Bruce Springsteen’s Greatest Songs on His 70th Birthday
Courtesy of TriStar Pictures 5. Streets of Philadelphia > Album: Philadelphia (soundtrack) > Year: 1994 > Spotify streams: 103.9 million Carl Lender / Flickr 4. Born to Run > Album: Born to Run > Year: 1975 > Spotify streams: 128.3…
āHeās won audience and critical acclaim, but is still unknown to the bulk of the public.ā
Thatās Rolling Stone talking about a 26-year-old kid from Freehold, New Jersey, back in 1975. His name was Bruce Springsteen, and his third album, āBorn to Run,ā had just been released.
When Springsteenās first album, āGreetings from Asbury Park N.J.,ā was released in early 1973, his record company promoted him as āthe new Dylan.ā Though the album included such now-classics as āBlinded by the Light,ā āGrowinā Up,ā and āSpirit in the Night,ā it was folky and wordy, giving us such Dylanesque lyrics as ā[T]he gallows wait for martyrs whose papers are in orderā and āMadison Avenueās claim to fame in a trainer bra with eyes like rain.ā It sold about 120,000 copies upon release.
Late that same year, album number two came out ā āThe Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle.ā Influenced by Van Morrisonās groundbreaking āAstral Weeksā (which āwas like a religion to us,ā according to longtime Springsteen guitar player Steve Van Zandt), it was more diverse and rock-and-rolling than its predecessor. It gave us āRosalitaā and of course āThe E Street Shuffle,ā but sold only slightly better than āGreetings,ā and according to a record company PR man at the time āit was pretty much dead on arrival.ā
As a measure of Springsteenās renown up to that point, in July of 1974, he was the opening act for Dr. John at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium ā and when saxman Clarence Clemons played a long solo introduction to one song, kids in the back started yelling āBoogie!!!ā
Then came āBorn to Run,ā and that changed everything. Springsteen reportedly said that he wanted the album to sound like āRoy Orbison singing Bob Dylan, produced by [Phil] Spector.ā Indeed, the production is lavish and the songs are superb: āThunder Road,ā āTenth Avenue Freeze-Out,ā āMeeting Across the River,ā and more, not to mention the iconic title track, which became the anthem of its era ā much like āMy Generationā in the ā60s and āSmells Like Teen Spiritā in the ā90ās. More than one critic has hailed it as āthe greatest rock and roll album ever made.ā
That was just the (real) beginning, of course. On came āDarkness on the Edge of Town,ā āThe River,ā āNebraska,ā āBorn in the U.S.A.,ā and on and on up through (so far) this yearās āWestern Starsā ā 19 studio albums in all.
Along the way, Springsteen has given us such indelible creations as (besides those mentioned above and the title songs from many of his albums) āBadlands,ā āRacing in the Street,ā āBack Streets,ā āAtlantic City,ā āThe Promised Land,ā āJungleland,ā āProve It All Night,ā āIām on Fire,ā āState Trooper,ā āDancing in the Dark,ā and āStreets of Philadelphiaā ā the last of which won Springsteen a Song of the Year Grammy in 1995 (one of a stunning 20 he has accumulated altogether since 1984). This is every song of the year since the Grammys started.
Click here for Bruce Springsteenās 50 greatest songs.
Springsteen got his nickname, āThe Boss,ā back in his Asbury Park club days on the Jersey Shore, because he was the one who collected money at his bandās gigs and distributed it to the group. (New Jersey has spawned numerous celebrated musicians, including Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon, Dionne Warwick, Whitney Houston, and Count Basie, but Springsteen might be the best-known of all. These are the most famous bands from every state.)
That āunknown to the bulk of the publicā 26-year-old turns 70 on September 23, and in the course of his brilliant 44-year career, he has become indisputably āThe Bossā of modern American popular music.
To determine the 50 best Bruce Springsteen songs, 24/7 Tempo generated an index based on the total number of plays each song has received on streaming service Spotify as of September 20, 2019, popularity on Apple Music, and performance on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart when applicable. Songs that only appeared on live albums were removed from consideration.
50. There Goes My Miracle
> Album: Western Stars
> Year: 2019
> Spotify streams: 4.0 million
49. Lonesome Day
> Album: The Rising
> Year: 2002
> Spotify streams: 6.7 million
48. The Wayfarer
> Album: Western Stars
> Year: 2019
> Spotify streams: 2.5 million
47. Out in the Street
> Album: The River
> Year: 1980
> Spotify streams: 7.9 million
46. Nebraska
> Album: Nebraska
> Year: 1982
> Spotify streams: 6.4 million
45. The Ghost of Tom Joad
> Album: The Ghost of Tom Joad
> Year: 1995
> Spotify streams: 10.6 million
44. Adam Raised a Cain
> Album: Darkness on the Edge of Town
> Year: 1978
> Spotify streams: 4.2 million
43. Hitch Hikinā
> Album: Western Stars
> Year: 2019
> Spotify streams: 2.7 million
42. Growinā Up
> Album: Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.
