Bruce Springsteen has a reputation for making rousing and cathartic songs, but lots of the time, his inspiring ones aren’t just inspiring, and end up bittersweet, too. And then when he wants to make a full-on sad song, he’s brutally effective at it. Certain Springsteen songs are surprisingly soul-crushing, well-demonstrated by the majority of the tracks on Nebraska, with the recent biopic, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, focusing on the creation of that album.
In the interest of highlighting that side of Springsteen’s music, here’s a rundown of some of his most emotional songs. A few of these are musically upbeat but lyrically emotional, while others are ballads and lyrically sad, doing a bit of a double-whammy emotions-wise. Also, a couple of albums have more than one track selected, even if that does run the risk of hurting things when it comes to variety… oh well.
10
“Bobby Jean” (1984)
If you don’t listen to the lyrics, or find an instrumental version of “Bobby Jean,” then it feels like a mostly happy song. It’s energetic, it starts big (with a count-in, no less), and ends bigger, thanks to an always welcome Clarence Clemons saxophone outro. Still, even with the lyrics, it’s not outright depressing, and more of a bittersweet song overall… but very powerfully bittersweet.
It could be about a romantic partner, or a friend, or both, and parting ways for whatever reason, but still thinking about that person. There’s catharsis here, and a sort of acceptance of things being over, but it’s not entirely celebratory, nor could ever be misinterpreted as a “good riddance/glad that’s over” kind of thing. It’s aching but not hopeless, and the interpretation that it’s about Steven Van Zandt temporarily leaving the band in 1985 (returning by the late 1990s, and funnily enough right around the time he started starring in The Sopranos) does make it feel more personal, and therefore even more heartfelt.
9
“The Rising” (2002)
“Catharsis” is another word worth using here, because that’s what the titular track on The Rising is all about delivering. This album was Springsteen responding to 9/11 (and he was far from the only artist to do so), but not necessarily in a concept album sort of way. Some songs try to capture how the day felt in Springsteen’s typically poetic fashion, while others are more concerned with inspiring hope, and the idea that the American people can persevere.
And that might sound like it runs the risk of being cheesy or too in-your-face, but Bruce Springsteen knew how to handle the sensitive material at hand. “The Rising” is probably the most moving song on the album, having some hope to how it sounds, but also being crushing with its lyrics, which largely focus on the experiences of a firefighter responding to – and then losing their life in – the World Trade Center attacks.
8
“Land of Hope and Dreams” (Written in 1999)
It’s a bit hard to pin down a year of release for “Land of Hope and Dreams,” as even though it did end up on an album eventually (2012’s Wrecking Ball), it was performed live long before that, and was included on the 2001 live album Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band: Live in New York City. That version is probably the best one, running for almost 10 minutes and being immensely emotional for that entire duration.
It’s a bit like “Bobby Jean,” but more epic, having the same kind of triumphant and upbeat sound married with lyrics that feel a bit more bittersweet. It’s hard to properly describe what makes “Land of Hope and Dreams” feel at least a little sad, but it just does. It’s also absolutely one of the best songs Springsteen wrote post-1980s (much of his best material came out during the run from 1973 to 1987).
7
“My Hometown” (1984)
The most popular Bruce Springsteen album was 1984’s Born in the U.S.A., but quite a bit has been written about how it’s a darker album than some might initially think. The title track is the best example, being more complicated and brutally real than “just” a patriotic anthem, but the sadness becomes most explicit on the album’s closing track, “My Hometown.”
This almost feels like it would be more at home on Nebraska, if it weren’t for the synths used throughout, but that’s not too surprising, considering Nebraska and Born in the U.S.A. were made close to each other. Also, Nebraska probably ends with its most uplifting (comparatively speaking) song, “Reason to Believe,” while Born in the U.S.A. concludes with its most somber, so that’s kind of interesting, and makes the two albums quite rewarding to listen to back-to-back.
6
“Racing in the Street” (1978)
Sometimes, in the music of Bruce Springsteen, a vehicle is a ticket to a possible better life, but then in other songs, like “Racing in the Street,” it’s more suffocating, or even something of a prison. The song’s about car racing, but it all moves along very slowly, suggesting a sort of emptiness with the whole activity, and its failure to distract the song’s narrator from the other more obviously dreary parts of his life.
