him) and wanted to hear “what else he had”. While the version on Letter to You is more produced (obviously) it is so Dylanesque in its bones. Even those Bruce fans who don’t dig his recent albums have got to love this tune.   
  
     “Now if Jesus was a sheriff and I were a priest
     If my lady was an heiress and my Mama was a thief
     If Papa rode shotgun on the Fargo line
     There's still too many bad boys trying to work the same line”

Can’t get more Dylan than that!

18) Girls in Their Summer Clothes (Magic)”
Despite the slightly sexist title the song is actually a postcard to old 1960s/70s summer nights in any American downtown. The lyrical imagery is wonderful and fun, as if there isn’t a care in the world.
     “Kid's rubber ball smacks
     Off the gutter 'neath the lamp light
     Big bank clock chimes
     Off go the sleepy front porch lights
     Downtown the store's alive
     As the evening's underway
     Things been a little tight
     But I know they're going to turn my way

     And the girls in their summer clothes
     In the cool of the evening light
     The girls in their summer clothes
     Pass me by”

19) Ghosts (Letter to You)
Most Bruce Springsteen aficionados know that his first band was called the Castiles in the 1960s. George Theiss was a guitarist and singer for the Castiles, and, in fact, co-wrote some of Bruce’s early compositions. Bruce met him when George was dating his sister, Ginny, and it was George who invited the very young Springsteen to join the Castiles. George died in 2019 after a long battle with lung cancer. His death hit Bruce hard and many of the original songs on Letter to You are about with coping with the death of loved ones, (see “I’ll See You in My Dreams”, above). In fact, Ghosts, and number 25 on this list “Last Man Standing”, deal explicitly with Bruce coping with George’s death. I read that Bruce was having a little writer’s block during 2018 and 2019 and it was George’s death that was the catalyst for Letter to You.  Ghosts is a direct tribute to George, and a great, great tune!
     “I hear the sound of your guitar
     Comin' from the mystic far
     Stone and the gravel in your voice
     Come in my dreams and I rejoice

     It's your ghost moving through the night
     Your spirit filled with light
     I need, need you by my side
     Your love and I'm alive”

20) My City of Ruins (The Rising)
When “The Rising” was first released many people thought this song was about NYC after 9/11, however it was written in 2000 and was first played at a benefit show to raise money for the revitalization of Asbury Park, NJ. The lyrics are about Asbury and not NYC and depict the state of Asbury prior to its resurgence that continues to this day.
     “Now the sweet bells of mercy
     Drift through the evening trees
     Young men on the corner
     Like scattered leaves
     The boarded up windows
     The empty streets
     While my brother's down on his knees
     My city of ruins”
However, as the song continues there is so much that you can assign to the plight of NYC, with Bruce almost begging for the city’s redemption (whichever city).
     “Now with these hands
     I pray Lord
     With these hands
     I pray for the strength, Lord
     With these hands
     I pray for the faith, Lord
     With these hands
     We pray for your love, Lord
     With these hands
     We pray for the lost, Lord
     With these hands
     We pray for this world, Lord
     With these hands
     We pray for the strength, Lord
     With these hands
     We pray for the strength, Lord
     With these hands
     Come on, come on
     Come on, rise up! Come on, rise up!”

21) You’ll Be Comin’ Down (Magic)
A fun easy rock song about an old flame who got the taste for the high life, but Bruce lets her know that she’ll be “comin’ down” to earth, (or is it wishful thinking?).
     “You're smiling now, but you'll find out
     They'll use you up and spit you out now
     Your head's spinning in diamonds and clouds
     But pretty soon it turns out

     You'll be coming down now, baby
     You'll be coming down
     What goes around, it comes around and
     You'll be coming down

22) American Land (Seeger Sessions and bonus track on Wrecking Ball)
A tribute to immigrants this song comes straight from the style of old Ireland. It’s become a favorite at his shows with the very familiar Irish dance rhythms and invokes the old protest/tribute songs of Seeger and Guthrie. Lots of fun!

23) Hello Sunshine (Western Stars)
As I mentioned earlier, this song is inspired by, and is a tribute to, Glenn Campbell.  If you listen carefully (or maybe not even that carefully) you can hear “Gentle on my Mind”. Many Springsteen stalwarts may hate this song, but again, I’m a 70’s top 40 geek and I love it!!

24) The Wrestler (Working on a Dream)
Ok…I wrestled with this one….(hee hee hee). Seriously, this is one of those songs that I really like, and then when I hear it again, not so much. I guess I have to be in the right mood. It was the title song to the very intense movie of the same name staring Mickey Rourke. The song is a bit of a dirge and in some ways similar to another movie title song, Streets of Philadelphia.

25) Last Man Standing (Letter to You)
As I mentioned above, this song is a tribute to Bruce’s longtime friend George Theiss who was the first person to let Bruce play in a band, The Castiles. The tune is very much Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.  I can’t wait to hear it live post pandemic!   
     “Snakeskin vest and a sharkskin suit
     Cuban heels on your boots
     You kick in the band and side-by-side
     You take the crowd on their mystery ride

     Knights of Columbus and the Fireman's Ball
     Friday night at the Union Hall
     Black-leather clubs all along Route 9
     You count the names of the missing as you count off time”

So…that’s it. My 25 in 25.  Thank you, Steve, for the inspiration to do this and thanks to Scott for being my Rock & Roll Hero for over 40 years!  And…….Thanks to The Boss!

You count the names of the missing as you count off time!