The Top 100 Bruce Springsteen Songs: 40-31
This segment goes a step further than the previous one, stretching literally from the beginning of his catalog to the hopefully-not-end. Granted, "Because the Night" was famous long before the studio version was finally released in 2010.
40. Kitty’s Back The Wild, The Innocent, and The E Street Shuffle (1973)
“It’s sad but it sure is true / Cat shrugs his shoulders, sits back and sighs / Ooh, what can I do, ooh, what can I do? / Ooh, what can I do, ooh, what can I do?” Okay, the line isn’t much, but imagine Bruce singing it lightly over Max Weinberg’s drumming. Then imagine that leading into Clarence Clemons leading the rest of the E Street Band in a smorgasbord of instrumental delights.
39. Jackson Cage The River (1980)
“Driving home she grabs something to eat / Turns a corner and drives down her street / Into a row of houses she just melts away / Like the scenery in another man’s play / Into a house where the blinds are closed / To keep from seeing things she don’t wanna know / She pulls the blinds and looks out on the street / The cool of the night takes the edge off the heat / In the Jackson Cage / Down in Jackson Cage / You can try with all your might / But you’re reminded every night / That you’ve been judged and handed life / Down in Jackson Cage.”
38. Blinded By The Light Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. (1973)
Bruce Springsteen’s first single, and the first track off his first album. When I first heard the apparently more popular version of this song recorded by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, I absolutely hated it. I have to admit it grew on me, but while you can cover a Bruce Springsteen song, and while you might even be able to cover it well, it will always be a Bruce Springsteen song.
37. American Skin (41 Shots) released live on Live in New York City (2001)
“Lena gets her son ready for school / She says, ‘On these streets, Charles / You’ve got to understand the rules / If an officer stops you / Promise you’ll always be polite / that you’ll never ever run away / Promise Mama you’ll keep your hands in sight’ / Is it a gun, is it a knife / Is it a wallet, this is your life / It ain’t no secret / It ain’t no secret / No secret my friend / You can get killed just for living / In your American skin.”
36. Back In Your Arms Tracks (1998)
“Once I was your treasure and I saw your face in every star / But the promises we make at night, oh that’s all they are / Unless we fill them with faith and love they’re empty as the howlin’ wind / And honey I just wanna be back in your arms / Back in your arms again.”
35. Where The Bands Are Tracks (1998)
“I hear the guitars ringin’ out / Ringin’ out down Union Street / I hear the lead singer shoutin’ out, girl / I wanna be a slave to the beat / Yeah, tonight I wanna break my chains / Somebody break my heart / Somebody shake my brains / Downtown there’s something that I wanna hear / There’s a sound, little girl, keeps ringing in my ear / I wanna be where the bands are.”
34. Because The Night The Promise (2010)
So what if Bruce never felt he got the lyrics quite right on this one? Maybe if the artist had gotten the chance to turn this into his masterpiece, it would be in the top ten, but as it is, it’s nearly perfect. It’s a real band song, where just by listening to it you can visualize everyone on stage having the time of their lives, everyone in the audience having the time of their lives, and Bruce and Stevie standing back to back playing the guitar “solo” or shouting the lyrics into the same mic.
33. Growin’ Up Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. (1973)
“I took month-long vacations in the stratosphere and you know it’s really hard to hold your breath / I swear I lost everything I ever loved or feared, I was the cosmic kid in full costume dress / Well, my feet they finally took root in the earth but I got me a nice little place in the stars / And I swear I found the key to the universe in the engine of an old parked car / I hid in the mother breast of the crowd but when they said pull down, I pulled up / Oooh-ooh, growin’ up…”
32. The E Street Shuffle The Wild, The Innocent, and The E Street Shuffle (1973)
Most artists usually wait a while before they do something experimental. I feel like Bruce waited only until his second album. The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle has only seven tracks, but most are well over five minutes long (including New York City Serenade clocking in at 9:59), they’re all just fun, and six of the seven are on this list, with apologies to Wild Billy’s Circus Story.
31. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out Born To Run (1975)
“Tear drops on the city / Bad Scooter searching for his groove / Seem like the whole world walking pretty / And you can’t find the room to move /…/ When the change was made uptown / And the Big Man joined the band / From the coastline to the city / All the little pretties raise their hands / I’m gonna sit back right easy and laugh / When Scooter and the Big Man bust this city in half.” This song, quite simply, is the E Street Band, and was the perfect song to open the Super Bowl halftime show with.