It’s almost like a coming-of-age story of sorts, albeit a dark one that’s largely free of hope, with the activities of one’s youth not really doing anything anymore, by way of offering freedom, escape, or hope. Maybe not even any fun anymore. It’s a fitting track for an album called Darkness on the Edge of Town, and perhaps even the highlight of said album.
5
“Jungleland” (1975)
You can’t go wrong with any part of Born to Run, but you especially can’t go wrong with its closing track, the epic “Jungleland.” This is another Springsteen song that nears 10 minutes in length, with it starting slow, picking up in pace, then building more, then reaching its emotional peak musically with a sax solo, but that solo also kind of slows things down again, and then things get slower once more, and then there’s a big finish, serving as an ending to both the song and Born to Run as an album.
But droning on about the emotional journey this song takes you on across almost 10 minutes isn’t nearly as effective, when it comes to understanding the song’s pull, as just listening to the thing. Yeah, sure, it’s long, but it’s worth it. It’s easily one of Springsteen’s greatest tracks, and if you’re not moved by at least one section of it… seriously?
4
“The River” (1980)
Since it’s a double album (not to mention a mostly great one), The River has room to venture out into all sorts of territory, emotionally speaking, and that does indeed include a fair few sad songs. The title track is one of the saddest, sort of feeling like a more hard-hitting and honest take on the more hopeful sort of young love explored in earlier Springsteen songs like “Thunder Road” and “Born to Run.”
The dream of hitting the road and escaping a boring life is almost achieved here, but then reality strikes, and the narrator of “The River,” and his partner, find themselves trapped in the sort of working-class life they might’ve initially wanted to avoid. The knife’s twisted because of the titular river; the thing the narrator keeps remembering as memories that come back to haunt him like a curse, as per the lyrics near the song’s end. Also, it gets worse, or better, depending on whether you want to feel sad or not, if you listen to the live version titled “The River (Live at LA Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA – September 1985),” where Springsteen delivers a moving spoken word intro about the troubled relationship he had with his father, and almost getting drafted to fight in the Vietnam War.
3
“Brilliant Disguise” (1987)
“Brilliant Disguise” is, quite comfortably, the best song from Bruce Springsteen’s 1987 album, Tunnel of Love, and it also stands as one of his very best tracks overall (from any album). You could call the whole album Springsteen’s midlife crisis one, or maybe his “divorce album,” because the whole thing feels personal and pretty consistently downbeat, but it’s on “Brilliant Disguise” where those qualities shine the brightest.
It’s about a relationship falling apart, but in a very direct and almost uncomfortably intimate way. It’s an all-timer of a break-up/marriage breakdown song, and so it’s not exactly the kind you might want to play if you’re exercising or otherwise trying to feel pumped and motivated, but “Brilliant Disguise” is absolutely there for you if you want to feel someone else’s pain for a while, or accentuate your own hurting, or a bit of both. There’s enough heartache to go around for everybody!
2
“Wreck on the Highway” (1980)
The first half of The River concludes with the aforementioned title track, but then the second half of this double album, “Wreck on the Highway,” proves to be even sadder, somehow. As the title suggests, it’s about the narrator finding a wrecked car on the highway, recounting his experience, and then, near the song’s end, talking about how he’s still haunted by the whole ordeal.
It really is that simple, but it’s also incredibly striking. It’s a bold choice to conclude a very long album on, but “Wreck on the Highway” does feel fitting, after 80-ish minutes of rather varied music. It cuts to the chase and really feels, more than most other Springsteen songs, that there aren’t really any other ways to interpret what it’s about, and what it’s supposed to make you feel: reflective on the fragility of human life, and the idea that horrible and/or life-changing things can happen in very mundane situations.
1
“Atlantic City” (1982)
Most songs on Nebraska sound desolate and empty (in good/intentional ways), but “Atlantic City” is next-level, both with how it sounds and concerning what its lyrics are about. All at once, it’s about a hopeless-sounding life of crime, the inevitability of death, and the desperation felt between a young couple, both of whom seem to be in an even worse position than the two characters in the aforementioned “The River.”
“Atlantic City” is also oddly beautiful, owing to it being the rawest song on an overall raw and emotionally intense album.
All that being said, “Atlantic City” is also oddly beautiful, owing to it being the rawest song on an overall raw and emotionally intense album, but it’s not a fun one, and is usually given a beefier arrangement when played live. But the album version of “Atlantic City” is one of Springsteen’s most intimate songs, and probably his most haunting, too, and though it’s sparse, all the elements here come crashing together to make it potentially his most moving track overall.
