Bruce Springsteen: Song by Song

The definitive guide to Springsteen's discography and career.

From a skinny beach bum to a brawny headband-wearing blue-collar hero, through to an elder statesman of rock, Springsteen has been one of the most revered songwriters of his and succeeding generations for half a century. Throughout the decades, his anthemic tracks of personal and political strife have chronicled life in America, providing listeners with character-driven narratives that can be read as short stories of lives they live, lived, or have seen first-hand. After getting a recording contract with Columbia Records aged twenty-two, Springsteen wrote and recorded a string of critically acclaimed albums, including Born to Run, which brought him a wider audience, before becoming a superstar with the release of 1984’s Born in the U.S.A. In the twenty-first century, Springsteen continues to release landmark albums such as The Rising and Wrecking Ball and, with the stalwart support of the E Street Band, still performs in sold-out stadiums worldwide, with concerts routinely lasting for over three hours. This volume explores Springsteen’s discography in detail, examining his worldwide hits alongside his lesser-known but equally moving tracks.

Table of Contents

Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.; The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle; Born to Run; Darkness on the Edge of Town; The River; Nebraska; Born in the U.S.A.; Tunnel of Love; Human Touch; Lucky Town; The Ghost of Tom Joad; The Rising; Devils & Dust; We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions; Magic; Working on a Dream; Wrecking Ball; High Hopes; Western Stars; Letter to You

Jack Walters is a staff writer for PopMatters, where his writing has received recognition from artists, record labels, and academic presses―such as Yale University Press. His essay, 'The Philosophy of Rough and Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour', is published in The Dylan Review. His debut book, Bruce Springsteen: Song by Song, was published by Fonthill Media in 2023.