“I sing them”: The goal of Bruce Springsteen’s songwriting
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(Credits: Alamy)
Revered as one of music’s most profound songwriters, Bruce Springsteen has built a career upon rich storytelling that provides heartfelt observations of modern life. Sat at the table with the greats and being the creative north star for so many contemporary artists, his discography and, perhaps more so, his lyricism have left a huge footprint of influence on music.
Pounding the streets of blue-collar New Jersey, The Boss understood life through a working-class lens – observing the nuanced damage within an America backdropped by socio-political unrest and hyper-masculinity. Tracks like ‘Youngstown’ and ‘41 Shots’ cut to the heart of America’s social unease while his all-time classic ‘Born To Run’, of course, takes a cutting swipe at the foundations of American masculinity. Doing this while being the all-American poster boy and writer of rousing choruses is what has endeared Springsteen to the hearts of music fans all over and made him one of our most fascinating artists.
In 1974, Springsteen was just a year away from releasing his seminal record, Born To Run. The album would showcase some of his finest lyrics, opening with ‘Thunder Road’ before going into ‘Backstreets’ and the record’s title track. Already beginning to dizzy from the heights of rock n roll idolism, Springsteen was about to change the course of his career and book his place in the musical canon. But that never altered his artistic journey, and he remained steadfast in his commitment to authentically depicting the realities of American life.
In an interview that year with Jerry Gilbert from Sounds, The Boss said: “I see these situations happening when I sing them”.
He continued: “And I know the characters well. I use them in different songs and see them in shadows – they’re probably based on people I know or else they’re just there. There’s a lot of activity in my songs, a whole mess of people. It’s like if you’re walking down the street, that’s what you see, but a lot of the songs were written without any music at all – it’s just that I do like to sing the words!”
When Born To Run followed that interview shortly after, and the record opened with ‘Thunder Road’ and the lyrics “The screen door slams / Mary’s dress sways / Like a vision she dances across the porch / as the radio plays” the world of Springsteen’s rich storytelling widened further and captured the hearts of music fans.
What sits at the very heart of his style is authenticity. While his writing is observationally complex, its genesis clearly comes from a personally emotive place. And that’s what binds his work so endearingly to American people specifically—it’s an uncracked mirror being held back at them in which they could find the peaks and troughs of their own existence.
Speaking to Uncut magazine, Springsteen once spoke of his creative process: “All experience is personal so you have to start there,” he said. “Then if you can connect in what’s happening with everyone, the universality of an experience, then you’re creating that alchemy where your audience is listening to it, they’re hearing what they’re feeling inside, and they’re also feeling ‘I’m not alone,’ you know?”
While the arc of a working-class musician who becomes a global megastar so often ends in emotional isolation, Springsteen has defied that expectation at every turn. With the “universality of an experience” being his creative cornerstone during failure and success, his music and lyrics have endured the ever-turbulent relationship with the general public, making him one of our most sought-after cultural voices of the last 50 years.
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