> Year: 1973
> Spotify streams: 4.1 million
41. Darkness on the Edge of Town
> Album: Darkness on the Edge of Town
> Year: 1978
> Spotify streams: 8.1 million
40. Western Stars
> Album: Western Stars
> Year: 2019
> Spotify streams: 3.8 million
39. Working on the Highway
> Album: Born in the U.S.A.
> Year: 1984
> Spotify streams: 6.3 million
38. 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)
> Album: The Wild, the Innocent & The E Street Shuffle
> Year: 1973
> Spotify streams: 5.8 million
37. Sheās the One
> Album: Born to Run
> Year: 1975
> Spotify streams: 4.0 million
36. Spirit in the Night
> Album: Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.
> Year: 1973
> Spotify streams: 6.4 million
35. Darlington County
> Album: Born in the U.S.A.
> Year: 1984
> Spotify streams: 5.3 million
34. Bobby Jean
> Album: Born in the U.S.A.
> Year: 1984
> Spotify streams: 6.7 million
33. Tucson Train
> Album: Western Stars
> Year: 2019
> Spotify streams: 4.2 million
32. Hello Sunshine
> Album: Western Stars
> Year: 2019
> Spotify streams: 6.3 million
31. Prove It All Night
> Album: Darkness on the Edge of Town
> Year: 1978
> Spotify streams: 6.1 million
30. Tougher Than the Rest
> Album: Tunnel of Love
> Year: 1987
> Spotify streams: 22.2 million
29. Downbound Train
> Album: Born in the U.S.A.
> Year: 1984
> Spotify streams: 8.7 million
28. Backstreets
> Album: Born to Run
> Year: 1975
> Spotify streams: 7.5 million
27. Waitinā on a Sunny Day
> Album: The Rising
> Year: 2002
> Spotify streams: 20.0 million
26. No Surrender
> Album: Born in the USA
> Year: 1984
> Spotify streams: 9.7 million
25. Blinded By the Light
> Album: Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.
> Year: 1973
> Spotify streams: 11.1 million
24. The Rising
> Album: The Rising
> Year: 2002
> Spotify streams: 16.1 million
23. Jungleland
> Album: Born to Run
> Year: 1975
> Spotify streams: 10.2 million
22. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
> Album: The Wild, the Innocent & The E Street Shuffle
> Year: 1973
> Spotify streams: 12.2 million
21. Atlantic City
> Album: Nebraska
> Year: 1982
> Spotify streams: 21.0 million
20. Fade Away
> Album: The River
> Year: 1980
> Spotify streams: 3.0 million
19. Badlands
> Album: Darkness On the Edge of Town
> Year: 1978
> Spotify streams: 21.8 million
18. Human Touch
> Album: Human Touch
> Year: 1992
> Spotify streams: 14.7 million
17. One Step Up
> Album: Tunnel of Love
> Year: 1987
> Spotify streams: 5.8 million
16. Tunnel of Love
> Album: Tunnel of Love
> Year: 1987
> Spotify streams: 5.8 million
15. Secret Garden
> Album: Greatest Hits
> Year: 1995
> Spotify streams: 18.4 million
14. Thunder Road
> Album: Born to Run
> Year: 1975
> Spotify streams: 56.3 million
13. Cover Me
> Album: Born in the U.S.A.
> Year: 1984
> Spotify streams: 12.3 million
12. Iām Goinā Down
> Album: Born in the U.S.A.
> Year: 1984
> Spotify streams: 15.3 million
11. Brilliant Disguise
> Album: Tunnel of Love
> Year: 1987
> Spotify streams: 17.6 million
10. My Hometown
> Album: Born in the U.S.A.
> Year: 1984
> Spotify streams: 13.7 million
9. The River
> Album: The River
> Year: 1980
> Spotify streams: 78.9 million
8. Santa Claus Is Cominā to Town (Live at C.W. Post College, Greenvale, NY ā December 1975)
> Album: In Harmony 2 (compilation)
> Year: 1982 (released)
> Spotify streams: 72.2 million
7. Glory Days
> Album: Born in the U.S.A.
> Year: 1984
> Spotify streams: 51.8 million
6. Hungry Heart
> Album: The River
> Year: 1980
> Spotify streams: 75.1 million
5. Streets of Philadelphia
> Album: Philadelphia (soundtrack)
> Year: 1994
> Spotify streams: 103.9 million
4. Born to Run
> Album: Born to Run
> Year: 1975
> Spotify streams: 128.3 million
3. Iām On Fire
> Album: Born in the U.S.A.
> Year: 1984
> Spotify streams: 137.7 million
2. Born in the U.S.A.
> Album: Born in the U.S.A.
> Year: 1984
> Spotify streams: 154.3 million
1. Dancing in the Dark
> Album: Born in the U.S.A.
> Year: 1984
> Spotify streams: 197.4 million
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