40. Kitty’s Back The Wild, The Innocent, and The E Street Shuffle (1973)
“It’s sad but it sure is true / Cat shrugs his shoulders, sits back and sighs / Ooh, what can I do, ooh, what can I do? / Ooh, what can I do, ooh, what can I do?” Okay, the line isn’t much, but imagine Bruce singing it lightly over Max Weinberg’s drumming. Then imagine that leading into Clarence Clemons leading the rest of the E Street Band in a smorgasbord of instrumental delights.
39. Jackson Cage The River (1980)
“Driving home she grabs something to eat / Turns a corner and drives down her street / Into a row of houses she just melts away / Like the scenery in another man’s play / Into a house where the blinds are closed / To keep from seeing things she don’t wanna know / She pulls the blinds and looks out on the street / The cool of the night takes the edge off the heat / In the Jackson Cage / Down in Jackson Cage / You can try with all your might / But you’re reminded every night / That you’ve been judged and handed life / Down in Jackson Cage.”
38. Blinded By The Light Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. (1973)
Bruce Springsteen’s first single, and the first track off his first album. When I first heard the apparently more popular version of this song recorded by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, I absolutely hated it. I have to admit it grew on me, but while you can cover a Bruce Springsteen song, and while you might even be able to cover it well, it will always be a Bruce Springsteen song.
37. American Skin (41 Shots) released live on Live in New York City (2001)
“Lena gets her son ready for school / She says, ‘On these streets, Charles / You’ve got to understand the rules / If an officer stops you / Promise you’ll always be polite / that you’ll never ever run away / Promise Mama you’ll keep your hands in sight’ / Is it a gun, is it a knife / Is it a wallet, this is your life / It ain’t no secret / It ain’t no secret / No secret my friend / You can get killed just for living / In your American skin.”
36. Back In Your Arms Tracks (1998)
“Once I was your treasure and I saw your face in every star / But the promises we make at night, oh that’s all they are / Unless we fill them with faith and love they’re empty as the howlin’ wind / And honey I just wanna be back in your arms / Back in your arms again.”
35. Where The Bands Are Tracks (1998)
“I hear the guitars ringin’ out / Ringin’ out down Union Street / I hear the lead singer shoutin’ out, girl / I wanna be a slave to the beat / Yeah, tonight I wanna break my chains / Somebody break my heart / Somebody shake my brains / Downtown there’s something that I wanna hear / There’s a sound, little girl, keeps ringing in my ear / I wanna be where the bands are.”
34. Because The Night The Promise (2010)
So what if Bruce never felt he got the lyrics quite right on this one? Maybe if the artist had gotten the chance to turn this into his masterpiece, it would be in the top ten, but as it is, it’s nearly perfect. It’s a real band song, where just by listening to it you can visualize everyone on stage having the time of their lives, everyone in the audience having the time of their lives, and Bruce and Stevie standing back to back playing the guitar “solo” or shouting the lyrics into the same mic.
33. Growin’ Up Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. (1973)
“I took month-long vacations in the stratosphere and you know it’s really hard to hold your breath / I swear I lost everything I ever loved or feared, I was the cosmic kid in full costume dress / Well, my feet they finally took root in the earth but I got me a nice little place in the stars / And I swear I found the key to the universe in the engine of an old parked car / I hid in the mother breast of the crowd but when they said pull down, I pulled up / Oooh-ooh, growin’ up…”
32. The E Street Shuffle The Wild, The Innocent, and The E Street Shuffle (1973)
Most artists usually wait a while before they do something experimental. I feel like Bruce waited only until his second album. The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle has only seven tracks, but most are well over five minutes long (including New York City Serenade clocking in at 9:59), they’re all just fun, and six of the seven are on this list, with apologies to Wild Billy’s Circus Story.
31. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out Born To Run (1975)
“Tear drops on the city / Bad Scooter searching for his groove / Seem like the whole world walking pretty / And you can’t find the room to move /…/ When the change was made uptown / And the Big Man joined the band / From the coastline to the city / All the little pretties raise their hands / I’m gonna sit back right easy and laugh / When Scooter and the Big Man bust this city in half.” This song, quite simply, is the E Street Band, and was the perfect song to open the Super Bowl halftime show with.