Rock musician Bruce Springsteen was one of the most influential voices of the 1980s. He became famous for songs such as “Born in the U.S.A.,” which embodied the experience of many people in Springsteen’s generation. But more than that, the rocker has come to be known as the voice of working-class people.
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Born to a factory worker in New Jersey, Springsteen’s early years were shaped by the expectation that he would also work in the textile mill and spend his life in his hometown. That didn’t happen, but he has always remained keenly aware of the needs of blue-collar workers in the United States. These are some of Bruce Springsteen’s most poignant songs about working-class America.
1. “Badlands” (1978)
Many of Springsteen’s songs tell a story from the point of view of a working-class individual. “Badlands” isn’t one of them, but it still reflects the ideals and perspectives of working-class America. The song is about feeling trapped in a no-win situation and looking for a way out. Springsteen said that he wrote it about the music industry, but the lyrics about the greed of the rich and the pointlessness of menial work without reward have made it a working-class anthem.
Workin’ in the fields
‘Til you get your back burned
Workin’ ‘neath the wheels
‘Til you get your facts learned
2. “My Hometown” (1984)
“My Hometown” was released on Springsteen’s 1984 album, Born in the U.S.A. The song is about the singer’s hometown of Freehold, New Jersey, but the lyrics are highly relatable to people from small towns all over the country. It describes a former time of economic prosperity, followed by a depression, racial conflicts, and eventually the shuttering of local factories. Many small towns underwent similar experiences throughout the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s, leading to poverty and neglect. The textile mill in Freehold closed in 1985, as “My Hometown” had predicted.
Now Main Street’s whitewashed windows
And vacant stores
Seems like there ain’t nobody
Wants to come down here no more
They’re closing down the textile mill
Across the railroad tracks
Foreman says, “These jobs are going, boys
And they ain’t coming back“
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3. “The River” (1980)
“The River” tells the story of a young working-class couple who have dreams for their future. They come from a small town where they are expected to follow in the footsteps of previous generations. But they dream of going somewhere else, following the river away from the polluted small town where they grew up. However, their plans change abruptly thanks to a teenage pregnancy, forcing them onto the same paths their parents trod. Springsteen has said that the song is about his sister Virginia and her husband Mickey and their experiences in blue-collar New Jersey.
Then I got Mary pregnant
And man, that was all she wrote
And for my nineteenth birthday
I got a union card and a wedding coat
We went down to the courthouse
And the judge put it all to rest
4. “Factory” (1978)
As with “The River,” Springsteen’s 1978 song “Factory” draws inspiration from his family. The song is about Springsteen’s father, Douglas, who worked in the local factory in Freehold, New Jersey. Their relationship was strained, though the singer came to recognize his father’s sacrifices over time. “Factory” describes the struggle of working-class life and how it can cause physical and mental strain and tension among family members. Douglas Springsteen also had hearing loss as a result of his work in the factory, which the song references directly in the following verse:
Through the mansions of fear, through the mansions of pain
I see my daddy walking through them factory gates in the rain
Factory takes his hearing, factory gives him life
The working, the working, just the working life
5. “Jack of All Trades” (2011)
“Jack of All Trades” is one of Springsteen’s later songs, but it shows the lingering pain that never went away, even long after his father’s death. The song follows an unemployed man begging for a job, promising to do whatever work is available. It first comes across as a song of love and assurance as the narrator promises his wife they will be OK. However, the later verses show the desperation and rage below the surface. Springsteen has said that “Jack of All Trades” was inspired by his father losing his job in the 1970s and the shame and grief it caused the family.
The banker man grows fat, the working man grows thin
It’s all happened before, and it’ll happen again
It’ll happen again, yeah, they’ll bet your life
I’m a Jack of all trades, darling, we’ll be alright
6. “Youngstown” (1995)
Few places embody the downturn of working-class America than the city of Youngstown, Ohio. Once a thriving hub of steel mills, Youngstown was the center of blue-collar protests when the factories shut down in the 1970s. The city has never recovered from the poverty and neglect of the subsequent years. Springsteen told the story in his 1995 song about Steel Valley, following a family of steelworkers undone by the Korean and Vietnam Wars and then the shuttering of the mills.
From the Monongahela Valley
To the Mesabi iron range
To the coal mines of Appalachia
The story’s always the same
Seven hundred tons of metal a day
Now, sir, you tell me the world’s changed
Once I made you rich enough
Rich enough to forget my name
Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for SUFH
